Muse

4 2013-201

e s Mu e s U m e S mu E s u m

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eam T l a i r o t Edi 2013-14

Clarissa Welsh Zoe Bennett Pippa Neill Felicity Coen Charlotte Lindsay Justine Redwood Rebecca Devitt Aquiel Brittain-Dissont Laura Parry

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...

Welcome e From Th Editors e Executiv

Tempus Fugit! It seems like no time at all since we were writing about last year’s Muse and once again, here we are, welcoming you to this new edition. And, once again, we’re sure that you will enjoy reading the girls’ work and take an entertaining minute or two for some well-earned ‘time out’ while you read about what’s been happening in school over the course of the year.

The sheer breadth of activities within the pages of this publication is astounding. Whether volunteering in Africa or bagpacking in Wilmslow, AESG girls have proved themselves willing to go that extra mile for those less fortunate, using their many talents and capabilities to make their mark on the world. The creative output in this edition of Muse is clear evidence of the girls’ enjoyment of and pride in their education.

Enjoy this snapshot of life at AESG; enjoy reading the girls’ own creations and, most of all, enjoy.

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Contents

Editorial Team 2013-14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Job Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Thinking Of Drama GCSE? . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Fears. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Think You’ve Got Family Dramas? . . . . 23

From The Executive Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Intelligence Is Not Enough. . . . . . . . . . . . 12

House Entertainment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Bajan Beauty Barbados. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Charitable Fundraising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

A Letter To. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Living With A Phobia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Rushed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Carol Ann Duffy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Home Is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

True Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

AESG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Seasons Of Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Colourful Darkness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Home Is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Embarrassing Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Goodbye To Some Of Our Lovely Leavers – Good Luck From Us All!. . . . . . 8

Deborah Ellis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Flaunt Your Flute!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Conspiracy Theories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Love Reminds Me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Dance Your Heart Out!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Education Engineering Scheme. . . . . . . 27

Vogue Talent Contest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Facing Our Fear Of The F-Word. . . . . . . 28

Winner 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Team Building – Lower VI. . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Where’s Bear? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

City Of Angels - Gone To Hell?. . . . . . . . 30

Agony Aunt Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Year 8s Visit France. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

500 Word Story Competition. . . . . . . . . . 9 Charity News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Junior School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Junior School Nativity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Junior School Showcase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Get Your Clogs On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

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Comes A Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Freezing Valentine’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Anyone For Modelling In Biology?. . . . 33

Cinderella. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Geography In Icy Iceland! . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Staff Panto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Iceland Trip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Mcdonald’s Lunch Hour. . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

GSA 10K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Dance Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Hear About Hairspray?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Musical Notes .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

New Kid On The Block … . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Badminton Tournament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Schools In Sweden Or AESG? . . . . . . . . . 37

Shall I Compare Thee To An iphone. . . . 47

Languages At AESG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

A Parisian Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Carefree Castleton? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Independent Schools’ FA. . . . . . . . . . . . 48

London Trip 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Paris Tweets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

London Trip 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Politics: More Spin Than Substance?. . 49

Conscience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Is It Too Late To Save The Human Race?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Make Up - Makes All The Difference . . 42

I Am The Respected Expert With The Toaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 VI Form National Citizenship Scheme. 53 Hobby Horse!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Sport Relief Challenge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 The Oxford English Dictionary: Then And Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Oxford Woodard Trip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Staff Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 The Culture Of The Car Boot. . . . . . . . . . 57 The Truth About Truman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Celebrity TV: The Road To Riches. . . . . 58 Celebrity TV: The Route To Ruin?. . . . . 59 Sky/Sora. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Being A Model Citizen!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

My Best Friend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

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Daisy Badger is a student of A Level English Language and wrote this piece modelled on a regular feature in The Guardian (Weekend Section) for her AS coursework.

A letter to…

My Auntie Karen’s Brain Tumour Who do you think you are? And what gives you the right to ruin people’s lives? It’s like you see a happy family, simply click your fingers and their lives are torn apart - just like that. You hurt everyone: mothers; daughters; fathers; sons; grandparents…and my auntie. You attack indiscriminately and there seems no end to the battles you are prepared to fight. Just why do you do that to innocent people?

our everyday existence - from the day you arrived, you controlled her life. Sure, Karen tried to shove you to the back of her mind, but you muscled your way back to the front, hurting her more and more. If she looked in the mirror, no longer did she search for wrinkles – instead all she saw was you. If she took her kids to school, no longer did she stop to chat with other Mums – instead she made a hasty exist because you made her too insecure.

If she made it to the shops, no longer did she happily browse for hours buying clothes – instead, she stayed at home, listlessly gazing at daytime TV, her energy sapped, her confidence gone. All because of you.

Five years ago my Auntie Karen was a normal person, just like everyone else. Indeed, she was incredibly lucky as she had everything she ever wanted: a husband who adored her; a job she enjoyed; a beautiful home; close friends and a happy family. She used to go out, drinking and partying, light heartedly taking life for granted until, one day, you came along. Within seconds, you turned her life upside down. How you must have smirked to yourself as you saw the tears stream down our faces! How you must have grinned as you saw her children’s hearts break in front of her eyes!

How you must have enjoyed inflicting such pain and sorrow on her family! You’d struck. You’d instilled the fear you sought in your insidious manner.

You must have been delighted that her kids at only ten and twelve years old when their Mum was first diagnosed - when you first took over - were so devastated. You must have known how they’d feel. Their mummy was different from other mummies: she had cancer. She was always going to have cancer. She was always going to be different.

She was always going to struggle under the weight of your cloying cloud. Whilst most kids spend Christmas Day at home opening presents and having Christmas dinner around the table with their families, Karen’s kids spent Christmas Day watching over their mum in a hospital bed, praying she was going to win her desperate battle against you. All they wanted for Christmas was for their mum to stay alive, for their mum to come home. All you wanted was to take her in your clutches in another battle for health. A battle you usually win.

From that moment, you were a dark, grey cloud following her everywhere she walked. Each morning she awoke, you were the first thing that entered her mind.

Gone were her usual worries about which route to take to work, or what to cook for tea, or what to wear for her girls’ night out – all of the usual things that inevitably consume

That you made my auntie endure countless operations with frightening risks and implications which will affect her life forever makes me hate you with a passion I never knew I had. That you permanently damaged her hearing, her speech and her ability to swallow and taste makes me wish I could meet you – just for a second

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– and attack you with the venom with which you attacked her. You paralysed one side of her face. You caused internal bleeding so that she had to undergo a colonoscopy.

You caused meningitis so that she had to have an operation on her bladder. Not content with that, you ensured she had no choice but to have an intracranial monitor put into her head in order to steel herself against you after which she spent ten days in a coma and three months in hospital learning how to walk, talk and eat properly again. Those days seemed neverending and the operations were everlasting, but she had no choice.

Karen was fighting for her life as she travelled down a one-way street knowing all she could do was hope and pray for the best.

But, despite all this, all the operations and the heartache, which you put her through, my Auntie Karen is pulling through. You thought you’d won the battle, like you usually do, but you haven’t.

You must be so disappointed that you’ve picked on someone who has found the strength, the determination and the fortitude to fight you off. You met your match in Karen. She was determined to fight you, to never give up and she never will. She is a strong woman and… you know what? You’ve made her stronger. You’ve made her better. You’ve changed her for the better. Karen has learned not to take her life for granted and to live each day to the full. Her husband is more in love with her now than ever before and her children appreciate her more than most children know how to appreciate their mothers.

You’ve made her an even more inspirational woman to me; a lady who has the will and determination to beat you. You’ve made her cry, you’ve made us all cry, but now it’s a battle cry and you will lose the war!

Carol Ann Duffy Currently reigning as Britain’s first female Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy is also queen of the dramatic monologue. Duffy’s poetry gives voice to society’s alienated and ignored in an unstuffy but compelling manner, wrestling with ideas about language and identity.

As Duffy says herself: “I like to use simple words but in a complicated way.” Born in Glasgow in 1955, Duffy was brought up in Staffordshire and her first works of poetry were published at the tender age of 16. She studied Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, graduating to become a full-time writer.

Her first full-length collection ‘Standing Female Nude’ (1985) was something of a landmark, forging an anti-establishment voice with a colloquial lyricism. She has since written five other collections that include poems about love, women, memory, desire and loss. She often writes dramatic monologues, using the voice of an outsider or someone who is often ignored by others.

Duffy reached a wider audience with ‘The World’s Wife’ (1999), a series of witty, dramatic monologues spoken by women from fairy tales and myths and the women usually air-brushed from history, such as Mrs Midas and Mrs Darwin, establishing herself as a true feminist icon, pioneering for the rights of women in a supposedly ‘gender-blind’ society. Her output has also included a formidable amount of writing for children and she has been awarded both the OBE and the CBE. Given such fame, it was really exciting for Aquiel and I to attend a reading of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry by none other than Duffy herself.

On a cold Christmas evening, we huddled into Simply Books in Bramhall, (along with, what seemed to be, half of the elderly population of Stockport), to sit back and listen to the award-winning poet turn her life’s written work into living rhyme. With hot chocolate in hand, (although there was mulled wine

on offer for those of a more mature taste), we closed our eyes and opened our ears to an unmistakably Scottish regional dialect, as colourful as the landscape from which it came, describe, with acute perceptiveness, the natural world.

The way in which “bees prayed for honey at a wild rose bush”, or how snow “whirled and shredded itself around a house”. The chosen topic of poetry that particular evening was Christmas, a time of year that appeals to the young, old, male, female - the child obscured deep within all of us. Duffy’s fascination with and love of the Christmas season is evident in both her keen taste for the spiced mulled wine and in her re-imagining of the much-loved carols and tales of the Festive period. Her wonderful poems offer merriment and festive cheer, but also celebrate what is truly important at this special time of year: the simple acts of kindness that each of us can show another.

This ethos is that of Carol Ann Duffy the poet, but it’s also that of a child, a mother and a lover.

As a student of English Literature, hearing a poet express their personal perspectives aloud in such an intimate way has only served to strengthen my love of the written word. Being able to glimpse the true emotion and motive behind a piece of beautifully crafted writing is truly an honour, an experience I would encourage everyone to explore and something I am definitely not going to forget any time soon.

Clarissa Welsh, VI Form

Love Old varnished writing Forming a four letter word Full of honey moons And love hearts etched with emotive thoughts Of roses, white and red filling into Bliss silk dresses topped with Diamond crystallised tiaras And a whisper of the phrase Said by thousands of tuned beating masses From idolising crowds Or a crumpled up vow I love you I do

Colourful Darkness The charred match chiselled the wick And engulfed the wick with A white strong force that rose Forming a safe yellow Changing to a curvy blue Through a small shaft in the midst of the flame Wax trickled down as If guided by a minuscule map and Silhouettes darted up the walls Rhythmically in the colourful darkness.

by Emily Jeffries, Year 9

Brookview Visits Chaplain Mary continues to encourage AESG students to visit Brookview Nursing Home and we know that the efforts of our girls do not go unnoticed! Staff and residents alike are ever grateful for the unwavering enthusiasm of our girls – sometimes it is really the small things we do that make the biggest difference!

Emily Jeffries, Year 9

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to Goodbye ur some of o ers – av lovely le rom kf good luc us all!

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r o i n u J l o o h c S

Junior School Nativity

Congratulations girls! Let’s see if the judges at Radio 2 agree with us!

500 Word Story Competition Thank you to all the girls who entered the storywriting competition. Miss Howard had a lovely time. They were all of a very high standard, which made it very difficult to choose winners.

However, our winners are: From Years 1 and 2 - Lilla Baublis From Years 3 and 4 - Georgia Campbell From Years 5 and 6 - Ischia Gooda

Olivia Seddon competed in the Cheshire and Merseyside grades in Liverpool. Out of 75 gymnasts Olivia won the gold medal and also passed her grade with distinction.

Olivia will now represent Cheshire and Merseyside in the North West finals in April!

Lauren Hall has been invited to start training with the North of England Super Regional Squad.

Over half term Lauren came 2nd in the National Regional Championships mixed U11 team.

She also played at the Oxford Junior Open and won the U11 category and came 3rd in the U13 event.

Charity News Lydia Gilmore, along with her family, has been very busy raising money for The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust. Last year they raised £1,342.37!

The family have been supporting CAFT for three years and each year they pledge to raise in the region of £1,500.00. Lydia helped raise the money by organising stalls at local fairs to sell children’s toys and gifts. She has been buying stock at reduced prices, marking them up and selling on with a great profit. In addition she has baked biscuits and handed out penny jars to family and friends to fill with loose change.

Junior School e Showcas

Over Christmas, Lydia and her family enjoyed a wonderful day at CAFT when they delivered their many donations. Lydia spent the day playing with the children and helping out. Congratulations to Lydia Gilmore and her family for their fantastic fundraising efforts.

Miss Howard, Head of Juniors

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Get Your Clogs on …

Folk Music and Dance Society I have been involved in traditional music from a very early age – my mother took me to a folk club at the age of six weeks! I have been particularly drawn to the dance side of things as folk dancing is such a sociable activity and doesn’t always require amazing footwork.

My father is a keen (and suitably hirsute) morris dancer as well as having his own ceilidh band. Both my sister and I had ceilidhs for our 18th birthdays.

For those who don’t know, “ceilidh” is a Gaelic word which in Ireland simply refers to any old knees-up, although in England, Scotland and Wales there’s usually some form of country dancing involved. Dances range from the simple Circassian Circle to the fiendish Campdown Races and come from all over Europe, although most of them involve going round in circles before ending up back where you started.

The tunes are usually fairly simple and have strong rhythms – popular keys are D major, G major, A minor and E minor, as these can all be played on the melodeon.

The melodeon is a somewhat idiosyncratic instrument. It is often confused with the accordion, with which it shares many similarities, but there are some important differences. The main one is that the melodeon plays a different note when you push from when you pull, whereas the accordion plays the same note in both directions. This is both a blessing and a curse – a blessing because you don’t have to think too hard about harmonising with the left hand and a curse because you need two brains, one for pulling and one for pushing! It is also very difficult to play smoothly because of sudden changes in direction, although this makes the melodeon an ideal instrument for the strong rhythms of dance music.

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As well as ceilidh dancing, the folk world indulges in many other types of dance. Morris men are a fairly familiar sight up and down the country with their bell-strewn shins and decorated hats. There are two main styles – Cotswold (with handkerchiefs) and Border (with sticks). Teams (or ‘sides’) tend to be of all one gender (which sensible woman would want to join a men’s morris side anyway?) and generally stick to one style, although some sides successfully combine both. A highlight of the morris calendar is 1st May, when they go to a high place just before sunrise (about 4 a.m. at that time of year!) and ‘dance in the dawn’.

Those who prefer not to get up so early are often drawn to the various types of sword dancing. Scottish sword dancing usually involves putting the swords on the floor and dancing around them, which is much safer but less fun (I think so anyway) than the two main English traditions. The first of these is Rapper, which comes from the mining communities of the North East and is closely associated with English Clog. Rapper swords are about 2ft long, have handles at both ends and are very bendy in the middle. This allows a team of five dancers to weave intricate patterns without ever letting go of their end of the sword. The other tradition is Longsword, which comes from Yorkshire. Many of the figures are similar to Rapper, the main differences being the length of the swords (about 3ft) and the addition of a sixth dancer. Longsword is generally slower and safer than Rapper and most of the moves can be accomplished using any old bit of wood that flexes a bit. A folk fusion dance show called “The LockIn” contains a highly entertaining Longsword dance using pool cues.

“Folk fusion!?” I hear you cry?

Strangely enough, folk dance shares many of the same rhythms as hip-hop and street, meaning you can step-hop to Run DMC or

b-boy to Bellowhead with relative ease. The greatest exponents of this are the Demon Barbers in their aforementioned show “The Lock-In”.

If anyone is interested in joining, see Mr Tandler for details or visit the Enrichment Fair in the new academic year. Great exercise for the mind and body – no partner needed!

Mr Tandler, Head of Latin Mr Tandler, Head of Latin, has written this lovely poem about what options he could have chosen instead of joining the teaching profession …

Job Descriptions

Instead of being a teacher I could have been a journalist, written headlines, Filed copy on diverse subjects to meet deadlines.

What’s this in my Inbox?

“Send me a few words about a certain Year 8, If you could do it by tomorrow that would be great.”

I might as well stick with teaching.

Instead of being a teacher I could have been a tour guide, flown away To Reykjavik, Paris, Athens or Pompeii.

What’s this in the staff room?

“This is a list of girls going on the Iceland jaunt.”

No wonder the Geography staff look stressed and gaunt.

I might as well stick with teaching.

Instead of being a teacher I could have been a nightclub bouncer (no really), Kept out people not quite eighteen but nearly.

What’s this on the rota?

“Lunchtime duty in the dining hall: Those without passes won’t get in at all.”

I might as well stick with teaching.

Fears Instead of being a teacher I could have been a counsellor or a shrink, Helped those in turmoil, those upon the brink.

What’s this in the form room?

A troubled, upset child with no shoulder to cry on; Thank goodness they’ve got their tutor to rely on.

I might as well stick with teaching.

Instead of being a teacher I could have chosen many other roads: Jobs with less pressure, jobs with lighter loads.

What’s this in the doorway?

A pupil, waiting patiently to say “Thank you for the lesson, by the way.”

That’s why I stuck with teaching.

Everyone has a fear: spiders, mice, the dark. Well mine are baked beans and public speaking. This year I decided to set myself a challenge and get over my fear of public speaking (as eating a baked bean was just too frightening!) The Rotary competition auditions came around at the start of the year, this is a public speaking competition, and it was my chance.

I had always admired the girls that did the competition, but I knew if I were to do it I’d go bright red and everyone would laugh at me. However, I went and did the audition, after much debate, and was chosen to be main speaker. I had to learn a six minute speech off by heart in less than two weeks (this was not easy!). However, I soldiered on and got over my nerves.

I could never have done it without the help of Mrs Raval who showed me how to think of the situation differently and change my mind-set while I was speaking so that I would no longer get so nervous. With the help of my teachers, parents and my friends listening thousands of times I mastered it - and they probably did too! I overcame my fear and stood in front of a room full of people and delivered my speech. I never in a million years thought that I’d be able to do that.

I think we should all try and face our fears, as nothing will beat the sense of achievement when I’d finished. It’s worth a shot, as who knows what you might achieve. (I might even try a baked bean next!)

By Felicity Coen, LVI

Year 8 debating team

LVI & UVI debating at lunchtime

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Intelligence is not enough Picture the scene. You toss your mortar board into the air on a hot, sunny July afternoon against a perfect deep blue sky. You’ve just left University with your shiny new 1st Class Degree. Your family and friends are falling over themselves to congratulate you and salute your genius. You are all set to embark upon your dream job with your future success guaranteed; after all, you are among the very brightest of the bright.

But whoa there, hang on a minute ..... Is your success in life assured just because you are intellectually gifted? Are those born with natural, hereditary intelligence destined to be successful while others are doomed to failure?

From primary school through to college and even into the job market, young people are faced with a barrage of tests to determine their intelligence. The underlying assumption, common to both schools and parents and constantly drummed into the minds of children, is that only the most intelligent are successful in life.

Indeed, such views appear to be driving our current national educational policies with education secretary Michael Gove spearheading a return to traditional and, some might say, academic elitist initiatives. Under Gove’s watchful eye five year olds will start tackling fractions and computer algorithms, as a more stretching national curriculum is announced for state schools in England. With the announcement of yet another new regime for GCSEs – a new grading system for English and Maths, the move away from modular testing, coursework, tiering and the future reliance on an O-level style all eggsin-one basket summer examination – the education secretary sets himself against second chances for 16-year-olds. He seems more interested in the tougher GCSE as a nerve-wracking penalty shoot out.

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One false move and that’s it, poof!

A whole future plunged firmly down the drain.

In Gove’s dreams of academia, high achievers will be more clearly set apart, the hurdles set higher, the fallers will fall further and harder, with fewer paths into education for those not fired up by a strict diet of Maths, Grammar, Physics and Ancient Greek!

And yet – there appears to be a very definite contradiction emerging. The latest research from psychologists worldwide is undermining this long-held, pre-conceived wisdom.

There is general agreement that IQ contributes only about 20% towards their career success. The other 80% is made up of Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence – the so-called “soft” skills that employers are increasingly crying out for.

Perhaps we need to look at what we are predicting are the socalled “jobs of the future”. Haptic programmer. Avatar manager.

Omnipotence deliminator. Can anyone tell me what they are?

Would Michael Gove even know what they are? So – if we don’t know what jobs will exist in the decades ahead, how can we dictate what knowledge needs to be ingested to equip us to carry them out? Surely we would better teaching transferrable soft skills which help keep our options open for whatever the future might bring.

