Inside Victoria Park

Primar y Academy

15
Autumn Edition 20
Our Big Adventure
to RAF Cosford!

The 3rd Annual

VPA Bake Off!

Meet the N
ew
VPZine Tea
m!

The Big Ad
This year our Big Adventure took place at
RAF Cosford. It was a spectacular day! We
travelled to the RAF museum as part of our
NICER Challenge pack. We travelled by coach
along the M5 motorway and in no time we
were there.
Once we arrived, we went to visit the Spirit
of the Blitz section, it was amazing. The Spirit
of the Blitz was where all the men who were
going to battle were trained to fly planes. We
also saw old artefacts for example: gas masks
and incendiary bombs. I learned a lot of new
and interesting facts there. At this stage we also
went inside a real air raid shelter!
Next, we saw some different planes and
tanks too. We explored the huge hangar where
these vehicles were stored. There were many
different models and they all had different jobs
to do in the war.

After lunch, we went to Hanger 1 where I

found some old war photographs of men who
had been fighting during World War 2! We
looked at some historic cars, helicopters, tanks,
guns and bombs.
While we were in Hanger 1, we found a
large bag which had yellow and purple colours
on it. My friends and I had a look inside to
see if we could find out a bit more. To our
surprise we found: flip flops, a white shirt, and
headbands amongst other things. We thought if
we took it back to school we could investigate
further.
Before we left the museum, some of us made
rockets for a competition. We all got into pairs
and loaded then into launchers. My friend
pressed a button and a bright green light
flashed and a huge BANG was heard! It went
so far that it landed on one of the planes!

After, we went to the crew room to eat, this is

where soldiers and pilots would go to come up
with new ideas for building planes and tanks.

I loved my day at RAF Cosford it really was

amazing!

On Tuesday 15th September, 5E joined the

whole school for their Big Adventure. Our
journey took us to RAF Cosford. While we
were there we saw huge bomber aircrafts and
hangars with various museum equipment on
display. After our arrival, we went to the Cold
War section; it was packed full of attacking
vehicles. After that, we went to see the
amazing, colossal planes and jets.
Later on, we went to the second hangar, here
we got the opportunity to watch a movie called
Air Fighters. We visited the 4D cinema and
had an amazing time. Next, we made our way
to the Fun n Flight section. We spent a while
looking at and taking part in all the different
activities. Then, it was time for lunch we had
all built up a really big appetite!
After lunch, we came across an unattended,
unusual bag! The bag had no name tag on it

so we decided to have a little peek inside to see

if we could check for any identification. After
searching in the bag, we found out that the
belongings were that of an Australian man who
often visited Portugal.
We were then given the choice to take part
in an activity or to visit the gift shop. I chose the
activity where we made awesome rockets, while
another class made parachutes. It was almost
time to leave RAF Cosford. A great day was
had by all!
For some reason we had picked up the bag
and brought it back to school with us. At this
point I hadnt realised wed be doing some
work in connection with this. More amazingly,
our teacher Mr English, actually contacted the
man whom the bag belonged to as he was
going to return it!
By Caroline Smith Class 5E

By Rogi Class 5B

dventure!
RAF Cosford

We travelled all the way to RAF Cosford

on Tuesday 15th September 2015. It was our
whole school Big Adventure it fitted in well
with our NICER Challenge pack all about
WW2.
Once we arrived, we ventured to the Spirit
of the Blitz exhibition; it was really cool! There
were so many amazing artefacts to look at such
as: old gas masks, incendiary bombs and gas
rattles. I learned a lot of interesting information;
things about the war and battles that I didnt
already know! I never knew that there were
such things as air raid shelters and that people
had to hide in them when sirens went off.
Sometimes people had to hide in the dark for
days on end!
After that, we arrived at where the old planes
and tanks were stored. We were allowed to
explore the museum. It was so interesting and
very exciting. There were lots of information
boards scattered around the Hangar we all

learned so much!
Later, we made our way to the Fun and
Flight section. There were lots of practical
science experiments here, where you could
actually take part in! I tried out many of the
activities here. It was awesome!
Some hours later, we moved on to Hanger
one. Here, we found a bag that had been left
by a man called Brad Logan. Through research,
we found out that he is currently living in
Australia.
At the end of the day, we visited the special
4D theatre. We watched a really great movie
which was shown in 4D. It was a fantastic
experience!
It was all over in a flash and then it was time
to make our way back to school. I would love
to go back to RAF Cosford, as there was so
much I didnt get to see.
By Fatou Demba Class 5B

