Skipping out Summer 16

skipping out ISSUE TWO SUMMER 2016

THE PUPIL VOICE MAGAZINE OF Photography: Lucy Benjamin Yr 12, Winner of ‘Points of View’ Photography Competition See pages 24-25

Independent Day School for Girls aged 4-18

FROM THE EDITOR MAIN HEADER BOLD GILL SANS BLOCKS

Summer’s here!

It has been quite the rollercoaster year as

editor-in-chief of Skipping Out … the previous edition was our first ever, and this one is my last!

Everyone’s enthusiasm has been overwhelming; considering how much work we all have this term, with exams looming ominously ahead, the fact that there are people willing to do yet another piece of work is incredible. I really hope that this magazine will continue for years to come so the world (or at least a few Highgate Mums) can see how exceptional we really are. Thank you Channing, for supporting me in this venture. Keep up the good work!

Signing out,

Emily x

THE SKIPPING OUT TEAM Editor-in-Chief EMILY READER

YEAR 13

CONTRIBUTORS

EDEN LEVY YEAR 7 IMOGEN MOODY YEAR 7 LÉONIE NÖCKER YEAR 7 JESSICA COHEN YEAR 7 ANNA MILSOM YEAR 7 ALMA MILLER YEAR 7 ASYA PENDLEBURY YEAR 7 IZZY FETTERMAN YEAR 7 SOPHIA REICHWALD YEAR 7 SARLA MURRAY YEAR 8 MIA BYRNE YEAR 11 OLIVIA CARPENTER YEAR 11 ALEXANDRA CROSS YEAR 11 DAISY DELANEY YEAR 11 EILIS ROONEY YEAR 11 HOLLY MORTON YEAR 12 EVA KYRIACOU YEAR 12 EMILY OULTON YEAR 12 HONOR MUNDEN YEAR 12 AMY MORRIS YEAR 12 DAISY MACRAE YEAR 13 ELLA MARGOLIN YEAR 13 PRODUCTION (and terrible hair puns)

MRS H GETHING, MARKETING DIRECTOR

Issue no. 2 FREE DISTRIBUTION Please pass on to friends and recycle after use 2

CONTENTS 4. OPINION A rock and a hard place 5. NORTH LONDON views & Bugaboos?

6. In or Out? Daisy explores the EU Referendum 7. REVIEW BBC’s ‘Dickensian’ 8. A DEAD LANGUAGE? Holly ‘carpes the diem’ to discuss Latin 9-20. SKIPPING OUT SPECIAL FOCUS ‘The Mind’

10. THE BIG INTERVIEW- Aileen Edwards

11. WHAT IS... Functional MRI?

12. Leonie’s sweet dreams explained.

13. Men vs Women- Nature or Nurture? Sharpen your heels...

14-15. How does Music Affect the Brain?

16-17. SO’s Resident Agony Sisters are listening...

18-19. Feel Good Food- yes, there’s pizza...

20. Brain Zumba- Puzzles to give the grey cells a workout.

9-20. ‘THE MIND’

SO wonders what makes us tick- from Music to marketing, gender to good food, with some great advice along the way.

21. SUMMER HOROSCOPES 22-23. EMILY’S CREATIVE WRITING PICKS 24-25. ‘POINTS OF VIEW’ Photography Competition winners announced 26-27. HAIR-RAISING STYLE SO isn’t having a bad hair day today with these styles.You’ll be well gel.

26-27. COMB-OVER TO OURS...

SO has got its plait on with two simple tutorials

28. 60 SECONDS WITH... Head of History, Mr Phillips.

ABOUT SKIPPING OUT Skipping Out is a pupil-led magazine created by Channing School’s Press Pack. It aims to give all students in the Senior School a voice and freedom to express their opinions, passions and interests. If you’re interested in getting involved- by writing, photographing, drawing, editing, designing or even advertising; come along to Press Pack, every Monday lunchtime at 12.25 in Founders’ Hall.

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A Rock and a Hard Place

Why girls in today’s society can never be right Sarla Murray,Yr8

“You all have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores.

It just makes it OK for guys to call you sluts and whores.” The Mean Girls line reads.

Girls today may have it better off legally, but socially, it’s impossible for girls to ever be right. We’ve all had that dilemma- when you’re going out shopping with your friends and aren’t quite sure what to wear. The blue skirt, that’s short and risk being called a slut, or the red skirt, which goes down to your knees, and risk being called a nun. Why, you may tell yourself, that it doesn’t matter, that they are your friends, and that they won’t judge you.

Have you ever looked at someone and thought- how much makeup does she have on, or how ugly is that jumper? While we may be keeping those opinions to ourselves, everything we do in our lives is judged. Maybe the worst of them all is “she’s asking for it”. No girl ever asks to be ridiculed.

And that thing where a guy honks his horn as a girl walks by. When did that become ok? Why is the sexualisation of women and girls accepted?

Here’s an example. This girl (let’s call her Michelle) is going out. She is wearing leggings and a t-shirt, nothing suggestive or skimpy. As she walks down the street, a man in his mid-twenties leans out the car window and shouts ‘Hey baby’. She has no idea who he is and she’s been shouted at in front of the whole street. This is the kind of behaviour we have come to accept.

We need to stand up and not be afraid to tell people when they are wrong. It’s not right to be shamed at for being a feminist. In fact, all too often it’s become the eye rolling topic of conversation. Wearing makeup doesn’t mean you’re not a feminist, I wear makeup for me, not for a boy. Society needs to accept that we can dress nicely without trying to please anyone but ourselves. That starts with us girls not judging each other on how we dress.

