City of London Freemen's Scholars' Journal

Scholars’ Journal 2017/18

Contents

Welcome It has been a pleasure this year to offer Freemen’s Scholars a specific programme that recognises their ability, whilst continuing to push and challenge them. The aim has been to broaden the pupils’ educational experience and horizons, and to develop their skills as debaters and critical thinkers. The programme has comprised a range of philosophical discussions and educational visits. The educational visits were designed to introduce pupils to museums, galleries, lectures, theatres and other buildings in the local area and London; they are important for their own sake but the visits also ensured that pupils are aware of the vast array of cultural opportunities on offer.

extremely thought-provoking workshops with a guest philosopher from The Philosophy Society.

Scholars have also participated in a session about the importance and immediacy of news reporting from two Eagle Radio reporters and journalists. Whilst many older pupils undertake an Extended Project Qualification in the Sixth Form, for the first time this year our U3 and L4 Scholars have undertaken a Foundation Project Qualification. This has enabled them to conduct some research on a particular topic of personal interest, taking them beyond the confines of the curriculum.

Please enjoy looking through the Scholars’ Journal which highlights some aspects of the This year, the Scholars have visited The Royal Programme and showcases some pieces of work Courts of Justice and Old Bailey, Houses of completed by the Scholars this year.

Parliament, The British Library, Royal Festival Hall and the National Physical Laboratory.

They have participated in robust discussions on Dr Julia M. Lister complex and challenging issues at the half-termly Teacher of Chemistry, Head of the Scholarship Headmaster’s Symposia and engaged in some Programme, Head of Whittington House

Contents

Educational visits ............................................................................................... 5 Academic work ................................................................................................. 15

Extended Project Qualification ............................................................. 16

Foundation Project Qualification .......................................................... 20

Philosophy ............................................................................................... 23

Other academic works ........................................................................... 28

Book reviews ............................................................................................ 33

Acknowledgements and Student Editors ..................................................... 34

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Educational visits

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Educational visits

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hroughout the year, the Scholars have been on a variety of trips and visits to all sorts of exciting places in and around London. Here are some of their accounts of where they went...

The Royal Courts of Justice and Old Bailey On the 27th September 2017, a selection of scholars from L5 to U6 went on a trip to the Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Bailey.

After a lunch stop we were then able to go see part of a trial at the Old Bailey. One of the two trials we could see was of Basana Kimbembi, who was accused of the murder of a fellow inmate at After a long coach trip up to central London, Pentonville Prison. It was particularly interesting we had a tour of the Royal Courts of Justice. We as the prisoners had used drones. Whilst we were saw the one pillar that was wrong in the entire there a prison guard was being interviewed. The building. Our tour guide explained to us that detail they went into was fascinating: one lady this was because the architect, George Edmund we could see was repeatedly running through Street, did not want the building to be perfect one piece of CCTV footage. The other trial was as only God can be perfect. We also saw an of Tokyi Ajibola, a grime star who is alleged to exhibition on the clothes and uniform they must have gunned down two innocent people. wear, and how the fashion has changed through the ages. We saw plenty of judges' wigs and Overall this was a brilliant trip: a really interesting we were told when new barristers qualify and insight to the history of justice in London at the get their new wigs, they cost over ÂŁ1000! They Royal Courts of Justice, and a fascinating look at then mess them up and rub them over dust as modern trials. they look better and more authentic when they are older! We were also able to rub the lucky -Rebecca Dunstan, U5 pineapples found on the furniture and make a wish with them.

Seeing half an hour of the court proceeding for a murder committed by a convicted criminal was very interesting even though the pace of the proceeding was very slow as so much evidence had to be considered. When we entered the courtroom there was a witness currently testifying to the jury, and the jury was listening to his account. When we left, the proceeding had not made much progress, and it turned out that it was already in its fourth week which indicates just how slow and thorough the UK Court System is when dealing with serious cases. Overall, the experience was very interesting and a lot was learnt about the UK Court System.

-Zoe Dahse, L5

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Educational visits

The Houses of Parliament In November we visited the Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster. After the bus journey into London we first viewed the different areas of Parliament: the House of Commons, House of Lords and The Sovereign's Entrance which is where the procession of the Queen opening Parliament once every year, known as the State Openings of Parliament, begins. The three sections which make up Parliament are the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the monarchy. We learnt that for a bill, a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law which is debated in Parliament, to be approved it must be approved of by all three sections. For example, if a bill is proposed in the House of Commons it must be approved of by the House of Lords, then it must be viewed by both Houses for any amendments, and then it needs to be given Royal Assent from the Queen before it can finally be passed. The same process occurs if a bill is proposed by the House of Lords. However, while the monarchy does have the power to reject a bill, this has not occurred for centuries as the final bill has undergone a lot of consideration to be approved, and if the monarchy does choose to reject a bill they would probably have to abdicate.

figures and paintings displaying prominent moments in British military history such as the death of Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.