On Tuesday 15th September, the whole

school went on a visit to RAF Cosford. All of the
classes had different routes to take and various
things to look at and take part in. In Year 5, we
noticed different numbered hangars with old
aircraft and artefacts inside. While we were on
our way to our first stop, we were able to have
a closer look at some of the huge aircrafts on
display. The planes were humongous! Some
were quite colourful and some were very plain.
I was totally amazed, I was so excited at what
I could see! Our class had taken their iPads so
that we could take some photographs of the
things that we could see. It was very clear at
the start of the day that we would be seeing
many interesting things and learning lots of new
facts.
First of all, we went to see some weapons
and different soldiers uniforms. We also saw
some petite statues and learned facts about
what they were doing there. I did get a bit
scared seeing the big weapons, but I soon
realized there was nothing to worry about!
Next, we saw more gigantic planes. It
seemed that these were even bigger than the
ones we had seen earlier. I was able to read
lots more interesting facts from the information
boards found around the hangars. I also
noticed an elevated manikin, dressed in a
wartime pilots uniform. It was GREAT fun!
By this time, we were all ready for our lunch!
We ate our food in the crews room. After lunch
we all made our way to the Fun and Flight
room. There were lots of fun activities to take

part in such as: floating games, device games

and some games which involved your arms and
your legs. We spent quite a while in this area
testing our knowledge and skills against each
other. Shortly after that, it was time for the BEST
part out of the whole trip! We made our way
(in small groups) into the 4D cinema. It was
amazing and so much fun! We got sprayed with
water, felt air in our faces and saw laser beams.
It felt just like the 4D animation was going to
hit us, but it never did. Sadly, the fun eventually
came to an end and it was time for the other
groups to have a turn.
While we were looking at more planes and
equipment in the museum, Mr English spotted
a black bag. We all gathered around to look
and listen to what he had found. Once the bag
was open, our teacher showed us what was
inside. One at a time, he began pulling out
different items. There were a lot of funny things
such as: headbands, a slipper, 1 sock and a
map of Portugal. I wondered if Mr English was
going to Portugal. He wasnt, so we decided to
take the bag with us back to school for further
investigations. After finding the bag, it was
almost time to go back to school. A few of us
visited the gift shop; I brought a sparkly pen.
When we got on the coach to make our way
back to school, lots of us were talking about
what we thought was the best part of the day
We all decided it was definitely the 4D Cinema
experience.
By Ammaarah Ashfaq Class 5E

This year, Our Big Adventure took

Victoria Park Primary Academy to RAF
Cosford, the whole school made their way
along the motorway to the northern part
of Wolverhampton. This wonderful learning
experience about the World War, over many
years, looked at different aspects of the war.
Some of us got to see a veteran (a person who
survived through the war)
Activities at RAF Cosford included: games
and learning experiences. 6F had a great
experience while we visited a WW2 classroom.
We were able to look at and handle bombs.
We were also shown what a sitting room
and kitchen would look like, this included the
furniture and utensils that would have been
found in WW2. We listened to an air raid

This year our Big Adventure took us to RAF

Cosford near Wolverhampton. We travelled to
the RAF Museum on Tuesday 15th September
2015. RAF Cosford is an air force base/museum
where they still train RAF cadets today! Luckily
for Year 6, this visit linked in well with our
challenge pack at the time, which was WW2!
I have to say that this was an outstanding
learning experience as we saw many
interesting things and picked up lots of relevant
information. We saw a WW2 Veteran who
had survived the war and who was showing us
his trophies. He was also collecting money for
injured civilians who had worked in the forces.
At RAF Cosford, we were able to take part
in some really cool activities. We found out
about gas masks, food rationing and air raid
shelters. Daanish, Shanayah and Farid became
air raid wardens and WW2 civilians. There
was a really hilarious bit where Farid, who is

