The ducat was a gold or silver coin used as a trade coin in Europe from the Middle Ages until as late as the 20th century. Many types of ducats had purchasing power throughout the period; the gold ducat of Venice gained wide international acceptance, like the medieval Byzantine hyperpyron and the Florentine florin, or the modern British Pound sterling and the United States dollar. The word ducat is from Medieval Latin ducalis = "relating to a duke", meant "duke's coin" or a "duchy's coin"; the first issue of scyphate billon coins modelled on Byzantine trachea was made by King Roger II of Sicily as part of the Assizes of Ariano. It was to be a valid issue for the whole kingdom; the first issue bears the figure of Christ and the Latin inscription Sit tibi, datus, quem tu regis iste ducatus on the obverse. On the reverse, Roger II is depicted in the style of a Byzantine emperor and his eldest son, Duke Roger III of Apulia, is depicted in battle dress; the coin took its common name from the Duchy of Apulia, which the younger Roger had been given by his father.

Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice introduced a silver ducat, related to the ducats of Roger II. Gold ducats of Venice, became so important that the name ducat was associated with them and the silver coins came to be called grossi. In the 13th century, the Venetians imported goods from the East and sold them at a profit north of the Alps, they paid for these goods with Byzantine gold coins but when the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos backed a rebellion called the Sicilian Vespers in 1282, he debased the hyperpyron. This was just one more in a series of debasements of the hyperpyron and the Great Council of Venice responded with its own coin of pure gold in 1284. Florence and Genoa had introduced gold coins in 1252 and the florin of Florence had become the standard European gold coin. Venice modeled the size and weight of their ducat on the florin, with a slight increase in weight due to differences in the two cities′ weight systems; the Venetian ducat contained 3.545 grams of 99.47% fine gold, the highest purity medieval metallurgy could produce.

Gold ducat types derive from silver ducat types, which were Byzantine. The obverse shows the Doge of Venice kneeling before the patron saint of Venice. Saint Mark holds the gospel, his usual attribute, presents a gonfalone to the doge; the legend on the left identifies the saint as S M VENET, i.e. Saint Mark of Venice, the legend on the right identifies the doge, with his title DVX in the field. On the reverse, Christ stands among a field of stars in an oval frame; the reverse legend is the same as on Roger II’s ducats. Succeeding doges of Venice continued striking ducats, changing only their name on the obverse. During the 15th century, the value of the ducat in terms of silver money was stable at 124 Venetian soldi, i.e. schillings. The term ducat became identified with this amount of silver money as well as the gold coin. Conflict between England and Spain in 1567, increased the price of gold and upset this equivalence. At this point, the coin was called the ducato de zecca, i.e. ducat of the mint, shortened to zecchino and corrupted to sequin.

Leonardo Loredan extended the coinage with a half ducat and subsequent doges added a quarter, various multiples up to 105 ducats. All of these coins continued to use the designs and weight standards of the original 1284 ducat. After dates became a common feature of western coinage, Venice struck ducats without them until Napoleon ended the Venetian Republic in 1797; when the Roman Senate introduced gold coinage either the florin or the ducat could have provided an advantageous model to imitate, but the Florentines who controlled the Senate’s finances ensured that their city’s coin was not copied. Instead, the Roman coin showed a senator kneeling before St. Peter on the obverse and Christ amid stars in oval frame on the reverse in direct imitation of the Venetian ducat; the Popes subsequently changed these designs, but continued to strike ducats of the same weight and size into the 16th century. Most imitations of the Venetian ducat were made in the Levant, where Venice spent more money than it received.

The Knights of Saint John struck ducats with grand master Dieudonné de Gozon, 1346-1353, kneeling before Saint John on the obverse and an angel seated on the Sepulcher of Christ on the reverse. Subsequent grand masters, found it expedient to copy the Venetian types more first at Rhodes and on Malta. Genoese traders went farther, they struck ducats at Chios that could be distinguished from the Venetian originals only by their workmanship. These debased ducats were problematic for Venice; the rarity of ducats that Genoese traders struck at Mytilene and Pera suggests that Venetians melted those they encountered. In Western Europe, Venice was an active trader but they sold more than they bought so their coins were less used than the florin. After Henckels assassinated Amadeus Aba in 1311, Charles I of Hungary began a gold coinage exploiting ores of Aba's ancient gold mines, his son, Louis I of Hungary changed the designs by replacing the standing figure of Saint John from the florin with a standing figure of Saint Ladislaus and changing the lily of Florence to his coat of arms, but he maintained the purity of the gold.

In the 15th century, a distinction was made between pure gold florins and debased imitations of the florin by calling the pure coins ducats and the debased coins gulden or goldgulden. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V recognized this distinction in 1524 when he made ducats of the Ve

Cecil John "Jack" Hazlitt was an Australian soldier who fought in World War I. Hazlitt was born between 15 June and 31 December 1897 in Melbourne, Australia. Hazlitt enlisted to join Australian forces on 27 February 1915, embarked from Fremantle on 9 June 1915, he arrived at Gallipoli in July of that year, fought in the Gallipoli Campaign as a runner. The average runner at Gallipoli survived for 24 hours, he fought in the Battles of Pozières and the Somme, before leaving to return to Australia on 26 December 1916. Hazlitt died on 15 June 1993 in New South Wales, aged 95, while living in MacMasters Beach

Whickham School is a secondary school in the north-east of England, near the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Whickham Comprehensive School, it first opened its doors in 1962 as a replacement for the small,'all-age' Victorian school in the village centre. A much larger school was required due to the large house building programme, taking place, it has 300 members of staff. It offers a range of vocational and traditional qualifications at Key Stage 4 and 5, including GCSE, BTEC and A-Level, it is a well established and well known school within the community, with good academic achievement, the largest sixth form in Gateshead. It holds frequent events for the local community, most notably the annual Community Carol Service. During the schools last Ofsted inspection the school was judged to'Good' with five areas of the school being judged "outstanding"; the OfSTED definition of ‘Good’ is, “These are positive features of a school. A school, good is serving its pupils well”. Five areas of the school were judged to be “Outstanding”.

These features are effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs; the ‘Outstanding’ areas were: 1 - The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and /or disabilities and their progress 2 - The extent to which pupils feel safe 3 - Pupils’ attendance 4 - The effectiveness of care and support 5 - The effectiveness of partnerships in promoting wellbeing All these areas reflect the commitment of Whickham School to the well being of all its students. Pupils who are happy, well cared for and supported have the best possible opportunity to succeed. Partnerships are crucial to the success of any school and Whickham values all its partnerships highly. A minimum of two productions are staged every year. Recent Whickham School productions include the Wizard of the classic Grease. On 21 March 2008, there was a fire which destroyed the staff room, two music rooms, sixth form common room and study area. New and improved Sixth Form facilities opened ready for the academic year beginning in September 2009.

In June 1999, University Professor Claire Hale took legal action against the School when they refused permission to allow her daughter, Jo Hale, to wear trousers. Amongst others, the Equal Opportunities Commission decided to back pupil Jo Hale's case. On February 24, 2000, the school was forced to avoid a costly legal battle and resolved the dispute by announcing that, in future, girls would be able to wear trousers. Richard Brodie, footballer Beverley Fullen, former drummer in UK pop band Hepburn Mark Stoneman, cricketer for Surrey County Cricket Club and England Gareth Kyle, chef and TV presenter Jay Mckray, Big Brother Conor Newton, footballer School website