Artograffi #149
Meeting Mr Andriot our new Headmaster
We were delighted to interview Mr Andriot, the new head teacher at JCSC. He was a lot of fun to talk to, and we really enjoyed asking him about the school, about Amble, and about himself.
Eden, Issy and Indie with Mr Andriot
Have you worked in a school for a long time? I’ve been a teacher since 1997. I was head of school at Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham and Principal at Excelsior Academy in Newcastle.
What were your favourite subjects at school? English, French and Latin.
What was your dream when you were younger? When I was 5 I wanted to be either Dr Who or a bus driver! When I was 15 I wanted to be an RAF fighter pilot, because of the film Top Gun. Then I wanted to be an archaeologist because of the Indiana Jones films! I decided to become a teacher when I was 22 after running youth clubs in the summer holidays. I realised I liked working with kids.
What would you change about JCSC? Not so much emphasis on exams. The government got rid of coursework but I think it’s a fairer way for young people. I wasn’t particularly good at exams. So I would have coursework as well as exams.
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do as a teacher? To permanently exclude someone. No teacher signs up for that. But sometimes a young person does something that makes exclusion have to happen.
Why are we having a new school (rather than just fix the old one)? I’ve come in about half way through this process. From what I can see we do need a new building. Amble is probably the last place in Northumberland to get a new school. I don’t think there’s anything dangerous, but it is very old. It’s one of the last schools to be built. It’s amazing the difference a new building makes to your education. I’m looking forward to getting new dining space, new hall, proper projection systems, nice sports facilities and learning walls in the classrooms.
If a student had a question or suggestion, how would they give it to you and how would you answer it? Come and speak to me at lunch (read the room though, in case I’m already talking to someone). The student council is the most important group. Take your ideas to them and they meet with the senior team. That’s an example of us listening to students.
Have you had a chance to see much of Amble? What do you think about it so far?
I don’t live in Amble, I live in Newcastle, but I’ve been to Amble lots of times. My wife’s auntie lives here. I am scared of the sea but I like to look at it. I like the pods, they remind me of Whitstable in Kent near where I’m from originally.
Which Harry Potter character would you be? I would be Prof Lupin who turns into a werewolf in The Prisoner of Azkaban.
We heard you like sharks – what’s your favourite? My fave is the Great White. Sharks are my specialist subject. When I was 5 my Dad showed me Jaws. I’ve been terrified and fascinated by sharks ever since. There aren’t many sharks off the British coast but we do have the Porbeagle which is a common shark and it looks a bit like a Great White, but not as big.
TikTok or FB? Neither, I don’t like social media.
Taylor Swift or Harry Styles? Harry.
Cats or dogs? Dogs.
Pizza or burger? Both!
By Eden, Indie and Issy
The Climate Clock: our time is running out
Like the time left in this year, the time on New York’s Climate Clock is running out. For those who don’t know, the Climate Clock shows how long it is estimated to take before the planet reaches 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, which is when the carbon dioxide emission budget runs out.
The term carbon budget is used to show how much CO2 can be emitted on a global scale before the temperature raised by global warming becomes 1.5°C. When reached, the likelihood for catastrophic natural disasters – disasters on a similar scale to the recent hurricane Milton for example – will be drastically increased, and it would also be more difficult to reverse the effects of global warming.
The clock is updated every year to show how long it is estimated to take for the carbon budget to be depleted. It is made to reflect the carbon dioxide emissions from the previous year and how long we will have before, at that rate, we will deplete the carbon budget. At the time I wrote this sentence, the clock read 4 years, 273 days and 23 minutes.
My advice on how to help combat climate change is: try to avoid single use plastics, try to walk or at least take public transport instead of a car if you can, and so on.
One other thing I urge you to do, if you like to buy a lot of clothes from fast fashion companies such as Shein or Temu, is to immediately stop. Fast fashion is awful for many reasons – not only does it harm the environment, but companies like that have appalling working conditions for their workers who don’t get a living wage.
In the future I hope to write a more detailed article on this topic so you know the negative effects that these companies have on the environment, and the other issues that they have. Trust me, there’s a lot.
Big companies are much more to blame for climate change than the average person. We should all do what we can, but there is only so much one person can do. To help, we desperately need the big corporations to also care about the environment instead of just Greenwashing.
Greenwashing is when a company misleads their customers into thinking that they’re better for the environment or have better impacts on the environment than they actually do. It makes people feel like the company is more ethical than they really are.
by Grace
Were toys in the past better than now?
Etch a Sketch
Everyone wants the newest iphone or the most expensive beauty product. But what did children want for Christmas in the past? We asked some older people about some of the toys that they remember.
1. Screwball Scramble. This was from the 1980s. You have to get a ball from one side to the other in a time limit.
2. Space hopper. Bouncy fun. These first came out in 1969 and are still going today.
3. Cabbage Patch Dolls. There was a scary one called Snacktime in 1996. This doll would chew food and poop it out into a bag. Unfortunately it also ate children’s fingers and hair, so it was discontinued.
4. Geo Safari. This was mint. You had to answer questions about the world and animals. This was in the days before iPhones.
5. Etch a Sketch. This was a drawing game in the days before computers. Everyone wanted one. It looks like it was very hard to draw on it. By Issy
Hand made presents for Christmas
Money can be tight around Christmas times, so here are some awesome ideas from Artograffi. Why don’t you think about making some creative crafts? We have two amazingly talented crafters on our team so we asked them for ideas.
Indie crochets “I crochet lots of different things such as stuffed animals, bags, headbands and scrunchies. Some things take me a few minutes and others take hours.”
Depop- indiescrazycrochets
What you need to make these is yarn or wool, crochet hook and scissors. Also if you need pattens you can find them on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram. I have been doing this for a year and taught myself by watching YouTube videos.
Eden makes jewellery such as bracelets, phone charms, necklaces and earrings. “I have been doing this for a year now. Bracelets take ten minutes, earings take five minutes, necklaces take ten minutes and phone charms usually take fifteen minutes.”
Tiktok Shop- Eden’s Jewellery
What you need to make jewellery is beads (any type of beads) string, chain, pendants, earring hooks and jump rings.