An interesting fact we learnt was that the word 'Parliament' actually comes from the French word 'parler' which means 'to talk'.

All of the interior rooms such as the Robing Room were very ornately decorated with similarly patterned tiles and beautiful stained glass windows. The Royal Gallery, which is a large room also used in the royal procession at the State Openings of Parliament, had many golden

Overall the trip was immensely enjoyable and a lot was learnt by all about how Parliament works and the different factors it is made up of.

After lunch we met our local Epsom and Ewell MP and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to talk to him about his job and role in Parliament.

This was very interesting as we got to talk first hand to a Member of Parliament and ask questions such as what a typical day in Parliament involves. Afterwards we participated in an activity where we were all split into two opposing groups to debate the proposition 'Smoking should be banned'. Many interesting points were made such as 'Yes, as it lowers the death rate and tax of cigarettes has become too high' or 'No, as people should be able to make their own decisions about their health and it is impossible to force people to stop smoking'. We were also able to formulate our own questions to the Parliament Education group in a competition for the best one, which Josh Muthu and Rebecca Dunstan both got praised for on their Twitter account.

-Zoe Dahse, L5

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Educational visits

Meeting the MP for Epsom and Ewell In November we visited the Houses of Parliament.

We had a guided tour and met our local MP Chris Grayling. Our visit was made even better by the fact it was UK parliament week.

it is a public space and is therefore often used for speeches and public trials. Both Charles I and Guy Fawkes were put on trial here and the hall has heard speeches from great speakers such as Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and the The parliament building was originally called Pope. The Hall also holds significant historical Westminster Palace and was built 1000 years importance as objects such as a Tudor tennis ball ago. Sadly it burnt down in 1834 before have been found in the rafters. being rebuilt by the country’s second longest reigning monarch Queen Victoria. Parliament Whilst at the Houses of Parliament we also was bombed 14 times in WW2 destroying the interviewed Chris Grayling. Here is what he had original House of Commons. We all thought to say: Parliament up close was a stunning view and it is hard to believe it has gone through so much “I became an MP due to my desire to make destruction. a difference. I had to apply to my party for approval as a candidate. As a new member Westminster Hall was one of the only rooms to you will normally be sent to the constituency survive the fire that destroyed most of the Palace of a retired MP or a constituency that is being in 1834. It is regarded as a feat of architectural lost. The best parts of being an MP is the ability genius as the wooden roof slots together to make a difference, such as preventing the perfectly without glue or nails being used to closure of the Epsom A and E and maternity hold it up. It was this roof that was used as the ward or more recently regaining an old lady roof in the great hall of Hogwarts in the Harry her pension. I also recently managed to get Alan Potter films. This Hall is especially important as Turing a Royal pardon. The worst part of being

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Educational visits an MP is that many people are sceptical about politicians and believe that they are only in it for themselves. As an MP you are responsible to the people who elect you, as they are the ones you represent in the Houses of Parliament. MPs also work very hard. Parliament sits 33 weeks a year and the other 19 are spent working in the constituency.

If I am not re-elected I will probably return to my former career working in the media. If I am too old to stand again though, I may choose to retire.”

Overall we really enjoyed the trip. We thought the best part was seeing the House of Commons and meeting Chris Grayling. We are thankful for our informative tour guide and extremely grateful for the opportunity. It was a very exciting day that we are sure will stick in the heads of those who attended for a very long time.

I only deal with transport in the House with transport question and answer sessions once a month. We are currently working on building a spaceport in Scotland to give the UK a larger role in space exploration. We are also negotiating -Georgie Allan, Abigail Bower, and Clara continued EU collaboration on projects involving Harris (U4) Science and Technology and passing a bill that will move EU law to UK law. It is imperative that this bill passes; else there will be very few laws that day after Brexit.

Success for Joshua Muthu and Rebecca Dunstan in Parliament!

As part of the trip to the Houses of Parliament in November, Joshua and Rebecca entered the UK Parliament Education Service’s Parliament Week competition. The questions focused on the Curriculum for Life campaign, which aims to revolutionise the current PSHE curriculum that is taught in schools to make it more relevant and applicable to life in the 21st century.

Rebecca suggested that young people should be made more aware of the tax system and all the other financial obligations that are thrust upon

young adults when they begin their careers, whilst Joshua emphasised the importance of a balanced and unbiased political education, so that young people feel able to express and debate their views in a modern, multi-faith, and politically diverse society like ours.