#NoWomanEver 4

opinion

In 2014,YouGov surveyed 1,294 Londoners to find out which words they associated with each four corners of their city. While there were strong opinions surrounding the nature of West and East London (the former being named ‘posh’ and ‘pretentious’, the latter ‘poor’ and ‘gritty’), North London remained a contentious issue with some believing it to be ‘dull’ and ‘past its prime’ with others believing it was more intellectual and family-friendly. Interesting. Of course, it depends where you are in North London; at Channing we are lucky enough to be cooped up in the pain au raisin smelling Highgate but also happen to be next door to the dreadfully “urban” Archway. What is this… Clerkenwell?

So apparently we’re all intellectuals, I’ll take that.

Funnily enough, we’re also frequently discussed by the likes of BuzzFeed and TimeOut, who often write articles on our fantastic sense of humour (see Ham&High), or our refusal to go anywhere south of the river. North Londoners are mocked on our love of small, inclusive (they’d say exclusive) communities and our appreciation of our tourist-free high streets, apart from Camden, obviously.

But do they really know us? Yes, there are the excessively expensive neighbourhoods and green spaces but there is also so much more. North London is brimming with theatres, cinemas and art galleries. Recently I able to see a Flamenco performance at Sadler’s Wells in Angel.

We take pride in the fact that we are able to keep independent businesses going on our high streets and that we can make more parks and playing fields instead of less.

The yummy-mummies who have nicknamed their child ‘little dove’, wear Lululemon and ride their daughter’s scooter down Upper Street, and the not-so-yummy-mummies park their 4x4 Range Rovers over the pavement.

Highgate is famous. If you didn’t already know there is a Twitter page with 37,000 followers called ‘Highgate Mums’ which is dedicated to tweeting “overheard” remarks and comments. An example being about how “baby Mandarin classes sound interesting”.

Mums from North London are generally very ambitious, if not competitive - it comes from the fact that we have some of the country’s best schools and they are fully aware that places are limited, but has this always been the case? Possibly so, since many of the famous faces we know today have originated from North London - such as Helena Bonham Carter, The Kinks and Sir John Betjeman perhaps it’s just in our blood.

In a recent articles, they asked North Londoners what they thought of the rest of the country. The outcome showed how we associated Cornwall and the Isle of Wight with second homes and Scotland as a place where their cuisine leads to cardiac arrest.

So, in our isolated, suburban corner of London where the tweeting of iPhones fills the air, we know there is more to life than French crêpes and expensive trainers, we strive for greatness and success, we aim to reach our goal, and we know the people to help get us there.

As for the people, we vary. Typically, the men of North London work in PR, in Soho, or are lawyers from Hogan Lovells, and cycle to work as it’s downhill from here.

NORTH LONDON from the eyes of a North Londoner Honor Munden Yr12

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The EU with Daisy MacRae,Yr13

In or Out? My thoughts leading up to the Referendum The EU referendum is an event which I had been looking forward to for some time and as Nigel Farage crawls out of the woodwork with Boris Johnson’s quintessentially British bumbling humour following close behind, it’s an event which promises to live up to expectation.

Radio 4 has assaulted our kitchens with coverage of party splits, broken promises and Scottish tantrums and in amongst all this, members from both sides (vote in and vote leave) were asked to speak positively about their campaign for one minute. It was very interesting to hear what campaigners had to say when they didn’t immediately resort to criticising the opposition. Most of us (myself included) will not be able to vote on 26th of June 2016 but it is vital that we remain knowledgeable about this referendum which could bring about the biggest change to the UK in our lifetimes.

Those who want to leave feel that Britain is held back by the EU which imposes many rules on business and charges billions of pounds a year in membership fees for little in return. They also want Britain to take back control of its borders, and so reduce the number of people coming from to Britain to seek work. One of the key principles of the EU is ‘free movement’ which basically eliminates borders between members of the EU allowing for anyone to go and live and work in another EU country without a visa.Voters who want to leave reject the idea of an ‘ever closer union’ between EU countries.

On the other side of the argument is those who believe the UK should remain in the EU, they take the stance that Britain gets a big boost from EU membership because it makes selling things to other EU countries easier and, they argue, the flow of immigrants, most of whom are young and keen to work, fuels economic growth and helps pay for public services. David Cameron backed the vote stay campaign alongside Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon, whilst Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and five cabinet ministers backed the vote leave campaign.

Coverage of the debate has been saturating the newspapers, social media, TV and radio in the months leading up to June and it was difficult to form an unbiased opinion on a matter which we can have no perspective on, having only ever lived in the EU. David Mitchell recently wrote an article for The Guardian in which he provides us with an honest truth to consider when deciding what stance to take on the referendum, ‘No one knows if we will be better off inside or outside the EU. The liars are those who claim to be certain.’ Let’s see how the next few months pan out post ‘Brexit’- perhaps we might even have to do it all over again...

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image © BBC

REVIEW Dickensian is a gripping historical drama recently shown on the BBC, following the lives of various Dickens characters. From the director who brought to you the dramatic ‘Eastenders’, the series captured the harsh ups and downs of Victorian life. With selected characters from Dickens’s books and a dramatic climax at the end of every episode, the programme kept you contemplating and questioning whom you can trust throughout the series.

The sly Merryweather Compeyson captures Miss Havisham’s heart with his kindly ways, and only those who have watched the series will know what his true intentions were. Left with no money and getting more drunken every day Arthur Havisham’s isolated ways begin to worry Ameila Havisham but she is simply only helping Arthur and Compeyson’s devilish plan in order to get the Havisham fortune.

Meanwhile Honoria (desperately in love) is hurt by her her sister’s (Frances) harsh words towards her fiancé. Their father’s financial problems seem to be worrying anyone but Frances and her sister is beginning to see her in a different light. Her family leaves her in the uncomfortable position of choosing her happiness over her father’s. She has to choose her lover, a poor man but one who makes her so happy or someone she does not love at all but one that will pay for her family’s debts.

