New Birmingham Library

The Library of Birmingham, which houses a collection of one million books has now opened. The library has more than 200 public access computers, theatres, an exhibition gallery and music rooms. It was officially opened by Mala-la Yousafzai. The library is a cultural centre drawing visitors from all over the world and a second home for the city’s diverse communities. It is designed to be highly accessible to all - everyone will feel welcome and comfortable. There is a community hub, reaching out to all parts of the city in an exchange of knowledge and ideas . . . a place to interact, a place to learn, study and a place to meet and take part in activities and events for families, businesses, groups and individuals of all ages. There is an attractive reading area for ages 2-8 and younger. For Christmas you can take your kids for a

Christmas treat to see carol singers go ice skating. The library has more than 200 public computers, theatres, mu-

sic rooms and an exhibition gallery.

Opening Hours Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm Saturday 9am - 5pm Sunday 11am - 4pm

The Oval Express

The Oval Celebrates Christmas

Children browse the handmade gifts for sale.

December 2013

The Oval Primary School held an ex-

traordinary Christmas fair on Friday

6th December 2013! Everyone had a

fabulous time, one parent commented

“I really enjoyed visiting fair, it was a

success and my child loved it”. At the

fair, there were raffles, prizes to be

won, fun games such as ‘hook a

duck’ and spin the wheel. Also there

were plenty more Christmas themed

games and prizes.to be won. There

were many activities including

‘Santa’s Grotto’, this was a chance

for children to meet Father Christmas

and tell him what presents they would

like for Christmas. These lucky chil-

dren got a present and a picture with

Father Christmas.

To see pictures and read an interview

with Father Christmas

Continue reading on page 9

Philippines Appeal.

You might of heard about the terri-

ble ‘Typhoon Huiyan’ in the Phil-

ippines. Everyone at the oval has

been working together to help raise

money for the appeal. Families

have been ripped apart, houses are

beyond repair and people even lost

their lives!

On Friday 22nd November each

class at The Oval Primary made

something to sell to help raise

money for the appeal. Cakes were

made in their masses, year 5 made

some beautiful bracelets to sell to

children and parents and year 6

had a jumble sale and an amazing

auction. In total we managed to

raise an astounding £626.43. We

hope that this will contribute to

help all the people of the Philip-

pines start to rebuild their lives and

homes.

A massive thank you to all who do-

nated money!!

One man goes to see what he can sal-

vage from his home.

Welcome to the latest edition of The

Oval Express. We have a whole new

team working with us this year. They are

really enjoying creating new features for

our newspaper. Inside this issue you will

find, film reviews, sports, competitions

and much more.

Meet our team

Journalists

Katie Green

Seynab Abdulahi

Rahmarnie Hussain

Riyadh Kibria

Ellie– Mae Pope

Yasmine Perks

Tyreiss Pedley

Teigan Walker

Esha Hussian

Photographers

Hashim Kham

Chelsea Keegan

Narges El-Kilani

Leah Osborne

George Feenan

Phoebe Pool

Sports Editors

Liam Brierley

Lewis Whittick

Film Reviews

Haniah Rahman

Avish Ali

Music Reviews

Maisie Biddle

Shannon Mattiello

Puzzle Masters

Faisal Hussain

Halima Amin

Ibrahim Sharif

Sabaa Hussain

Advertisements

Isa Hussian

Teigan Pedley

Debra Oyedijo

Keiron Lees

Comic Strip

Artists

Arsh Ahmed

Yousaf Mohammed

Hayden Parkinson

Competitions

Amum Ramzan

Hamza Afsar

Game Reviews

Amir Khan

Sohail Sattar

Jokers

Maryam Khan

Bobby Ward

Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market

Birmingham's Frankfurt Christmas Market has become a huge favorite with both residents and visitors

to the city from all over the UK and Europe. It is now the largest outdoor Christmas Market in the

country.

Having run for the last 12 years, the Frankfurt Christmas Market is now the centerpiece of the city’s

annual Christmas events calendar.

