It seems that a lot of the shops in the Nottingham City Centre are clothing, especially on Bridlesmith Gate and Clumber Street. I don’t think this is a problem however as they offer a variety of different clothes in different shops, including sports clothes and shoes.

There are also plenty of food and drink shops, which I also don’t think is a problem as it means refreshments are never too far away, and there is a variation from fast food to smoothie bars to restaurants.

Apart from these two categories, there is a very wide variety of shops in the city centre, and there is also not too many of one particular thing.

 The people we interviewed said that there isn’t a whole lot of physical things to do in Nottingham. They believe that there are only a few things such as mini golf and bowling. On the other hand, they said Nottingham was good because there is a variety of shops for all ages, and more forms of entertainment like football, cricket and the Theatre Royal.

Here is a summary of different viewpoints people gave us.

On a Friday morning, the city is just getting started. How do we perceive our city? Here are some views of the city around us. What are your perceptions of the city? Please let us know.

This year we opened the Student Journalism Club as an extra co-curricular activity. We started the year making school papers with different stories such as thinking about how the school has changed, music, film, TV, short stories and more. This has created a great opportunity for us with some of our year being taught how to film properly and put together a documentary, which we used on activity days. We were recently able to interview the head boy, head girl (this will be published in September) and interview the newspaper LeftLion. The blog has opened up lots of opportunities for people who joined Student Journalism. What more could we do? If you have any ideas please contact us through Mr Kelsey

Broadway Cinema

Not only does Broadway have a terrace including a restaurant and bar, but also a cinema showing European films, and lesser known films, unlike Showcase and Cineworld which shows big blockbusters.

However, Broadway are going to go through refurbishment during the summer therefore it will be a bit quiet, however they will still show a film every week and the restaurant will be open, and it is quite popular, especially the outside area.

There are going to be a lot of things on TV and people will come to watch with a drink and mates, making Broadway a social area. Also, there will be DJ’s every weekend to keep everyone occupied. When there are special screenings, there will be mini parties around them to provide entertainment.

Lots of sporting events will be shown there, encouraging many members of the public to pop in for food and drink.

In relation to the wider city. We asked the staff about their views on events and they said they were unsure on whether there is enough in the city centre. He thought that the recent cricket fan zone for the Cricket World Cup in 2019 held in England was good and a success as he saw many kids having a nice time there.

Nottingham Visitor Centre 

This is a really useful place to find out about the city. The staff working at the Visitor Centre talked to us about things to do over the summer: Riverside festival, splendour festival, open-air theatre & brass bands, cricket T20 

We asked; Are there any activities running over the summer holidays? 

Plenty – even when there are no special events on, there are always things that are always there, such as Wollaton Park, visiting the castle and other museums. 

Also we asked could there be more activities available during the summer holiday? 

 Not for the visitor centre to say. Public would like to see more child-friendly activities, such as soft play areas like the one that used to be in Broad marsh. 

Rough Trade

Rough Trade is a place where young people can go out. It is mostly intended for under 16s. They have something going on most days. Downstairs they sell lots of stuff such as books and music records.

The main things that they have are: live music, screenings, book talks and DJs coming in. mostly, their events are in the evening and they believe that either they could be doing more in the day in terms of events.

The picture below is a schedule for their events. As you can see, Fridays and Saturdays are packed with an event every week. A variety of music genres are played and they have lots of people who come in. The top floor is where everything happens and there is a dancefloor there.

What do the public think? We sent out our journalism team to find out.

Most people do agree that there are a fair amount of activities going on this summer, however it was clear that the public was neutral on the variety of activities.

Most people interviewed agreed that there was enough to do in the summer, like movies and the beach put in the old market square for example. And most people wanted more of a variety of activities.

There was a large request for more family, teen and children events and activities. Several members of the public commented they would have liked if there were more music events (concerts), sports (in the market square), discounts on places (cinema, ice rink, etc.) and more free events (festivals). Although several mentioned there were a lot of activities in Nottingham in the summer, they admitted they rarely went to any of those as they were not advertised well enough or they just didn’t interest them.

There was a clear trend on parents wanting more summer activities for the younger children (toddlers and infants) more things for them, like ball pits or potentially soft areas.

Waterstones

Waterstones is a book shop popular to many kids and adults including all kinds of books to suit all kinds of people. Their books include best-sellers, non-fiction, fiction and kids’ books ranging from 3 upwards.