Mr Bucket, the comical yet determined detective works tirelessly throughout the programme in order to find the murderer of Jacob Marely, but, in episode 17 you find out who the murderer is.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the programme and it was a thrilling series that brought on many conversations. It captured Dickens’s brilliance and merged some of his best work into a well cast series.

Dickensian with Eden Levy,Yr7 7

How Latin has influenced the society we live in today Holly Morton,Yr12 Latin is arguably a dead language, however, it has greatly influenced our society today through common names, the law and business, languages and science.

Latin has influenced many names we recognise today such as Amanda meaning someone who must be loved and Miranda meaning someone who must be admired. While popular names such as Grace (meaning virtue), Paul (meaning a little) and Stella (meaning star) all derive from Latin and are still used in the 21st century.

Latin is now a lingua franca used across the world especially in the areas of business, law and medicine - a doctor in the Congo can identify and explain in detail a patient’s symptoms to a doctor in Tokyo with no loss of understanding; the internationally shared concept that every crime must be considered in two parts-the physical act of the crime (actus reus) and the mental intent to do the crime (mens rea); the doctrine of Caveat Emptor “buyer beware” means that we are obliged as buyers to reasonably examine property before purchase and business meetings where sensitive or private issues are discussed, it is usual for them to be held In camera,“in secret”.

The Romance languages are the continuation of Vulgar Latin, the popular and colloquial dialect of Latin spoken by soldiers, settlers, and merchants of the Roman Empire, distinguished from the classical form of the language spoken by the Roman upper classes, the form in which the language was generally written. Between 350 BC and AD 150, the expansion of the Empire, together with its administrative and educational policies, made Latin the dominant native language in continental Western Europe, therefore allowing it to be continually used even after the fall of the Roam empire. The Romance Languages are now known as Italian, Spanish and French, Latin has also influenced English.

In many ways it can all be traced back to Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish Scientist who wrote a book called “Species Plantarum” in 1753.

He used a binomial naming system in Latin to give two names to every plant that he was aware of – the names identifying both the genus and the species. People were very impressed by this and everyone else adopted this methodology. In later times, it became very useful to have Latin used a common scientific language across the world, as well as a politically neutral one. As a “dead” language, it is claimed by no one country. Imagine if this process wasn’t used and instead every country named things only in their own language – how would anyone share ideas, research and knowledge?

I then realised that we all use Latin all the time without even noticing – it is in every part of our lives. From our everyday language, to science, law and business. We are aware that the Romance languages, especially Italian, French and Spanish have evolved closely from Latin. However, the precision of Latin terms mean that they are very useful for everyday use. How many of us write etc with realising it shorthand for et cetera [“and the rest”], or n.b for nota bene [“note well”]? I could go on ad nauseam…

Latin, although technically a dead language is very much alive, in use and still has an impact upon our lives. Q.E.D or Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

The Mind Skipping Out Supplement

INTERVIEW with Honor Munden,Yr12

Aileen Edwards, Chief Executive of leading Bristol mental health

charity, Second Step, talks to Honor Munden about the stigma around mental health and what can be done to get people talking about it.

HM: What do we know about mental health?

AE: We know that 1/10 young people has a diagnosable mental health problem.

Half of mental health problems are established by the age of 14, and 3/4 mental health problems are established by the time someone is 24. Most people aren't getting the help that they need and the government recognises this. They produced a strategy last year called 'Future in Mind' which talks about young people and mental health. In February 2016 a mental health task force was published that said the recommendations in the government's report should fully implemented.

We know that we need to do more around young people and mental health issues.

HM: Is there a particular time in people's lives when they are most vulnerable?

AE: It varies. Obviously there are times when stress is a big part of life, so that impacts on people with anxiety and depression, which are called 'common mental health issues'.

Lots of people will experience some kind of anxiety or depression and if it becomes really severe it can stop people functioning properly. Around exam times there is a certain pressure to succeed and that can be very stressful for some young people.

It's the same with transitioning from one school to another, or coming from junior to senior school.

HM: What do we need to do?

AE: There is a stigma around mental health and so we need to be encouraging schools to say that it's okay to talk about your feelings. A couple of weeks ago there was a 'Time to Talk' Day, which was to encourage people to talk to each other about how they are feeling, and that people don't have to be tough, to show people that it's okay to have ups and downs in life.

HM: Considering that 50 years ago there was such a large stigma around mental health and it's only now that people are talking about it openly, why do you think there are people that are uncomfortable with talking about mental health?

AE: People don't understand it. There is a lot of misinformation about mental health and people forget that they usually know someone with a mental health need. There is a lot of prejudice, but the good news is that it's changing. Men find it a lot harder to talk about their feelings compared to women, so it's great to hear that there are celebrities, Stephen Fry and Ruby Wax, who talk about mental health openly.

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WHAT IS? with Eva Kyriacou,Yr12

Functional MRI - the brains behind neuromarketing Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a technique used to measure brain activity ‘in action’. It allows observations of our brain to be made by measuring regional changes of blood flow to areas of the brain as well as our neural response to certain stimulae. So how can this technique be used in marketing?

Neuromarketing is defined as “a field of marketing research that studies consumers’ sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli”. In simpler terms, it is the collection of data from fMRI to find out what we, as consumers, want to buy and how to sell it to us. Companies such as McDonalds and Unilever use fMRI techniques and there are, in fact, 92+ neuromarketing agencies world-wide. During these tests, emotional response, attentiveness and memory function are all measured. According to Professor Lavie from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL , “the approach can be very productive and may potentially reveal information about the consumer’s brain that would otherwise be hard to obtain”.