And yet current educational policy seems hell-bent on putting measurable academic achievement on a pedestal. But a word of warning… the same gene which can be attributed to intelligence is also linked to certain mental disorders such as psychopathy; the psychopath can appear normal, but underneath, they lack conscience and empathy, causing them to be manipulative , volatile and even criminal – in some cases. With the introduction of this factual, objective curriculum, are we encouraging a growth in psychotic

behaviour, or – not to over-egg it too much - even breeding a race of emotionless robots? By removing all the culture and arts from school life are we removing the personality of a person, or diminishing their ability to appreciate key aspects of society?

So, does Gove truly believe that intelligence and a high IQ are enough to get you through life? More and more, society demands a certain balance of academic intelligence and social intelligence, we have all heard of, or know, an Oxbridge oddball, the typical straight A* student who is unbelievably intelligent, yet lacking in any form of common sense.

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. The ability to express and control our own emotions is important, but so is our ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others.

Now don’t get me wrong, having a high IQ is usually a necessary prerequisite to ascend the first rung on the career ladder. But once you are in that position, your intellect has little to do with how successful you will be, or whether you will emerge as a leader. The reason is what’s called the “floor effect”: everyone else you are competing with is about as smart as you are.

Once you’re in your job, what will matter more for your long-term success is how you manage yourself and handle your relationships.

Self-discipline and drive, resilience and achieving goals, empathy and communication skills, collaboration and teamwork are among the emotional and social intelligencebased competencies that distinguish star performers from the merely average.

So by all means go get those academic qualifications; just don’t neglect the opportunities to develop the softer skills as you go. Join that social committee; volunteer to help that charity, play a musical instrument or sport, run

a Scout troupe – anything in fact to improve your Emotional and Social Intelligence.

For two weeks we went without hot school dinners, surviving on only sandwiches and yoghurt,

You know it makes sense! Public speaking. Everyone’s worst nightmare and biggest fear. When auditioning, Felicity Coen explored the many reasons why people fear speaking in public so much.

And yet, this year, so many girls auditioned to be given a chance to speak in public as a part of the rotary team that we had to make two teams. The six girls who were successful were then asked to write a speech on a topic they would like to present to the Rotarians at the ‘Youth Speaks’ event. Ideas ranged from “Identity” to “Feminism” but only one topic could be chosen for each team. Team One comprised Becky Bennett (as the chair), Felicity Coen (as the Main Speaker) and me, Clarissa Welsh (as the Vote of Thanks), and we chose Becky’s topic ‘Intelligence is Not Enough’ to take through to the competition.

Team Two was made up of Pippa Neil (as the Chair), Megan Payne (Main Speaker) and Aquiel BrittainDissont (as the Vote of Thanks), with their chosen topic on ‘Humour’.

even deprived of curly fries, as we practised, practised, practised – and then practised some more, every lunch.

After choosing our topics, the next step was to write a speech. We all went home over the Christmas holidays, content in the knowledge that we had ages to prepare and learn our speeches. However, on returning, we discovered that we only had two weeks to write and learn a speech. Oh dear. And this year we had two teams to prepare, as opposed to just one in previous years. Oh dear indeed. But, like the troopers that we are, we battled through, encouraged along the way by our slave-driver/ teacher, Miss Telford and her band of helpers from the English Department.

Our next challenge was to practise in front of a real audience. For this, I must thank Miss Telford’s Year 10 English class for listening to us dutifully and appreciating

the ‘jokes’ , however cringy they may have been and however many times they had to hear them. And Mr Tandler who was subjected to countless performances as he busily worked away behind the curtain in the PA Hall on the staging for this year’s school production.

An unwilling victim – but very kind in his constructive feedback!

we returned to the hall for the announcement. The bad news?

We lost. The good news? We won!

We always knew that only one team could go through; we were only grateful that one of those teams was from AESG. Their speech on “Defining Humour” had the Rotarians, teachers, parents, fellow competitors and (most importantly) judges in stitches as Megan Payne took on the role of stand-up comedienne for the evening! The girls were praised by the judges for an “outstanding” performance.

In an unprecedented move, the winning team swept the board with all three members of the team also gaining the individual awards for the evening. In spite of my team not going through, we were genuinely delighted that our friends enjoyed such success on the night.

It just remains for me to thank all the people who have helped us along the way; all the teachers have been brilliant in supporting us, our fellow students have been so complimentary and our parents have endured our practices at home. It really has been an amazing experience, allowing us to grow in confidence and giving us memories which we will take with us well into our futures.

Clarissa Welsh, VI Form

Then came the fateful day at Biddulph Victoria Hall. We were all shaking with nerves. After listening to the other teams perform, it was our turn. As it turned out, all our hard work seemed to pay off, and we delivered our speeches like true pros. I can honestly say that all the speeches on the night were fascinating but – sadly - there can only be one winner. After a nail-biting wait at the buffet, (the sausage rolls were delicious),

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Alex Featherstone is an English Languge Student who submitted this travel article – written for The Telegraph – as part of her AS coursework.

Bajan Beauty BARBADOS

love of life, I can’t say, but they just have something about them which we in the West are somehow lacking. They are children who will never grow old; no matter what their age, they insist on having fun.

As I wander through the village, Barbadians sit outside their houses smiling to themselves as they watch the world go by. I tell you, every Bajan woman wears bold, rich, beautiful colours. In fact, Barbados definitely is a riotous cacophony of colour. Bajans are pretty patriotic too; they like to show off the fact that they are Bajan by wearing those bright blue and golden yellow

a greeting to whomever they meet “Hey man! W’happening? Whey you gine?” which I am pretty sure means ‘What’s happening with you?

Where are you going?’ There’s an insouciance about the place which – thank goodness – is catching.

‘I love Barbados’ t-shirts which would look ridiculous anywhere else. They wear what they feel comfortable in; that’s what’s so admirable about them.

the sandy shores. The Boatyard Beach in Bridgetown is certainly an experience. Young teens and senior citizens lay side by side.

The endless golden sand stretches out as far as you can see, waiting patiently for people to leave their mark. As the day becomes quieter and the swarms of people begin to travel back, the beach returns to its peaceful, restful self. Meanwhile, everyone heads off to get ready for the night ahead.

I like to unwind under a sun umbrella in lazy chairs beside the sapphire green-blue Caribbean Sea, with pink-white powder sands to dig my toes into. People play in the surf and embrace the winds along the alluring southern coastline.

The smell of salt consumes me as the water splashes along

It might be only 14 miles long and 21 miles wide, but Barbados is jampacked with charisma. Colourful, friendly, warm and rhythmic, there is something about Barbados that attracts over 580,000 tourists from all over the world every year. I’m pretty sure half a million people can’t be wrong. Can they? Well, Daisy Badger is definitely prepared to find out.

This is Barbados. The bluest of skies. The sun with the warmest caresses. As the day dawns, the waves are spilling against the morning sand. A bird singing its sweet melody drifting across the bluest of oceans. A man running up the beach. A child splashing in the sea. A child with a twinkle in his eye.

This beautiful island is known for its exotic locations like the ‘Animal Flower Cave’ and exciting history.

The wide variety of culture, sports and activities make Barbados the pearl of the Caribbean island world.

Every Barbadian (also known less formally as Bajans) wears a smile, wherever they are, whatever they are doing. A smile as wide as the ocean and as warm as the sun.

The Caribbean is full of people who are larger than life. ‘Life in de village’ as Bajans call it, has a great deal of community spirit. I am just captivated by their laidback attitude and their engaging look. There’s something about Bajans that is just so simple and authentic; whether it’s their endless energy or pure

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Imagine the pace of life in Britain: fast, rushed and hurried. Imagine the complete antithesis of this...

Now you’re in Barbados. Learn to trade the rush for the unhurried and easy. Everything is slow. Everything is relaxed. Everything is laidback.

What should be a 5 minute dash to the supermarket is now a 30 minute stroll. No-one runs anywhere; no-one ever seems panicked or stressed; they just amble leisurely up and down the roads, shouting

When the sun goes down, the party is just beginning in Barbados. St. Lawrence Gap, a bustling street that runs alongside a quiet and calm bay, is a perfect contradiction as it definitely is the main party spot on the island (in my opinion anyway).

It’s all of these factors that fuel the fantasies of Brits, Americans and Canadians stuck shivering away in some snowy winter clime.

Harbour Lights is another extremely well known place for tourists to go alongside locals and let their

Barbados – is dancing barefoot in the sand under coconut trees to the pulsating beat of a tropical local band. Sounds bliss, doesn’t it?

hair down at night. The best thing about Harbour Lights is the fact that you can sit down and enjoy your banquet of local cuisine and sip exotic drinks whilst just being able to enjoy the absolute best in local entertainment. And then after you’ve let your food go down, the party begins! Everyone – for age really is just a number in

And as for the food… ranging from Oistins to The Cliff, Barbados offers a range of unique food experiences.

From luxury to intimate, expensive to affordable there is something for every taste and budget here. Oistins is the local fish market where the locals go every Friday for a cheap meal and a good night out. The most famous dishes at Oistins are the fresh flying fish or Mahi-Mahi, straight out the Caribbean Sea. The flavours of the fish dance around in my mouth and my taste buds tingle.

Oistins represents Barbados with local music and local dancing. It seems that with Bajans, when music

Living with a Phobia Chest hurting, heart pounding, hands clammy, head spinning, struggling to breathe, tears flowing, body convulsing. Out of control. This is how you know you have a phobia - when even the mention of the thing that terrifies you sends you in to a panic.

When it comes to that time of year for vaccinations, you can hear all around, “I have a phobia of needles”.

This annoys me, as it is so exaggerated. If you have a genuine phobia, you can’t even say the word without becoming a nervous wreck. You enter a state where you no longer have control of your mind. In short, you feel as if you are going to die.

From the age of 7 to 14, I had Galeophobia, which is phobia of sharks. This started when I went on a holiday to the Maldives with my family during which we took a trip on a fishing boat. My dad was struggling to reel in a mysterious creature that I could see was going to pull him into the ocean if he persisted in pulling.

I remember vividly the fisherman saying that it was definitely a shark. And since that moment I have always feared sharks, until my fear progressively reached the point when I could not go a day without feeling terrified.

My phobia wrecked me, shattering my confidence.

When I told people that I was scared of sharks, they would laugh in my face and call me stupid because I would probably never come into contact with one.

Even my best friends laughed at me. I felt like a freak show. People don’t understand that the point of a phobia is that it is irrational; it doesn’t make sense and it can only be brought on by an extremely traumatic experience. I hated the feeling of embarrassment

comes on, the night comes alive.

Barbadians just love to dance. And the swing, the rhythm, the music always fill the pleasant tropical air.

Then there are beautiful restaurants like The Cliff where you are paying for the experience. The price may be pretty high, but the service, scenery and food make the meal worth it.

Watch the sun sinking into the azure sea as you tuck into a huge banquet of unusual yet divine food. It’s pretty exquisite.

I experienced when I told people about my phobia so I decided that I it was better to stay quiet than to say what I wanted and have people laugh at me. And even though I no longer have the phobia and I feel more confident to be in school plays and to do public speaking, there is still an element of that attitude in me.

One night I had a panic attack going to bed after seeing a picture of a shark on my phone and I knew that I couldn’t live with this any more, I never wanted to feel that way again. It had arrived at the point where I couldn’t go in the shower as the mere sensation of the water over my head made me feel that I was in the ocean and therefore vulnerable to the creatures circling beneath. I couldn’t walk down the stairs alone, as I envisioned a shark waiting to attack me when I got to the bottom.

At that point I decided to ask my dad for help. He took me to a psychologist who got to the bottom of my problem. She made me look at pictures, and videos until I no longer felt the urge to turn away, grimacing at the sight. She repeatedly made me tell myself, “It can’t hurt me” when I looked at a shark, and by the end, of a troubling period of about ten weeks, I had stopped having attacks.

Now? Well, I can think about - and look at - sharks without feeling the slightest glimpse of any element of terror. I am finally free and my life is just so much simpler. However, although I am cured of my phobia and no longer have a fear of sharks, that doesn’t mean that I will be going swimming with sharks any time soon! I think I’ll keep my distance, thanks.

Aquiel Brittain-Dissont, LVI

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Home is…

Home is…

Yvonne sat on the plush green sofa for what would be the last time for a long while. She was going to be a German exchange student and even before she had even left she was already missing Germany. She thought about her parents and her bedroom and all her family. She wished they could come too.

What is home? Is it where you live, or where you like being? Is it just an old house or building? Or is it a special and very unique place you love going to?

She went around the house taking in every detail of each room. Her mother called her and she frantically picked up items that she had just that second decided she couldn’t let go. She scurried into the taxi and her mother looked at her sympathetically, knowing that Yvonne had never spent more than a day away from home.

When Yvonne got to the airport she wouldn’t let go of her mother. Tears streamed down her face and her mind was filled with new worries. Her mum gave a big hug then ushered her away; she too was now upset, wondering if it was the right decision.

Yvonne met up with her other friends and they helped calm her down from her distressed state. Soon they were off into the bright blue sky and Yvonne fell fast asleep. When she woke up she felt better and repeatedly told herself that soon she’d be back in Germany, the place where she felt at home.

The Head Teacher was there waiting and all around her were smiling faces. Yvonne felt lonely as if no one could understand her true feelings.

When she arrived at the school she was terrified. The big gates had lions’ faces carved into them and Yvonne shrunk back as if the lions would come alive and gobble her up. When she went inside the school, though, she wasn’t scared. Everyone was friendly and she soon felt like she was at home.

Home to me is where I am loved; where I feel comfortable. Where I feel like nobody can hurt me or my family either. Home is the best place on earth where nobody ever feels sad.

In reality home is like any other building, but it has unique features to the people who live there. A home is where you feel completely safe. It always contains special memories of when you were small or when you first learned to walk. I am an Indian and I feel very sad to have left my home there. I really miss my friends and companions over there.

Different animals live in different habitats (or homes) like rabbits in burrows, horses in stables, lions in dens, birds in trees and millions of beautiful patterned fish living in the deep blue sea. All of them love their homes no matter what they are.

I have seen many people on this earth who are homeless and must live in uncomfortable conditions.

These people live on the road and don’t even have enough money to buy food or drink. Sometimes a child is orphaned and again has no place to live. This is why an orphanage is slightly like a home to a child. I have heard a saying that states ‘A happy family makes a wonderful home.’

Some people call the places they like or go to more often their second home. My second home is school; I love my home and if I was to leave it, I would never adjust quickly to the new one.

Aditi Chandana 7HL

Imogen Cole, 7HL

AESG AESG, what a wonderful place to be, music, drama, and P.E, Laughter, smiles and lots of joy, For everyone to enjoy.

AESG, what a wonderful place to be, Come along and join us, you will see, All the girls, tidy and smart, Ready to have a great start.

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AESG, what a wonderful place to be, Young cheerful faces full of glee, Studying hard all day long, Never getting a question wrong!

AESG, what a wonderful place to be, Nothing can ever be better than AESG, Full of help, kindness and fun, So why don’t you come?

By Jessica Taylor, Claudia Persico and Tara Evans

Home is...

Home is...

The dolphin’s home is the deep blue sea, The bright yellow flower belongs to the bee.

The woodlouse’s home is a thorny bush, The tortoise’s home will never be rushed.

A racing driver’s home is a racing track, The runner’s home is a running track.

A dancer’s home is at their dance school, The swimmer’s home is a swimming pool.

But what is home to you?

The pig’s home is covered in mud, The crocodile’s lake is full of blood.

The crow’s home is on top of the cables, A horse’s home is in the stables.

A chicken’s home is in the box, The heron’s home is at the docks.

The zebra’s home is at the zoo, In Australia you’ll find the kangaroo.

The rabbit’s home is a hole in the ground, The maggot in the apple doesn’t want to be found.

The mice’s home is a gap in the wall, The bird’s home might take a fall.

The fish’s home is in a bowl, The whale’s home is in a shoal.

The cat’s home is by a roaring fire, The dog’s home is a run that never tires.

The seahorse’s home is the coral reef, The caterpillar’s home is on a leaf.

But my home is where I feel most loved, With angels watching me from high up above.

By Lucy Ferris, 7HL

A horse rider’s home is at the stables, The skier’s home is on the cables.

A zookeeper’s home is in a zoo, The Eskimo’s home is in an igloo.

But what is home to you?

A home could be a lonely castle, A home could be a Hollywood dazzle.

A home could be a giant palace, Or it could be tiny with possessions of a chalice.

But what is home to you?

A monkey’s home is in the jungle, And the sky belongs to the eagle.

A rabbit’s home is in a burrow, Or better than that, in the meadow.

But what is home to you?

You may live in England, But you feel your home is Scotland.

You may live in Pakistan, But you feel your home is in Japan.

But what is home to you?

Home to me is where I’m loved, Where I feel safe, And where I’m cared for.

Home to me is with my family, Altogether, safe and happy.

By Maggie Khoryati, 7HL

DEBORAH ELLIS – award-winning author, feminist and a peace activist visits AESG Deborah wrote the international bestseller ‘The Breadwinner’, as well as many challenging and beautiful works of fiction and non-fiction about children all over the world.

Her most recent book is ‘Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids’, a compelling collection of interviews with Aboriginal and Native Americans aged nine to eighteen.

Deborah has more than twenty books to her credit. She has won the Governor General’s Award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of California’s Middle East Book Award, Sweden’s Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Vicky Metcalf Award for a Body of Work. She has received the Ontario Library Association’s President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement, and she has been named to the Order of Ontario.

A passionate advocate for the disenfranchised, Deborah certainly “walks the talk,” donating most of her royalty income to worthy causes — Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, Street Kids International, the Children in Crisis Fund of IBBY (International Board

on Books for Young People) and UNICEF. She has donated more than one million dollars in royalties from her Breadwinner books alone.

We were thrilled when Mrs Wood our school librarian organised such an informative and entertaining speaker!

Holly Swale signs books

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Conspiracy theories: Separating fact from fiction We all love a good conspiracy theory. For some reason, we become obsessed with the mystery of it all and almost make it our personal duty to discover the answer. There are so many well-known conspiracy theories from the assassination JFK to the question of ‘Did we really ever go to the moon?’ The latest one, which really became the ‘hot topic’ in our LVI English Literature lessons, is the disappearance of flight MH370. Therefore, because of our ‘fascination’ with conspiracy theories, we have chosen to write about six of the most well-known theories from the last 50 years, just to get you thinking!

The Location of Malaysian Airline flight MH370 - 2014 The most recent of these theories and our inspiration for this article, was flight MH370. The Malaysian Airline flight carrying 239 passengers, 152 of whom were Chinese, left from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on Saturday March 8th 2014 at 00:41. Less than an hour into the flight, at 01:21, the plane went off radar and its location became the mystery that the whole world was talking about.

There were many speculations about whether it was terrorism, a kidnapping, a pilot’s suicide mission, whether it had simply crashed or that it was the TV show ‘Lost’ becoming a reality . One in ten Americans actually believes that the flight was captured by UFOs, a theory that strikes us as highly unlikely, to say the least, (but I suppose that depends on where your loyalties lie!). New evidence was appearing everyday and then being immediately contradicted here, there and everywhere.

It was then revealed that the plane could have been flying for up to 7

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hours after it fell off radar, either North to Kazakhstan or South to the Southern Indian Ocean, off the coast of Australia. Satellite signals from China, Australia, America, France, and Britain were pulled in to help. At one point in the search, the Chinese ships were adamant that they had found the plane due to a signal that was picked upon their radar. This signal turned out to be their own ship! Many pieces of debris had been found in the Indian Ocean, and on the 24th of March, it was confirmed by the British intelligence that the aircraft was lost. It was devastating to find out that the families of the missing passengers were told via a text message. However, the real conspiracy was not about “How?” or “Where?”, but “Why?” Why did it crash? Why was the pilot so off course? With the tragic loss, it would seem that we would never know the answer, and that this puzzle would forever remain unsolved.

Aquiel Brittain-Dissont, VI Form The Moon Landing 1969 Did America fake it or make it?

One of the greatest questions, asked by Americans and British alike: did NASA really go so far as to fake the giant leap of mankind?

The Cold War was a fight for power and what better way to gain power and to show control, not only of life on earth, but life on the moon, by landing on the moon? By planting the American flag right into the ground of the moon, America showed universal domination.

America desperately wanted to get to the moon, but then so did Russia and so the race began. Statistics show that there was a 0.007% chance that it was possible for Americans to land on the moon and then to return to earth safely. Was this “moon landing” nothing more than a desperate attempt to gain power?

To begin with, let’s look at the facts.

Studying the photographs presents the first conundrum: the American flag waves and it doesn’t take a genius to realise that that just isn’t possible - there’s no wind on the moon. Secondly, in the famous videos shown on television, we can make out what Neil Armstrong is saying perfectly, but with the noise of a rocket’s engine, there is no way we would be able to hear a human voice so clearly over it.