Joshua was declared the winner of that day’s competition, and Rebecca’s answer was highly commended by judges. Both have been praised on the UK Parliament Education Service’s Twitter page:

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Educational visits The British Library On Tuesday 25th March, we went on a trip to the British Library. After we arrived, we were taken to see a printing press. We learned how books used to be made, and folded, as well as looking at how we can learn about people based upon subtle details in their books. We folded our own small pamphlets and found out about how the printing press developed, and what it was used for in the early years (printing copies of the Bible).

After seeing the antique press, we journeyed up the stairs to see a more up to date press which could print at a higher level of detail by running the ink through grooves instead of laying it on characters. We then reached the main exhibition room. It was a dark room filled with artefacts from religions all around the world, early maps, and examples of different types of documents. There were also many copies of the Bible that had been printed by early presses like the ones on display.

Some could fit in your pocket, while others were too big to carry, and cost millions of pounds to buy. These would have taken thousands of hours to produce and it was interesting to see how the Church showed off its wealth. We went around looking at the different books and were split into pairs to analyse different papers. I really enjoyed the detail of how you could read into the books without actually focusing on the words, but rather the document itself.

of all modern governments. It is a long list of concessions that the king must make restricting his power, and other things such as ensuring the right to trial by one’s peers, however this is not what makes it important. In applying his seal, King John bound the monarchy to a legal document, and as such the monarchy became bound by law. This was important because until now the king had been above the law, so after this document the monarch was officially subject to the laws that he created. I really enjoyed learning about this.

After a short lunch break, we returned to the room.

This time we were split into pairs once again to look at different aspects of the exhibition. My partner and I studied the different technologies used; loose leaf, codices, and scrolls. We had to look at the advantages and disadvantages of each method. We decided that codices, which were just normal books, were the best form of information storage as they were very compact and durable. This was at the end of the trip, and the guide revealed what he researched. He studied the printing techniques that were used in maps and pictures. He told us about how they cut pieces for printing and demonstrated to us why it was so interesting and how the printers managed to achieve such fine detail on the images.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trip, as I learnt a After this, we went to look at a copy of the Magna lot and I enjoyed the opportunity to visit a place Carta. There are only four left in the world, and that I had never thought about visiting before. two of them are in the British Library. The guide told us about the truth as to why the Magna -Jad Araj, L5 Carta was important and formed the foundations

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Educational visits

The Royal Festival Hall On Friday 23rd March, the scholars visited the Royal Festival Hall at Southbank in London to watch ‘The Best Of James Bond’ concert performed by the London Concert Orchestra and guest singers Louise Dearman and Oliver Tompsett which featured all of the James Bond

film title songs as well as medleys from other well known crime and action series such as Sherlock.

Highlights included the famous Goldfinger, Skyfall, Live And Let Die, You Only Live Twice, Thunderball and You Know My Name. It was a truly spectacular evening enjoyed by all.

A review by Sophie Bull, L5 It was a great evening that we all enjoyed, with all the great James Bond themes and some extra themes from other detective shows as well. My favourite theme song was Goldfinger because the composition was incredible, and also the arrangement by the pianist made it all fit together. He gave some bits of the arrangement a thin texture with few instruments, and some bits a thick texture with many instruments playing at a time to create a broader sound. There were pieces which sounded more mysterious, and some which sounded more active and intense.

I also really enjoyed the Pink Panther Theme

as the saxophonist was amazing, and as I play the saxophone myself I was really impressed with the way he played it. He made great use of the saxophone's range, giving the higher notes a smooth texture and the deeper notes a rich texture. He also performed with good vibrato, flutter tonguing and slap tonguing.

The arrangement of that piece was particularly good because of the monophonic, homophonic and contrapuntal sections. The conductor also brought the whole evening together by leading the orchestra and introducing, explaining and closing each individual piece.

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Educational visits The importance of broadcast, with Eagle Radio The Scholars participated in a workshop presented by two Eagle Radio employees. Eagle Radio is one of 18 local radio stations stationed around the UK and is broadcasted in Surrey and North East Hampshire. It is a commercial station, like Capital, which means it relies on advertisement spots being bought in order to be run. Unlike the BBC, Eagle Radio is not supported by the government so therefore broadcasts adverts, both local and national. Because Eagle is a local radio it means that as well as national and international topics it also covers local ones, for example a stabbing in Horsley will be covered or a local event.

Jong Un; an international headline but not as important as it did not directly affect anyone in Surrey/North East Hampshire. Celebrity gossip and sport was reported towards the end of the newsreading, as they were more trivial news items.

