Flying High Reader.

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CONTENTS

Circus for Young People Pages 4–5

Part of a leaflet about learning circus skills.

The Triple Somersault Pages 6–7

A diagram showing how to do a triple somersault.

The Catch Pages 8–11

A story about a circus family.

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Ever wanted to be in a circus?

Circus artists perform a whole range of complicated and exciting acts.
Now you can learn lots of these amazing skills right here in your home town!
To become a good circus performer, you need to be taught by experts. You need
to learn the important basic skills before trying out more difficult moves. By
coming along to the circus school you will soon learn how to fly through the air
on a trapeze, perfect your balance on a tightrope or pedal a unicycle. Or you
could keep your feet firmly on the ground and give your brain cells a workout
by learning to juggle.
Whether it is something you have always wanted to do, or just something you
want to have a go at, we offer courses from the all-important beginner level
right up to advanced level. We encourage you to choose one area to start with –
acrobatics, juggling or trapeze. The courses run for half a school term and they
are taught in small groups, giving you the best chance to practise and improve
your skills quickly. All our classes are taught in a safe and supportive
environment using the latest safety equipment.
Balancing

Juggling

Unicycling

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ACROBATICS – This course will help you perfect

your cartwheels, handstands and tumbling abilities
– but you do need to be flexible! You’ll amaze
yourself with what you can do with your body and
how fantastic a well-controlled sequence of
acrobatics can look. This course also includes group
acrobatic balancing, where you work with others
to produce human pyramids and towers. Whether
you are on the top or the bottom, you really have
to work together to get it right. Human pyramid

JUGGLING – Once you have learnt how to throw and catch one or two balls,
you will begin basic three-ball juggling. As you improve, you can learn to juggle
all sorts of things including rings, hats and scarves, or anything you like really.
Juggling is the most adaptable of the circus skills – you will learn tricks that you
can take home and perform for your friends and family. Juggling also increases
mind and body co-ordination.

STATIC TRAPEZE – This is a trapeze that hangs down but

does not swing. It is used to help you to learn how to
move around the trapeze and practise set moves. In
performance you need to make the moves look easy, even
if they hurt – to be able to smile through gritted teeth.
You also need a lot of upper body strength. Once you
have learnt the solo moves, you may want to work with a
partner to develop a doubles routine.
Static trapeze

FLYING TRAPEZE – After completing the static trapeze course, you may want
to try the flying trapeze. This trapeze moves as you swing on it. This skill is
usually the one which springs to mind when you think of the circus. It will give
you a feeling of excitement that is hard to put into words – you’ll know once
you’ve tried it! To attempt this you need to be fit and in good health, as well as
quite brave and confident in your abilities.

Circus for Young People: 0789 123456

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THE TRIPLE SOMERSAULT

The triple somersault is one of the most difficult tricks for an acrobat to p

TRAPEZE 1

2
When she has
enough speed the
acrobat tucks her
legs in and starts to
somersault.

3
For one somersault she
goes all the way around
in the air. For the triple
somersault, she does this
three times.

1
The acrobat swings
backwards and forwards
on the trapeze several
times before starting the
somersault.

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o perform on the flying trapeze. This diagram shows how it is done.

TRAPEZE 2

4
The acrobat then untucks
her legs and comes out of
the somersault position,
ready to catch the second
trapeze.

5
Someone else pushes
the second trapeze
so that it is in the
right place for the
acrobat to grab it.

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The Catch
The flying trapeze is a very exciting circus act. The acrobats swing
high above the crowd in the roof of the circus tent, the Big Top.
The Fratelli family works in the circus and performs on the
trapeze as the ‘Flying Fratellis’. In this story you will read about
how Bella wants to get involved in the act...

Gino glared at his sister and sighed. ‘Stop going on about it, Bella. You
know you’re too young to join the act and, anyway, Mum’s our flyer. We
don’t need another one.’ He shook his head angrily and pushed open the
canvas door into the Big Top, leaving Bella staring after him.

Bella knew he was right. Gino had

not been allowed to join their
mother and father on their flying
trapeze act until he was fifteen,
and she would just have to wait
too. But three years seemed like
forever, especially when she knew
she was already as good as her
mother.

Gino was usually pretty good to her, she had to admit. He’d spent hours
helping her practise, but she was in no mood to think about her elder
brother’s good points. She stormed off to the caravan where they lived while
the circus was on the road.

As Bella climbed the two steps to the caravan, she was startled by the sound
of a moan from the other side of the door. ‘Mum, is that you? Are you all
right?’ Bella pushed open the door so hard that she almost fell inside.

‘I’m in the bedroom,’ her mum called. ‘I’m okay really but I’ve twisted my
ankle.’