Traditional stalls offer the usual array of beautiful handmade toys, Christmas decorations, original jew-

elry and craft goods as well as a carousel to keep younger visitors entertained.

Victoria Square, New Street, Centenary Square & Chamberlain Square

from 14th November – 22 December

Open 10am – 9pm

Christmas

Edition

50p

Christmas Pudding Recipe Cook up a festive treat this Christmas.

Don’t forget the silver coin.

Preparation: overnight cooking: over 2 hours Serves: 6

Ingredients:

350gmixed dried fruit)

100g pitted ready-to-eat prunes

100g dark muscovado sugar

4 tbsp dark rum

100ml stout

100gchopped walnuts

100g blanched almonds

100g ground almonds

Method:

1. Combine the mixed fruit, prunes, muscovado sugar, rum and stout in a mixing bowl. Stir well

to mix, cover and leave for 24 hours to soak.

2. After 24 hours, mix the walnuts, almonds, ground almonds, breadcrumbs, flour, butter, spic-

es, cherries and eggs along with the soaked fruit mixture in a large mixing bowl, making sure

you include all the soaking liquor from the soaked fruit. Mix well until completely combined

(let all the members of the family have a stir and make a wish).

3. Cover with cling film and leave to stand in a cool place for 24 hours.

4. After 24 hours, grease a 1.2 litre/2 pint pudding basin with butter. Cut a circle of baking

paper and place into the bottom of the pudding basin and then grease it with a little more

butter. Pack the pudding mixture into the pudding basin, pressing as you add it. Fold a pleat

into the middle of a large piece of baking paper and place over the pudding. Cover with a

large piece of pleated foil, ensuring the pleats are on top of one another. Secure tightly

with kitchen string tied under the lip of the pudding basin.

5. Place an upturned saucer into a large saucepan one-quarter full of water. Fold a long piece

of foil into quarters lengthways to create a long strip and place the pudding basin in the

middle of the strip. Bring the sides of the strip up the sides of the pudding basin and lower

into the saucepan. Ensure the water in the saucepan comes one-third of the way up the side

of the pudding basin, but nowhere near the top of the basin. Leave the ends of the foil strip

hanging over the side to make it easy to remove the pudding later.

6. Bring the water to the boil and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer gently for

5-6 hours, topping up the water level as necessary throughout cooking (do not allow the pan to

dry out). Once the pudding is cooked, remove from the pan and set aside to cool. The pudding

can be stored for up to two years in a cool, dry place. To serve, reheat the pudding by steaming

again (in the same way) for two hours, or until hot all the way through. Alternatively, remove

the foil and reheat in the microwave.

100g fresh white breadcrumbs

50g plain flour

100g frozen butter, grated, plus extra

for greasing

½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. mixed spice

Film, Music and Game Reviews

Our team of film, music and game experts have watched, listened and played

all the new releases and reviewed them just in time for Christmas.

Need for speed rivals This is it; the cars have start-

ed their engines for YOU to

speed down the road. In Need

for speed rivals you have a

brand new scoring system it

then allows you to reach for

higher achievements, the

more risk you take the faster

you gain progress, but watch

out, for the cops are back in

town, hundreds of speed

points are at stake. Will you

achieve hero and stay on that,

or go from hero to zero?

There are a variety of cars to

choose from, super cars and

sports cars, choose which

suits you best, good luck.

7/10

Gru is no longer a villain! He is

now a loving father but his girls

want a mum. His daughter’s birth-

day party is a perfect opportunity

for him to find love. Meanwhile the

secret agency wants him to go on a

secret mission to save the minions.

I would recommend this film to all

ages. It is so hilarious even mums

and dads will love it too. We gave

The Smurfs team up with their

human friends to rescue Smurfette,

who has been kidnapped by the

wicked wizard Gargamel since, she

knows a secret spell that can turn

the evil wizards newest creation –

the Naughties- into real Smurfs.

One Direction album Midnight

Memories sold237,000 copies to

become the fastest-selling album

this year. Midnight Memories is

set to top the album chart for a

second week running.