After we had gone through the correct order of yesterday's newsreading we were given 20 minutes to plan our own newsreading with our own headlines in groups of six. Each person was assigned a different position; witness, newsreader, weather reporter etc. Then we recorded our headlines using the microphones and sound set the employees had brought with After the employees had introduced themselves, them. This was very fun, although sometimes one as a sales manager and the other a newsreader, the headlines we had made up were unrealistic we learnt a bit more about how a radio operates, and entertaining - for example, fish dying of for example the technical and sales factors, drowning! and the different categories of headlines and in which order to report them. Then we were given Overall, it was an enjoyable afternoon and a lot a booklet of yesterday's headlines and had to was learnt. Thank you Eagle Radio for coming categorize them into the order which we felt was and teaching us about how radio stations suitable. Examples included a phone scam in operate!

Walton which was a local headline and therefore quite important, and further reports of the -Zoe Dahse, L5 escalated relationship between Trump and Kim

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Educational visits The science of measurement at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington When you say that you are six feet tall, or that your suitcase weighs (or rather, has a mass of) twenty kilograms, do you ever think about what those measures actually mean? How do we define the metre, the kilogram, and all the other units we rely on every day? The answer lies at the NPL. The Système International d’unités, better known as SI units, is the modern version of the metric system used by scientists across the world. It consists of seven base units: the metre, the second, the kilogram, the kelvin (used to measure temperature), the amp (used to measure electric current), the mole (used to measure amounts of substances), and the candela (used to measure luminous intensity). From these seven base units, all other units can be derived (for example, the ohm, the volt, and the newton).

Clearly, this is a problem. The mass of big K changes by micrograms each year as the metal absorbs contaminants from the atmosphere. This affects the accuracy of measurements around the world, as every set of scales ever manufactured can trace its calibration back to big K. Scientists at the NPL are working to develop a new standard. The two leading approaches as of 2018 are the Kibble balance and the silicon sphere. The Kibble balance uses electromagnetic fields and quantum-mechanical effects to measure mass using electric current. If successful, the Kibble balance will allow us to define the kilogram in terms of the Planck constant, meaning that it will no longer be subject to change.

The silicon approach involves the creation of near-perfect spheres of silicon crystal. The spheres are ground until their mass is exactly that of big K. Then their volume is measured, and because silicon has such a neat atomic structure, scientists can calculate exactly how many silicon atoms make up the sphere. The kilogram can then be defined in terms of a number of silicon atoms.

In order for the system to function, there must be universally agreed-upon standards of each of the seven base units. For over a century, these standards were physical objects. The metre was a platinum-iridium rod, stored under lock and key. Copies were made and distributed around the world and scientists and engineers used them to calibrate the equipment.

On our visit to the NPL, we saw the UK’s copy of big K, along with one of the silicon spheres and Six of the seven base units are now defined in several Kibble balances. We also visited many terms of scientific constants. For example, the of the other labs and saw all sorts of exciting metre is now defined in terms of the speed of experiments, most of which have very real light. However, the humble kilogram remains a applications today - for example, proton beam physical object. Deep inside a vault outside Paris therapy, the manufacture of graphene, and lies “le grand K”, a platinum-iridium cylinder the development of new antenna technology 39mm wide by 39mm tall. This cylinder, by for faster and more secure internet and phone definition, has a mass of one kilogram. signals.

To put that in perspective, imagine the one kilogram bag of flour you might have in your cupboard. Now suppose I were to break into the vault, cut the cylinder in half, and throw one half away. The cylinder’s mass does not change.

Instead, the bag of flour in your cupboard now weighs two kilograms!

As an aspiring physicist myself, this trip gave me an insight into the lives of working scientists and was an exciting peek at the cutting edge of modern physics. A truly inspirational and thoroughly enjoyable day.

-Tom Hobbs, L6

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Academic work

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Academic work

Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) This is an exciting new qualification which Freemen’s introduced in 2016. It gives Sixth Form students the chance to explore an area of interest beyond the A Level syllabus, whilst developing valuable skills that will be of use at university and throughout their careers. The EPQ teaches students independent research and project

management skills. Although it usually takes the form of an extended essay, some students have created musical compositions or works of art.

Here are some excerpts from current Sixth Form Scholars’ EPQs:

To what extent does Dickens’ treatment of female sexuality demonstrate a protofeminist attitude? - Ella Depledge, U6 Dickens was living at a time that was repressive of female sexuality. Suffocating patriarchal restrictions loomed over the Victorian female, who was raised to be submissive – she should not have unmarried sex and was understood to not even entertain sexual desire by nature in the same way that men supposedly did. In Victorian society, women were conditioned to aspire to the ‘Angel in the House’ stereotype: a domestic figure confined to the home and to raising children, who would not interfere in the public sphere that the man occupied. Literature being written in this era mirrored this: Coventry Patmore’s narrative poem ‘Angel in the House’ and Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market’ both address female sexuality and reveal social attitudes towards women. If a woman had sex outside of marriage this was usually a step to ruin - she would be deemed a prostitute and often her life would take a downward spiral ending in death or suicide.

engagement with the problem of fallen women, and female sexuality can be viewed in his personal life, particularly through his co-founding of Urania Cottage, a rehabilitating home for fallen women, and his own personal relationships with women. With this in mind, I would like to analyse Dickens’ treatment of female sexuality, in both his novels and in his personal life, and make a judgement on the extent to which they demonstrate a protofeminist attitude.

