Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches

Introduction

An all-girls boarding academy for witches located in Great Britain with a select enrolment of 60 students. The academy is stood at the top of a high mountain surrounded by a pine forest.

The Winter Term began in September, continuing until January, and the Summer Term began in March, ending in July.

School Uniform

Winter

Black gymslip, black stockings, black hob nailed boots, grey shirt, grey and black tie, coloured sash tied round the gymslip (a different colour for each house) and school badge (black cat sitting on a yellow moon).

Summer 

Black and grey checked summer dress and grey ankle socks.

However, the summer dress was redesigned during Mildred's second year at the academy after Miss Hardbroom managed to persuade Miss Cackle that black and grey checks were too frivolous for the students.

Plain black summer dress

Special Occasions

Long black robes worn with a tall pointed black hat. 

Sports 

Grey aertex shirt, black culottes, grey socks and black plimsolls.


Swimming costumes

Old-fashioned Victorian bathing-costume, in black and grey stripes, with elbow-length sleeves and knee-length legs. The school badge, depicting a black

cat on a yellow moon, was embroidered across the chest, and to crown this outfit was a close-fitting black swimming-hat.

Nightwear

Black and grey striped pyjamas

Presentation

All first year students are presented with their own black cat, a broomstick and a leather bound copy of The Popular Book of Spells.

Student Bedrooms

Standard furnishings include: a wardrobe, an iron bedstead, a table, a chair, slit windows and an embroidered quotation on the wall.

Sample Student Register

BLACKWOOD, Griselda

CROW, Clarice

FEVERFEW, Fenella

GOODCHARM, Harriett

HALLOW, Ethel

HALLOW, Sybil

HUBBLE, Mildred

MOONSHINE, Maud

NEWT, Gloria

NIGHTSHADE, Enid

PADDOCK, Drusilla

RAVEN, Dawn

Members of Staff

Miss Cackle - Headmistress

Miss Hardbroom - Deputy Headmistress, Form Mistress, Potions Teacher

Miss Bat - Chanting Teacher

Miss Drill - Gym Teacher

Miss Mould - Art Teacher

Miss Tapioca - Cook

School Rules

Obey The Witches Code.

Lessons

Potions

Broomstick Flying

Display Formation

Art

Gym

Compulsory

End of Year Exams

Third Year Major Project

Qualifications

Higher Witches Certificate

School Song

Onward, ever striving onwards,

Proudly on our brooms we fly

Straight and true above the treetops,

Shadows on the moonlit sky.

Ne'er a day will pass before us

When  we have not tried our best,

Kept our cauldrons bubbling nicely,

Cast our charms and spells with zest.

Full of joy we mix our potions, 

Working by each others side.

When our days at school are over

Let us think of them with pride.

Distinguished Guests

Egbert Hellibore – Chief Magician

Algernon Rowan-Webb – Magician

2021 update: 

According to the Grand High Witch, "‘There isn’t actually any rule concerning which sort of animal is allowed on a broom. It could be anything at all, even an elephant, except for its size! It’s just become a tradition that most schools have cats because they are small and easy to care for – and there’s nothing in any rule-book stating that they have to be black cats. It’s just turned out that way over the years because black ones are less conspicuous for night flying."

Bat-nav: A specially trained long-eared bat. You say the name of a town or village into a special device clipped to its ear, which translates it into sonar squeaks, and the bat just takes you there like magic. They’re specially trained to fly whenever you give them instructions, whatever hour of the day. Bat-navs are not allowed at Cackle's Academy.

All information were derived from The Worst Witch series written by Jill Murphy.

Jessica Fink-Nottle

Mademoiselle Fink-Nottle is a spinster, a minor aristocrat and a member of the idle rich.

Based primarily in London and in Manhatten, she dwells in Art Deco style residences, furnished with full-blown bourgeois decadence, and is served by her well-informed and talented Lady-in-Waiting, Regina Jeeves.

Her early education took place at Waterfield Preparatory School in Bramley-on-Sea. Further education took place at Eton Girls Boarding School in Windsor and at Christ Church College in Oxford. She also matriculated at a private Swiss finishing school but never graduated.

Her interests include smoking, drinking and piano playing.

Sibling: Augustus Fink-Nottle.