The Best Song Ever

This song is actually about their

“best song ever” which is this

one. We don’t agree, although

we like it there are better songs

on the album.

Story Of My Life

We love this song, it’s our fa-

vourite on the whole album.

Diana

Diana is a brilliant, success song

and has already travelled all

around the world, this is one of

my favourites on the album .

This is a great way to end their

3rd year and to kick off their 4th

year and hopefully they will re-

lease a new album to have anoth-

er successful year .

School News

Eco at the

Oval! At the Oval we have worked extremely hard on

making our school more environmentally friend-ly, in year 6; the past few years we have done

something called ‘the John Muir award’. And we

have always achieved this successfully, so we thought we’d do it again.

Our school have been donated lots of wood, crates, bushes etc… So we can make our amaz-

ing bug hotels and hedgerows, bird feeders, bird

houses and lots, lots more to make our back

grass eco area even more amazing than it was

before!

Our allotment is also very eco-friendly also where we grow our delicious food.

John Muir Award

As part of their Topic work, the YR6 pupils

completed the John Muir Award, which is an

environmental award that encourages people

to connect, enjoy and care for the wild place.

Once again our students have successfully

completed the award at the discovery level

and will receive their certificates early next

year.

I would like to say a big thank you to both

the pupils and teachers for the time and effort

that they have put into their Topic work this

term.

This fantastic work includes planting trees,

which were given to school by the woodlands

trust, to create a hedgerow on the back grass.

Also constructing mini bug hotels to provide a

natural habitat for mini beasts and making fat

balls to provide winter food for any flying

visitors.

Congratulations year 6.

You should all be very proud.

Miss O’Grady

Journalists from our school were lucky enough to interview Scott Le Crass who is currently

performing in “A Christmas Carol” at The Rep in Birmingham.

1, Was it your it your dream to be an actor? I wanted to become actor from a very young age and

started by being part of my school productions. I really enjoyed performing and so began drama

groups outside of school where I appeared in various productions. I felt at home in theatre and

couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.

2, What was is like acting as Ebenezer Scrooge? It was a scary, but a very exciting experience. It is

such a wonderful character who goes on a massive emotional journey which was interesting to play.

3, How do you remember all you lines, do you ever forget them? I practice a small section by myself

and when I know it move onto the next part. Another way is also to move around as you are learning

lines or running lines with someone else.

4, Do you ever get stage fright acting in front a large audience? Yes, but I use the nerves to help my

performance and don't let them get the better of me.

5, What does a producer of a production have to do? A producer is responsible for various things.

One of the mains aspects is managing the financial side of the project. They also book lots of things

like rehearsal space, transport or photographers. They also handle some of the press and marketing.

6, What's the best part of being on stage? Playing somebody else is a great feeling, but also carrying

out a performance that you feel happy with. Another wonderful part is receiving applause from an

audience - it's an incredible feeling!

7, Who inspired you to become an actor/ producer? My drama teacher and actors I saw in plays I had

watched when I was growing up. They were my inspiration.

Scott Le Crass

Assistant Director for 'A Christmas Carol' (now showing at The

Birmingham Repertory Theatre)

Jokes Corner

How can a

snowman lose

weight?

He waits until it

gets warmer.

What never eats at Christmas?

A Turkey, it’s usually stuffed.

Knock knock

Who’s there?

Doughnut

Doughnut who?

Doughnut open till Christmas day

KS2 Competition Make up your own poem all about Christmas! You could win a fabulous prize if your

poem wins. You can choose any style poem, include pictures and art.

Read our poem and be inspired!

It falls like confetti,

It makes you shiver from toe to head

It sticks to you like glue so stay in bed.

It makes you slip and slide, it pushes you around

It rolls to make a snow man

Christmas is coming to town.