Dickens’ treatment of female sexuality in his literature is strongly revealing of his attitude towards gender. It can be argued that his characterisations of Nancy in ‘Oliver Twist’ and Miss Havisham in ‘Great Expectations’ demonstrate some typical Victorian attitudes towards the fallen woman, but overall a protofeminist attitude.

What evidence of Dickens’ treatment of female sexuality can we analyse? An example It is therefore unsurprising that Dickens interacts of Dickens’ work that displays potentially with the issue of female sexuality in his work, protofeminist ideas is ‘Oliver Twist’, in particular some key examples being his presentation of his complex characterisation of Nancy. The book Nancy in ‘Oliver Twist’, and Miss Havisham itself, ‘Oliver Twist’ (1838), was one of Dickens’ in ‘Great Expectations’. Equally, Dickens’ earliest novels, and began to characterise

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Extended Project Qualification Dickens not only as a social commentator, but a writer passionate about social reform. Whilst critics tend to emphasise Oliver Twist’s exposure of the problems of poverty and child labour in Victorian society, Dickens also strongly engages with the construct of Victorian female sexuality in the novel, specifically with the perceptions of the prostitute.

Dickens’ portrayal of Nancy in the book was undoubtedly controversial against the backdrop of 1830s Victorian society. Attitudes towards prostitutes during Victorian times were harshly judgemental, reflected in ‘Bridge of Sighs’, a famous poem written by Thomas Hood in 1844 which was widely read at its time, a story of a young prostitute who commits suicide. It takes a typically condemnatory tone towards fallen women – ‘Owning her weakness, Her evil behaviour,

an attitude unsympathetic of the lack of choice that most prostitutes faced.

Indeed, approaches towards this ‘stamp of women’ (a phrase used by a contemporary in a letter about diseases spread by prostitution) were cruel and unforgiving, reflected in the 1864 Contagious Diseases Act, which allowed police officers to arrest any woman suspected of being a prostitute in certain towns so that they could be checked for venereal diseases, during which they were subject to bad treatment and unsatisfactory conditions in the ‘Lock Hospitals’ in which they were placed if found infected. These measures assumed non-consensual medical control over women’s bodies, a reflection of how little power women had at this time, even over their own lives. Although this legislation was passed well after Dickens created the character of Nancy, it is characteristic of the way women were dealt with during the Victorian era: a lack of empathy or respect, especially for those such as prostitutes who were at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

And leaving, with meekness,

In light of the typically cruel attitude towards prostitutes n the era in which ‘Oliver Twist’ was Her sins to her Saviour!’ written, it is interesting that Dickens does not seem to condemn Nancy but instead presents The sentiment present in this poem that women her in a largely non-stereotypical, positive light, deserved moral punishment for the ‘evil’ sin of in spite of her occupation. Nancy is established sexual deviancy was widely accepted at the time, as one of a band of ‘working’ women, or whores – ‘They wore a good deal of hair, not very neatly turned up behind, and were rather untidy about the shoes and stockings. They were not exactly pretty perhaps; but they had a great deal of colour in their faces, and looked quite stout and healthy. Being remarkably free and easy with their manners, Oliver thought them to be very nice girls indeed. Which there is no doubt they were.’ (Oliver Twist).

This was contrary to Victorian assumptions about fallen women – as Gretchen Huey Barnhill (2005) puts it: ‘The fallen woman was viewed as a moral menace, a contagion.’, Dickens paints her as the opposite of a ‘moral menace’: a moral model, deserving of the reader’s respect. This is achieved through his characterisation of Nancy and her role in the plot. She exerts maternal care

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Academic work and empathy towards helpless orphan Oliver throughout the novel, fighting for his safety – ‘‘I do not care for that, Bill, I do not care for that,’ screamed the girl, struggling violently with the man, ‘the child shan’t be torn down by the dog, unless you kill me first.’’ (Oliver Twist). Here, in protecting Oliver, Dickens shows Nancy endangering herself nobly, the danger being emphasised by the characterisation of ‘the man’ Bill Sykes as a brute – ‘He disclosed, when he had done so, a broad heavy countenance with a beard of three days’ growth, and two scowling eyes; one of which displayed various parti-coloured symptoms of having been recently damaged by

a blow’ (Oliver Twist). The presentation of Sykes as such an extremely disagreeable antagonist enables Dickens to position Nancy as a heroine when she fights him to protect Oliver. This favourable characterisation of Nancy inclines the Victorian readership to sympathise with her.