Thirdly, the blast from the landing of the rocket would blow away any dust on the moon’s surface, but as the astronauts walked around the rocket, footprints were left, without any dust. Tell me, just how is that possible?

If we were to accept that this moon landing was nothing more than an earth landing, then where would American government have filmed the biggest cover up in all time? What about so-called Area 51? What is so secretive about an area of land that NO ONE can know about; what could they possibly be hiding? Aerial satellite photos, taken by Russia, show Area 51 to be a completely barren landscape, with craters and no trees for miles - scarily similar to the landscape of the moon. Perhaps faking this mission wasn’t so hard after all?

Was this a giant leap for mankind or one small step for America?

Pippa Neill, VI Form The Death of Princess Diana 1997 Many conspiracy theorists have put forward the argument that Diana, Princess of Wales’ death was no Paris car crash accident, but instead, a plot from the Royal family and MI6 to kill her as she was considered a threat to the Royal family. It has been reported by many that the Royal family were unhappy about the divorce from former husband, Prince Charles, and the allegations that she had been cheating on him. Following this, Diana upset them further

by exploiting the Royal family’s involvement with the production of certain nuclear warfare and, apparently, was willing to ‘name and shame’ the people in charge of this programme. When Diana’s car crashed into a pillar in a bridge in Paris, France, many concluded that it must have had the Queen’s involvement and why shouldn’t it? Reportedly, minutes after the collision, a motorcyclist jumped from his bike, inspected the car, gave a thumbs up to another motorcyclist and both rode off quickly, never to be seen again.

Anne Marie Whiteley, VI Form The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy - 1963 This much we can say for certain: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by gunfire as he travelled in a motorcade in an open-top limousine in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30 pm. Texas Governor John Connelly was wounded during the shooting, but survived. Within two hours, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit and arrested that evening. Shortly after 1:30 am, Saturday, Oswald was arrested for murdering President Kennedy as well. On Sunday, November 24, at 11:21 am, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as he was being transferred to the county jail.

The circumstances surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy spawned suspicions of a conspiracy.

Decades of investigations, hearings, documents, records, books and interviews have failed to satisfy conspiracy theorists with a definitive answer to the question: Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone when he shot the President?

Kennedy assassination conspiracy theorists come with all degrees of interest and levels of obsession: those who believe the government was involved in some kind of cover-up, to extremists who think

that “everything the government tells you is a lie.” Here are some of the most talked about conspiracy theories surrounding his death: The Central Intelligence Agency may have played a role in his death. The motive? The CIA was upset about the changes being made within the agency after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. The CIA also did not want Kennedy to discharge CIA agents for disagreeing with him. Other theories pin the assassination on a rogue cell of the CIA or an agency contract killer gone rogue.

One theory asserts that the Mafia was angry with efforts by the brother, Robert Kennedy, to crack down on organized crime. Another involves a theory that the Mafia was working with anti-Castro exile groups that were trying to take down JFK. Vice President Johnson was motivated by political gain to organize Kennedy’s assassination.

Kennedy and Johnson had many political differences and personal issues. The argument goes that Johnson’s financial scandal and desire to be President served as possible reasons. Since Kennedy was visiting Texas, Johnson’s home state, supporters of this theory say it seems logical that Johnson could have been involved. His associates also controlled many of the trip’s details.

There is no doubt that the Kennedy assassination and the conspiracy theories surrounding it continue to fascinate ordinary Americans and people all over the world. I would love, of course, to be able to prove that some - or indeed all - of the conspiracy stories are true, but sadly I don’t think that anyone will ever know the truth.

We are still coming to terms with the consequences and I suspect it will be a long time – if ever - before the conspiracy theorists are finally answered.

Clarissa Welsh, VI Form

Dance Your Heart Out! The Dance Showcase is one of the highlights of the school year and the numerous dance troupes practise hard to put on a good show year after year. There are four troupes: Crystals for the girls in Years 7; Rubies for those in Years 8 and 9; Emeralds for those in Years 9 and 10 and – last but not least Diamonds for the girls in Year 10 through to Sixth Form.

There is great competition to gain places in these groups each year and therefore the auditions are not only time consuming for Mrs Foster but also challenging for the pupils!

Anna Steele in Year 7 was pleased to become a member of Crystals, she says “I auditioned with the song “Treasure” by Bruno Mars and I think it went really well. I am enjoying being in the group because I get to have a lot of fun with my friends! At the moment we are working on a dance to I’m in the Mood for Dancing which I am enjoying.”

Holly Bennett is another talented dancer (you may remember her performance in the Dance Showcase last year with her sisters and brother) and although she is only in Year 10, she has a place in the Diamonds group. Holly explains, “For the audition, everyone had to learn one minute of a dance and perform it to Mrs Foster. I enjoy being in the group because I am able to socialise with pupils from other year groups and it is a good performing experience.”

The Dance Showcase is a fixture on our annual calendar and, if you haven’t yet had a chance to come along to see it – make sure you do this year!

Zoe Bennett, VI Form

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Vogue Talent Contest WINNER 2013 This year’s winning entry for the annual talent contest - encouraging new writers to flourish- is an exploration of the autumn of childhood from the perspective of 16-year old Clarissa Welsh, an avid Vogue reader and aspiring author.

The judges were mesmerised by the charismatic and atmospheric tone and were bewitched to hark back to their own nostalgic memories of being a little girl in Autumn.

Every rusty Autumn day, we would scramble up the crooked ladder to our (tree) ship, cast anchor and raise the moth-eaten skull and crossbones to cries of “ahoy me hearties” and “shiver me timbers”.

But what’s this, soaring above us in the flurry of leaves on an autumnal gale? A flash of red, a chuckle tickling your ear, a kiss cautiously caressing, tugging the corners of your mouth into a blithe smile. Every night we would wait.

By an open window we would wait.

Under the ethereal moonlight we would wait. Waiting for the familiar call, “Second star to the right and straight on ‘till morning”.

And every night the collection of acorns, leaves, thimbles, and conkers would grow; a gift to our immortal midnight friend. The call for adventure was never answered, until only a fragment of light was allowed to escape from the crevice

Each autumn, I am transported back to childhood and recall the rustle of vermillion and burgundy beneath wellies, the smell of smoke and damp oak encapsulating every breath and the fine branches scraping marshmallow clouds, so far away, turning to gold in the Midas light. This was autumn for me.

Long walks in the maze of foliage and ‘swords-to-be’ of Alderley Edge forest, visions of armour glinting like stars amongst the jet black sweating stallions, and spells spiralling eternally, their maker obscured by the unfathomable caves. And I, Princess Clarissa Alexandria of Little Claremont Castle, Old road, Stalybridge, (which was, in truth, a Wendy house that had certainly seen better days), held captive by the wicked demon of fire hidden amongst the murky depths of undergrowth in the forest, dreaming of the day when my beloved sister (turned Knight in Shining Armour) would rescue me from my imminent demise.

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of the sash, one last beam of belief, before the window was locked and the light shut out, forever.

The thrill of the bonfire, with its comforting smoky aroma, steadily kindling, smouldering, sizzling and illuminating feverish faces with cavorting sparks of crimson was always the highlight of my autumn.

Bobbing apples, sticky sweet parkin, huddling like penguins against the arctic chill, whilst gazing skywards at the riot of sapphires, emeralds, rubies and diamonds scattered across the inky backdrop. Most favourite of all was the excitement

of twilight trickery, hoards of hyper zombies, witches and their ebony cats, vampires, ghosts and other foul creatures craving sugar, the eerie, yet comforting intense orange glow emerging from pumpkins’ furtive, necromantic and villainous expressions and crimson fang punctures that endured, despite the ferocious scouring and scrubbing of my embarrassed mother.

Autumn also brought a trip to Big Nana’s and Big Granddad’s - always a treat. Big Nana would be there, all snuggled up in a woolly jumper and Big Granddad, looking dapper as always in his gant polos, (Autumn reminds me of his voice: “oh yes it’s Gant, Lynn, Gant! And only 20 quid at the car-boot it were! Bargain, bargain, this here! I got this at the car-boot too and that were only....”).

My job was always to help Nana collect the leaves in the garden; I’d watch her scrape them all into a huge mountain, before pausing just long enough for me to dash through like a daringly dashing intrepid explorer entering unchartered territory. Masquerading as Cinderella and her Prince Charming, we would cavort and careen, chortling, as it rained maroon and amber, the leaves gracefully flickering out of life as they fell, in herald of the coming winter.

My sister, Liv, on the other hand, was Nana’s personal assistant when it came to sewing. I would observe, flabbergasted, as they whipped up a quilt or cushion cover in order to redecorate Nana’s bedroomagain! From Chief Gardener and Seamstress we transformed into Sous Chefs and baked all manner of delicious delights with Big Granddad: flaky pastry sausage rolls; scones; frangible and juicy jam tarts and an array of breads - every type imaginable – velvety, fluffy English muffins; cheesy herby rolls and thickly sliced brown bread, eaten fresh from the oven with unevenly spread butter that slowly melted like golden honey. Autumn was all of these things to me.

From the comfort of Nana’s rustic kitchen, we would venture into the crisp fall grounds of the church beside. In the tangible silence of the vacant churchyard, the mist dispersed to reveal celestial sunlight tainting all of nature with its russet tendrils, like a Polaroid photograph clothed in musky nostalgia. Creeping among the gravestones, we would fabricate fantastical stories encapsulating every name engraved in the timeworn stone, tales of heartbreak, woe, stolen fortunes and buried treasure, of damsels in distress, enigmatic fairy kingdoms, and, of course, happily ever afters.

Today, the graveyard stands still, a void of lost souls.

Where’s Bear?

But then Jack Frost would emerge, in the malevolent shroud of night, paralysing the decrepit and dishevelled leaves that many a wellie had now turned black, in an otherworldly frozen state.

Chaperoning this fiend was the excitement of all things Christmassy and Autumn would be forgotten, for another year, a mere myriad of memories padlocked in the precious pirate’s chest of the subconscious. The dragon no longer hides in the undergrowth, the broken branches no longer beckon for battles, the leaves no longer waltz to a tune, the trickor-treaters no longer crave sugar, but a different kind of poison. Not for me. Although Princess Clarissa Alexandria has long been resigned to my minor charcoal scratching of ink on paper, but has never been forgotten. I would not forget the leaf frolicking, the storytelling, or the thimble waiting at an open window....

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Agony Aunt Column: Advice to those common problems experinced at school provided by Anonymous VI Formers Dear Agony Aunt...

I am struggling day after day with a traumatizing issue I cannot seem to resolve; it affects my concentration, my work, my efficiency and I feel, quite frankly, intimidated. There is this girl in one of my classes: she is a fabulous student though loud and abrupt, her comments are quick and seem witty (I can only tell this from the other girls’ laughter.

I do not laugh). I sit there watching her with my head in my hands as she performs to the others whilst interjecting with a remark that makes my efforts seem pointless, worthless and I suppose ridiculous. I know I am a teacher and should not be intimidated by one girl, but you don’t understand she has mastered her craft of classroom clown and artfully can snatch the attention of my students in an instant.

Please help I haven’t finished unit 1 of my teaching yet because of these incessant behavioural issues.

I do see your predicament here, however I fail to see why this is such an issue. From what your letter has told me this particular seems to be very good at what she does (you described her as a “fabulous student” and that she has mastered her “craft of classroom clown”). It sounds to me like you’re getting a free stand-up show of the highest quality which you should in fact relish. The best things in life are free after all.

It seems that the only quandary is that you are moving through the syllabus at a painfully slow rate. If you want me to be brutally honest, you should really question your abilities as a teacher if this comedic genius of a girl can “snatch the attention” of your students in nothing but an “instant”. If I were you I’d take note of the phrase “if ya can’t beat em, join em” and sit back and watch the pleasantry in all its glory. Maybe even flash a grin once in a while to show you do indeed understand the concept of humour after all.

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Dear Agony Aunt...

I can’t cope I really cannot cope. It’s been going on too long now. I think I am being forced to do something I shouldn’t. It started at a young age but it wasn’t so backbreaking then now it’s gruelling and should be against my human rights. I am 15 now and I am now expected to run 1500m on a cold winter’s day and call it a sport. That is 100 m for every year of my life, an unfair task.

The piercing glare is what gets to me though; you can feel the eyes of the PE staff watching you every time you slow to walk and the gut wrenching disappointed look they give you as they mark your time down on their clip board, no doubt to compare later in the staffroom and draw up a chart of the school’s un-fittest. I believe the PE staff are out of control with their power to force physical hardship on ourselves the students.

I even heard the glee in one of their voices as she expressed, “Be careful round the corners the grass will still be frosty.”

Please, you have to help; it shouldn’t be allowed this forced labour. I need a way to save the generations following us.

Believe me when I say this: been there, done that, got the mud stain.

The PE staff seem to revel in the fact that the students suffer while they simply stand there in a coat warm enough to keep the Inuits warm.

Therefore next time this truly horrendous activity is imposed upon you simply suggest that the PE teacher should join you if indeed “cross country is needed for a well rounded fitness routine” and I’m sure you’ll find suddenly a spot of bench ball is suggested instead.

You’re welcome.

Dear Agony Aunt...

We write to you today as a couple, a team. I am currently Head of Sixth Form and my partner is Deputy, and we are oh so troubled by two girls in our Sixth Form family. In short, they believe they run the

place. These two girls, so opposite yet so similar are in their 15th year at AESG and this September they took their confidence to another level. The girls seized my office and claimed it as their own; my partner and I are forced to share an office now, which is highly impractical. So two computers installed and a redecoration later, the girls have taken over. It doesn’t stop there however. The two are inseparable; they sit surveying the common rooms; they have taken the comfiest sofas as their own downstairs and they now think they can tell the teachers how to do their jobs because in most cases these two girls have been members of the school longer. We began by telling them it is not their office and everyone has the right to use it, but we were locked in the store cupboard. We tried to reason with them and their arrogant approach to our teaching, but they disconnected our computers and most recently we took away their Sixth Form privileges until they learned to behave as equal to everyone else: however, we were pelted with brownies.

There is not much more we can do, what do you suggest Aunt; we can’t take it anymore.

I’m sorry but I really fail to see what the problem is here. They have been at the school 15 years; therefore, when it comes to hierarchy of the school, they are firmly at the top.

It seems you certainly stepped out of line telling them to give up their office for communal use. If you ask me you are lucky to still have your original office.

You also mentioned that these two girls “tell the teachers how to do their jobs” as if this is an issue. You are getting free feedback from girls who seem to be, quite frankly, the school’s experts. However, I’m sure these two girls do have a conscience, so I’m sure if you asked politely they would fit a light into the closet for next time you find yourselves questioning their place in the school pecking order.

Thinking of Drama GCSE? Read on for some hot hints and tips...

Last year’s GCSE Drama results were truly fantastic, with every girl achieving an A* or A grade. Many of these girls have decided to continue with Drama at AS level in the Lower Sixth. We thought it would be good to gather their thoughts on the GCSE Drama course and the secrets of their success and if you are in Year 9 and considering Drama as one of your GCSE options, you should pay particular attention to what these girls have to say!

Georgie – The drama group became like a family as we all got on so well with each other and had fun whilst doing the work.

House Entertainment Continues Apace with the annual Pancake Race!

Sara Kamani shows the Year 7s how it’s done! The Year 7s flipped like crazy for their houses – thanks to Mrs Leigh for providing the ‘pancakes’!

The Shakespeare practical piece was the most enjoyable as we all adapted the Shakespearean script and devised completely different things. The only downside of Drama GCSE is that the essays are quite long and there’s only a short time in which to write them.

Charlotte – I think the mock performances and the critical feedback we had from Mrs Foster really helped us to do well. We were also given awesome notes and did lots of practice essays throughout the course.

Beth – The GCSE course really helped to prepare me for my A-level as I am now much more comfortable with the theory, which is the biggest part of the course.

Beth T – I appreciated the support and encouragement from Mrs Foster, as well as all the practice essays! My favourite element of the course was going on the theatre trip to London.

Think You’ve Got Family Dramas?

They’re Nothing compared to ‘An Inspector Calls’ and ‘All My Sons’!

Seeing live theatre in performance is invaluable for pupils studying Drama at all levels. At GCSE and A-level the final examinations feature questions requiring pupils to analyse and evaluate performances they have seen.

Therefore, there is always a wealth of opportunities available for students to see live theatre and, this year, trips have been organised to “An Inspector Calls” in Bolton and “All My Sons” in Manchester.

Ellie Hartland in Year 11 enjoyed ‘An Inspector Calls’: “The show was about a family, a very wealthy family, who are interrupted by an inspector during a family celebration. During his inspection, he brings the family’s problems to the surface. However, towards the end of the play I realised that all might not be as it seems and that the inspector could be acting as the conscience of the family or perhaps even a ghost. I felt that the performance really helped me to understand the play better.”

Allegra Stone and Izzy Hambley in LVI saw “All My Sons” in Manchester: “The play is about a family in which the father is responsible for killing his son. The mother struggles to cope with the fact that she will never see her son again and a series of events unfolds. We had never been to the Royal Exchange Theatre before, so that was an interesting experience, particularly because it is such a good example of theatre in the round. The use of props was very interesting; particularly the swing attached to the ceiling which was used throughout the play.”

Cross Country Running

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Charitable Fundraising

Selling Sweets for Charity

Rushed Footsteps mimic the beat Pulses tick louder Inhaling becomes a vacuum Shuffling becomes illegal Tongues formulate excuses An episode of case Explodes Eerie buzzing overwhelms Musty dust spreads The skids the revs The gasps and pants Crack into recorded words You have reached your final destination… …late

By Emily Jeffries, Year 9 e ls – House Styl Christmas Stal

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True Love Love for me is the look in the eyes, He might say he loves you, but he might lie.

True love for me is the look in the soul, When you love him, and you’ve set your goal.

Love for me is the red of the heart, When you can be pulled apart.

True love for me is what’s in the heart, Where you can never be pulled apart.

By Hyaat Halwani, Year 9

Seasons of Love Love is like sunshine, That keeps us alive; Love is like a snowflake, A story entwined.

Love is like leaves floating, As all our problems fly; Love is like new chicks, It keeps us young inside.

Our love is like a summer romance, All over again.

Our love is fresh like Birds singing in the spring morning.

Our love is like the crunch under my footsteps, As I wander through the leaves.

Our love is explosive, As fireworks crackle in the sky.

Our love is special, It is all of these combined.

By Nina Fraser & Izzy James, Year 9

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Embarrassing Stories

Flaunt your flute!

Miss Mawdsley

One of our most accomplished musicians here at AESG is Miriam Beck. You may well remember her performance of Chanson de Matin by Elgar at our Prize-giving ceremony. Miriam has been learning the flute since the beginning of Year 6, so she has been practising for six years now! During this time, she has taken ABRSM examinations and, most recently, passed her Grade 8 examination with Distinction; a fantastic achievement!

I hate fish: the smell, the taste, anything fishy I do not like. When at university I lived with a guy who loved fish and I thought he would purposely torment me with his fishy dishes which he liked to call “seafood surprise”. At university, we all liked to go the food shop together; this was a fun activity for us, considering it was better than doing our work! So, we were all putting our things in a trolley and we came to the chilled aisle and I turned to get my items and went back the trolley and there were boxes and boxes of “Seafood Selection”. So I stood there with one of these boxes in my mind, explaining my absolute hatred and how disgusting they were and how could anyone like the taste and why would you put so many boxes in our trolley when you know how much I hate it and then to my absolute horror, I saw my friend looking at me like “shush!” and I realised that this wasn’t our trolley and I just had stood next to the woman’s whose it was and told her how disgusting I thought her choice of food was and I wanted to die! I had forgotten about this till recently, as my brother reminded me of it at my birthday party and I sunk into my seat! If you were in my situation your stomach would have sunk!

Mr Chadwick When I was younger I lived in the north of Spain and when working there I taught English in a Spanish school. At the end of a week we got the coach to Pampula and went out all night and I hadn’t slept. Whilst there, there was the famous bull run which I was specifically told not to take part in (by my mum and my Headteacher); however this American guy convinced me to take part and at 8 o’clock, after having no sleep, the bulls were released and you are chased through the cobbled streets by them. The American guy fell over and then I ended up falling on top of him with my glasses smashing into smithereens; I remembered being told specifically not to move. So I lay there and saw this bull heading at me and it jumped over me but landed on my ribs and I cracked them. I still have the top with the hoof print and blood! I was told by the Headteacher if I took part I would not get paid, so I went back to school on the Monday and claimed, “I fell down the stairs!”