Waterstones provide what they believe are books that are essential for summer, including kids’ books and books only suitable to elders.

Also, when there is an author willing to spend their day at Waterstones, there is an author day where the public can get a book and meet the author, as well as the author signing it. The author could be a local one, such as a teacher who has written a book for primary school kids, or a famous author known worldwide with a book suitable for others.

Other than that, Waterstones will generally workshops and events over the summer holiday period.

Nottingham Contemporary Art Exhibition

Art is generally defined as a beautiful way of evoking some form of emotion in an audience. It ranges from the great classical masterpieces of Monet and Manet, to the intricate ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, to the modern art of Barnet Newman. Throughout time, art has evolved, from the simple cave paintings of the stone age to the even simpler modern art of those such as Matthew Barney.

At the contemporary art exhibition, one thing that was conspicuous by its absence was colour painting. There were designs and patterns galore; smoke and light effects everywhere; and a general dark air to add to the sinister aspect of the museum.

One thing young people could get involved with is the art collective. The gallery has been running a collective for 15 to 25 year olds for ten years, since its foundation. This is a group that gets together to make and critique contemporary and modern art. The exhibition has advertised it as a simple, un-coordinated way for younger people to have fun.

The gallery does not confine itself to art, either; many nights, there are films showing. The films are specifically chosen to show the problems with our era; one of the films that has been shown before is the film version of George Orwell’s 1984.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvLHsDRUupdhy1E3mRP2zHg

On Wednesday 12^th June

A workshop was held by artist Fiona Campbell to work with the Year 9 students to create a three-dimensional sculpture using wire and recycled materials. It was Fiona’s first visit to Nottingham High School however, she has following in the footsteps of a range of other sculptors who have delivered workshops for us in previous years. Fiona’s work was heavily based on using and producing from natural and recyclable materials, she is heavily passionate about nature and protecting our planet.

The Year 9 students were in art all day creating their sculptures – they were based on insects and creatures; however, the activity was independent, and the student’s imaginations could go wild. They were first given time to do some planning and sketching of their own, unique creature.

They then proceeded to make an outline and body of their creature from wire and other different resources, like bottle caps for example. Fiona later showed them how they could use different recycled materials to add onto their creature by either wiring beads and buttons on or heating plastic at a low temperature, (this was optional however, you could also have used your own method ) to mold onto the wire frame.

Quotes from the day:

“Oh, it was actually quite fun, the best bit was when we saw all the different sculptures we’d created at the end and seeing what everyone had produced.” Luis Astill

“I really enjoyed using all the different materials and having fun with my friends.” Luca Eduardo

“It was interesting to see how all the things we normally throw away into to the bin to be used to create a unique sculpture.” Darcie Jonsson

 Interview with Arrandeep of year 9.

The trip was based in a ski resort in America, California, Mammoth Mountain.

 He ‘thoroughly enjoyed the trip as help was provided and the staff contributed well to improve our skiing.’ He claimed that he entered the ‘harder runs, which consisted of more obstacles’. The more experienced you are at skiing the harder run you go for.

He also said that the trip may be enhanced by having more supervision throughout the run. Also another improvement could be for the more experienced pupils; the advanced runs could have been made harder.

 Also the fact that there was ‘extra-curriculum’ activities such as watching a professional basketball game made it very enjoyable. They went round San Francisco looking at the sights available whilst having a fun time. Another extra-curriculum activity was seeing Alkatraz and viewing all the history.

 He would recommend to other pupils wanting to go on the ski trip and giving it a go as trips are about fun improving and ultimately that is exactly what he did.

There are so many items and exhibitions happening here at school that most of us had no idea about. On 20^th June this year, there will be an explosion of art and decorations in the Art and DT block, with exhibits from cardboard art to intricate multi-layered, multi-textured paintings and collages. As usual, there is also a Year Seven mural, the theme of which this year is nature and birds. Throughout the Art department, birds and beats mix with Spartan warriors and amphorae to create an atmosphere of diverse beauty and wonder. Last year’s Year 12, Year 10 and Year 9 had work on display (as well as the Year Seven Mural). Amazing art including intricate eyes, skilful skulls and magnificent murals adorn the walls and windowsills, with beautiful works catching the eye from every direction. Something in particular that stood out were the clay models, stood inconspicuously yet beautifully on a windowsill. Some of the highlights of this show, in our opinions, include cardboard 3D Spartan warriors a screaming boy, and a painted skull. A wonderful exhibition. Get yourself down there for a look!