However, is it ethical to scan the brain for commercial purposes? Is there not a sense of invasion of privacy and manipulation?

Professor Lavie followed on to say, “in some areas I think the gap between what we know scientifically and what we know about predicting consumer choice is still too big.” Following this idea, if the imaging process has not yet been perfected, should major companies such as McDonalds use it as a reliable market research technique? Furthermore, it is necessary to assess the cost versus the benefit.

Unsurprisingly, fMRI machines cost thousands to make and manage so who decides whether they are used for marketing purposes over medical? Surely medical neurological studies should take precedent over marketing studies? However, it’s the large companies that have the money to pay for these studies.

Either way, it goes without saying that our subconscious is getting involved in the shopping experience as never before.

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Dreams with Léonie Nöcker, Yr7

Dreams. Well, what a word!

Did you know that the guy who created Google got his idea from his dream?

Dreams may just seem like a rare thing that happens once in a blue moon, but there is way more to it.

An average person dreams about 3-7 times per night.You dream 2 hours per night...did you know that?

Dreams could be one of the most important things in a day...this is why.

You know that cool dude, Abraham Lincoln, who led America through the most horrible civil war, who got assassinated, who was named President in 1860? Well, let’s talk about his assassination, for his dream the night before was probably the most scary and important event of his life. Because he dreamed of his assassination. The night before. Scary, huh? And a ton of reasons could come from this. Was his assassinator some sort of wizard? A magician? A voodoo?? Time for your imagination.

But let’s talk seriously now.

For most people, hearing other people’s dreams is the most boring thing. But not for Sigmund Freud. He invented psychoanalysis and said that the most important thing was to hear other people’s dreams. Why? He believed that our dreams are a manifestation of our unconscious. He said that dreams are the ‘royal path to the unconscious’. Through our dreams we can decipher our real and unknown intentions.

Some dreams are just so important with such a strong moral that we act by them. Once, I remember, I had a dream about life. Not the cycle of life (i.e: birth, death), but the ‘meaning’ of our life. So this is my dream. I was in a very busy swimming pool, and my parents were on the side, lying on towels or chatting with friends or whatever. I was swimming around really quickly, then a boy tugged at my leg and kept pulling me down, and I was almost drowning, and then swimming up again before the boy pulled me down again. It’s like life. We zoom through life, with many obstacles ahead, like the boy always pulling me down...

So, this is my message: each time you remember your dream, think about it; it may be more significant than you think.

How to tell if you are dreaming: You cannot read You cannot tell the time

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Emily Oulton and Amy Morris,Yr 12 debate:

Men & Women: nature or nature?

Amy and Emily put forward their arguments on this universal debate.

Amy Morris: Society is so much more powerful than we actually think. It manipulates and brainwashes us, without us even realising it’s happening. But, the scariest is thing is that we not only conform, but perpetuate society’s constructs further. If we didn’t we wouldn’t be having this discussion.You cannot state that the differences between men and women are not from nurture. Psychoanalysts all agree that people’s behaviour and mentality stem from one’s childhood, upbringing and experiences, and all these three things are manipulated by society. Society decides that women are ‘pretty’ and men are ‘strong’, girls like ‘pink’ and boys like ’blue.’ Boys are encouraged to be confident, curious and persistent. Girls are taught to stay safe, be pretty and help mummy. This education creates differences between men and women, gender inequality creates differences between men and women, double standards creates differences between men and women.

Emily Oulton: ‘Boys are just weird’ - Fairseat pupil,Year 5 They say that children are the only ones who speak the truth, and if that’s so my argument is already won. If Amy is arguing that it is society that makes us different from -boys- , then I’m saying the opposite; women and girls are genetically predisposed to be different to the other 50% of the population. Let’s cast our minds way back to the Stone Age - a simpler time. The human race was just getting started and the women were responsible for making sure that the beginning was just that - a beginning and not an end before the wheel had even been discovered. While men were out either picking berries or killing woolly mammoths, the women were completing equally important tasks - making sure their babies weren’t killed by Diego the sabre tooth tiger. There are many biological differences between men and women- men have always been generally taller than women, a trait linked to increased testosterone levels in the bloodstream while heredity (genetic traits) means that most girls reach puberty before boys. This means that while boys look older sooner, girls are more emotionally mature at a younger age- any Year 8 girl dealing with her boyfriend can tell you that.

A.M: What Emily wants you to believe that we are all still Neanderthals, animals that have had no development or improvement over the last hundreds of years. But while Emily may be an underdeveloped, backwards thinking nutjob, we are on a whole a much more developed, civilised species and people. The argument is traditional nonsense perpetuated by the patriarchy so that women are forced to be happy in submissive roles. Although men and women originally supposedly had fixed roles as hunters and gatherers, it is society that has continued on arguing Emily’s points and forcing a larger and larger gap between men and women, instead of moving on with life. By factors such as gender norms and stereotypes what initially is only a biological difference gets upgraded to the ‘biggest difference in life.’

E.M: While Amy’s argument would like to have you believe that we all live in a 1984-esque society that dictates our every action and thought, that is simply not the truth. Why reject the fact that we are built differently to men? It means we can have children, dance all night in heels and endure cramps that would have boys crying in minutes. And while it may be that physically and (as both a correlation and a consequence) mentally, boys and girls are different, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a way for a woman to become the best tennis player in the world or a boy to crave to be a father more than any other girl in his school craves to be a mother. Nature has presented humanity with the sex divide- it is humanity’s job to make it irrelevant.

If you agree with Amy or Emily or think it’s a combination of both (which it probably is) come along to FemSoc on every other Friday at 1:00 in the lecture theatre to voice your opinions on all feminist issues.

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How does music affect the brain?