Ms Laing When I was working in my second school, I used to wear very long skirts. (I know, but it was the 90s!). So one day I was heading to my office and there I was walking with a crowd of 6th Formers behind me and as I stepped I stood on the hem of my skirt! I was wearing a wrap around skirt so to my horror my skirt unravelled and there I was stood in my knickers! Why did I pick to wear that skirt on that day; it still makes me cringe to think of it…

Speaking about her performance at the Bridgewater Hall, Miriam said, “I felt quite relaxed and calm before performing, because I knew the piece really well. I was happy with how it went and I didn’t make any huge mistakes! It was the biggest audience I have ever played for, but it was not my most nerve-wracking performance. That would have to be for my Grade 8 examination which I found quite tense!’

Miriam is now studying for a Performance Diploma, which is a standard equivalent to university degree level.

We wish her every success!

Love reminds me....

Love reminds me of the ocean; it’s deep and has many secrets hidden within its waves.

Love reminds me of a spring day, the sun shining away and the cold breeze shaking the bouquets.

Love reminds me of seconds, minutes, hours, days.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way, Love is summer, Love is winter, Love can be sweet, And love can be sour.

Love reminds me of everything you have to offer

More Team Building with Year 10

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By Ramisha Sheikh, Year 9

Education Engineering Scheme This year, Becky Bennett, Amy Powell, Gemma Francis and I represented AESG in the Education Engineering Scheme (EES), an Engineering Development Trust programme. As a team, we were sponsored and mentored by Siemens.

Our project was to design and create a Bypass Contactor testing rig, to test the time and at what voltage three contactors close. It will be used on customer sites by Siemens’ engineers to determine whether the electrical contactors need to be replaced. Utilised by the international drive service team, it will be vital for testing safety bypass systems consistently. Using this rig will be much more time and cost efficient than the labour-intensive methods currently used.

In November, the team attended the launch of the EES at the University of Liverpool. We participated in team building activities - firstly building a balloon chair and then a marble roller coaster - for which we received special commendation for our design and building skills!

Following the launch, we committed ourselves to weekly meetings with the engineers to allow us to discuss key ideas and make important project decisions.

the team enjoyed a residential workshop at the University of Lancaster, where we were able to make further progress on our project, particularly with the programming. We completed the build of our rig at the beginning of April.

Our final project, a Bypass Contactor testing rig

On 25th April, the team attended the EES celebration day. This was a very successful end to our engineering project as we received top scores for our report (7/8), display (7/8) and presentation (8/8). We were presented with certificates for our participation in the scheme and earned our Gold Crest Awards. This was a great achievement, particularly as women currently account for only 7% of Britain’s engineering workforce.

By Zoe Bennett, Lower VI

From 16th to 18th of December, along with five other groups, Tom, our Engineer, with our display

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the absence of women in frontbench government, to the so-called ‘Glass ceiling’ in businesses, the underrepresentation of women in the workplace is alarming.

Facing our Fear of the F-word.

The Observer, Friday 14th February 2014 18:00 GMT The F-word. Yes, I’m talking about that one tiny little metonymous term that seems to have Politicians, and the entire world for that matter, up in arms at its mere utterance.

The f-word, you ask? Feminism.

Now, don’t all grab the tinned food supplies and make for the Anderson shelter screaming in absolute horror! Surely, you say, times have changed since inequality, sexism and the female ‘housewife’ figure reigned supreme? In a word, no.

Our modern society is just as riddled with inequality as it ever was, yet this time around the sexist mindset has infiltrated every aspect of our lives surreptitiously, like a fatal disease. The danger now lies in both its pernicious subtlety and society’s naivety in unquestioningly accepting it back into the fold, as it would a long-lost relative.

Back in the more combative society of the 80s, a resurgence of feminist ideas led to Shirley Conran coining the phrase “Life’s too short to stuff a mushroom”. Women staged protests to overcome the ban on trousers in the workplace (as it was ‘distracting’ to male colleagues).

Yet in recent decades, a widely held assumption, common to both men and women is that ‘the gentler sex’ have achieved equality. We have not. Yet. Don’t get me wrong, I am not criticising or diminishing the roles and successes of the pioneering feminist women of our past, who, in an institutionally

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patriarchal society, strived for more equality between the genders.

Yes, I am in no doubt that these women sacrificed a great deal to allow the women of the modern day to flourish just as much as men.

But their work isn’t finished. Don’t delude yourself with the ignorant perception that we live in a ‘genderblind’ society. We don’t, and never will, if women of the modern day don’t honour the legacy of these gallant females.

Speaking of the ‘modern day’, 2013 was the year when misogyny announced its grotesque return from the shadows. The summer witnessed sickening abuse against Caroline Criado-Perez, who campaigned to have Jane Austen put on banknotes, (as a representation of the many contributions women have made to society). Her reward?

A bombardment of rape threats on Twitter. On Amazon, T-shirts with the logo “Keep Calm and Rape A Lot” were put up for sale.

And this sexism is not confined to the mere grotty views of bitter, ludicrous and illogical individuals, motivated by their antiquated ideals of a perfect world. When the first 32 women were ordained as Church of England priests back in 1994, many thought that it would only be a matter of time before women were consecrated as bishops too. But, after a 12year legislative process, the recent ‘no’ vote by the General Synod crushed many of these hopes. This is institutionalised misogyny. From

In the workplace, men are permitted, (even encouraged in some cases) to pronounce crude judgements upon their female counterparts. Recently, TV presenter Charlie Vernon was presenting on the shopping channel Gems TV. She made a simple mistake.

The response? She was reviled by a male colleague through her earpiece. What was ignored, and even accepted as justified, was the unnecessarily obscene nature of the male contempt, because this has evolved into something ‘normal’ in our grieved society.

This society of ‘liberated’ modern women is peppered with stories about the “office perv”. But the point is, in 2014, the “office perv” should be as outdated as girdles, lemon yellow marigolds and the headscarf, (despite the efforts of Mrs Kidson to resurrect them!).

This ‘so-called’ ‘banter’ is highly inappropriate in our (supposedly) modern society. And if the woman doesn’t laugh it off? She’s judged to be uptight and dull.

Evidently misogyny and sexism still exist in our ‘allegedly’ modern society, which begs the question: where are our feminists? Why is it that women and men alike still shudder at the mention of the f-word? Excluding the cowardice of our Politicians, surely our Nation, (and across the world for that matter!), is not lacking in courage and valour? And yet when it comes to facing our biggest problems, (and as it transpires, our biggest fears), we hide in the shadows.

Women of the world, it’s time to rally the troops, summon all your courage, and bring out the big guns, because the war for equality is most definitely not won.

by Clarissa Welsh, VI Form

Team – g n i d l i u b I V r e w o L

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City Of Angels gone to Hell?

Back in the early 1900s, there was only one place to make films: Hollywood. Back when this unbelievable town was just a small district in the City of Los Angeles, no one could have guessed it would grow to be the biggest filmmaking town of all time. Back in the 1920s, Los Angeles evolved to be the main location for film-making, mainly because of its natural light exposure that worked best when producing films. And it was the film industry that made Hollywood. The iconic “Hollywood” sign clinging to the Hollywood Hills initially read “Hollywoodland” when first raised in 1923 giving this future remarkable city a definite status.

This incredible place we call the “City Of Angels” has also been known as the “Creative Capital of the World” and if you wanted to make a film at any time since the Golden Age of film, you would have headed to the Hills. Los Angeles or “The Angels” translated from Spanish was originally home to Gabrielino Indians who were found living in small villages near what is now Hollywood. This land of rolling hills and its gentle slopes was known by these early inhabitants as “Cahuengna”, meaning Little Hills.

Over time, Hollywood has spread immensely from the ‘Little Hills’ of LA, to the mountain of industry it is today. In its prime, Hollywood blossomed beautifully, hosting the first ever Academy Awards on May 16th, 1929, with tickets costing a mere $10.00 and only 250 people attending located at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. Now, the Academy Awards is one of the most viewed and celebrated occasions of our time so it’s unbelievable that the new Mayor Eric Garcetti has declared Los Angeles in a “State of Emergency”.

Long before this current crisis, the Nestor Company opened Hollywood’s first film studio in

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an old tavern on the corner of Sunset and Gower in 1911. Not long thereafter, Cecil B DeMille and D W Griffith began making movies in the area drawn to the community for its wide open space and

pushing the nightclubs west on to Sunset Boulevard and, over time, LA became home to multiple Rock Stars including Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger who lived in the illustrious ‘90210’. It was the

moderate climate. The needs of this thriving new industry created radical changes in the community, causing a clash between older and newer residents. What is known as Hollywood Boulevard used to be acres of agricultural land used for housing the many workers that were required to make the movies.

Banks, restaurants, clubs and movie palaces sprang up, catering to the demands of the evolving film industry during the 1920s and 1930s.

Hollywood could be described as anything but static during this fruitful period, transforming and adjusting as an ever-changing metropolis.

“Golden Age” of East LA when films were rolling out of studios like cars on Henry Ford’s assembly lines. Hollywood has since thrived, establishing an active and diverse community striving to preserve the elegant buildings of its past glory such as The Million Dollar Theatre built in February, 1918, still standing as one of the first movie palaces built in the United States. Described as “an illusion”, Los Angeles has proved to be an inspiring city for many.

After a few decades as the “Movie Making Capital of the World” the neighbourhood changed again.

Famous stars moved to Beverley Hills, once home to livestock wandering round what is now known as Sunset Boulevard while Western Hollywood evolved from one rodeo to the next over the years as restaurants and clubs moved with them. The 60s saw music recording studios and offices moving into Hollywood,

The famous band 30 Seconds to Mars recently premiered their music video for their song “City of Angels” in which the distinctive technique of actors and impressionists is used. Complementing the City favourably, big stars like Kanye West, Ashley Olsen and Lindsay Lohan come together to describe this wonderland: “The City of Angels is my paradox, my nightmares and my dreams” Kanye West has said about the City. Olivia Wilde named it “the promised land”. Why then is this “promised land” deteriorating into darkness?

Netflix or Sky Box Office, is this the end of Hollywood?

Like most problems today, money is at the root of Hollywood’s decline.

Hollywood seems to have lost its sparkle for film enthusiasts this year. Lifeless ticket sales have been blamed on the poor economy, rising admission prices and incompetent sequels. At the end of 2010, ticket sales boomed due to the release of James Cameron’s Avatar, enhanced even further by the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, purely because of its diehard fan base. Ticket sales deflated again and have remained slow into what was expected to be an extremely profitable holiday season. Head of Distribution for 20th Century Fox, Chris Aronson admitted: “There were a lot of high-profile movies that just ended up being a little less than was hoped for.”

One reason for the lost city’s plummeting numbers could be the rise in illegal downloading.

Consumers are more restricted on what they are spending their money on. This fall in revenue could be disastrous for this utopian paradise.

In 1991, there were seven original films made, and not one in 2011, making Hollywood long for its glory days, back when sequels weren’t overriding the film industry and investors weren’t playing it safe.

The best movies come from taking risks, believing in the project and pursuing it. Now that people seem to have lost their love of film and their passion for the theatrical cinema experience, staying at home instead and downloading from

From its Walk of Fame where 2,488 stars honour “a community whose name means glamour and excitement in the four corners of the world” to the Night Clubs on Sunset Boulevard, there is no doubt that the magic has not left this city. The question has to be asked, however: Will the allure of Hollywood last if great films are no longer being made? But heart must be taken from the evidence before our eyes – from “Cahuengna” to “90210” Hollywood has never ceased to amaze by its ability to morph and change. Faded into the mists of time, the well known phrase “it ain’t over till the fat lady sings” could have been written for that Grand Old Dame of Cinematic theatre, Hollywood.

From the words of a Hollywood Legend; “As you grow in this business, you learn how to do more with less.” – Morgan Freeman.

By Megan Hudson, English Language A Level student

Hollywood’s loss of employment has been especially notable in areas like one-hour network dramas and big-budget feature films.

Randy Baumberger, President of Paramount Pictures has warned that a loss of jobs to other states with larger incentive programmes was troublesome because some cities, like New Orleans and Atlanta are building up their “Production Ecosystem”, including soundstages and a base of crew talent. Eileen Ige Wong, Senior Vice President at 20th Century Fox has noted that there is a significant difference in costs between Los Angeles and other cities. A budget for a one-hour drama is $3 million in Los Angeles, whereas it would come in under $2.5 million in North Carolina. Strong overseas business has helped make up for dwindling revenues and shrinking DVD sales.

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Year 8s visit France

“Comes a Time” There comes a day when Every day is unwanted.

You wish to re-do that day, Take back the pain of yesterday And replace it with a happier time.

Childhood is that happier time You were thinking of.

The time when what you wore didn’t matter.

The time when your looks meant nothing to you.

The time when the opposite sex was just a friend...

And nothing more.

I dream of that happier time when Homework was colouring and Class work was story time of faraway lands and Dodo birds were once a reality.

The time when you could be a pirate and a princess At the exact same time And it didn’t matter because it was cute.

I was once cute, Not hot or sexy.

Just cute.

That time was real and now it’s passed And we can never bring it back Because now is the real future.

By Danisai Chimanikire, Year 10

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Anyone for modelling in Biology?

Have you ever wondered why we share certain features with our siblings but not others? Well, in order to investigate the answer to this puzzling question, Lower VI Biology students have been learning about a type of cell division called meiosis.

This process produces gametes, cells which created each and every one of us. In order to help understand how we get variation (differences) within families, the students modelled the process of meiosis using plasticine.

The cells at the top of each diagram look the same because they have the same chromosomes. However, the combination of chromosomes found in the gametes at the end of the process is different. The Lower VI have also been learning about the structure of DNA, as part of their AS Biology course. To help them to be able to describe and remember the position of the bases inside the molecule and to appreciate the shape of the double helix structure they made a model of a DNA molecule out of sweets.

Royal Society of Chemistry Global Experiment Girls took part in a global Chemistry experiment organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

They spent several lunch times testing different fruit and vegetables to see which contained the most vitamin C. Vitamin C is L-ascorbic acid and is a vital nutrient as well as an antioxidant.

The experiment used the antioxidant properties of vitamin C to reduce iodine; the more iodine a particular fruit or vegetable could oxidise, the more vitamin C it contained. Iodine forms a blue/ black colour with starch so they used a starch solution to indicate when the reaction had finished.

To enable a fair comparison they tested 10g of food each time. Of the foods tested (apple, kiwi, potato, pepper, broccoli and cabbage) they found that red peppers and kiwi fruit contained the most vitamin C! You certainly learn something new every day in Science!

Head start at Oxford University Opportunities to take learning out of the classroom are always useful to girls at AESG. This year, Gemma Francis in Lower VI, will attend the Materials Science Headstart course at Oxford University during the summer – what a fantastic achievement! With over 1000 students who applied for the course being rejected, it was clear that the strength of Gemma’s application secured her a place. She will stay in one of Oxford University’s Colleges and attend lectures covering a range of Materials topics. She will tackle a range of problems often presented to Oxford undergraduates and will also carry out experiments similar to those usually performed by undergraduates. In addition, she will be participating in a groupbased competitive project aimed at simulating the commercial aspects of scientific research. Our Science Department – like others within school - are always keen to expose our girls to as wide a range of learning opportunities as possible and this is just one of the many exciting challenges available!

Now, who said biology and modelling couldn’t go together...?

Science is far from boring

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Geography in icy Iceland!

What a whirlwind of a trip! With 24 girls and 3 staff all very excited as the hoodies arrived and last minute packing was finished, we could only hope for a dry, bright and exciting trip. It is certainly what we got!

Here are excerpts, from the girls’ perspective, outlining what we did during the visit: Check in was at 9.30 on the Friday morning. What was meant to be a simple start to the day was interrupted by a lost blackbird flying over-head, with the odd squeal for effect.

There was a slight glitch at passport control when the machines wouldn’t accept our tickets but with a little assistance we got through quickly and were on our merry way from the airport lounge to Iceland.

The flight was glitch free apart from the turbulence and went fairly quickly thanks to the ‘on demand’ TV per passenger!

When we landed, we quickly realised how cold it was in Iceland, with some of us adapting more quickly than others! However, we soon made it onto our comfortable coach for the 1.5 hour journey to the hotel. On Saturday morning we all woke at about 7.00am for breakfast at 8am and then left the hotel to go to our first stop which was Seljalandspass, a beautiful waterfall about 50 metres high! We then went to the Eyjhafjallajökull flood plain and saw the area affected by 2010 volcanic eruption. We then went to visit another waterfall which was smaller than Seljalandspass but had more water running over it climbing up lots of steps to get to the top which was tiring to say the least!

Following this, we were lucky enough to get a chance to walk on the glacier and see everything we had learned about in Geography.

The glacier was much bigger than we all expected and the formations

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created by the melting ice were really cool.

We then headed to the coast to see an arch and basalt formations but were also in for a big surprise!

Due to a good supply of fish in the area that day, a huge number of whales could be seen off the coast.

Small clouds dotted the horizon as rare blue whales came to the surface; everybody was filled with excitement, especially when we were at the beach and a female orca (we knew this due to the shorter, more streamlined dorsal fin) surfaced near the shore followed by another two orcas including a male with an impressive two metre dorsal fin! It was a special, memorable event and the sheer beauty of a wild pod of orca will stay with us forever.

One of the best parts of Saturday had to be the Northern Lights. We were woken up at about 12.00pm by the staff eagerly knocking at the door. We waited in anticipation as we did not know how long the lights would last, they could have been out for at least two minutes but it can sometimes be two hours. The Northern lights were a beautiful shade of green and then turned pink but unfortunately our cameras couldn’t pick them up.

After staying up late to see the Northern Lights everyone was pretty tired and not in the best mood at breakfast the next day! Our day started with a quick trip to Kerid, a volcanic crater, which held a lot of opportunities for ‘selfies’ and group photos!

Our next stop was the Geysir Geo Centre, where we saw natural hot water erupt from pools in the ground every few minutes.

The smell of sulphur wasn’t very pleasant but the amazing views made it more bearable.

Whilst inside the centre, we bumped into TV and radio presenter Jonathan Ross which many believed to be luck from Ellie’s birthday. We then went to Gulfoss (a 33 metre

waterfall) and then to Thingvellir, the Mid Atlantic ridge, where the Eurasian plate is moving away from the North American plate, this called for the second rendition of ‘happy birthday’ that day.

After such a busy day, we had dinner and birthday cake, then took part in Miss Mawdsley’s quiz. Lucy Snelson’s Team won the award for best team name - Jonathan Foss (Foss is “waterfall” in Icelandic) and Fiona Smith’s team won the quiz overall.

On Monday we visited the blue lagoon, Iceland’s most popular tourist spot . The views were amazing and temperatures were up to 40°C. We enjoyed the mud masks which rejuvenated our skin!

We then visited Reykjavik, Europe’s smallest capital where we visited a cathedral, a geothermal centre and did some shopping!

We bade a fond farewell to Linda (our guide) and returned to the farm for our evening meal and then reluctantly went to bed to prepare for our 3am start the next day. We ate our breakfast very early on Tuesday and made lunch for later in the day. Following the two hour drive to the airport, we boarded our flight to Gatwick and finally, the coach back to Alderley Edge.

Ms Johal, Head of Geography

Iceland Trip

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GSA 10K At a time when we are all really conscious of the importance of girls’ education worldwide, many of us at AESG took part in Plan UK’s 10k walk (or – for some of us – run!) on the International Day of the Girl to raise awareness of not only the significance of girls’ education, but also the issues surrounding it when females in some countries are denied the opportunity of an education. An incredible 10,338 pupils from 38 schools across the UK and beyond took part in a powerful show of solidarity with those girls who are less fortunate than our selves.

Whilst a hardy few, led by Miss Birch, Ms Johnson and Mrs Cheetham (well, she didn’t exactly lead...) all set off to run a demanding 10K up to the Edge and beyond, over one hundred girls from Years 10 and 11 walked 10km. This represented the distance walked by girls in many countries in the world to get to and from school, or to get water for their families. We all had lots of fun and a good natter whilst getting a lot of fresh air. Thank you to all the staff who looked after us and made us laugh - especially Mr Garfield’s fluorescent everything!

We all set off as form groups. Once we got out of school, some of us were very quickly already at the back. For half of the walk we were talking to Mr Garfield about families and ex-boyfriends! We also had a ten minute debate on whether his wine gums actually have wine in them or not. We concluded that they didn’t, because he said he had to be on his “best behaviour”. (Although it seems he wished they had wine in them in order to put up with us!).

On reaching Wilmslow, we finally caught up with the rest of the group, remaining at the back, this time with Dr Broady. This was definitely the Science Department’s lucky day. Throughout the rest of the journey, we remained at the back, walking so slowly the groups behind finally caught up and lapped us! About a mile from school Clair’s mum appeared out of nowhere with ‘Riley’ the dog who walked with us for a few minutes. This left us feeling energetic so we arrived at the school gates and decided to pretend to everybody that we had run the entire 10km twice without even breaking a sweat. A totally believable story…apparently no one else agreed with us. All in all, we had a really enjoyable journey and it was made all the more worthwhile when we heard that Plan UK were absolutely delighted to announce that this year the ‘World Wide Walk’ raised a fantastic £59,167.49 for Plan’s girls’ projects. Congratulations on an amazing achievement! The support will help girls transform their futures. Our contributions mean that girls will be given the opportunity to complete their education, to claim their rights and realise their aspirations. Well done to all Year 10 and 11 girls for their efforts and to all those who provided sponsorship. Maybe, we really will run it next year...