This in turn suggests an attempt on Dickens’ part to change attitudes towards the fallen women of Victorian society, who were traditionally branded deviant and destructive – as Rogers put it: ‘The deep-rooted abhorrence of such deviant behaviour, especially in a culture which idealised sexually passive female behaviour, was widely felt.’

To what extent and in what ways has L. M. Montgomery been influenced by Jane Austen’s work? - Sophie Stoakes, U6 L. M. Montgomery herself had an extensive library and is known to have read many wellknown and celebrated authors, such as: Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, William Shakespeare and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. For this reason it is easy to assume that these great writers would have inspired her own writing career and for me the most apparent presence of this in Montgomery’s novels is with Austen. Although Montgomery does not reference Austen very much in her journals, there is reasonable evidence that Montgomery admired and loved Austen's writing considerably. After reading Emma, Montgomery wrote in her journal “There are some things I am not sick of, . . . and one of them is Jane Austen’s novels”, demonstrating how strongly she felt about Austen’s writing. It is known that she owned at least three Austen novels: Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma, however Mary Rubio (Montgomery scholar and biographer) believes Montgomery ‘read all of Jane Austen many times’. A direct nod to Austen even makes it into one of Montgomery’s later books, Emily’s Quest, where Emily’s older suitor Dean Priest warns Emily (an aspiring writer like Montgomery herself) that if she “dream[s] of being a Brontë or an Austen,: she will “wast[e] [her] youth.”

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reason

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Montgomery’s

preoccupation with Austen is that in her formative years there was a huge explosion in popularity in Jane Austen, following the publication of “a memoir of Jane Austen” written by her nephew, which resulted in a major reissue of her novels.

Owing to this resurgence in popularity, it is likely Montgomery would have encountered Austen at an early and impressionable age. When Montgomery first began to realise the unwanted red-headed orphan she envisaged in her youth, it is possible that she lacked the inspiration or knowledge of how to create a story beyond her initial idea and drew upon Austen's novels for guidance and direction.

After really beginning to enjoy English literature at GSCE and in Lower Six, I decided to apply to study English Literature at university. For this reason I was keen to make sure my EPQ was English based. Additionally at many of the universities which I considered, Jane Austen was often featured as a second or third year module choice, so I thought that as it is likely something I would choose to pursue, a bit of prior research could be quite beneficial. Furthermore, when deliberating how I would incorporate Jane Austen into my question, in contrast to a theme like feminism, I discovered there is relatively little already published that directly compares L. M. Montgomery and Austen's writing. This

Extended Project Qualification would ensure that my project would be from a more unique and exciting perspective I first encountered Anne of Green Gables on the centenary of its publication in 2008 and it was not long before I had finished the entire Anne series and had made my way onto her other novels. I was around twelve when I began reading Jane Austen with Emma, and in the same way as I had done with Montgomery, I subsequently worked my way through her remaining five major novels.

Over periods of revisiting these two authors I began to observe subtle similarities in the plots of the two authors, and subsequently noticed other aspects of their work that is similar, despite being separated by nearly 100 years as well as the Atlantic Ocean. Both authors focus on female characters, everyday life and preoccupations, include full details of the everyday life in the small and highly integrated communities with complex social rules.

How accurately is depression depicted in recent teen dramas 13 Reasons Why and The Perks of Being a Wallflower? - Deyna Grimshaw, L6 Throughout time, society’s views towards mental health have changed greatly, with the topic becoming less taboo and being more widely discussed in recent years. With the influence of media on the younger generations of society specifically, it is becoming essential that the scenes displayed on our screens are accurate and respectful depictions of mental illness. By analysing the television series ’13 Reasons Why’ and the film ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’, as well as the books upon which they are based, we can assess the accuracy of the depiction of mental illness within media, and explore the impact that film and television can have upon our society.

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Academic work

Foundation Project Qualification (FPQ) This is a similar qualification to the EPQ, but when completing their GCSEs and A Levels. aimed at U3/L4 students. It gives them a chance to carry out research into an area of their choice Here are some excerpts from current Upper and gain skills that will be valuable in later years Junior Scholars’ FPQs:

The discovery and early history of the United States of America - Ethan Wood, L4 My decision to do a project on and research this topic evolved out of a trip I took last year to America. On the trip I visited the popular attraction of the Grand Canyon. This helped spark my interest in Native American history due to the unexpectedly small number of Natives I saw in what used to be a sacred place to them.

Whilst researching I learned much about the European viewpoint of American discovery. Out of this branched off more research conducted on later conflicts between the cultures and then I subsequently looked into the war for the west in detail.