By Mia Byrne,Yr 11

Where It All Starts: Your brain issues commands for all actions you choose to take, and for many you didn’t think about, such as control your body temperature. The brain is really a gigantic network of thousands of millions of nerve cells, or neurons. Each neuron is joined to many others, and new connections always being made. These connections store your memories, and enable you to think. It’s all so complex that scientists are still finding out how it works.

From the Brain to the Body: Nerves also stretch down your spine and around your body, and whizz electrical signals to and from your brain. When a signal reaches the end of one neuron, a tiny amount of a chemical passes the signal to the next one until the message reaches its target. Along with your brain, these nerves make up the nervous system.

The Brain. Playing and listening to music affects many different areas of the brain, as you can see in this image. Each area of the brain has its own function.

Happy or sad music affects how we see neutral faces. We can usually tell if a piece of music is particularly happy or sad, but this isn’t just a subjective idea that comes from how it makes us feel. In fact, our brains actually respond differently to happy and sad music.

One study showed that after hearing a short piece of music, participants were more likely to interpret a neutral expression as happy or sad, to match the tone of the music they heard.

Something else that’s really interesting about music, is that there are two kind of emotions related to music: perceived emotions and felt emotions.

This means that sometimes we can understand the emotions of a piece of music without actually feeling them, which explains why some of us find listening to sad music enjoyable, rather than depressing.

© finerminds.com

Music benefits the brain and general learning skills. Music learning involves active engagement and discipline, resulting in far-reaching benefits to the brain that may include improved reading skills, a better vocabulary and stronger neural activation in native language. Also, 90% of preschool children studied showed increased verbal intelligence after just 20 days of musical training. Other verbal benefits observed were increased ability to incorporate the sound patterns of a new language into words, better and more focused listening skills, better auditory memory and attention.

Music benefits to academic achievement. Music training may improve listening ability and allow children to filter out noise in a loud classroom more effectively. This becomes especially helpful for students with learning disorders, who may be more distracted by background noise. In 2007, elementary school students in top-quality music programs in the USA scored 22% higher in English and 20% higher in maths than students in deficient music programs. In 2010, students who took 4 years of arts and music classes in high school scored 102 points higher on their SATS.

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Music benefits to life skills and personal enrichment. Arts-engaged low-income students were more likely than those without art, engagement to have attended and done well in college, obtained employment with future growth, participated in the political process by voting and volunteered in their communities. Aside from the scholastic benefits, musical training can benefit children in other important ways, such as increased self-esteem, better attentiveness and perseverance, more enjoyment and creativity and better study habits.

Music can treat heart disease. Listening to music may benefit patients who suffer severe stress and anxiety associated with having and undergoing treatment for coronary heart disease. A Cochrane Systematic Review found that listening to music could decrease blood pressure, heart rate, and levels of anxiety in heart patients. Stress can increase blood pressure, leading to increased risk of complications. Music listening may help to alleviate stress and therefore reduce this risk.

Researchers reviewed data from 23 studies, which together included 1,461 patients. Two studies focused on patients treated by trained music therapists, but most did not, using instead interventions where patients listened to pre-recorded music on CDs offered by healthcare professionals. Listening to music provided some relief for coronary heart disease patients suffering from anxiety, by reducing heart rate and blood pressure. There was also some indication that music listening improved mood, although no improvement was seen for patients suffering from depression due to the disease.

Music helps us exercise. Research on the effects of music during exercise has been done for years. In 1911, an American researcher, Leonard Ayres, found that cyclists pedalled faster while listening to music than they did in silence. This happens because listening to music can drown out our brain’s cries of fatigue. As our body realises we’re tired and wants to stop exercising, it sends signals to the brain to stop for a break. During high-intensity exercise, music isn’t as powerful at pulling our brain’s attention away from the pain of the workout. Not only can we push through the pain to exercise longer and harder when we listen to music, but it can actually help us to use our energy more efficiently, so keep that in mind when choosing your workout playlist.

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Agony Sisters Mia Byrne, Olivia Carpenter, Alexandra Cross, Daisy Delaney, Eilis Rooney, Yr 11

I feel like I don’t have time to do homework, get a good night ’s sleep and do everything else in between. Do you have any tips on how to manage my time more effectively?

Don’t worry, I’m sure almost everyone in your year and above is in your predicament. Different things work for different people so we would recommend trying several ways and find which one suits you best. However, we won’t leave you without an idea so one that we find is really helpful is to plan your time after school and on the weekend with a specific schedule. Homework isn’t supposed to take you so long that you go to sleep very late so if that’s what you’re struggling with, maybe you’re focusing too much on its neatness or something of the sort. If this is not why it’s taking you so long, and rather that you’re finding it difficult to perhaps understand it, make sure that you ask your teacher for help as soon as possible. There’s no point waiting till the day it’s due to express your problem. We suggest that you allocate a specific time to do your homework and time yourself. This will encourage you to do it rather than procrastinate. If your homework is set over several days, allocate a set amount of time you’ll spend on it each day. Despite maybe wanting to complete an entire essay in one night so that it’s over and done with, you won’t produce it to the best of your ability. Studies have shown that you’re more likely to perform better, whether it be an essay or another homework such as revision, if you complete something in short bursts. Linking it back to distractions, turn your electronics off or put them on silent.

It’s fine to turn them back on during a break, but keeping them turned on while trying to do your homework is a recipe for disaster. Even keeping your notifications on can serve as a distraction!

We recommend a website called writersblock.io which doesn’t allow you to access any webpages until you’ve written a certain number of words on your document. These aren’t necessarily the right techniques for you but try them out and hopefully they do help you.

Skipping Out’s resident Agony Sisters are here to listen and provide sound advice.