By Meg Pimlott and Clair Cannon, Year 11

Hear about Hairspray?

This year Corny Collins and his bunch of crazy kids took over the stage of Alderley Edge School for Girls and put on a show to remember. There was no wait in beginning the rehearsal process.

We rehearsed from the end of September up until the beginning of February. These rehearsals although at some times rather stressful, were comical, entertaining and most definitely worth it! With the directing of Mrs. Foster and the musical direction of Miss Pattrick and Miss Valentine, ‘Hairspray’ was sure to be an extravaganza from the outset.

Each year people say the shows keep on getting better as those who came to see the show can certainly testify. ‘Hairspray’ was exciting and energetic, leaving the audience uplifted and grooving in their seats, with the catchy lyrics and funky moves. It would be wrong to single anyone out from the remarkable cast – they were all brilliant! Next stop – Broadway!

Lunchtime music concert with Year 8

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New Kid On The Block …

When I first discovered I had been offered a place here at Alderley Edge School for Girls, I was excited; I knew I wanted to go to this school, but I was also very nervous as the prospect of making new friends and settling in scared me a little. I was lucky, though, as I had a few family members at school already. My cousin, my three soon-to-be stepsisters and an extended family member were already well ensconced, so I had them to answer my many, many questions! I also had my little three-year-old sister Charlotte joining Nursery, but she is a little bit too young to share my worries.

Leaving my old school could have been hard, but I was delighted to discover that it wasn’t at all. Previously, I had to wake up at half six every morning and catch two trains to a school I didn’t really enjoy. It’s not that it was a bad school, it was more that I wanted to be successful; I wanted those ambitious As and the limp rules and overpopulated classrooms in my old school didn’t quite offer that. The hardest part was probably leaving my friends but something told me by the little (well non-existent, if I’m honest) fuss they made when I left, that I wasn’t going to be a huge loss to them!

My first week at AESG was scary, and I was extremely shy. I kind of felt like I was there but not seen somehow and my cousin had to call me to tell me not to worry as it’s like that for any new girl in the first week and that everything would work out fine. At first I found the homework a little overwhelming, but I soon figured out that if I just did it when I got home then it wouldn’t be a problem.

Now, half way through my first year and with a lovely bunch of friends, I can see that I had nothing in the slightest to worry about. I don’t see myself as the ‘new girl’ any longer. Looking back, I can appreciate all of the things I have been given. I have a positive school environment that is only a two-minute walk away from my house. So, on the whole, my experience of moving to AESG has been better than I could ever have expected and I hope to carry on my education here to Sixth Form and eventually leave the school with a bright future and good set of results!

When the school and teachers work hard for the pupils, you can definitely see it working; it has really opened my eyes to just how fortunate I am to be able to attend this school and how lucky I am to be given such a great education that I - by no means – wish to take for granted.

Leah Bullock, Year 9

Schools in Sweden or AESG? No Contest!

I started at AESG in September, having relocated from Sweden. People often asked me the difference between school here and in Sweden – well, I can say the list is long!

The very first day I started here at AESG I was so nervous. You know the saying there were butterflies in my stomach? Those butterflies were in my whole body! Anyway, my first lesson was PE. I didn’t know that you had to say: “Yes, Miss/Mrs./Mr,”so when Mrs Waite said my name, I just replied, “Yeah”. Everyone then just stared at me it was probably not the best start! Let’s start from the beginning in the Swedish school you just say “Yes” when the teacher calls your name; you never call the teachers by their last name. At lunch you can go wherever you want to go without telling a teacher;you DON’T wear school uniform - you can wear whatever you want to. But the thing I miss the most is that we ended school at 2 o’clock everyday. So, a day at AESG initially felt like a week to me – I was exhausted!

I have made so many ‘mistakes’ during my first year. For example, in the beginning it was hard for me to go from French/Spanish to English. One time, I could not remember what the word for dog was in French, so I asked in Swedish what the word for dog in French was and the teacher look at me with a weird look and said “Pardon?”. I realised what I had said, so - as usual - I went bright red and my hands started sweating like I had held them over a fire and I couldn’t say anything.

Another time in RS I said the word “pissed”. In my defence, I did not know it was a swear word. So Mrs Laing said “Bianca we don’t say that word here” and I saw everyone was staring at me and again I went bright red and my hands starting sweating. This time I got panicky and I had to put my arms round my head so they couldn’t see my face.

Gradually, however, I have learned to embrace my new school with all its quirks; I have made lots of new friends and feel really settled here. In fact, now I can honestly say that AESG is the BEST school I have ever been to!

By Bianca Boren, Year 9 Page 37

Languages at AESG At a time when the teaching of MFL is in decline, we are happy to report that it is certainly flourishing at AESG. Here’s just a taste of some of our events...

Linguistics Club & Linguistics Olympiad Every Tuesday at lunchtime, a select few girls meet for Linguistics Club. They are preparing for the UK Linguistics Olympiad which takes place each year in February.

The Linguistics Olympiad is a competition which celebrates linguistic thinking in the same way that the Maths Challenge celebrates mathematical thinking. Competitors are faced with linguistic problems such as being given a number of sentences in an unknown or imaginary language and by recognizing patterns, they are able to come up with the meaning and eventually write new sentences in that language. The competition does NOT test knowledge of a language, but your understanding of how a language is constructed.

It’s great fun!

Last year, Iona Morphet (who was in Year 10 at the time), won an award in the advanced level of the competition, placing her with the top linguists in the whole country.

Well done Iona!

Language Assistants We are really fortunate to have two language assistants working alongside our MFL teachers to help our pupils in all year groups to develop their speaking skills.

Eliane and Isabel are native French and Spanish speakers respectively.

Eliane came to the UK in 1977 to work as a nanny and has been here ever since! She says that it was initially a bit of a culture shock but that she generally likes the attitude of English people as they are very accepting. However, she also thinks

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that the English are perfectionists and that they worry too much about making mistakes when speaking a foreign language. In her opinion, language learners should try to lose their inhibitions!

Spanish meal-time with Year 7 In Year 7, girls experience “taster” courses in Spanish, German and Latin. Each course lasts approximately 10 weeks. 7NG had their last Spanish lesson recently and brought in a whole lot of props and enthusiasm to act out their restaurant role play scenes.

The groups had pretend food, candelabra, drinks, waiter outfits, Gypsy Kings background music and meal-time entertainment in the form of Flamenco dancers.

What a treat it was and the girls impressed us all with their excellent grasp of restaurant language and their authentic pronunciation! They have since moved on to learning German and, later in the year, will head across to Latin. How lovely for them to have a taster of three languages throughout this first year of secondary school. ¡Muy bien chicas! Auf wiedersehen!

VI Form Language Prefects support Year 7 MFL Spelling Bees!

Our new VI Form Language Prefects, Miriam Beck, Aquiel BrittainDissont and Megan Payne, have just launched the National Foreign Language Spelling Bee Competition with Year 7 pupils.

The aim of this well-established competition is for Year 7 pupils to practise and improve their vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation and memory skills in French. In contrast to a monolingual Spelling Bee, pupils will first have to translate the word into French and then spell it out correctly using the alphabet in French. The competition has four stages, and the competitors must learn 50 words per stage in their chosen

language, totalling 200 words if they reach the national final.

Any pupil in Year 7 may take part in the competition at school level and practise with our VI Form prefects every Friday in L3. They will all be tested with random words, before the four school winners move on to the Regional Round, where they will compete against the best from every school in our region. The four winners in the Regional Round will then move on to the National Final, held in Cambridge.

In addition to practising by visiting the website www.flspellingbee.co.uk and / or using the foreign language Spelling Bee App available on most smart phones and the iPod touch, Year 7 girls will also benefit from the support and linguistic skills of our Prefects who are all studying Language A-level. Good luck with the competition girls!

MFL Debates On the 14 November, two teams from the Upper VI competed in the North West Modern Foreign Language Debating Competition.

Emily Bancroft and Kathryn Webb formed the Spanish team and Ellen Smith and Ellen Hughes debated in French.

There were four topics up for debate, ranging from whether prisons are of any use to “Dogs vs. Cats”. These topics are loosely related to those we study for our A2 course - apart from the cat and dog debate, obviously!

In the weeks leading up to the debate, the girls worked as teams to come up with as many points as possible both for and against each motion, as we would not know which topic we would have to speak about until the event.

Each team debated two topics against other schools in the North West such as Cheadle Hulme and Bolton Boys, some of the

teams being of a particularly high standard. Before the teams began, they were all quite nervous, especially for the general debate section where teams can question (or in some cases attack) one another’s arguments. This required the girls to speak completely spontaneously for a few minutes, a prospect made slightly more frightening after witnessing the Altrincham Boys team leave another school totally speechless and asking to surrender!

Once the girls had all overcome the nerves, however, (thanks to support from Miss Sail, Madame Backus and Katie Murphy who all came along to support), the debate proved to be surprisingly enjoyable. Emily even managed to bring the crowd to laughter with her witty comebacks.

Although the teams did not get through to the finals, both teams performed well. The evening was very useful in helping the girls to expand their vocabulary and build confidence for their oral examinations in which they will have to argue their points. The girls would recommend the debate for the younger year groups in the school as it is a good experience that will be helpful to their language studies.

Interview with Madame Jones Head of MFL Madame Jones has now been at AESG for a whole term, so we thought this would be a good opportunity to find out about her impressions of the school and her life before AESG. What made you decide to come to AESG? “I was attracted to AESG because it was quite clear that language is featured highly in the curriculum here and I’m very passionate about languages. What also attracted me was teaching in an all girls’ school, this is an experience that I have

never had and as a mother of two boys and being the only female in my house I thought that would also be a really nice thing to do on a personal level.”

How are you finding it here at AESG? “I find it all to be very welcoming and I really like that. As it is a small school you have the opportunity to get to know people very quickly.

Therefore I feel that I know a lot of my pupils better than I would have done in any other schools.”

Why did you decide to become a teacher?

“Originally, I was going to be a translator. However the problem with being a translator is that it’s quite a lonely job and I love the social side of languages and talking to people. So I started giving lessons and teaching and then I decided to get teacher training in England when I stayed here and that’s how it all developed.”

What did you do before you came here?

of things! Trust me it is excellent.”

Who is your favourite pupil?

“Oh I can’t say that! I love all my pupils! It’s very hard; it’s like asking a mother who’s her favourite child!”

What’s your favourite animal?

“Well that’s random! Let me think…

I have a pet rabbit. My friend found this hysterical because as you may or may not know, in France we eat rabbits. However, I have no intention of eating him! He’s called Dusty and he’s really cute. To be honest, I have eaten rabbit before in France and I would eat it again but I would never recommend eating a pet as that is a bit twisted!”

Studying Modern Foreign Languages at University Three of our Upper VI students, Kathryn Webb, Ellen Hughes and Emily Bancroft have enjoyed learning French and Spanish so much at AESG that they have decided to continue with their study of languages at university.

“Before I came here I was Head of Languages in a large mixed school in Oldham which is completely different from here - it had 1400 students. The way boys respond to language is very different from the way girls respond to languages as they can often dominate lessons.

I was always fighting the boys off from answering all the time!”

Here they explain the reasons for their decision, their experiences of the university application system and provide some helpful hints for pupils lower down the school.

Take note, budding lower school linguists!

What do you think of the school food?

EB - I loved learning about the film ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ and seeing how the director’s personal life has influenced the film, which I wouldn’t have realised by just watching it.

“Well I’m going to surprise you as I was amazed by the school food!

I think that it is very decent and it is always easy for people to think that it may be better somewhere else, but I can assure you that I have never been healthier! I buy things from the canteen every day and I am very impressed with the variety of food, you can have something warm, or a soup or a sandwich, lots

What have you most enjoyed about your A-level Language courses?

KW - I loved this too! Analysing the film has made me more aware of the extent to which the director has put his ideas and influences into each scene and how important the symbols are to the audience. I have

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thoroughly enjoyed studying this film and look forward to finding out more about the region of Andalucía in our next cultural topic.

EH - I am enjoying reading “Bonjour Tristesse” and I liked going to Paris on a school trip and being able to speak French to other people!

What advice would you give to younger pupils who find foreign languages difficult?

KW - I would advise that you use all of the resources available at school in order to improve your vocabulary and grammar.

There are workshops available at lunch times where you can go to discuss questions you may have about specific areas of the language.

EH - Try watching a film or listening to music in a foreign language; it is a fun way to learn new words. Don’t give up, because it is rewarding to finally be able to have a conversation with someone in a completely different language.

EB - I would say don’t think about it being too difficult! Anything new can seem challenging at first, especially an unknown language but it is important that you don’t overthink it and simply try your best!

Why have you decided to study languages at university and where are you hoping to go?

EH - I find languages very interesting because I love the idea of being able to communicate with different people and it gives me the ability to learn about different cultures and experience a country in more depth. I have offers from Sheffield, Liverpool, Nottingham, Leeds and Birmingham. Nottingham is my first choice.

KW - By studying languages at University, you are able to go into almost any field of work, and therefore are not restricted to a certain job when you finish your degree. I am very interested in travelling and by studying languages I am able to do a year abroad in Spain, Portugal or Brazil, during which I would work and travel for a year, experiencing the cultures that I have studied for so long. I have received offers from Cardiff, Newcastle, Sheffield and Leeds and Bristol University. My first choice is Bristol.

EB - I chose to study modern languages because I think it would be great to be able to speak a foreign language fluently with native speakers and have the cultural understanding to build

relationships, both in business and in my personal life. I have offers from Exeter, Newcastle and Sheffield and Bristol: Bristol is my first choice!

Emily had just returned from 3 nights in Oxford where she was attending interviews at Hertford College. She has had interviews for Spanish and for Portuguese which involved translating and interpreting poetry, grammar tests and general questions about her interest in foreign languages and literature. Apparently it was an enjoyable but challenging experience! Well done to all the girls on their university offers.

MMU Study Day We arrived at MMU to be introduced to many Spanish native speakers who would teach us throughout the day. Our first lecture was held in one of MMU’s lecture amphitheatres, which was great as it gave us an idea of what it would be like to be in a real university lecture!

Our talks throughout the day were on culture, films, immigration and – finally – the dreaded grammar!

Which I am sure anyone who is learning a language finds a bit tricky! However, thanks to the brilliant lecturers I actually enjoyed the subjunctive lesson and I feel that I gained a better understanding of the language. Overall, it was a very useful and enjoyable day.

Carefree Castleton?

Year 11 Geographers went to Castleton in Derbyshire to carry out Geography GCSE coursework. Boarding the coach from the gates of AESG on a miserable Friday morning, we were eager for what the day would bring.

Castleton is a sweet village, but quite mundane and in the pouring rain we walked up an increasingly steep hill, with the wind working against us, so that we could measure ... footpath erosion. Miss Johal and Mrs Wood managed to lift our spirits - regardless of the weather - with their enthusiastic personalities and entertaining demonstrations. After measuring the erosion, we then disappeared in groups of four to search for food and escape the rain. At last, we found an American diner where plates of chips and a chocolate milkshake were literally devoured; just what we needed!

For a trip dedicated to coursework - a surprisingly good time was had by all! It certainly beats the classroom ...

Year 11 Geographers

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London Trip 1

London Trip 2

Conscience

On the 17th October Year 10 Art and Design students left Alderley Edge in the early morning to set off for a six hour coach journey to London.

Everyone was excited as our first stop was Harry Potter World. We made some terrific discoveries from standing in the real Harry Potter scenes to holding Hagrid’s hair.

The Harry Potter World fascinated the DT students by looking into detail at the characters’ costumes.

We had a fun workshop of ‘behind the scenes in costume and design’ and we were lucky enough to talk and ask questions to experts on the costume industry; it really was fantastic!

After a long and tiring coach journey down to the Warner Brothers studio, it was amazing even for a not so wholly inspired Harry Potter fan such as myself. After a self-guided tour and a master class in Harry Potter production and of course the huge shop, we sadly had to get back on the bus. Onto the coach again for a short amount of time, we then arrived at Westfield shopping centre. We had two hours shopping time before we all met in Pizza Express for another master class in how to make pizza - although for some it didn’t come naturally!

With full bellies, we headed to our hotel for the night, once we were sorted into our dorms we all fell asleep – at least, that’s what we told the teachers! Up bright and early, we ate breakfast and packed, we then got on the bus again and the Art focus of the trip saw us heading off to the Tate Modern to see Kurt Jackson’s exhibition. After an hour in the exhibition and a page through our Art journals we got lunch which was easier for some, as most of us had spent our money shopping!

Based on the studies of conscience

by Aquinas, Butler and Newman

After Harry Potter World, we all had our own London shopping time. Then for dinner we all made our own pizzas at Pizza Express.

We headed to our hotel where we all had a great sleep ready for an exciting day ahead of us. The next morning the DT and Art students split into separate groups. The DT group went to the Design Museum located on the bank of the River Thames. The modern inventions interested us all and everyone benefited from all the great information the museum had given us. After a bit of lunch our next museum was the Victoria & Albert.

This was my favourite part of the trip as it was more based on fashion and design. The drawing workshop was my highlight of the trip as we were taught how to draw a basic model. This helped everyone and I can tell everyone has improved.

Then we got on the coach and returned home with our KFCs and arrived at AESG at 10pm. It was a brilliant trip, so many thanks to Mrs Boyland and Mrs Latimer for organising it!

London DT Trip

by Freya Haworth, Year 10

Then we got onto the coach again and to the National Portrait Gallery, we went for another master class – this time it was about thinking how the paintings are portrayed. Back on the coach, we headed for home although there weren’t many quiet and relaxing times as at the back of the coach as we were singing songs very loudly! I really enjoyed the trip especially Harry Potter world even though I haven’t even seen all the movies! I would love to do it again – thanks, Mrs Latimer and Mrs Boyland!

Provoking Conscience constantly provoking What is right? What is wrong?

Within lies the reasoning Moral judgements, ethical judgements Start to surface...

Conscience constantly provoking God’s word of wisdom determining The synderesis, conscientia rules Authorised by Aquinas Conscience constantly provoking Principles in man although it Magisterially exerts itself Our drives, our impulses Mirror self love yet benevolence Humanity must reflect On the “supreme authority” A God-given guide We follow a divine law Conscience is constantly provoking happiness

By Sophie Murray Lower VI

London Art Trip

by India Davies, Year 10

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Make Up - Makes All The Difference!

Aquiel Brittan-Dissont interviews Jo Adams, Hair & Make-up Artist Only a couple of months ago, I realised that a friend of my Mum’s, Jo Adams, is a hair and make-up artist – and she is not just any hair and make-up artist: Jo has been involved with numerous well-known productions and worked with her fair share of popular celebrities.

Immediately I knew that this would be a fantastic feature for the magazine and I was lucky enough to be allowed to interview her over February half-term, about her fascinating career, which includes a few of her own make-up tips.

Why did you become a hair and make-up artist?

Well, I was living in Devon and I was thinking of whether to study interior design or make-up. At the time I was working as a hairdresser and, although I love doing hair, I found that it was too boring; it wasn’t flamboyant enough and I wanted to be more creative. I was studying beauty therapy at college in Devon and I really loved the make-up section of the course. Also, I had a keen interest in the hair and makeup in 1950s films, editorials in Vogue and Elle magazine and pop music videos. I think it was having the ability and freedom to create that really sparked my interest.

How did you become a make-up artist?

I applied to do make-up at London College of Fashion, where there were about 25 or 26 on the course.

For the interview I had to show them my Art portfolio and there were about 29 other people in the interview with me. From that, I was given a place on a two-year course – above John Lewis on Oxford Street - which included theatre, film, fashion, sculpture, anatomy and facial structure. That included studying eye colour, bone structure and ageing. We have to

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study bone as if a character ages in a production then you have to make predictions of what the character would look like from their bone structure and use make-up to produce that change with wrinkles, for example. Art was a large part of the course, studying different colours, shades and tones. It’s really about being an actual artist.

When you look at someone’s skin tone, you look for specific colours to decide what product to use. I also had to learn about film and the different lighting and colours used for films or music videos, as in music videos the colours appear redder than they would in a film. I also had to study the history of Art, interiors and costumes for when I worked on period dramas. It’s important that the hair and makeup match the surroundings.

What was your first job?

For my first job, I was working for Channel 4 where I had to take total control on designing a zombie film.

Then, I got a job at Big Breakfast with Chris Evans where I had to dress up as an air hostess!

Who have you worked with/what have you worked on?