siren and we pretended we were experiencing

a bomb attack during a blackout. We had
to hide in a darkened room just outside the
classroom. We learned so much about life in
WW2 - Shanayah and Farid got the opportunity
to try on uniforms and WW2 equipment; the
funny thing was that Farid was given the most
equipment to wear even though he is the tiniest
in the class!
The most exciting part of the trip was the 4D
experience. It was great fun and it helped us
to understand what the war was like. I would
thoroughly recommend going to RAF Cosford
as you can learn so many interesting things. It
would be a fun day out for the whole family!
By Sanvir Khera Class 6F

the smallest person in our class, had the most

equipment placed and crammed all over his
body! We were able to experience how an air
raid actually felt; the lady who was showing
us around the WW2 classroom turned on the
air raid siren and we all had to vacate the
classroom and hide in an air raid bomb shelter
it was pitch black!
We got to see helicopters, tanks, and
many different and amazing sorts of planes. I
think the most exciting aspect of the day was
when we visited the outstanding 4D cinema
experience It was completely entertaining!
There was smoke, water, the chairs shook and
banged and bumped and the 4D images were
awesome! We were all crazily jumping and
screaming in our seats!
I would definitely recommend RAF Cosford to
anyone and I would award it 5 stars.
By Tanjit Dhesi Class 6F

As part of our NICER curriculum,

6F base d their Bake Off entry
on an authentic cake recipe. It was
a rationed set of ingre dients as
it didnt contain eggs or sugar. We
designed our cake on a WW2 air
raid shelter Dig for Victory gard
en.
As part of the ingre dients we adde
d syrup to replace the sugar
element (this would have been done
during the war). The recipe
inclu ded very little milk as this
was rationed too, therefore the cake
was extremely economical to mak
e.
Once we had made our cake, we then
had to decorate it. We
crushed Oreo biscuits to represent
mud and dirt for the garden. To
stand the perimeter of the fence
up, we used Bourbon biscuits. The
whole of 6F worked collaborativel
y and extremely hard to make the
syrup loaf.

The judges LOVED 6Fs presentation

and 3As mouth-watering taste
of their Chinese spice chocolate cake
fille d with French Chantilly
cream. This year first place was a
tie congratulations went to 3A
and 6F!
By Sanvir Khera Class 6F

our Bake Off

ER cur riculum we base d
As part of our scho ol NIC
turned
and
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We
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it into the shape of an air
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ory
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Dig
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WW
a
of
took on the resemblance
ford as part of
design by visiting RAF Cos
inspired to pro duce this
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an
to
Our cake was made
the scho ols Big Adventure.
cinnamon as
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add
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We
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in
s
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these ingred ients were rati
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We all helped
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.
once they had been cooked
decorate them.
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We all had a turn at mak
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use
We
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icin
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out
cauliflowers or cabbages
. We painted
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make a fence and crushed
all worked
We
ter.
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rde d us and 3A
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jud
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really hard! On the day of
the best tasting
for appearance and 3A for
joint KS2 winners. We won
to the lack of
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llenge!
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By Linda Amin Class 6F

I said as the scores were totalled. Oh, you dont know what this is
again. Well Ill obviously tell you now. It was the moment we had all
been waiting for The third annual VPA Bake Off!
All our research had taken place and it was finally the day for us
to cook our food. We knew it had the potential to be another winning
dish for 5E. Could we make it three years in a row? A hat trick?
This year, 5E decided to make a Portuguese slow cooked vegetable
soup. This linked to our Big Adventure, as while we were at RAF
Cosford, we spotted a bag which we later found out belonged to an
Australian man named Brad Logan who often travels to Portugal.
During our preparations, we had to boil water and place it in a
slow cooker. Then, we had to chop up the onions, carrots and sweet
potatoes. After, we needed to pour all of the ingredients along with
vegetable stock into the slow cooker. We also had to add in some
spices such as: piri-piri, cinnamon sticks and cumin.