If you have a problem you’d like the Sisters to answer in the next issue, please submit your question to the Skipping Out page on 16 Firefly.

I have quite a few friends but three of my closest friends have completely changed. They have turned into complete mean girls; they just spend their time talking about people behind their backs. I really don’t want to fall out with them but to continue to fit in, I have to be like them and I can’t be myself.

What should I do?

To put it bluntly, people who make you feel as though you can’t be yourself, aren’t people you should be around. However, when it involves friends it’s a lot harder. In our opinion, you should talk to them about how you’re feeling.You became friends with them for a reason and there might be a reason for their changes. If you believe they’re good friends, they will listen to you and try to fix the problem. Talk to people outside your friendship group as well. They’ll have an unbiased perspective on the situation and it might make you see a bit more clearly. Also, you don’t have to do this if you don’t feel comfortable with it, but it might help to talk to an adult like one of your parents. More often than not, they have been through similar experiences and might have a solution to your problem.

Sometimes, you don’t want to fall out with a group of friends because you feel like you won’t have anyone else to hang out with so it might be a good idea to make some new ones. Especially since, if you’re in a year below Year 10, it may help to make some friends in other classes as it will make the mixing of the classes a lot easier and you’ll have made a few other friends outside your form. It’s often tempting to separate your friends into different rankings like best friends and just friends but you should treat all your friends the same, spread the love, don’t focus it all on one person or one group of people.You’re an amazing person and others deserve your friendship too. Finally, if it doesn’t work out between the four of you, that’s ok too. People sometimes fall out of friendship and that’s normal because everyone changes. Remember, we’re all different so these experiences are different for all of us and we react to them in different ways but hopefully our advice helped you out a bit.

17

feel

Pizza Recipe

with Jessica Cohen and Anna Milsom,Yr7

Ingredients for the dough: 500g of flour (ideally strong white bread flour) 7g of ye as t (dr Jessica’s Pizza Recipey or fresh, both work well) 300ml of lukewarm water Ingredients for the dough: 500g of flour (ideally strong 1 tsp ofwhite saltbread flour) 7g of yeast (dry or fresh, bothwork well) 1 tbs 300ml of lukewarm waterp of sugar 1 tsp of salt A pinch of dry oregano 1 tbsp of sugar A pinch of dry oregano

For tomato sauce

For tomato sauce: 700-800g tinned tomatoes 700-800g tinned tomatoes 140g onion 140g onion 1 garlic clove 1 garlic clove 1 tsp salt A handful of basil1 tsp salt Toppings Amuch hand Mozzarella (use as asful youof like) basil Any type of toppings you like (olives, onion,corn etc...)

Toppings Mozzarella (us e asbowl. much as you like) Put the flour, oregano and salt into a large An y Measure out 300ml of water the yeast and mix with a fork. typeand of mix topin pin gssugar youand like (olives, onion,corn Method:

ext...)and start kneadLightly dust your hands and on CLEAN table with flour and tip your dough on your worktop ing.

Once you have finished kneading take a clean bowl and put a bit of olive oil and your dough in the bowl.

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour. While rising make the tomato sauce.

Put the chopping flour, ore gaand nofry anthem d sainltaint Prep your onions by finely them pan medium oona alar ge boheat wl.with a drizzle of olive oil.

Let that cook forMe about as5-7 ureminutes. out 300ml of water and mix in the sugar and yeast Put your canned tomatoes in a pan on a medium heat. an d mi x wit h a for k.

Add your onions to the pan, a crushed garlic clove and your chopped basil.

Leave the sauce for about 15 minutes and once it’s warm take it off the heat. *TIP* leave the sauce to cool before putting it on the pizza. Firstly preheat your oven to 180 Degrees C on fan Lightly dust your hands and on CL mode.

EAN table with flour and Then take out your it should be much more sticky.

Add flour to your work space and start tip dough your and dough on your worktop and sta rt kneading. kneading.

When you are happy with your consistency cut into two or three balls.

These balls of dough will make your pizzas. If you do not want to use all the dough put some in a airtight container and put it in the freezer to use for later.

Now start to roll your dough into a big circle about half an inch thick.

Start spreading your tomato sauce on the dough. Once you have a reasonable amount of tomato sauce start with the cheese.

Put as much cheese as desired and add your toppings. To finish off sprinkle on some oregano.

If you have some extra dough roll two inch balls to make super tasty dough balls.

Cook the pizzas in the oven on 180 degrees C on fan mode for 10-12 minutes.

Cook the dough balls for 12-15 mins on the same temperate.

Cut the pizza in slices using a pizza knife and Enjoy!

18

good food Anna’s Avocado with a twist: Brainy Snacks Revision time is coming up and sometimes the normal revision snacks just won’t do. So I have two ways to add a kick to your revision snacks and feed your brain at the same time.

So here are my recipes for avocado with a twist!

Twist number 1: Smoked Salmon and Avocado 1 avocado A few slices of smoked salmon Whole grain bread (the type of bread is optional but whole grain gives the most brain power).

Salt and pepper to taste.

Fresh chives Squeeze of lemon Serves 1 Method: 1. Prepare your avocado by taking out the stone and cutting one half into small strips.

2 . Put your avocado in a bowl and add a little salt and as much freshly ground black pepper as you want.

Mush this with the back of a fork until well combined.

It should resemble a guacamole texture.

3. Toast your bread until golden brown and crispy.

4. Place your smoked salmon on your toast, place a big spoonful of the avocado on top and spread it. Add a few chopped chives if you like them. Squeeze some lemon over the top to give it that last kick!

Serve and enjoy.