I’ve worked with the majority of TV channels like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky etc. With the BBC I worked on the majority of their dramas and with most of their actors. I worked on Blue Peter and I have a badge that I’m quite proud of! I worked on Emmerdale for a while where they would shoot 4 or 5 episodes over the course of about a week. I did a lot of work on continuity on Emmerdale. I would take the script and breakdown each character and every event that happened to them. For example, if someone gets punched in the face you have to know how the bruise has to look in every scene as it ages-if it’s new it has to be purple and as it gets older it becomes more yellow.

Regarding films, I’ve worked on loads. I worked with Keira Knightly on The Duchess, which was an 18th

century film. I did all the hair for that film, which was full of feathers and jewels. I had to do a lot of research for the film as it was a period drama. In this particular film, the furniture echoed the hair, in this century the furniture was rounded so the hair had to echo that.

I worked on X-men First Class with James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence etc. I worked on that for 7/8 months with most days being 17 hours from 3am to 10pm. It was mainly a modern 60s American film so it was very glamorous. I did both Jennifer Lawrence’s wigs, the blonde and the red. Her blue body suit for her character Mystique took 20 artists 24 hours to apply it to her, the first time.

I worked on Prince of Persia in which half of it was filmed it the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. For that, I had to do the hair of 350 stunt men and over 1,000 extras!

I’ve also just finished working on the new Frankenstein movie with Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy which was filming at the Town Hall in Manchester.

I’ve worked on lots of other films with other actors like Anne Hathaway, Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman, Sir Ian McKellen, Maggie Smith, Dame Judy Dench, Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch!

I’ve also worked with models such as Naomi Campbell. I worked in ballet and theatre where I met Michael Jackson.

What has been your favourite job?

Recently, I worked on the new Dracula movie, which was filmed in Ireland, and I enjoyed it so much because, even though I worked long hours, the people were so welcoming and made the experience better – that is a really important part of enjoying the job.

What do you enjoy about being a hair and make-up artist?

There are lots of things I love about my job, but one thing I love is going on location all the time and not doing office work – I never wanted to do that. Another thing I love is that it is quite a casual job as you get to wear your own clothes and you can talk and chat to people. The freedom to create and having the ability to be creative is something that I love, as an artist.

Any Make-up Tips?

Yes, one thing that’s really important that people get wrong all the time is getting the right shade of foundations and tinted moisturisers. It has to be an exact match, and instead of leaving an orange line between your face and neck you need to blend the makeup in. Personally, I think that you shouldn’t need foundation and instead use just tinted moisturiser; it’s better for your skin. Don’t apply thick amounts because it isn’t concealer, it’s just for a full coverage. I find the best tinted moisturiser is Laura Mercier, and it’s always good to have a ‘summer’ and ‘winter’ shade for when you tan.

Products that I would recommend would be Elizabeth Arden 8hr cream for lips and skin. I really like the primers and highlighters from Giorgio Armani. I use NARS for bright colours for lips, eyes and cheeks. For eye shadow, Chanel and Lancôme are the best, and Elemis have really nice sparkly eye shadow for evening. The best mascara I would say is from Lancôme. I think it’s better to use liquid eyeliner than a pencil. Brushes are also really important, MAC and Bobbi Brown do the best brushes; I really like Bobbi Brown for most products and I think that everybody should have brush cleaners as well; you can get those from most places.

For hair, I would say that Keraste and Moroccan Oil have the best products. And, Bedhead Shine Spray is an essential.

Skin Care Tips?

I think that the best skin care products are from Elemis, Origins and Dermalogica. A facial scrub is a product I really recommend and people have a tendency to be quite aggressive with a facial scrub when really if you gently rub over the face 3 or 4 times then that does all the work; scrubbing really hard doesn’t do the skin any good.

I think everybody needs a good cleanser, toner and moisturiser for good skin. Also, don’t be put off by anti-ageing products. The fact that it’s anti-ageing does not mean it is for people already ageing, it is designed for people who have not started ageing so that their skin is good when they do start ageing.

Also, for good skin, it is important to eat healthily – fruit and veg and oily fish are the obvious things! and drink lots of water. It’s good if you can fit in some exercise -that isn’t necessarily spending hours in the gym, but going for a walk or swim is better than nothing!

My Best Friend I love it when we laugh I love it when we smile I love it when we hug Especially in the food aisle You’re the sister I never had But we’re close enough to be You’re always there for comfort

Freezing Valentine’s Day On Friday 14th February (yes, St Valentine’s day!) twenty-four girls and three members of staff departed for Iceland. We had to be at Manchester Airport for 9.00am after which we had to check our bags through security – which proved slightly difficult as the machines wouldn’t recognise our boarding cards. Finally, at around 11am we found ourselves well on our way to Iceland. Wahoo!

The airplane touched down at 3pm and we travelled to our hotel: Vahgtsnolt. We were instantly delighted that it was a beautiful hotel with wonderful scenery.

Certainly, one of the main highlights of the trip was seeing the Northern Lights. We were woken up at around 12.00pm by staff eagerly knocking at our bedroom doors. We waited in anticipation as we did not know how long the lights would last; they might have appeared for two minutes - but it sometimes much longer - which is what we were hoping for. The Northern Lights suddenly appeared in a mix of beautiful greens which turned pink - but unfortunately our cameras couldn’t pick them up!

Iceland is such a great trip – you should try to visit if you get a chance. I know I’m going to return – one day!

Katie Clements, Year 10

I love you dearly.

We have our ups and downs But I know you’re always there, I can always rely on you, And our friendship will never wane.

By Cat Salt and Lucy Ridgway, Year 9

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la Cinderel to Staff Pan

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MCDONALD’S LUNCH HOUR Or What Sixth Formers Really Get Up To …

Picture the scene. You and your friends have had a double lesson that morning, struggled through the first hour doing a test and it’s now reached break time. You sit huddled round coffees and discuss how nice a McDonald’s would be. You look at the canteen menu: it’s definitely not Chicken Joe and it looks like it’s going to be rice pudding; the prospects of the day look bleak as you take a bite from your Granny Smith. But then, that one friend makes the move - yes, they suggest a “MACCIES TRIP”. You all take the bait, quickly synchronize timetables: no tests this afternoon, a free before lunch; netball has been cancelled. The mission to McDonald’s is most definitely…ON! What you will need: + A car (with cup holders) and driver + Approximately £5 + A mobile phone with camera facility + A good collection of ‘tunes’ + Ideally a free before lunch + Student card (The free before lunch is not used for skiving to get optimal time scanning your McChicken sandwich; the free before lunch is used the get ready for a timely 1:00pm departure.)

Gather the Troops at around 12:55 and head towards Reception.

Sign out at Reception no later than 1:00 and calmly make your way down the steps.

Once down the steps, the term “leg it” seems appropriate, so “leg it” toward the nominated vehicle

Once in the car no later than 1:03 the driver will put on the selected music, a passenger will most likely take out their phone and tell everyone to pose for a selfie.

One member of the party may offer to take the sign in sheet to the Common Room in a gesture of good will and using their “butter wouldn’t melt” persona.

The driver should head through the village and take Macclesfield Road heading straight towards Tytherington.

1:56 the walk to the Common Room discussing the sick feeling after the rush back to school but how ‘awesome’ that lunch was and we should do it every week.

A diversion past Kings and through the Brocklehurst housing estate will ensure a timely arrival of around 1:20 All parties involved must go in to get their food. This allows multiple orders and no staff to suggest, “Can you pull into parking space 2 and wait whilst we make your order?”.

A nominated passenger will use their student card to get a free Mcflurry, for everyone to share (a Mcflurry each really cannot be justified at lunch time).

Once all orders are received, the decision to sit in or go back to the car can be made. This usually depends on the time you were queuing. If it is closer to 1:35, it is definitely time to get back in the car.

Five minutes will be spent eating food and telling each other how amazing theirs is, the selfie will be uploaded with the #mcdonalds #roadtrip #bejel By 1:40 the driver should be on the bypass heading back towards Macclesfield. Passengers continue to eat and enjoy the loud but tasteful music and occasionally hand feeding the driver when stopped at junctions and traffic lights.

The ultimate goal is to be parked up by 1:53 in time for a sprint to the sign in book placed knowingly on the Reception desk.

1:58 Books (as previously arranged in the free before lunch) will be taken and students may walk to their period 5 lesson dispersing with full bellies.

This exercise is not to be practised every week as this may result in weight gain and lack of concentration.

All speed limits should be obeyed – this is still possible with the 20 mile hour limit in Prestbury.

Cups must be put in holders; the driver will not be happy with pink milkshake on their foot mats.

Review: Anonymous – “best lunchtime ever” I had not had a McDonald’s in soo long and was soo excited during my lesson after break that I had already planned what I wanted to eat: McChicken legend, chips and a strawberry milkshake. For me, the best part was the journey there; we were all so happy and singing along to the cheesy songs! The food was as delicious as expected, the only thing I would change is the rushing; we didn’t really have time to enjoy the meal but the whole experience was so much fun, I can’t wait to do it again! Oh, the joys of being in the Sixth Form!

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DANCE SHOWCASE There was an excited buzz around school as lots of girls looked to display their talents in the dance showcase in March, 2014. However, before reaching that stage, each girl had to learn and perform an audition piece to earn their place in a squad. This round was very competitive with limited places within the four squads: Crystals for the girls in Years 7; Rubies for Years 8 and 9; Emeralds for Years 9 and 10, and Diamonds for Years 10 through to Sixth Form. For the select few, hard work continued with seven months of dedication to weekly rehearsals to ensure the dances were executed for the final performances. In the New Year, second auditions were held for individual soloists and groups hoping to secure a spot for their own dances in the showcase.

From delicate ballerinas to solid street dancers, this year’s dance showcase was truly spectacular!

The hard work of every individual who participated was evident with amazing performances throughout the evening. Each girl sparkled like a jewel, reflecting the name of their squad, and Mrs Foster’s Diamonds, Emeralds, Rubies and Crystals ended the successful evening with a BANG! Zoe Bennett, VIAP

Anna Steele in Year 7 was pleased to become a member of Crystals, she says “I auditioned with the song “Treasure” by Bruno Mars and I think it went really well. I am enjoying being in the group because I get to have a lot of fun with my friends! At the moment we are working on a dance to “I’m in the Mood for Dancing which I am enjoying.”

Following their impressive auditions, Charlotte and Jewel, despite being in Year 8, earned their places in Emeralds. Charlotte commented, “Being with the older girls challenges us to perform at our best. Jewel and I are best friends and we really enjoy dancing together!”

“I thoroughly enjoyed participating in my fourth, and my favourite, successful dance showcase. I loved performing a solo contemporary dance piece, as well as taking part in the dance group Emeralds which ran throughout the year. My solo piece was inspired by my love for the unique song ‘Sail’, I had a vision of what I wanted the dance to look like a year before the actual show. I also really enjoyed watching the other participants in the show and seeing a range of different dance styles. I hope to be part of another wonderful show next year.”

Honor Hocknell, Year 10 Honor’s solo was one of the highlights of the showcase, a truly passionate performance.

“Each year since 2012, my siblings and I have choreographed and performed a street dance to a remix of songs with a great beat and a positive message. This year all the songs in the remix were by Andy Mineo, which we created ourselves. The dance took much perseverance and hard work to complete as each move had to be precise and unique as we like to keep the excitement going by refraining from repetition. Our unique style and youngest members added to the atmosphere and we really enjoyed performing it, with lots of support and encouragement, particularly from our amazing family and friends. I also enjoyed screaming encouragement from the side to my friends as they conquered their nerves and performed their own solos and group pieces. We were very grateful to be given the opportunity to be the finale group, this was a privilege and a challenge to rise to. Hopefully we did this and we can’t wait to perform again next year and see you all at the show. We are very upset that Mrs Foster, our talented teacher will not be directing and choreographing next year but can’t wait to work with the new teacher to keep these fantastic shows going and hope to see her and her baby in the audience.”

Holly Bennett, Year 10

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Musical Notes ...

Badminton Tournament

Last year, some girls entered their IGCSE Music examinations early in Year 11, obtaining their grades in January rather than in August. Other girls took GCSE Music examinations and obtained their grades in August. We were delighted with both the GCSE and the IGCSE results as all girls obtained A* or A grades!

On a cold, blustery November afternoon last year, twelve girls from AESG years 7-9 went to Wilmslow High School to compete at the North West National Badminton Tournament where we played consecutive singles and doubles matches. There were many good players at the tournament and some were very hard to beat. After four long, long hours the results came through and AESG team A was awarded first place!

Several of these girls decided to continue studying Music in the Sixth Form and are now taking AS Music. We asked them about their experiences of GCSE / IGCSE and their thoughts about their new course: Christie-Jo Cavanagh (LVI): I found the GCSE lessons enjoyable.

Composing sounds fun but it is hard, however you get a lot of support and guidance and the end result is so good. You feel really proud that you wrote that piece of music. Grade 5 theory is a big help in understanding the chords and background to composing and listening tests.

Charlotte Thornber (LVI): We completed the IGCSE course over 18 months and it was a lot of hard work with only one lesson a week.

Performing and composing were enjoyable - even though it was also stressful at times, the overall result is satisfying and pleasing.

The theoretical aspects were the hardest to learn but we had great support and teaching to learn the set texts and harmony.

Bria Keely (LVI) - The start of an A-level course is always going to be a challenge. It is reassuring to know you have plenty of time to complete Unit 1 composition. Personally, I think it’s good that we only have to complete one composition rather than the two we did for GCSE. The set texts are a struggle at the moment - but I’m sure they will get easier the more we do!

AESG A team and Terra Nova were drawing at first place at the final hurdle, so the result was determined by the first team’s match - which AESG had won. This was a great victory for the AESG A Team who took home the trophy and a golden medal each. Our teams played very well against the opposition and well done to all the girls who participated in the tournament. We worked hard and achieved a very good success in the end.

By Jewel Bennett and Ella Cass, Year 8

Shall I compare thee to an iPhone 5S Should I compare you to an iPhone 5S Girl, you’re the first one on my home page.

You ain’t no Nokia, you beat da rest.

Lady I love you, maybe we should engage.

You’re like a Ferrari, fierce and fit.

You’re my Sat Nav, babe you lead the way.

You are so special, you have me in bits.

Yo, I saw your face, it lit up my day.

Our signal strength is epic, wow – like slam!

Our settings are stuck on love forever.

My favourite app is Hay Day, you’re my lamb.

I love you more than I thought I could, ever.

Even though my phone screen can always be dimmed.

My love and your beauty can never be trimmed.

By Grace Kisloff, Phoebe Shrives, Latasha Arnone and Mercedes Griffiths, Year 9 (Mrs Perls’ class).

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A Parisian Adventure It’s known as the ‘City of Lights’ and immortalised by many an artist and poet, Paris is, arguably, the European city that everyone thinks of when they think of a European city. So, it was with great excitement that we flew across the Channel to attend the ‘Your Future in Europe’ conference, along with several hundred other young – and not so young – students. We came to connect with our European cousins, to learn more about the European position on business, human rights and the environment and, indeed, to take advantage of the opportunity to drink in some of the most iconic tourist venues on our planet – and that’s exactly what we did.

merits of MPs taking part in reality TV shows and to listen to the ideas and opinions of young people from all over the UK, but it is certain that we all felt inspired, engaged and politicised by the experience – a fact that can only be good for our future as citizens of Europe and beyond. However, we also had fun of a different kind, by visiting the Louvre, the Musée D’Orsay, and Notre Dame Cathedral to name but a few of those famous landmarks and Art galleries.

The whistle-stop tour, led admirably

by Mrs Waterhouse (for, we think the sixteenth successive year!) certainly left us hungry for more. In an age when fewer and fewer schools are willing to allow

Paris TweetsFlic Coen - “As soon as I got off the plane, I wanted to go back” Annabelle Lonsdale - “Paris is exactly as it is portrayed” Megan Hudson -“Paris was magical”

Well done to Ellie and Amy who scored goals for the team. Despite coming last in the tournament, the girls did their best and enjoyed the trip. Each girl was also presented with an ISFA badge for their participation.

Georgia Knox- “I put a lock on the lock bridge” Pippa Neill- “Paris is exactly as you imagine it Jules Gande- #lostcharlotte

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On Sunday 26th January, Ellie Foxford, Amy Powell, Zoe Bennett and Georgina Charlesworth went to Cheadle Hulme High School to participate in the Independent Girls’ Schools Football Association U18 trials. The selection procedure consisted of drills and matches and each girl did really well considering the tough weather conditions which included hailstones!

All four girls were selected to represent the North of England in the Regional Tournament and, on Sunday 16th March, they played 5 matches against the other regions in the United Kingdom, winning against Scotland but - unfortunately - losing the other matches.

Ali Blyth - “I have never done so much walking in my life”

It is difficult to put in to words how valuable an opportunity it is for young people to be able to listen to speakers as famous and diverse as Shami Chakrabarti, the Director of Liberty, Ken Clarke, M.P. , Simon Hughes, M.P. and Angela Eagle, M.P, amongst others; to witness - and indeed participate in, as our own Arrie Adamson did when she posed a question about whether or not Turkey should be allowed in to the EU given its record on human rights - debates about ideas as diverse as whether or not prisoners should get the vote to the relative

Independent Schools’ Football Association

students to step off – albeit only briefly – the exam juggernaut and do something which is arguably infinitely more educational in the long-term – we are very lucky that we had this opportunity. If Paris in the spring is meant to be perfect for lovers, then Paris in February was just perfect for AESG students and we shall definitely be back…

by Felicity Coen, VI Form

Congratulations to Georgina and Zoe who have been selected for the national team trials in August

by Zoe Bennett, VI Form .

Politics: More Spin than Substance?

Usually I’m not one for daytime television. Yet a recent injury has found me lying on the sofa, gripped by such thought provoking programmes as Cash in the Attic. My new addiction, I have to confess, is advertisements. No-one was more shocked than I when I felt a sudden urge to purchase a “Shark Steam Pocket Mop” from JML. It lured me in with jargonistic promises of its “swivel action head” and the hyperbolic “revolution in home cleaning.” Not that I knew what this revolution entailed, but I certainly wanted to be a part of it. However, even this elaborate language did not eradicate common sense altogether, and I was soon snapped out of this rhetorical daze by the price: £119.99. For a mop.

The fact that I could so easily be convinced by a few persuasive words got me thinking. At which other points in my life have I been the unwitting dupe, the unsuspecting target? What other things have I willingly accepted, and indeed wholeheartedly endorsed, simply because the frankly ludicrous idea was neatly packaged in a web of convoluted language?

Funnily enough, just as my mind was toying with this thought, it was time for the news. Inevitably I was bombarded with different politicians making speeches about seemingly important things.

Just like the advertisements, they had hidden an apparently weak proposition in a network of rhetorical devices and superfluous jargon so that the public blindly accept it.

And I’m not the only one who has noticed this trick. Recently Tony Wright, the Chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee, said that “good government requires good language, while bad language is a sign of poor government.” This committee conducted a report called “Bad Language: the Use and Abuse of Official Language” and found that

politicians were habitually using jargon and euphemisms in order to mask bad news. They know all too well that we do not want to hear the words “staff cuts” so instead they make it more pleasing to the ear and refer to it as “efficiency savings.” I mean, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to feel reassured that savings are being handled efficiently? We can easily ignore the unpalatable truth that these are real people being discussed, can’t we? Euphemism is a wonderful thing. The result: we sit there and decide to leave “the important people in suits” to it.

The report particularly criticised the use of jargon saying that it could be used to “hide the fact that the speaker or writer doesn’t really understand what they are writing or talking about”. It is much more convenient to throw an unnecessary amount of meaningless words at your listener, than saying very little and appearing intellectually inferior. However, this is not merely a case of pretending to be more intelligent than you actually are to impress your peers.

This is how the country is being run. An extract from the Cabinet Office’s 2008-09 annual report was singled out by the “Bad Language Report” for its excessive use of jargon including phrases such as “successful innovations will be mainstreamed” to ensure the “long term sustainability of equality and diversity into core business.” This is simply obscure and confusing.

The Plain English Campaign seems to agree with the findings of this report. This organisation campaigns for English to exclude what is known as “gobbledygook” – in other words, language that is unnecessary difficult to understand. For instance, instead of “if there are any points on which you require explanation or further particulars we shall be glad to furnish such additional details as may be required by telephone” it would be “If you have any questions, please ring.” Now, I don’t know about you but I much prefer the latter.

Abstract nouns are also a favourite for American politicians in particular, with the likes of Obama relying heavily on such emotive language. Persuasive words such as “love” and “dreams” are sown liberally into Obama’s speeches by his spin doctors. Abstract nouns allow listeners to, in effect, make their own meaning. Given such intangibility (for example “love” to one person might mean something quite different to someone else), one could argue that the politicians’ words are more or less meaningless. The noun becomes an empty vessel for the politician to use in whatever way he wishes, which comes in very handy when you haven’t got the foggiest idea what you are talking about or if you know that what you’re suggesting won’t exactly be popular.