Lastly, we then had to let all of the ingredients cook for

approximately 1.5 hours. Next, we chopped up a butternut squash (a
very hard vegetable to chop) and courgettes; finally we had to put
both the courgettes and the butternut squash into a bowl and sprinkle
the pieces with the spices, bit by bit, then we added the vegetables to
the slow cooker and allowed that to cook for 2.5 hours.
Then we were finally ready to let the world see our creation. It was
probably one of the most anticipated times in my life! Thats right it
was judging day; we got the opportunity to see if 5E could win three
years in a row!
Unfortunately, it wasnt to be 5E had lost this years bake off! Sad
faces all round we wanted to walk away with the title once again.
Well done to class 6F and 3A joint winners.
By Zain Din Class 5E

This year, for VPAs Great Bake Off,

6F bake d an authentic war time
syrup loaf; which replicated a WW2
air raid shelter inclu ding a Dig
for Victory garden.

Ever yone in the class had used their

collaboration and empathy
and listening tools to work together
closely to portray ever yones
ideas.

6F had incorporated cinnamon into

the recipe as we needed to
add a spice. This recipe was taken
directly from WW2 as it was
economical to make as it only used
very little milk. It had no eggs
or butter as these ingre dients were
rationed in the war!
The judges were bowled over by 6Fs
presentation skills, whils t
3A completely impressed the judg
es with the taste of their luscious
chocolate spice cake fille d with Chan
tilly cream.
Well done to the joint winners for
2015.
By Tanjit Dhesi Class 6F

Class 6A
cis Class 6F, Zaigham Khan
t Dhesi Class 6F, Chante Fran
5E, Rogi Bajwa Class 5B
Back row left to right : Tanji
s 6F, Caroline Smith Class
Clas
Amin
Linda
6F,
s
Clas
Middle Row: Sanvir Khera
Class 5B, Zain Din Class 5E
ar Class 5E, Fatou Demba
Front Row: Ammaarah Akht

Sanvir Khera
Class 6F

Chante Francis
Class 6W

I wanted to join VPZine so that I could

showcase my superb literacy skills.
I think that I have been chosen to
join the team because I am a great
role model for the school. I take part
in: Ballot Street Spice, I am a CLEAR
Advisor and now Im a member of the
VPZine team.
Although my writing is very fluent and
I am able to use a range of VCOP to
a high standard, I want to be able to
improve my skills ready for when I sit
my SATs tests in May 2016.
I am very approachable and I am
able to get my points across in a clear,
audible manner. Therefore, conducting
interviews, speaking to people and
writing articles in the magazine will be
fun and interesting.
a

The reasons why I wanted to join

VPZine:
I wanted to improve my Engl
ish skills.
I have a good imagination.
It has always been known to
be a really fun after school club
.
I can use my creative skills.
Being involved in VPZine coul
d definitely help me with my
forthcoming writing activities for
my SATs tests.

m
Lind A
F
Class 6

When I was accepted as a VPZine

publicist, I felt really happy and
excited because I knew it would
help me to improve my English
skills. I expect to gain some extra
knowledge and techniques to
help me with my writing. I enjoy
working as part of a group and
I
am looking forward to embarkin
g on a new adventure.

BA
FATOU DEM
The reason why I wanted
CLASS 5B

to join VPZine was to

be able to improve my
English and reading skills.
I have always wanted to
be able to contribute to
the magazine and show
my family the work that I
have produced at school.

an
Zaigham kh
CLASS 6A

The reasons why I

wanted to join VP Zine
are because I am very
good at all aspects
of English work
including: spelling,
punctuation and
grammar. I feel that I
have many skills that I
can bring to the team!

,
g

aq
ah Ashf
Ammaar
I really wanted to
join VPZine
because I am go
Class 5E
od at writin

g
and I wanted to
make sure I
am able to maint
ain my high
standards. I thoug
ht that I
might not have be
en successful
because positive
things dont
usually happen
to me. So I feel
incredibly lucky
that I have been
chosen to be pa
rt of the team.

Zain Din
Class 5E

I wanted to join the VPZine team because I

wanted to be a part of helping to produce a
really good magazine. I have an incredibly
good imagination and my ICT skills are of a
high standard too. I knew that I could share
my skills with the team and also improve my
English skills at the same time.
When I realised that I had been accepted,
I was absolutely gobsmacked. However, a
tiny part of me was not surprised; as when I
was asked to write a piece for Mrs Peart and
Miss Akhtar as part of the interview process,
I knew my writing was of a high standard!
How could they not pick me?