How a sail works - Humphrey Povey, L4 Being a keen sailor led me to choose the topic “How a Sail Works and How it is Made” for my FPQ project. When I take my Topper out on a Saturday afternoon, I am following in the footsteps of our ancestors; people started sailing in 4000 BC. Well, actually, the Chinese, Egyptians and Pacific Islanders led the way. What they

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understood was that while going downwind was relatively easy to do, going against the wind needed more skill and an understanding of aerodynamics. So, historically, trading ships sailed eastwards following the prevailing winds.

Whereas modern sailors use hi-tech sails to improve their speed and optimise their direction.

Foundation Project Qualification The Large Hadron Collider - Adam Cook, L4 For my AQA FPQ I have chosen to focus on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the most complex experimental facility ever built and is the largest single machine in the world. It was built between 1998 and 2008.

Its aim is to answer some of the fundamental open questions in physics by colliding packets

of hydrogen protons at high energy. It has discovered the Higgs boson and tetraquarks, exotic mesons composed of four valence quarks.

There are some proposed upgrades to the LHC such as a new linear accelerator and the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider.

Are cats sociable animals? - Grace Hickey, U3 I chose this topic because I have always loved In my research, I found that a key factor in cats. I have always been interested in their how sociable a cat is, was heavily influenced by behaviour and their traits. certain factors when they were a kitten. Bearing this in mind, I decided to conduct an observation The key areas in my research are: on how sociable cats were.

• Whether cats have become more sociable over centuries The School of Veterinary Medicine at the • How sociable cats are compared to other University of Pennsylvania has developed a animals questionnaire to help assess cats’ behaviour. I • How sociable they are towards humans created a survey based on this and emailed it • How sociable cats are towards each other to cat owners, in order to get as much data as • Why different breeds may be inclined to be possible. more socially interactive

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Academic work Alternative energy sources - Oliver Muthu, L4 My project is a research into alternative energy sources. First, I aim to explain and understand the term ‘alternative energy source’, and then I will describe the most common alternative energies of today. I will explain which alternative energy source, in the ideal world, I think would be the

best. Finally, I aim to discuss exciting future opportunities for alternative energy. Overall, I hope to show that not only are alternative energies necessary, but that using them to completely replace fossil fuels is an achievable goal.

Pi - Elaine Li, L4 I decided to do my FPQ about pi because I was interested in the history of mathematical pi and about memorising the many digits of it. In doing this project, I learnt that we now know 22,459,157,718,361 digits of pi, which was

calculated in 2016 by Peter Trueb. I also found out that, in 2015, Rajveer Meener set the Guinness World Record for the Most Pi places memorised.

He memorised 70,000 digits of pi and took 9 hours 7 minutes to recite all the digits!

The Difference Engine - Joel Allison, L4 My research is based on Charles Babbage, the 19th century polymath, and his greatest creation - the Difference Engine. I first learnt about it from Sydney Padua’s phenomenal graphic novel, “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage”. I liked how she had illustrated the journey it took to create the monstrous machine, and, along the way, how she had explained it.

Along the way I realised that I would like to present my findings in the form of a website and so a fair amount of time was spent creating it.

I also realised that it might be unclear for younger learners what the Difference Engine does, and so I coded an interactive Scratch project to illustrate how it can add and subtract any given number (but I also added multiplication and division, My research project on Charles Babbage and his which the original engine was actually incapable Difference Engine took an unexpected route. of.).

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Philosophy

Philosophy Philosophy has been a focus of the Scholarship Programme this year. From talks at the Philosophy Society, to the Headmaster’s Symposia, to the Philosophy Day that was held in November.

Philosophy combines rigorous analysis with logical thinking and academic debate. It is the oldest academic discipline, and many of the ideas

of the great ancient philosophers have become foundations of modern scientific thought - for example, Pythagoras theorem.

Here are some examples of the philosophy our scholars have been doing this year:

Defending the indefensible - with Izzy Tod, L6 Were there upsides to slavery? Is it possible to objectively defend Nazi policy? Can the detrimental impact of communist and capitalist regimes be justified? I presented these uncomfortable questions to the Philosophy Society, playing devil’s advocate for the most violent and oppressive times in history.

can observe the motives of the present. This was a particularly powerful message within the context of our own volatile political landscape.

Unsurprisingly, the indefensible remained somewhat indefensible despite our efforts.

However, we succeeded in uncovering the significance of philosophy within society as a whole. Philosophies trigger disorder and equally disorder triggers philosophies.

Philosophers have had a huge impact throughout the history of ideas, questioning the status quo and challenging society’s presumptions. This This article was based on a talk given at the has established them as a catalyst for change and Philosophy Society by Izzy Tod and Lani a welcome scapegoat for controversial political Robinson. regimes. While often philosophers’ effects are unintended, their influence on culture is undeniable and significant.