Despite this, no-one can deny that disguising arguably negative changes and proposals in this way does, for the most part, have the desired effect. Politics, after all, does mostly revolve around popularity... well, if you want to last anyway. By the time we finally decode what has just been delivered to us in a neat package of positive spin, the news is over, the advertisements return, and our attention is turned back to JML’s latest product. This time it’s the “Flexi Torch: the flexible, bendable, flashlight” that enables you to “light up awkward, cramped, hard to reach areas”. Now, I don’t know anyone who hasn’t needed that at one time or another.

By Rebecca Devitt, Upper VI

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Is it too late to save the human race?

My bags were packed. Visas, passports and an endless supply of factor 30 sun cream, I was 19, a mere stripling of a boy, living at home, having just breathed my last breath of exam halls, textbooks and compulsory study periods. And like many a callow youth before me, I decided that the only way I could truly find happiness was by travelling the well worn path to self discovery. (Well maybe it was more of an excuse for a year long holiday but potato potarto). Giving a heartfelt hug to my mum and a stern handshake to my father, I embarked across the globe to go and sniff out whatever it was that I’d been missing my whole life.

I always knew I wanted to take a gap year. The only decision was where to go. In the 6th form block, there were various posters advocating a gap year in any country you could imagine, a year out in Europe, Australia, or a year spent building water pumps in Africa. It was the poster of the monkey that drew me in, that cheeky face hiding behind a tree, scared to death of its home being destroyed, I mean, who could resist? So, a year later I found myself unpacking my shiny new rucksack in a lodge slap bang in the middle of the rain forest, what’s more, an eco-lodge, 100% sustainable, environmentally friendly and naturalistic. A far cry from the middle class home I was more than used to after 19 years safely nested under my mother’s wing, with parents who regarded global warming as a money making myth.

It all seemed idyllic. A wooden lodge in the middle of the rainforest, surrounded by nature, free from any kind of outside communication: Marvellous. The only annoyance was the noise. We were warned of the deforestation, told not to venture too far from the lodge, for fear of being snuffed

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out by a falling tree. From our humble abode we could hear a quiet buzzing that I quite ignorantly assumed to be some sort of exotic insect, the buzz carried on for days.

One pitch, one tone, all day long.

I ignored it for a while, but it soon became unbearable. I’d have gone crazy if I’d heard a second more of this unnerving drone. But much to my surprise, this was no giant butterfly or killer beetle. It was something much more ghastly: humans, mobs of them, men chopping down tree after tree as though they were simply mowing the lawn.

When faced with the issue of deforestation many others seem hell bent on the main problem being the animals. We need to save these helpless little animals, and I’d be a hypocrite to say that I always knew better, as after all, it was the monkeys that enticed me into the jungle in the first place. But all I had to do was a little internet search to understand the issue of deforestation better. The animals aren’t vital, the rainforest is. If the rainforest was destroyed who knows what would happen. Whereas if the monkey ceased to exist, just like the Dodo or the Dinosaur not much would happen other than perhaps we’d have an upsurge in bananas.

I’m certainly no environmental whizz, but it doesn’t take a genius to get to the bottom of this issue. It seems like a universally held belief that we need to be protecting these animals, but there doesn’t seem much point in the monkey existing if the only place for it to reside is London zoo. I may be hugely over simplifying here but I seem to have found a solution. Stop cutting down the trees. We are destroying the planet, so that a few people here and there can have a swell mahogany table to eat their tea on.

If the rainforest was obliterated it would have catastrophic effects on our day to day lives. Even in my life in London, 5780 miles away from

the Amazonian rainforest, there would be no escaping the fallout.

One quarter of all medicines are made from plants that are found within the rainforest and more than 70% of plants that have anticancer properties are found in the rainforests. Since the discovery of the periwinkle in Madagascar, leukaemia survival rate in children rose from 10% to 90% Every tree that is cut down, and every plant that’s destroyed with it, is the destruction of a potentially lifesaving treatment. Medicine sees improvements every day, scientists are constantly unearthing new ways to save lives, but if the rainforest carries on being destroyed, then the improvements that have been made will soon start to change in the opposite direction. The jungle contains an abundance of potential life, and who knows, a plant that is currently on its way to extinction could hold the key to curing cancer.

We need to take responsibility, not least for ourselves but also for the health of the generations which come after us.

Furthermore, rainforest destruction is responsible for 17% of our annual carbon dioxide emission.

This is more than all of the world’s cars, ships and aeroplanes put together. So, rather than focusing on increasingly environmentally friendly cars, it would be much more efficient to just stop cutting down the trees. If carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, global temperature levels will rise little by little every decade, until they reach levels never experienced by humans. Researches believe that the earth’s temperature will rise from 2-9 degrees Fahrenheit within the next fifty years. So unless you want to frazzle I strongly encourage we stop cutting down the trees.

Scientists predict that if all insects on earth ceased to exist then human life would also cease to exist and since the rainforest holds the majority of these insects, the future isn’t looking too bright. The

rainforest is key to life on earth, it’s the wheels to the bike, and without it we’re going to crash. I suggest the environmental officials take this into consideration before we take the proposed route of impending doom. The current situation has been getting slowly but surely worse, you only have to look at some statistics to prove so.

If this extermination carries on at its current rate, in fifty years’ time, the rainforest will become nothing more than a vague memory.

If change doesn’t happy quickly, we won’t be worrying about the extinction of the orang-utan but the extinction of the orang-utan’s not so distant cousin: mankind.

Being A Model Citizen!

While all my friends were busy revising for their mock examinations, I embarked on an NCS course (National Citizen Service) something to which I had been introduced in a PSHE lesson facilitated by a motivational team from the organisation. Inspired and enthused by their encouragement, I decided to give it a go and throw myself in right at the deep end...

During half term, I set off from Macclesfield on a coach with other young people from local schools.

These people turned out to be the people that I would be spending the next four days with. We arrived at Condover Hall in Shrewsbury after quite an awkward coach journey where nobody seemed to speak to anybody else. Once we retrieved our bags from the bowels of the coach, most of us had been insulted by the man who ran the place (he quipped that my luggage indicated that I’d come for a two week holiday rather than the four day course and - trust me, girls - I didn’t have that much luggage! ).

We were allocated our dorms only to find that there had been a mix-up and that we would have to wait until after lunch to get our dormitories so we headed off to lunch. This was when I met the girls on my team: Liana, from Wilmslow High and originally from Syria (I did call her Lenor the first time as I couldn’t say her name); Sadie and Charlotte (best friends from All Hallows) and Ellie and Louise from Crewe. There were also three guys on my team - Liam and Josh from Poyton High and Kieran from All Hallows. We also met our NCS team leaders, Shay and Abby, who are probably the funniest guys I have ever met.

Our first activity was orienteering which consisted basically of running around the complex finding points on a map - not my idea of fun!

After this, we had ‘relaxation time’ (revision time for me) before dinner.

Night-time activities were arranged which consisted - on the first night - of a series of mind games: a stepping stones room; a laser room and a tunnel room. I did all but the tunnel room as I have a massive fear of tunnels and, unfortunately, just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

We then had more time before we had to be tucked up in bed for 11pm.

The next day we woke up to 6 alarms (we had all set alarms!) and then we went to breakfast before getting ready for the first activity of the day which was a team challenge! This was really fun as we did things like ‘the spider web’ and ‘sheep and shepherd’ (which I was hopeless at). After that, we went and did Bushcraft which included survival skills where we learnt about making shelters and fires and then got to roast marshmallows. After lunch we clambered up the climbing wall which was really fun and then went for an end of day review which we did every day to see how we had done during that day. That night saw most of the team doing nightline, apart from Liana and I as I felt unwell that evening.

On our third day I was feeling better so carried on with the activities which consisted of abseiling which I loved and then team buggy building - we had to construct the buggies and then race. After lunch we did a ‘low ropes’ course which was really funny as we all discovered that we couldn’t walk on the ropes without support from others. Then we went and did laser tag which is a bit like laser quest in an inflatable tunnel which, despite my fear of tunnels, I really enjoyed. Our last evening included a disco which was funny because it was a silent disco so we all looked quite weird! We then watched a film.

The next morning saw us completing a gladiator wall and ‘leap of faith’ which was amazing but also scary - we then packed our bags and got the coach home where we slept for twelve hours!

The next day we all met at the Fermain Youth Centre in Macclesfield with another group from NCS consisting of Chloe, Amy, Charlotte, Demi, Toni, Jonathan, Becky, Emily, Courtney and Dale who were from North Staffordshire.

As model citizens, we decided to help the youth centre by painting the toilets and doing a general tidy-up. We spent the next two weekends doing that and raised the money needed to buy the supplies to do the work.

I really enjoyed taking part in the NCS as it is an experience I will never forget. Any Year 11s or Lower VIs should join in next year!

By Laura Parry, Lower VI

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Justine Redwood, an A Level English Language student, wrote this satirical piece based on The Sunday Times feature ‘A Day in the Life Of …’ for her AS coursework.

I am the Respected Expert with the Toaster.

Prime Minister David Cameron, 47, discusses Boris and Marina, how to keep your family busy in London and Myanmar as the holiday destination of choice.

Sundays see the little tykes waking me earlier than I would wish for roll-call on our non-die*. Arthur, usually more rambunctious than the girls, will already be standing to attention urging me to get out of bed. Then the four of us will march downstairs in mufti and make Samantha a mug of tea and a medley of toasted items. I am the recognised respected expert with the toaster since I was a specialist in my house at prep many years ago. A beak would usually take some for himself before chapel about which I was always quietly chuffed.

After a lazy start sitting in bed drinking tea and discussing the news, Samantha and I watch the children. Today we become hands-on parents after a backbreaking week of constant public appearances, conferences for continuing development in education and sport, parliament and meetings with various ambassadors and presidents. It is easy to brush over the little people at home; especially as the au-pair has Saturdays as a nondie herself. But today we have that time to appreciate. Samantha is just phenomenal with the children - she can have Florence spotlessly dressed, Nancy’s teeth brushed and curls tamed and I will still be cavorting around after Arthur. As I spurt around the house I look at

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all the photos around our home and notice that Florence has added Japan to her list on the slab indicating that she would like us all to go there. And I acknowledge this because Samantha and I had the most wonderful experience during a spot of liberty on my trade and investment conference last year in Japan. Yoshihko Noda not only shared his special rice wine with us, but took the time to give something back to us. A valuable experience showing us the true Japan and it is somewhere where I really must take the children. Cornwall, although one can never get enough of Polzeath Beach and the relaxed healthy feeling as seagulls fly overhead bringing out that deeprooted British pride in one, has become a bit samey. We’ve been to the same place for years and it does get dated so I need to enthral the girls and Arthur with somewhere more provident. Samantha and I have also considered Yangon in Myanmar as my great-greatgrandmother Lady Ida Matilda used to travel there often and we have some lovely artefacts that show she really did made an impression over there.

It’s so easy to facilitate an active and prosperous life in the UK with so much on offer. Mainly I like to focus on staying healthy and using the infrastructure of the town to amble the streets as my time in the corps reminds me it’s important to keep a level of fitness. Samantha played lacrosse at county level during her time in school and she seems very au fait with her fitness associating as she does with a regular Triyoga class in Primrose Hill. Furthermore, as distant cousin to her royal highness, I know that

nowhere can offer better than our capital city given that sportswise the polo is just exquisite and culture-wise the operas are of such high standard. However, as JeanMarc and Brigette Ayrault once said to me when Samantha and I were in France, it was during the shooting that they developed their love of British life. It culminates heritage and a social life that can only be envied by those without it on their doorstep. As a youngster, I have fond memories of father bringing home a brace of pheasants or two and teaching myself, sisters and brother how to gut and cook the bird. He’d bring his friends home from the shoot and he and mother would relish socializing and hosting an animated evening.

Samantha and I don’t often get the opportunity to shoot, but when we do we indulge in making a full day of it. Also, we consider ourselves a welcoming couple and often have friends around for kitchen sups, dinner or drinks.

One such boisterous but scintillating soirée occurred just last night when Samantha and I had Boris and Marina, Nick and Miriam and the evidently successful Guy Spier over with whom I spent lectures and multiple seminars at Oxford. The chef created a marvellously simple five-course dinner of cheese soufflé, foie gras, winter fruit crumble, sorbet and cheese. I feel this evening’s family dinner will be most tranquil in comparison! We talked to the early hours, Chablis tilted in one hand whilst Boris continued to provoke tears to my eyes with memories of Eton and his recollection of his initiation to wetbobs that almost ended in him in front of the fellows.

It’s a simply hilarious story and one which Samantha and I request every time. Tonight our little family is alone and dinner will be the traditional roast - my preference is pork belly but Samantha loves slowroasted lamb, so we’ll usually whip both up and have a Sunday feast with the children’s home-grown

vegetables included if they are available from the gardens. We set the table with candles and use our best crockery as one cannot be too shabby when it comes to Sundays which are vitally important as one must savour one’s down-time.

However, there will be some Sundays when Samantha and I, together with our nostalgia, take ourselves back to the Tuscan coast where we first acquired our evergrowing affection towards each other and present the dinner table with rich Italian meat pasta and all the amenities that come with an Italian serving.

The evening with the children is regimented, as my old house master would say “there is nothing like structure to grow a man”. So, once 7 o’clock has passed and the time of 8 o’clock approaches, the children will be cajoled to bed, pyjamas on and snuggled under luxury duvets. We have a fabulous array of antique novels and stories for the children - some even date back to our familial ancestors like King William; one must agree that the best stories are those passed down through generations, rich with history and diversity. Once the children are down and dreaming (no wonder about their successful futures) Sam and I will spend muchsavoured time together after the children are asleep. Watching old episodes of ‘Porridge’ with an oakaged scotch as content as if we’d finished trials, we will chuckle and converse about life and memories.

And then, when it reaches turn-in, we will kiss each other good-night, cosy into our beds and usually get straight to sleep in preparation for another saturated week, full of service to the country ahead. I don’t usually dream at night – I’m living the dream!

VI Form National Citizenship Scheme We welcomed representatives from the National Citizenship Scheme in to school to talk to students in the Lower VI about the opportunities the scheme offers to them. Spawned from David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ initiative, the scheme offers young people from the age of 16 – 25 years the chance to get involved in their local communities and achieve something for themselves in the process.

The scheme is heavily sponsored by the government so that, whilst there is a small cost involved, the returns can be potentially huge for any young person who wishes to engage in their community – it would be especially useful for any future UCAS application, for example, and employers are certainly interested in the skills the young people can garner from taking part in such a scheme. There is also an international off-shoot of the scheme which allows students to go abroad and work in communities overseas.

The Lower VI all thoroughly enjoyed the lively and interesting presentation and they had enormous fun in the team-building exercises (passing a giant elastic band from person to person without using your hands is harder than you think!). We hope that all the girls appreciated the presentation and that at least some of them will avail themselves of this opportunity in the future.

by Laura Parry, VI Form

Hobby Horse!

Elspeth and I both enjoy riding - it is our hobby and we love it! On Saturdays, we each look after Cappy and Murphy (Cappy, or Cappichino, is Elspeth’s horse and Murphy is mine) and, if it is sunny, we go on amazing, long hacks together. Once, when Murphy went a bit lame and needed a rest, we went double on Cappy, we rode bareback together and we cantered through the fields trying an odd jump along the way. After riding at the farm we often go to Mobberley for a riding lesson - which is awesome - and after our lesson we stay to help muck out horses and untack after other people have been out riding.

Riding is our passion. We love it and think you should try it too!

By Ellie Davies, Year9

Sport Relief Challenge – In Reception!

Year 9 pupils took part in a cycle ride for Sport Relief where each Year 9 form was allocated a two hour hour slot in which they had to cycle as far as possible to raise money for Sport Relief. The girls cycled a grand total of 149 miles (in the main school Reception!) which is the equivalent distance of Wilmslow to Bristol! The enthusiasm and spirit was tremendous and testament to the ongoing dedication to charity demonstrated by our girls.

*non-die = day off

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The Oxford English Dictionary: Then and Now Omnishambles. Jolly Hockey Sticks. Flash Mob. Selfie. As I’m typing these words, little red lines are appearing beneath them.

Apparently my computer hasn’t yet caught on to the newly appointed words in the Oxford English Dictionary. Selfie was named the Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Year in 2013, beating the likes of twerk and bitcoin to the punch. Selfie is defined as a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website, although I’m sure you all knew that already (from personal experience perhaps?). The ‘word of the year’ award celebrates the inventiveness of English speakers when confronted with social, political or technological change.

Selfie can actually be traced back to 2002 when it was used in an Australian online forum. The word gained momentum throughout the English-speaking world in 2013 as it evolved from a social media buzzword to mainstream shorthand for a self-portrait photograph.

Research suggested its frequency in the English language had increased by 17,000% in the last year, its linguistic productivity is already evident in the creation of numerous related spin-off terms showcasing particular parts of the body like helfie (a picture of one’s hair); a particular activity – welfie (workout selfie) and drelfie (drunken selfie), and even items of furniture – shelfie and bookshelfie.

A close runner- up for the prestigious word of the year award was twerk, although I doubt I really need to go into detail about the definition of this commonly used phrase (if you are fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the meaning of this term, feel free to look up ‘Miley Cyrus’ in Google images, and I’m sure you’ll get the general

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gist). The inclusion of the word borrowed from hip-hop culture in the Oxford English Dictionary, with all its connotations of inappropriate suggestiveness, has sparked much controversy. The word beat fourteen other contenders to be crowned ‘The Thing You Never Want to Hear Again’, in Time magazine’s annual word banishment poll (and I must admit I’d be one of the first to sign that petition!).

Whether you agree with them or not, these additions to the Oxford English Dictionary prove just how much our language is changing, and how much it is increasingly influenced by the modern world of the internet and social media.

Many of us will look at the likes of Chaucer and Shakespeare with blurry eyes, straining to decipher this foreign language, technically classed as English, which in reality holds more resemblance to Ancient Greek. Well, you’d be surprised to know that most of the words we speak to this day are somehow derived from these ‘old English’ ancestors. World War I gave rise to expressions and slang such as blighty and cushy, and the close contact of French and British troops in WW1 resulted in a number of slang expressions borrowed from French, often with humorous Anglicisation of spelling and pronunciation. English language has “borrowed” words for centuries. English speakers may not be famous for being au fait with foreign languages, but all of us use words taken from other languages every day. For instance, the word sushi is first recorded in English in the 1890s, but, commonplace though sushi may be today, it hasn’t made its way into the inner core of English in the same way as words like peace, war, just, or very (from French) or leg, sky, take, or they (from Scandinavian languages).

The English Language has evolved throughout the centuries, merging with other languages along the way to result in the amalgamation of languages and influences that

are our 21st century choice of communication: The lingua franca of the world, if you like.

In our constantly developing world, new words are frequently coined, while other, older, words seem to be taking a back-seat. There is a huge array of words that few know, words such as hubristic, ennui, laconic. They may have always been Latinate more intellectual words, but regardless, I think that they are being used less and less. Some people may recognise these words, and that’s a start, but few actually know what they mean. There is something fascinating about a person using words like this, as it immediately shows that they know something that you don’t.

However many of us don’t ask what words mean – maybe because we dislike placing ourselves on a less intellectual platform to the person speaking or dislike belittling ourselves? So we nod along and pretend to understand.

Surely this has to be the speaker’s aim – using words to present their personality, to deliberately try to appear more intellectual than the listener? They may perhaps even learn a specific word in order to influence public opinion! However, I think that the simple question of “that’s an interesting word - what does it mean?” is more intellectual than just nodding along. Surely it is more intellectual to show an interest in language as that shows an interest in culture and history.

These words were probably more frequently used a few decades ago, where they would roll off the tongue in intellectual debate or conversation, over dinner or at the opera and perhaps they are more suited to this version of life, but that doesn’t mean we can’t at least attempt to use words like these. Today, we have the ability to start and end a conversation in a matter of seconds, without the need to even open our mouths; this intrinsically provides a reason as to why these words are being used less and less frequently. Time has

become that much more precious, and who has the time to use longwinded words? But that’s the beauty of it! The art of conversation and the art of language; the ability to say what you mean in a way that is completely and utterly different to how someone else might say it – this is why I think we should all make a conscious effort to ask the question “what does that word mean?”