Twist number 2: Mexican guacamole 1 avocado 2 tomatoes Half a green chilli A pinch of ground cumin 1 clove of garlic A bunch of fresh coriander A pinch of ground coriander Couple of slices from a red onion A squeeze of lime Salt and pepper to taste Enjoy with whole meal pitta bread or vegetable crudités.

Serves 1 Method: 1. Prepare the avocado in the same way you did for the first recipe but use both halves of the avocado.

2. Put the avocado, the cumin, ground coriander and peeled and crushed garlic in a bowl. Add a little salt and as much black pepper as you like and mush with the back of a fork until it resembles guacamole.

3. Finely chop the green chilli and add to the mixture.

4. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the mixture.

5. Finely chop the red onion and add. Squeeze the lime into the mixture then stir until everything is well incorporated.

6. Separate the leaves from the stalks of the fresh coriander. Roughly chop the leaves and add to the mixture. Save the stalks for another day (they are a great addition to curries).

7. Pile on top of toasted pitta or spoon into a bowl to have with chopped up veg of your choice (I like mine with celery and cucumber and carrots are good too).

Then enjoy!

19

Crossword

ACROSS 3 Year 9s do, to get a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award (4,2,9) 5 Founder of the School who shares her name with our Editor (5) 6 Opened Founders’ Hall (3,5) DOWN 1 Mrs Elliott’s dog (6) 2 Mrs Harper’s treats (5,4) 4 Channing uniform colour (5)

20

The Mind

HOROSCOPES

Olivia Carpenter, Daisy Delaney and Eilis Rooney

ARIES

LIBRA

March 21 - April 19 Your tender and sensitive nature will finally be recognised by those around you this month. Take your new found strength into your own hands and use it to achieve your goals. Try listening to Kashmir by Led Zeppelin.

September 23 - October 22 This month, it’s time to start looking after yourself and stop setting yourself on fire to keep others warm. Avoid staying indoors this month and do something for yourself in the fresh air. Try listening to some classical music whilst you take a walk.

TAURUS

SCORPIO

April 20 - May 20 This month, try to focus on you rather than pleasing everyone else around you. This doesn’t mean you can’t spend time with friends or family, but encourage them to do something that you’d like to do rather than going along with what everyone else wants to do. An empowering book about a woman’s success such as ‘Girl Boss’ by Sophia Amoruso, might help you feel better.

October 23 - November 21 This month try and control your jealous instincts and put more trust in the people who care about you. Get in touch with a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while and spend time with those you have been forgetting. Listen to a nostalgic song like ‘When We Were Young’ by Adele.

SAGITTARIUS

GEMINI May 21 - June 20 Avoid feeling too nervous this month and take time to relax and put things into perspective.You may have to compromise and make difficult decisions this month so remember what it is that you value most and prioritise what you know is important.

Watch a feel good movie like ‘Footloose’ to de-stress.

November 22 - December 21 If you’ve putting off some changes, now is the time to tackle them head on. This month could stir up some unwanted feelings and built up tension. Try to remain level-headed and approach things in a calm way. Try watching ‘The Notebook’ to release your pent-up emotions.

CAPRICORN

CANCER June 21 - July 22 Smile, everything will work out. It’s important to work hard but don’t let this overshadow your mental and physical health. If you’ve been feeling sad recently, do something that will perk you up such as doing some exercise or watching a funny movie such as ‘The Martian’.

December 22 - January 19 Try to be more forgiving this month and think about the feelings of others before your own. Take advantage of your responsible nature to get things done and take a leadership role in a difficult situation. Read a comforting classic like ‘A Room with a View’ by E.M Forster.

AQUARIUS

LEO July 23 - August 22 Take advantage of your creative side to get started on a project you’ve been meaning to do. Don’t give in to laziness! Be careful not to be stubborn and listen to those around you who are trying to help. Read ‘I’ll Give You the Sun’ by Jandy Nelson about people with similar traits.

January 20 - February 18 It’s very easy to get wrapped in what you’re doing and lose contact with other people but, this month, try to step back and make sure you’re friends are doing ok too. It’s great having friends that will always be there for you but it’s just as rewarding being a good friend yourself. Try listening to Taylor Swift’s collaboration with Ed Sheeran, ‘Everything Has Changed.’

VIRGO

PISCES

August 23 - September 22 This month is going to quite stressful, especially since you tend to be quite hard on yourself. Brace yourself for emotional turbulence. Try to be organised and on top of things but avoid getting stuck in a rut. Do something different and stimulating. Try listening to some new and unknown music such as the group ‘Say Lou Lou.’

February 19 - March 20 Your mental organisation is very good this month so it’s time to take advantage of this start ordering your affairs. Don’t repeat old mistakes and approach things with a new perspective. Try reading ‘Deception Point’ by Dan Brown.

21

Creative Writing selected by Emily Reader

The tree sits there, lonely ­as if isolated by the others. Its branches twirl into each other

artistically, whilst a few green­brown leaves clutch onto the tree for dear life ­then eventually fall, slowly, as if presenting an extravagant dance. The bark as tough as glass, standing still, as if ready to take on an opponent. Then me, sitting beneath it, reading peacefully in the blessed silence. My ghastly hair, tied back into a blonde plait, coming down the side of my shoulder. A big woolly jumper just stretches over the top of my knees, to warm me from this freezing world. My sickly green eyes target a rabbit, and watch as it approaches me. As winter draws to a close, one still sees very few of the majestic animals that roam the country. Its eyes trigger the memory of my sister, ­ those extravagant blue eyes which could entertain you for years, as they grabbed you in and let out emotions, like a blue wave crashing onto the sea shore.

In this instance, her eyes let out a splash of fear and small blue diamonds roll down her cheeks.

“Ellie,” she cried, “help me!” I swung the solid rope over the frozen lake to her.

