THERE was great excitement among the pupils when the chance of our involvement in the Schools Shakespeare Festival came up and a large proportion of the year enthusiastically signed up to be part of it.
We were all made well aware of the extra hours we would all have to put in after school and at weekends for rehearsals, but this didn't seem to discourage anyone, so soon enough we were all allocated parts and given scripts.
My part was Katherine.
Rehearsals started and we were soon picking up the pace, despite the tricky Middle English language. However, we were soon speaking it fluently with the help of our extremely patient director, Mrs J Rodgers, who also teaches Drama and English.
On the 24th of September, two actors came from a company called Dramarama on behalf of the Royal Shakespeare Company, for a morning's workshop with the cast. Their objective seemed to be to make us all look silly in front of each other to stop us being shy or embarrassed about acting together. It was a great laugh and a good ice-breaker for the more self- conscious ones among us.
We also did some simple acting skills and character development work, which was interesting and also quite fun.
The weeks of rehearsal slipped by and before we knew it, we were rehearsing at The Lawrence Batley Theatre with one of the other schools involved.
As we arrived that night for the performance, there was a nervous excitement in our dressing room, but as we all got into costume, the excitement soon took over. Before I knew it, I was watching from the wings as the opening scene took place.
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Jeans cash
ON Friday October 3, the whole school from Kindergarten to Year 11 put their jeans on for the day and raised £375.
The funds raised have been donated to The Haemophilia Society, who care for people with bleeding disorders.
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School friends - By Harriet Davey, Year 2
MY favourite subject is History. My best friends are Katy, Rob, Oliver, Edward, Jacob, Ella and all the other girls.
My class is 2H. We have swimming lessons and I like it. The school is called Huddersfield Grammar School.
I like my school very much. My teacher is called Mrs Whittell. My favourite lesson is the mental arithmetic test.
I LIKE my teacher. I have got four friends. I like it when my friends play with me.
My favourite history is about Henry VIII. I like doing reading.
I enjoy Brazilian Football on Thursday, Monday and Tuesday. I play sweeper.
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Spiky visitors
CHILDREN in Kindergarten were visited by two baby hedgehogs from The Hedgehog Care Sanctuary, which is a two-centre operation based in Bingley and Cleckheaton.
Sue Garforth and Denise Dine brought the hedgehogs in and talked about the care they receive at the sanctuary.
Samuel Croft said: "We heard about what they like to eat and saw them roll into a spiky ball when their tummies were tickled."
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Tennis trials
EIMON Heywood in Year 6 has been invited by Mark Cox of the Lawn Tennis Association to the National (Futures) Tennis Centre at Bisham Abbey for trails.
Eimon attended trials at Leeds Met and caught the eye of the coaches.
"I have worked very hard for this achievement by playing eight hours a week. I feel very pleased with myself and I am excited by this event.
"I have already Captained Yorkshire and am ranked No1 at the under-11 age group."
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Our world in poetry
THE Year 7 pupils were asked to write a poem about their perception of the word national for National Poetry Day. Here is the work of Amy Foulds & Velette Westin- Pearson (pictured).
Our World, One Nation
Our world, one nation,
Wars and fights going on,
People getting killed,
Our world, one nation.
Our world, one nation,
How can we make it stop?
We must bring peace and harmony,
Our world, one nation.
Our world, our nation,
What does it mean?
The place that we live, the nationality, the language we speak?
Our world, one nation.
Our world, one nation.
Together we are strong.
No more wars or fighting,
Our world, one nation!
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Forensic check
THIS team of four Year 8 Huddersfield Grammar School students took part in the 2003 Salters' Festival of Chemistry at Leeds University.
The team became "forensic chemists" for the day and were given the tasks of solving the mystery of the missing necklace at Inkworth Manor and recovering diamonds that had been smuggled by pirates.
"We had a great day, it was really good fun! We did different chemical experiments to match up the results with the clues. It was hard but we all worked together as a team," said Calum Graley, of Year 8.
Calum Graley, Richard Jackson, Sam Marshall and Jack Willans won first prize at the Festival in the set task category as well as individual prizes and £100 for the school, which was used to purchase a DVD player.
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It's fun in France - By Annise Hirst, Year 8
DURING half term, we students from Year 8 were taken to France so we could practise our language skills and learn more about French culture.
This was both an educational and fun trip, which included visits to a goat farm, St Malo and Mont St Michel.
This is a beautiful place and we were given enough time to look around the abbey.
On one of our days in France, we had to buy our lunch from the market and then prepare it back at the hotel.
We worked in groups and our efforts were judged by the hotel chef, who chose the winning group.
He said it was very hard to judge because he enjoyed them all!
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Team win at netball
HUDDERSFIELD Grammar School were the overall winners in a "round robin" netball tournament.
The team played six consecutive 10 minute games in order to obtain as many points as possible and scored 26 points.
Holmfirth was a very close second with 25 points.
The team members were Amy Lindley, Lexie Ward, Missy Shutt-Vine, Laura Walmsley, Alicia Haren, Jody Sykes, Ashley Wilson, Natalie Brown and reserve Collette Brydon.