Bella raced the short distance to her parents’ bedroom. Her mother was
sitting on the floor, clutching her ankle, with her face twisted in pain.
‘Don’t worry, Bella. I don’t think I’ve done anything terrible, but I need a
hand to get up.’

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Half an hour later, her mother

was looking better; she was
settled in a comfy chair with her
ankle in a bandage and a cup of
tea by her side. Just then, the
door opened and Franco and
Gino appeared. Franco looked
at his wife in horror. ‘What’s
happened? What have you done
to yourself, Mia?’

‘It was stupid, Franco. I slipped off a stool trying to pack away our winter
costumes. Don’t look so worried. Bella has looked after me brilliantly.’

Franco frowned in concern. ‘As long as you’re really all right, that’s the main
thing. But we’ll have to cancel the act tonight to give you a chance to
recover. I’ll go and tell Victor. Young Klaus and Henrik can do that roller-
skating act with their sister. They’ve been practising for months.’

‘But it’s the last show here tonight,’ Mia interrupted, ‘and the show’s a sell-
out. Victor has been saying that everyone’s coming especially to see the
Flying Fratellis. They’ve heard we’re planning the big one – the triple
somersault. We can’t let them down. I’ll just strap up my ankle and it will be
fine.’

‘No, Mia, I won’t let you risk it. We’ll just have to apologise to the crowd.’

Bella took a deep breath. This could be it.

It was the chance she’d longed for – but not like this. ‘Mum, Dad. We don’t
have to cancel. I could take Mum’s place.’

There was a long pause, broken by Gino. ‘She’s right, Dad. She’s just as
good as Mum.’ He glanced apologetically at his mother, who smiled back at
him.

‘I know, Gino,’ Mia said, smiling at him, ‘but she’s still much too young and
she’s never performed in the show before. Still, she is very good, and if
that’s what she wants...’
She paused, gazing at Bella.

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‘Oh, Mum, more than anything in the world!’ begged Bella. But Franco
had still not said anything. Bella looked at him, then at her brother, who
had so unexpectedly supported her. Please, please, let Dad agree, she
thought.

Eventually, Franco nodded. ‘Okay. That’s what

we’ll do.’

Four hours later, Bella stood with her father and

brother in the corridor leading to the circus ring.
She could hear the applause for the previous act
and then the curtains swept back. Her father
pushed her forward gently. ‘Let’s go, Bella. You’ll
be fine. Good luck!’

The three of them stepped forward into the circus ring. The spotlights
swung onto them, highlighting the glittering sequins on their costumes as
they moved towards the ladders leading high into the darkness of the Big
Top. Bella took a deep breath and began to climb, aware of the applause
of the crowd and the smell of popcorn and candyfloss drifting in from the
refreshments tent. The music from the orchestra was becoming faster, with
a steady beat as Bella reached the platform where her trapeze was
waiting. She glanced down, relieved to see the safety net. Beyond that she
could see the faces of the audience gazing upwards.

The music built to a climax and she knew it

was time to fly. She grasped the bar of the
trapeze firmly, pulled back and launched
herself into the space at the top of the tent.
The routine took over.
Swing...let go...fly through the air to the
safety of her father’s hands.
Bella and her father swung again, joined by
their hands, until she had enough speed and
she flew, somersaulting through the air to
her brother waiting on the trapeze opposite.
Gasps and cheers from the audience floated
upwards, but the Fratelli family did not
notice.

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They were too busy concentrating on their act. Back and forward,
tumbling from her brother to her father, Bella was thrilled. This was what
she had waited for, for so long. And now, the final moments were coming.
Could she do it?
Could she perform the ultimate trick?

It was now or never.

Her father swung her back as far as he could and, swinging forward, he
launched her into the air with a final burst of energy.
She spun in the air, not once, not twice, but three times.

The peak of the trapeze artist’s art – the triple somersault.

Just as she began to think that she had fallen too far, she felt her brother’s
hands snap on to her wrists and they were swinging safely towards the
platform. As she landed, gasping from the effort, she became aware of the
audience far below, on their feet, shouting and clapping with approval.
Her brother landed beside her. ‘Well done, sis,’ he said. ‘You’re a star – the
new flyer with the Flying Fratellis!’

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Acknowledgements

The Catch by Julie Sewell

Illustrations for The Catch by Celia Canning

Photographs of juggling and balancing (page 4) by Claire Hodgson

Photograph of unicycling (page 4) by Katie Pyle
Photographs of human pyramid and static trapezes (pages 2 and 5) by Jonathan Greenwood
Photographs taken at The Circus Space
For further information see www.thecircusspace.co.uk

This text has been incorporated into this test paper solely for the purposes of the examination
in accordance with Section 32(3) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
No copyright clearance for any other use has been obtained or sought.

QCA/06/2807 (Pupil pack)

© Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 2007
PrimaryTools.co.uk QCA/06/2806 (Mark scheme pack) 275380