Caroline Smith
Class 5E

I was so pleased to be invited to

join VPZine as I had wanted to join
the team for a long time! I knew it
would help to develop my writing
skills and expand my knowledge.
Another reason I wanted to join
the club was so that I could see
my work published in the school
magazine!

Tanjit Dh
esi
Class 6F

a Amin
I had wondered
ool back in Year 5,
sch
the
d
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joi
I
ce
d asked some of
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what being in VPZin

was
and they told me it
the other members
get opportunities to
uld
wo
I
t
tha
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sai
o
school club. They als
would help me to
it
t
tha
d
an
and pupils
interview teachers
y skills.
improve my literac
nity to be involved
a fantastic opportu
be
uld
wo
it
I thought
thrilled that I have
am
I
issues of VPZine.
friends and
in planning future
my
h
portunity to work wit
ers like Mrs
ch
been given this op
tea
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lov
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other children in sch
and Sam.
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some new vocabular
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class. I am very
in
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itin
rds in my wr
u so
able to use these wo
rtunity so thank yo
en given this oppo
happy that Ive be
much VPZine!

The reasons why I wanted

to join VPZine were because
I wanted to improve my
knowledge, my writing skills
and spelling in English. I enjoy
working as part of a team
and look forward to sharing
many qualities with the other
members of VPZine.

ROGI Bajwa
CLASS 5B

Reasons why I wanted to be in

VPZine:
1. I wanted to improve my writing
so I could achieve better levels
in English.
2. It sounds a cool club to be in.
3. Ive always wanted to write in
the school magazine.
4. It is creative and so am I!
5. Hopefully, it will help me with
my SATs tests.
How I felt when I was accepted
as a VPZine publicist
When I was told that I could join
VPZine I was SHOCKED and
at the same time AMAZED! I
couldnt quite believe Id been
accepted! I knew joining would
help my English skills to improve.
I actually felt like I was on cloud
nine!

VPZine Artwork!
Bomb
Tanjit Dhesi
Class 6F

Nazi Sign
Tanjit Dhesi
Class 6F

Big Adventure
Zain Din
Class 5E

4D Cinema
Caroline Smith
Class 5E

Teacher Inter view

Miss Collins, 2C
Miss Collins joined VPA as a teacher in January 2015. She took over
the teaching of Class 3C when Miss Sconce left to go on her travels
around the world. Miss Collins is currently teaching in Class 2C. We
enjoyed interviewing her, even if she does like Justin Biebers music!
Q1) How did you feel when you first taught 3C after Miss Sconce?
A1) It was a scary experience as Id never taught Year
3 before, but at the same time I was excited!
Q2) How do you feel as you are now the lead
teacher for the subject of Geography?
A2) I felt scared, exited and interested in researching new
things and seeing what can be covered through the NICER
Curriculum I cant wait to see where it will all go.
Q3) What is your favourite subject?
A3) I like English as I like reading. I can fully immerse
myself into the text and imagine Im really there!
Q4) What is your favourite country?
A4) Anywhere hot. People are happy when they
are on holiday getting a suntan.
Q5) What is your favourite colour?
A5) My favourite colour is purple as its nice and bright!
Q6) What is your favourite music band or singer?
A6) My favourite singer is Justin Bieber (we all laughed!). Hes back after
a long time off the music scene. Hes older and his songs are better too!
Q7) How did you feel when you first started teaching at VPA?
A7) I felt happy and excited I knew it was a new challenge and I was
coming back to see lots of familiar faces as I did my teacher training here..
Q8) What other career path would you have
followed, if you hadnt become a teacher?
A8) If I hadnt have become a teacher, I think Id
have liked to have been a Social Worker.
Q9) What is your favourite food?
A9) My favourite food is chocolate. I like chocolate so
much that I could substitute my meals for it!
Q10) What made you decide to come to this school to work?
A10) I felt that coming back to Victoria Park would be an
exciting opportunity, especially because of the NICER Creative
Curriculum. There is always something different to take part in.

Questions complied by Tanjit Dhesi and Sanvir Khera Class 6F

10

WHICH PLANE CAME IN TO LAND SAFELY?

LANDING

Fly by next time for

another exciting
edition of
VPZine!
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