Acquaintances include:
~ Hilda Glossop - cousin-in-law
~ Harriet Winship - local Conservative candidate
~ Georgina Sipperly - author
~ Claudia Pirbright - old school friend

Previously betrothed to:
~ Frederick Craye
~ Paul Stoker
~ Robert Wickham


* Inspired by the Jeeves and Wooster stories written by P.G. Wodehouse * 

Pretentious/Annoying Things I Would Never Do

~ Waltz into Starbucks and order a "half-caf, double tall, easy hazel nut, non-fat, no foam, with whip, extra hot latte" (FRIENDS S3:E5)

~ Drive a maroon-coloured BMW or a minty-green-coloured Mercedes Benz.

~ Overly fixate on conceiving a child of a specific gender regardless of how many attempts it takes.

~ Purchase a hugely expensive house that I hated, knock it down, and build a different one.

~ Complain about free stuff.

~ Convert to Christianity just so I can get married in a church.

~ Jump on the Apple Mac, iPhone or iPad bandwagon.

~ Claim to be a vegetarian and still eat chicken.

~ Send out smug and boastful holiday photo cards.

~ Drink directly from a milk carton whilst waiting for a bus.

~ Drink condensed milk straight out of the tin whilst sitting on the tube.

~ Read a kindle book whilst walking down the street.

~ Own a very poky apartment and still insist on hiring a live-in foreign domestic helper in order to keep up with the Jones'.

Jeeves’s Hangover Cure

~ 1 x raw egg yolk

~ 40ml brandy

~ 40ml clam juice

~ A few drops of Worcestershire sauce

~ A pinch of cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients together. Serve in a short glass tumbler. Drink in one gulp.

(Worcestershire sauce for colour; raw egg for nutrition and red pepper for bite).

Jeeves claims that this is a little preparation of his own invention and gentlemen who tried it have found it extremely invigorating after a late night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqvddpX1uYA

The Pillow Book

~ Frosted stiff by ice, my writing brush cannot begin to draw you a picture of my feelings.


~ Though it flows not, continue to write; your pain will float away like frost and ice on the water.


~ The plover cries to its mate on Omi Lake; so if that's how it is, nothing's stopping you from calling at many ports.


~ Blood-red tears are even more hateful - crimson, the quick-to-fade colour of inconstant love.


~ The waters of the valley stream, once frozen in the mountain peaks, from here on out will flow deep and strong.


~ Now that you are plucked, peach blossom, look your best; you needn't be jealous of the heartless cherry.


~ With the splendid name Momo, the peach ought not feel inferior to the quick-to-scatter cherry.


~ Neither the cherry, loveliest  of flowers, nor lowly pear has much scent; neither is there a difference in the way they fall.


~ How can anyone be so sure of the sourness of a plum that has never touched his lips?


~ I only have to brush my sleeve with the chrysanthemum dew to gain a youthful glow; now I return it to its owner to work a miracle.


~ A lonely duck awakes and, finding no friend to brush her wings, recalls with longing the nights they were a pair.


~ Nestled in the plumes of pampas grass, why does the dew not leave the withered plain?


~ She used to spin her web from time to time;  so why does the spider now break her thread?


~ The snow piles up like the count of years, and thus I pray: may you live as long as the Shirane mountain pines.




* The poems featured above were derived from Dalby, Liza (2001) The Tale of Murasaki London: Vintage *

NATO Phonetic Alphabet / Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet

"The reason that any phonetic alphabet is used is because telephone, radio and walkie-talkie communications had the habit of crackling over long distances, blotting out whole words or even sentences. The normal alphabet cannot be used, because some letters, for example P, B, C and D sound similar, and over long distances were indistinguishable. It was also considered that consonants are the most difficult to hear against a noisy background, so a new method had to be found".

The current state:

A = Alpha

B = Bravo

C = Charlie

D = Delta

E = Echo

F = Foxtrot

G = Golf

H = Hotel

I = India

J = Juliet

K = Kilo

L = Lima

M = Mike

N = November

O = Oscar

P = Papa

Q = Quebec

R = Romeo

S = Sierra

T = Tango

U = Uniform

V = Victor

W = Whisky

X = X-ray

Y = Yankee

Z = Zulu

"All of the words are recognisable by native English speakers because English must be used upon request for communication between an aircraft and a control tower whenever two nations are involved, regardless of their native languages. But it is only required internationally, not domestically, thus if both parties to a radio conversation are from the same country, then another phonetic alphabet of that nation's choice may be used".