“Don’t worry,” I promised, “you’ll be fine!” An encouraging smile appeared on my face. “But I can’t swim! What if the ice breaks?”

“No ‘but’s! You’ll be fine!”

Scarlett held the rope tightly in her frail hands and gave a small smile as she launched herself across the lake. One of her hands started to slip slowly down and before I knew it she fell into the frozen lake. The sound of cracking brought me to life and I ran across the the frozen lake to where she was slowly sinking. I could hear the sound of cracking beneath my feet but I didn’t care, there was only one thing on my mind and that was my sister’s life. I ran across to her-three metres...two metres...one metre...

Then there I was, at her side, hauling her out of the frozen lake and onto the side, a daunting thought in my head. Scarlett’s face was a worrying shade of blue when I finally managed to get her out of the water.

I was too late.

I carried Scarlett across to our parents, who then brought her to the doctor.

“I am afraid it is not possible for us to save Scarlett,” said the doctor. “She was brought to us too late.”

The words slapped me in the face and caused me to double over. I brought about the death of my very own sister. I killed my sister.

Tears filled with love and regret roll silently down my cheeks. The haunting memory is like an emotional poison working its way into my system. The words ring in my head.

I was too late.

Chiara Saacke, Yr8

I remember I remember the rabbits, pigs and frogs.

I remember the barn, the tractor and cogs.

I remember the daisies, the barley and bogs.

I remember the sun that lit up the logs.

I remember the drone of cars and constant hum of the crane.

I remember being told I’d never see my bedroom again.

I remember the hilighter men, I remember the boxes piled high.

I remember leaving the chickens.

I remember when I would cry.

22

Emily Gray, Yr9

Winner of the ‘Memory’ Creative Writing Competition

My Nana, close by Her hands are brazen with years of arthritis, Skin as thin as paper - delicate A wedding ring on a crooked finger, Reminding us all of him Her hands are swaying gracefully, As she listens to classical music Her chair is a cloud, Enveloping her as the old radio splutters The spell is broken And I find myself asking, ‘Did Papa like this kind of music?’

She looks up, Her glistening grey eyes are elsewhere ‘He always listened to it with me.’

The chair now empty, But, my Nana is still close by Eden Levy, Yr7

A Vivid Memory My life was changed forever, The day my baby brothers were born.

It was a spring day in May, The season when things awaken, And grow.

Twin baby brothers, The family grew from three to five.

Looking at them, Sleepy, frail and tiny, Like mini spaceman surrounded by tubes.

Still and peaceful, In their giant, plastic pods, Separated, not together.

They were fragile toys.

Everyday excitement, Maybe today, Maybe today, They would be safe to bring home.

I put my fingers out, To touch their soft, soft hands.

Immediately they grab my fingers.

Now they are strong, And we can take them HOME. Ruriko Ojima 7S

23

The Plait Pack Channing Girls prepare to up your hair game with these two simple styles.

Brought to you by Josie Comins, Asya Pendlebury and Annabel Gotto,Yr7

Basic Dutch braid Take three pieces of hair from the top of the head start plaiting backwards as if you were doing a normal plait but instead take small pieces of hair from the sides until you get to the base of the head.

Then carry on with the backwards plait but not taking the pieces of hair until you get to the point of the plait that you want to stop at.You can also finish at the bottom of the head with a ponytail.

Tutorial: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0X-wbWs9s6k

24

French plait This is basically the same as a Dutch braid but you plait normally taking pieces in and you carry on until the bottom of the hair.

Tutorial: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-PJ-GLsIYis

25

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION WINNERS

Ella Margolin, Yr13

‘POINTS OF VIEW’ With a theme of ‘Points of View’, in this photography competition we were looking for truly creative and individual ideas, using sight, opinions, perspective, shadows, anything that reflected a particular point of view, be it political or physical. The entries were fantastic, demonstrating some real talent behind the lens and thank you to everyone who took part.

WINNER

Lucy Benjamin Yr 12 Lucy has captured the beauty of the light as it cuts through the dust created by this man’s broom. We love the way the man is back-lit and framed by the doorway, as well as the rich, earthy tones throughout. A well-deserved winner!

26

RUNNER UP

Charlotte Parrott Yr 7 We thought this encompassed the brief well, we love the interesting focus and the way the leaf frames the water beyond.

SECOND RUNNER UP

Eve Bailey Yr 12 We appreciate the off-balance and out of focus properties of this photograph. The repetitions of the square frames at the rear create an interesting rhythm which links the two silhouettes.

27

60

seconds with...

Mr. Phillips Fact File:

Teaches: History. Mr Phillips is our new Head of History.

Joined Channing: January 2016 Q: What is your favourite thing about Channing?

A: My favourite thing about Channing is that everyone has been so welcoming, warm and kind.

Q: What is it like compared to your old school?

A: It’s very similar to ‘City of London School for Girls’. They both have friendly students, nice teachers and very, very high standards!

Q: What is the best thing about being a teacher?

A: I think the fact that you get to work with fun colleagues and teachers, and brilliant young people who inspire you and make you laugh!

Q: What is your favourite topic to cover in history?

A: It’s like asking me which is my favourite child! Sometimes it’s WWI, but I also enjoy teaching about the Tudors. It really depends on what my mood is that day.

Q: Did you love history from the start or did you learn to love it?

A: I learned to love it. I didn’t like it at first because we had a really boring teacher who didn’t make it fun, but in about year 9, I had a really good teacher who made it interesting and made me want to learn more. Then suddenly I really liked it!

Mr Phillips was in conversation with Imogen Moody,Yr7

Headmistress: Mrs B M Elliott MA (CANTAB)

Independent Day School for Girls aged 4-18

The Bank Highgate London N6 5HF T: 020 8340 2328

www.channing.co.uk