Clarissa Welsh, LVI Student of English Language and English Literature

Oxford Woodard Trip During the Easter break when everyone else was happily enjoying devouring their eggs and making the most of the rare glimpse of sunshine we were treated to over the holidays (except, of course, those girls in Yr11, LVI and UVI who were obviously too busy slaving away at revision for their vitally important exams to bother with Easter celebrations and tanning themselves), a group of girls in the LVI were lucky enough to get the opportunity to experience university life at Trinity College, Oxford, studying their respective subjects. This course was collaboratively run by the Woodard School Association and the Oxbridge Programme and was attended by Zoe Bennett (History), Gemma Francis (Maths), Jenny Eden (Maths), Miriam Beck (Biology) and Clarissa Welsh (English) from AESG, along with many other students from Woodard Schools across the country. Here, Clarissa tells of her experience...

Upon arriving at the college, on a beautiful sunny Monday afternoon, we were shown to our accommodation, which was remarkably comfortable ( for those of you who have ever witnessed some of the atrocious living quarters that students have to put up with at university!), before attending our first subject session (of many!).

Personally, my Oxford experience couldn’t have been better. I loved the subject sessions, in which we explored all areas of literature, from charting the history of the English language to improvising our own drama pieces. Although it was hard work, (we were even set homework one evening!) it was well worth the challenge as I gained new skills in the subject field and was given many hints and tips that would benefit me in the future when applying for a course at university (and book recommendations too).

Aside from these practical benefits, it was really good fun! It was great to meet other people our age from all over the country (although trying to decipher some of the accents was quite challenging!). But by far the best part of the whole experience was... the food! Yes, we were staying in one of the most beautiful cities in the UK, in one of the most prestigious colleges, but the food has to be the highlight: full English breakfast, biscuit break, and warming meals at lunchtime and tea time. Not to mention the excitement of the formal dinner!

Overall the whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable and an experience I will remember for many years to come. I would heartily recommend to anyone considering applying when in 6th Form, whether choosing to apply for Oxford or any other Russell Group university. A bonus of the course is that we can now say in all honesty that we did, (at some brief moment in our lives), study at Oxford!

by Clarissa Welsh, VI Form

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Staff ion Competit

This year, once again, the staff have got involved in the more ‘fun’ side of school…

The first PFA fundraiser of the new academic year took place with a Dads v AESG staff football match.

Two teams of dads, namely the red team and blue team battled it out, with the winning team proceeding on to play a team of AESG staff.

The reds beat the blues 3 - 1 in an exciting thriller, and continued on to become the champions of the day, drawing with the yellow staff team 6 - 6 in a fast paced yet friendly game!

White, r as Snow te s o F rs Queen, With M e Wicked th s a d o o eld as Mrs W d Mr Garfi n a n a n n ler as Mr Do d Mr Tand n a rs te is is year’s Ugly S e Prince, th ous! m o s d n a the H hilari mime was staff panto next year to see for Can’t wait etham’s ts Mrs Che ! what twis ng ri ting will b script wri

Hockey A great season finished with a great win for the staff 3-2 in a really competitive staff v sixth form game.

This means that in the 3 years this fixture has been on the calendar staff remain unbeaten!!

No pressure for next year! Well done to Mr Chadwick who the girls voted player of the match for the staff team and also to Zoe Bennett who was voted the VI Form player of the match. Pictures opposite!

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Congratulations to Mrs Fogg, our Junior School Secretary, who scored a hat-trick for the staff team!

The Culture of the Car Boot ...

A car boot sale is an unusual environment in which to purchase items and not one which many of us are used to; hundreds of people swarming around from different areas desperately trying to bag the “bargain of the century”, and it’s quite easy to get overwhelmed, but I have three tips on how to make the best out of your local car boot sale...

Never accept the first price, whether you’re buying a book, a candle or a dining room chair, you can almost guarantee that you will be able to purchase it for at least half of the original price. People selling at car boot sales are there in order to get rid of things they no longer want and you might be their first and only customer so don’t be afraid to haggle, the worst they can say is no and you can walk away.

A car boot can certainly be the perfect place to discover treasures, but it’s easy to look superficially over the items on sale seeing only the clutter spread sporadically over the broken table. When I’m at car boot sales, I try and imagine myself to be somewhere else. The surroundings of a muddy field seem less than glamorous, so you have to try and imagine yourself in a more exciting surrounding. Imagine yourself in a vintage shop in Notting Hill and the collection of vintage trinkets and mirrors instantly become more desirable! So when shopping at a car boot sale there’s an element of imagination involved, picture yourself somewhere else, and imagine how great that mirror will look in your bedroom - lying in the back of a white van it may look... less than great!

Despite car boots being about bargain hunting, you have to be careful not to be drawn in, purchasing rubbish, attracted by the cheap price tags.

There’s a subtle difference in re-homing a second-hand vase and buying a broken one. The individuals selling at car boots range from your average family selling broken toys and furniture from IKEA, to the older generation giving away their lifetime collection of possessions. You could buy a treasure that you personally discovered and somehow that seems that bit more special. For me, car boots are like a treasure hunt; I have found lots of treasures that I know I found on my own amongst an abundance of rubbish and the fact I found it makes it just that bit more special.

Pippa Neill, Lower VI

The Truth About Truman ...

A new extra-curricular club was instigated this year and the weekly ‘Film Club’ has become a firm favourite with the girls. The idea is to introduce girls to films they might not otherwise consider watching, to classics and to staff favourites! ‘The Truman Show’ is one such favourite - a thoughtprovoking movie about the dangers of the media and reality TV starring Jim Carrey. The girls thoroughly enjoyed this and commented: “Our lives are controlled by the media and their opinions but ‘The Truman Show’ reveals that not everything the media says is true.”

Fabia 8RC “Truman was trapped and being watched every second of his life. I think he did the right thing to walk out and he wanted to see the real world!” Elle 8RC “You learn that you shouldn’t be a puppet of the media” Nabeeha 7HS “It has made me think more about how the media can control your life and that I should believe in myself more and do what I want to do. I think the movie is very touching” Rosie 7HS “The media is too in control. The people who watch don’t feel what the actors, or real people, are feeling. “The Truman Show’ made me think that anything can happen.”

Simone 7HL “I think the movie is really good and it’s unfair because Truman has never been in the real world, he is stuck in a film set.”

Why not consider joining the film club next year – you never know what you might see!

Mrs Polley, English Teacher

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Our Lunchtime debate series proved extremely popular again this year and just one of the topics that got the girls arguing centred on Celebrity TV. The motion debated was: Celebrity TV: Road to Riches or Route to Ruin? Read below the very convincing arguments for both sides!

Celebrity TV: The Road To Riches …

What is your first reaction when you hear the words “celebrity TV”?

Do you think “oh great! I love those shows – it’s great to watch real people on TV?” or do you think “oh no! What a waste of time and energy – I can’t stand those shows”? Well, whatever you think, I bet you had some reaction to the words as it is the sort of TV show that causes people to have strong reactions!

Young people tend to love them and older people – parents, teachers and the like – tend to loath them!

Well, love them or loath them, these shows where celebrities (or so-called celebrities) either make fools of themselves or try to do something challenging (whatever way you want to look at it) are all over our televisions right now.

It’s hard to flick through even the millions of satellite channels on offer without coming across some sort of celebrity TV show from somewhere in the world being beamed into your living room. From Big Brother to Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here … we even had Celebrity Mastermind over Christmas where celebrities of dubious distinction battled it out to show off how intelligent they were.

I doubt very much whether Magnus Magnusson thought they were the best contestants, but someone somewhere thought putting them in front of him was a good idea. I doubt if he even knew or recognised some of the celebrities! But I bet the younger viewers loved it and they might even watch Mastermind again (nah – maybe not!)

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This is the core question: just where do these “celebrities” come from? Why are they on our screens morning, noon and night? Everybody from the rejects of The Voice or Britain’s Got Talent is considered a celebrity nowadays and we get to know them sometimes more because of their failures than their successes. Olly Murs was only a runner-up in The X Factor but who’s heard of “winners” such as Joe McElderry since they “won” the competition? Exactly!

Taking part in TV shows such as Britain’s Got Talent or The X Factor and being prepared to live in the public eye, letting every move you make become fodder for judgement by the public, is a viable career option and can represent the road to riches for many young people today. It is not beyond belief that so many young girls today want to become “WAGS” because they are so wowed by the life-styles of the rich and famous women who marry or are girlfriends of footballers.

They see that being a celebrity and preferably being on a celebrity TV show can be a very lucrative career option and one that will allow them to become rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Olly Murs was an unemployed painter and decorator before he grabbed the chance to go on the X Factor and take his chances to become a celebrity. In this day and age, because it is so competitive to get into university - it is so unlikely that someone like Olly could have gone to University and got a professional job - he probably took the best option available to him and who could blame him for that?

Who would begrudge him taking the option of celebrity TV as his route to riches? After all, we do not have to watch the TV shows if we choose not to – every TV has an “off” switch and there’s always Sky news to entertain and educate you if you can’t stomach watching celebrity TV!

While the other side will try to convince you that celebrity TV is the route to ruin for our society – we feel strongly that celebrity TV is a reality that is not going to go away. For many young people in our society who have no other option to make money but to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them.

Will the other side tell you about Jade Goody who became a celebrity after appearing on Big Brother?

Will they tell you that her celebrity status meant that the cancer she died from – cervical cancer – has had a huge increase in profile and has meant that a screening campaign was started which will save the lives of hundreds of young women who might contract the disease? I don’t think so. Celebrity TV meant that Jade Goody, an unemployed beauty therapist herself when she first became famous, made a lot of money for herself, but in the long term she created more riches in terms of the lives she has been part of saving.

Surely it can only be a good thing that celebrities can use their status to help others – no matter what you think of the sort of shows they appear on.

It is ridiculous to think that our obsession with celebrities is going to disappear. Celebrity TV is here to stay and while it entertains us, it can also be used to promote good deeds and to make our world a better place.

So, next time you hear the words “celebrity TV” just remind yourself that even though you might sneer at the “road to riches” aspects of these shows for some young people, they can be a vehicle for good too.

Most of you reading this today have aspirations to do well in your exams. Go to university. Get a good job. Live a comfortable life doing something you enjoy every day.

But what if those opportunities were not available to you? What if you went to a school where your teachers didn’t care so much about your examination results? If your parents didn’t support you in going to university? What then? Only 30% of young people go on to University in the UK. That means that for 70% of young people, professions such as the law, medicine or teaching are not available. These are just some of the jobs which can mean that you can earn a good living in your future. It can take a long time to make money if you’re a doctor – you have to go to university and study for over seven years before you qualify fully – but you can earn a good deal of money in this profession. Unfortunately, for many young people, who cannot go to university, jobs like being a medical professional will never be a reality.

But what can be a reality for young people, an option available to everyone and anyone willing to give it a go, is to try being part of a celebrity TV show where you could potentially make a lot of money out of your talent for entertaining – whether that’s through singing, dancing or just making people laugh. Anyone over the age of 16 can apply to go on The X Factor where you can battle it out with others to try to grab hold of the dream where you are on a road to riches rather than sitting in a dole queue living on benefits because you haven’t got the opportunity to go to university to get a good education and later on a good job.

When Big Brother first started in 1999 (15 years ago) it was a revolution. Nothing like it had been seen on TV before and ‘normal’ people were beamed on to television for the very first time. Audiences were hooked and celebrity TV was born as those first contestants became famous just for being part of the show. They got jobs in the media, on TV and in marketing as a result of being recognised from the TV show. And

they made lots and lots of money.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to be on TV and everyone wanted to be a celebrity. Before this, celebrities were rare people. They were famous for being at the top of their sport or because they were film-stars.

After the first Big Brother all of this changed and being a TV celebrity was an option for everyone. Over 180,000 people entered the public applications for the X Factor in the last series. That’s a lot of people who think that this is their route to riches!

Why should we criticise those who think that they can forge a career for themselves from celebrity TV? The excitement, the fun and the passion of the people who take part in celebrity TV shows is only part of the attraction. We all know that we’d secretly like to be like them and have the guts to put ourselves “to the public vote” if we thought that we too could earn packets of cash by doing so.

Celebrity TV is entertaining, fun and passionate. Would you rather watch Midsomer Murders or Celebrity Big Brother? Would you rather slob out in front of Britain’s Got Talent or listen to the News? Would you rather laugh out loud at The Kardashians or moan at University Challenge? I think we all know the truth!

We have so many TV shows available to us nowadays and celebrity TV is just one genre of show that is there to entertain us.

Surely such issues as gang violence, unemployment and rape are of more importance in ruining our society than harmless TV shows where certain young people can actually make a good, honest living.

There is, of course, a trade-off.

Not everyone can handle the pressure of living in the public eye putting themselves “to the public” week after gruelling week. It is certainly not an easy choice: just an ambitious one. For those people

who think that Celebrity TV can provide them with the first step on the ladder of fame whereby they are on the “route to riches” we say: bring it on!

Celebrity TV: The Route to Ruin?

Celebrity TV. What a joke! Shows such as Big Brother, The X Factor, The Kardashians, What Katie Did Next, Sixteen and Pregnant … the list is endless – it goes on and on and there seems to be no end in sight as newer and more “challenging” competitions are invented to make celebrities of those who are stupid and gullible enough to appear on these awful shows.

Imagine the life of a TV celebrity.

Just for a minute. Not one element of your life would be private as the public thirst for more and more intimate details of your life is insatiable. Imagine being photographed going shopping in your tracksuit? Imagine being recognised day in day out in the streets – and for what? For the price that comes with fame due to the fact that you took part in a TV show designed to create fake celebrities.

Those who appear on these dreadful TV shows are talentless fame-hunters. They might be famous for a minute, a day, a week, a year and … then what? They are rejected by the very media organisations that made them famous in the first place only to be replaced by the conveyor belt of wannabes who are desperate to become part of the so-called “route to riches” which instead is often, sadly, the “route to ruin”.

Take recent examples of people who have found out that they could not cope with the fame once they had got it. Hugo Taylor, one of the “stars” of Made In Chelsea almost broke down on I’m A Celebrity Get cont on page 60 Page 59

Me Out Of Here. He was hungry, emotional and tired and I for one found it hideous to watch. (Not that I was watching – I read about it in The Guardian!) Surely we cannot think that it is entertaining to watch people humiliate themselves in front of cameras just to make a living? Can we honestly think it is entertaining to witness people stuffing themselves with insects, grubs and kangaroo testicles just for giggles?

In the twenty-first century with more channels on TV than ever before available to us, I find it hilarious that people will voluntarily tune in to “catch-up” with the TOWIE stars or think they are part of the Geordie Shore gang on a regular basis. I find it cringe-worthy that so many, many millions of people are fans of these shows – surely they could think of something better to do with their time?

Those who believe that Celebrity TV is just a bit of harmless fun and entertainment have surely not considered the wider impact on our society of these hideous shows.

They are simply ignoring the cost to our culture and are evidently happy to be part of the dumbing-down that is clear to be seen everywhere in our country nowadays. That little girls would say that their ambition is to be a WAG is shameful; not funny.

And what about those poor, poor people who ritually humiliate themselves for cash on TV? How on earth can we condone it? We should be giving help and support to these poor, innocent victims of TV – not votes!

Imagine looking back on your life and proudly showing your grandchildren footage of you sitting topless and legless in a Jacuzzi in Newcastle… that’s the future for the Geordie Shore “celebrities”.

And as soon as we’ve created these celebrity monsters – we forget about them. There’s no secure

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future for a celebrity TV contestant once the public – the fickle public – have finished with them. Where’s Steve Brookstein now? Anyone?

Well, he was the first winner of the X Factor and performed in front of audiences of up to 10 million while he was popular … and then? He disappeared from our screens and out of our lives.

Celebrity TV is nothing more than a sad joke and we are ruining the lives of those poor idiots who think that this represents any sort of route to anywhere – let alone the route to riches. Our society has changed so much over the past decades; everything from computers to iPhones, from fashion to books and movies… even to your choice of pet. No-one had heard of Labradoodles in the 1990s! My point is, everything changes and nothing stays the same in our society.

And nowhere is this truer than on our television screens. Take the television programmes that used to be popular: soap operas such as Neighbours, Coronation Street and East Enders. They were all the rage not so long ago and at least they had good story lines with actors – clearly, well-defined actors who had trained to pretend to be someone else – were playing characters who we all knew were made up and not real. Not real. And this is the crucial point. We are now bombarded by people who are not professional actors, but who are classed as “celebrities” nonetheless. How has this happened? What does the future hold for our television producers and those involved in professional entertainment if we continue to concentrate on applauding “celebrities” rather than actors?

Television is a great medium for entertainment and education.

We can watch programmes about everything from all over the world. Made in the UK, David Attenborough’s nature programmes are world renowned and comedy programmes from the US such as

“Modern Family” are firm favourites here. Actors who found fame in series such as “Friends” are familiar faces to us and we look forward to tuning in to find out what’s happening in the new episodes of “Stella” with anticipation. The point about all of these is that they are the sorts of traditional shows in which someone writes a script for actors to deliver to an audience. Much in the tradition of Shakespeare and other great playwrights, modern television producers commission fantastic programmes which quickly become firm, family favourites.

Well, at least that’s how it used to be. Despite all the changes – the very positive changes – that have taken place in society, I can’t help but feel sadness and regret about the sorts of programmes we’ve lost out on in order to make way for our empty, stupid “celebrity TV” entertainment.

I feel really jealous that our generation has been robbed of our chance to experience quality television. The sort of television, I’m told, that the BBC – our national broadcaster – has been famous in the past for making. It makes me feel slightly ashamed that what’s on offer to our generation is a diet of celebrity nonsense. I’m sure I’m not the only one sitting here today who feels aggrieved that other generations of people have had the experience of quality television and it makes me really indignant when I realise that producers today think that my generation is too stupid to watch anything but celebrity rot.

Well, we do.

Steve Brookstein? Last heard of playing in pubs where tickets cost £2.50. Road to riches indeed.

By the Lower VI Debating Team Bria Keely, Immy Crossland, Alex Featherstone, Felicity Coen, Sarah Connor

Creative Writing has always been encouraged within the English Department at AESG and this particular piece was inspired by the colour Orange …

I tiptoed my way uneasily through what could only be described as a ghost town, trying my best not to trip on the ash-covered rubble, which lay before my watering eyes. I sat heavily in despair on the remains of an old church pew, experiencing feelings I had never, ever felt before. My pink top slowly turned purple as unwanted tears fell from ashamed eyes, sliding down my pale cheeks. Recently the only emotions I had been feeling were those of affliction and regret.

Now, I’m a smart girl – so, why do I never think about my actions? Why do I never use my initiative before doing stupid things? But this time it wasn’t just a stupid thing - it was extreme …

If only I hadn’t started that fire. If only I hadn’t started that fire. If only I hadn’t started that bright, roaring, orange fire...

It hadn’t always been like this. Once I had been happy. Once I had been bright. Once I had possession of an uncomplicated soul. Once upon a time …

The sky glowed with eerie colours in the burgeoning dusk: bright orange, vivid lime green and a lick of bruised purple. The eerie atmosphere fizzed with a frisson of electricity and I hugged my thin arms around my body to comfort myself. The last few days had been hectic and my mind raced with the thought of the decisions I knew I had to make. A gentle wind spun a pile of deadened leaves into the crisp air - a magician somewhere conjuring nature to perform. As the sky above darkened, it seemed to close in, stifling and smothering me. I felt trapped. Trapped in an unending miasma of thoughts that would not clear. And I needed clarity. I craved the ability I seemed

to have lost to make one swift, cold decision. I hungered for the strength to grab hold of my problem, dissect it rationally and take the necessary action. But all of this eluded me; I was stuck in a foggy cloud of irrational, swirling thoughts as powerless as the orange, brown and mossy leaves beneath my feet.

It was almost dark. The colours in the sky above had darkened as though that selfsame magician summoning the wind had decided to hit the dimmer switch on daylight. Colder now, I stumbled as I forced myself to remember what I had done. Questions I wanted to sleep flat and clean, tucked up tight in the deep, dark recesses of my brain were awake and rising instead - shiny and cold like naked light bulbs - to the forefront of my thoughts. Why had I done it? What sort of person had I become? When had I changed? Unable to think clearly, I moaned softly and shook my head as if to shake my brain clear of the unwanted thoughts encroaching on my sanity.

Sky/Sora What are you doing to the sora?

We fly though the sora Like a night time’s yume Fly over mountains in our yume Twinkling stars are a beautiful sight in the night sora.

Look at the sea, the bright moon, Shining bright in the night.

By Isabella Sarna and Chikako Kawato, Mrs Perls’ Year 9 Class

A streak of bright white light pierced the blank darkness high above and I could just make out an airplane high above, its orange tail light a seemingly fixed mark in the inky sky. A reminder that people somewhere were going places, places far away. And suddenly I knew.

The decision arrived with a startling swiftness: I would go away! I would escape this place and all that cemented me to this uncomfortable reality. Suddenly free, the mist within my brain lifted and in a slice of time, an idea slithered into my head.

The only question that remained was whether I would be able to carry it through …

Anonymous, Year 10

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Notes

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