"The NATO Phonetic Alphabet is not the only phonetic alphabet in use, but it definitely is the one used by the most people and countries. From humble beginnings as only being for the NATO allies, it has spread, becoming used in a huge variety of everyday situations. It is used widely in telecommunications and business, as well as being used for call signs for hikers going through areas of bush or forest; and being the internationally recognised way of communicating at sea and by air, using the NATO phonetic alphabet means you can get what you are saying through wherever you are in the world. It is therefore a very helpful way of communicating information".




* All information contained in this post were derived from the BBC website *

Thoughts

Despondency by Matthew Arnold

The thoughts that rain their steady glow,

Like stars on life's cold sea,

Which others know, or say they know -

They never shone for me.

Thoughts light, like gleams, my spirit's sky,

But they will not remain.

They light me once, they hurry by,

And never come again.

Maid Maleen from Grimm's Fairy Tales

Nettle, nettle, growing alone,

A time of sorrow I have known -

Nothing to eat was there for me.

Hunger forced me to eat thee.

Church stile, hold fast,

The true bride will come at last.

Church door, do not break,

Do not break for the true bride's sake.

One Gift from Sleeping Beauty

One gift, beauty rare
Gold of sunshine in her hair
Lips that shame the red, red rose
She'll walk in springtime wherever she goes!

One gift, the gift of song
Melody your whole life long!
The nightingale her troubadour
Bringing his sweet serenade into your door.

From Stephen King's It

Your hair is winter fire

January embers

My heart burns there too.

A Fable from My So-Called Life

Once upon a time there lived a girl. She slept in a lovely little cottage made of gingerbread and candy. She was always asleep.

One morning she woke up, and the candy had mold on it. Her father blew her a kiss and the house fell down. She realized she was lost.

She found herself walking down a crowded street, but the people were made of paper, like paper dolls. She blew everyone a kiss goodbye, and watched as they blew away.

Chungking Express

If memories can be tinned, I hope it never has an expiry date. If it does, I hope it's in 10,000 years' time. 

An Excerpt from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

Mingliaotse by T'u Lung

I tread along the sandy bank,

Where clouds are golden, water clear;

The startled fairy hounds go barking

Into the peach grove; disappear.

Taoist Meditation by Lao Tzu

Whoever practises non-action

Occupies himself with not being occupied.


An Excerpt from Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

Be like the fountain that overflows, not like the cistern that merely contains.


Audrey Hepburn

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone...

The Prophet

Marriage according to Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be for evermore.

You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.

Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness.

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each others cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each others keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each others shadow.

Word Bank

Ambergris - A grease-like product of the sperm whale’s digestive tract that is used as a base in the finest perfumes.


Amuse Bouche - A small bite-sized hors d’oeuvre offered free of charge and served to excite the taste buds.

Apparatus - A systematic organisation of activities, functions and processes that are directed towards a specific goal.

Baku - The capital of Azerbaijan.


Bliss - A state of profound satisfaction, happiness and joy - a constant state of mind, undisturbed by gain or loss.

Deferential - Polite, respectful.


Flagship - In retail terms, this refers to the largest or most well known store - the store that sells the highest volume of merchandise.


Ham-fisted - Clumsy or lacking dexterity.


Hegemony - Political, economical, ideological or cultural power exerted by a dominant group over other groups.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet - Nonsense phrase used as filler text in Microsoft Word online Help.


Matriculate - To enroll as a member of a body, such as a college or university.

Myriad - Classical Greek word for the number 10,000.

Nincompoop - Someone not of sound mind.

Pythagoras' theorem - In any right-angled triangle, the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the opposite to sides - (a² + b² = c²).

Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus (Platypus) - An Australian mammal with a tail just like a beaver; fur just like a bear; feet just like an otter; gives milk like any cow and lays eggs like any bird.

Rosin - A substance made with pine sap used by violinists on their bow hair so it can grip the strings and make them speak.


Rotund - Round in body shape: portly, plump or podgy.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - An English word that was used in the musical film Mary Poppins. According to the film, it is defined as "something to say when you have nothing to say".

* Definitions have been derived from dictionaries and the internet *