Abigail Fearby 6M

KS1 Colouring Competition

Name:

Class:

Name:

Class:

Sports Football News Manchester City produced a

ruthless performance to

hammer Tottenham Hotspur

6 -0 and maintain their 100

per cent record at the White

Hart Lane stadium in the

premier league this season.

ruthless city destroyed

Spurs.

Sports clubs

coming to The Oval

Primary School in

January 2014

Years 5 & 6

Dodge ball

Years 4 & 3

Freestyle Dance

Year 2

Body Combat

Formula 1 Sebastian Vettel rounded off his

supreme 2013 season by equal-

ling two of

Formula 1s most prestigious win-

ing records with his ninth victory

in a row and thirteenth of the year

in a red bull 1-2 at the Brazilian

GP..

Local News

This school newspaper has been

Updated and upgraded. With

loads of fun packed

games, activities and the latest

news.

Lara Clarke bakes an almost

Life size cake.

A Lady from Birmingham who only started

cooking 2 years ago won a cooking competi-

tion for making a life size cake of Jack Spar-

row. This astonishing cake took 90 hours to

make.

On Saturday 16th November, Winter Skate, Birmingham’s new outdoor ice rink arrived in the

city for the festive season. The Olympic sized ice rink will take pride of place in Centenary

Square.

Nelson Mandela

Born: 1918

Imprisoned:1962 - 1990

President: 1994– 1999

Died: 5th December 2013

In 1990, South Africa's new

President FW de Klerk set Nel-

son Mandela free. Mandela and

de Klerk agreed: no more

fighting. Mandela called on all

South Africans to work together

in peace.

In the 1994 elections, all black

people in South Africa were able

to vote for the first time. The

ANC won the election. A new

government took over. In May

1994, Nelson Mandela became

South Africa's first black presi-

dent.. Nelson Mandela retired as Pres-

ident in 1999. From 2004, he

gave up politics, to enjoy a quiet

life with his family.

Nelson Mandela: an inspiration

for people all over the world.

All his life he tried to make a

difference in South Africa.

When Nelson Mandala was

young there was an apartheid

in South Africa which meant

that black people were treated

like second class citizens and

weren’t allowed to do many

things white people could.

Nelson Mandela argued with

the Government about apart-

heid and was given a life sen-

tence and went to prison for 27

years. After he left prison, he

worked to achieve human

rights and a better future for

everyone in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela was the first

black President of South Africa.

Rolihlahla Mandela was born

on 18 July 1918. He was later

given the name Nelson by a

teacher at school.

He was born in the Transkei,

part of South Africa. The Trans-

kei has mountains, valleys and

grasslands called savannahs.

Mandela's family had chosen a

wife for him. But he did not

want an arranged marriage. So

he left for the city of Johannes-

burg. He went on with his stud-

ies, and became a lawyer in

1942.

The Christmas Fayre

Katie meets Father Christmas! This fair featured many phe-

nomenal and fantastic

things that children loved,

such as raffles, tombola ,

cakes and crafts made by

each year group. There was

also festive food being sold

from our school kitchen,

parents, staff and children

enjoyed tucking into deli-

cious turkey baps and mince

pies.

Everyone believed this

Christmas fair was a big

success and would like to

see more of these tremen-

dous activities and games in

future fairs and special

school occasions!

I also had the privilege of meet-

ing and interviewing Father

Christmas! He commented “You

have got a lovely school and all

the children I have met today

have been so well behaved and

polite. Everyone has looked af-

ter me and I’ve even been given

some mince pies.” He hopes

that everyone will be is on the

good list this year!

Father Christmas gave us a lit-

tle insight into life at the North

Pole, he told us all about Mrs

Clause his wonderful wife “She

works very hard in the elf facto-

ry making sure that all the toys

are made and wrapped up by

Christmas eve, she also makes a

mean mince pie and looks after

my beloved reindeer.” Father Christmas also said, “We

are all very lucky to get so many

presents at Christmas, there are

over 4000 elves working away as

we speak to ensure that every

child gets at least one present

from their list. I love my job as I

get to see children’s smiles grow

on Christmas morning as they are

opening their presents.