The aim was not to convert students to extreme political ideologies or excuse the actions of aggressors. Instead, we investigated the mindsets behind history’s most controversial regimes. Examples include Friedrich Nietzsche, Socrates and Martin Luther. Through these case studies and others, we discovered the terrifying power of ideas when exploited or distorted by the corrupt.

Many of the philosophical ideologies presented were counterintuitive yet infuriatingly logical.

It is tempting to write off historic atrocities as irrational offences committed by irrational people. However, we argued that it is only by understanding the motives of the past that we

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Academic work Conflicted thinking - with Jennifer Dunstan, U5 Decide whether you agree or disagree with these 30 statements and record your answers before you look at the next page (mark an A next to the statement if you agree, or a D if you disagree): 1. There are no objective moral standards; 15. On bodily death, a person continues to exist moral standards are merely an expression of the values of particular cultures 2. So long as they do not harm others, individuals should be free to pursue their own ends

in a non-bodily form 16. The government should not permit the sale of health treatments which have not been tested for efficacy and safety

3. People should not travel by car if they can 17. There are no objective truths about matters walk, cycle or take the train instead 4. It is always wrong to take another person’s life 5. The right to life is so fundamental that financial considerations are irrelevant in any effort to save lives 6. Voluntary euthanasia should remain illegal

of fact; ‘truth’ is always relative to particular cultures and individuals 18. Atheism is a faith like any other, because it is not possible to prove the non-existence of God 19. Proper sanitation and medicines are generally good for society

7. Homosexuality is wrong because it is 20. In certain circumstances, it might be desirable unnatural 8. It is quite reasonable to believe in the existence of a thing without even the possibility of evidence for its existence 9. The possession of drugs for personal use should be decriminalized 10. There exists an all-powerful, loving and good god

to discriminate positively in favour of a person as recompense for harms done to her/ him in the past 21. Alternative and complementary medicines are as valuable as mainstream medicine 22. Severe brain damage can rob a person of all consciousness and selfhood 23. To allow an innocent child to suffer when

11. The second world war was just a war

one could easily prevent it is morally

12. Having made a choice, there is always a

reprehensible

possibility that one might have chosen 24. The environment should not be damaged otherwise

unnecessarily in the pursuit of human ends

13. It is not always right to judge individuals 25. Michelangelo is one of history’s finest artist solely on their merits 14. Judgements about works of art are purely matters of taste

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26. Individuals have sole rights over their bodies 27. Acts of genocide stand as a testament to man’s ability to do great evil

Philosophy 28. The Holocaust is a historical reality which took place more or less as the history books report

taxes sharply to save lives in the developing world 30. The future is fixed; how one’s life unfolds is a

29. Governments should be allowed to increase

matter of destiny

Now fill out this table - if your answer for the questions is the same as the answers given here, put a tick next to it. For example, if I agreed with Q1, and the box for question one below says agree, circle it.

1

Q1 – Agree

Q27 – Agree

2

Q5 – Agree

Q29 – Disagree

3

Q10 - Agree

Q23 – Agree

4

Q17 - Agree

Q28 – Agree

5

Q24 - Agree

Q3 – Disagree

6

Q2 - Agree

Q9 – Disagree

7

Q26 - Agree

Q6 - Agree

8

Q4 - Agree

Q11 - Agree

9

Q12 - Agree

Q30 – Agree

10

Q19 - Agree

Q7 – Agree

11

Q20 - Agree

Q13 - Disagree

12

Q22 - Agree

Q15 – Agree

13

Q8 - Disagree

Q18 – Agree

14

Q14 - Agree

Q25 – Agree

15

Q16 - Agree

Q21 - Agree

If you have two circles in the same row of the table, this means there is a tension in your beliefs.

Tensions mean there are contradictions in your thinking, or you are a very subtle thinker! Most people probably have around 3-5 tensions. If you have less this means your views and opinions are consistent, and you definitely know your beliefs! If you have more do not worry – you can justify believing two things, the link is just not

as obvious.

In our symposium, we discussed the tensions we had, and how the beliefs did or did not contradict each other. On the next page are some of the questions raised that could help explain your thinking. They allow you to question how the statements relate to each other.

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Academic work 1. Is it morally wrong in every culture to deliberately kill a large group of people, especially those of a particular notion or ethnic group?

2. Are financial considerations irrelevant if one person could be saved with the entire NHS budget, or thousands of other lives could be saved instead? Is all the money worth saving one person’s life, when many others could be saved instead?

3. If God is all loving and good, why does God allow innocents to suffer if it is morally reprehensible?

4. If ‘truth’ is particular to cultures and individuals, is the holocaust not true to some?

5. Is saving the environment more important than the comfort of humans? Is there any point to saving the environment if humans are making the best of their lives?

6. If drugs are criminalized and people still have them without harming others, are we not stopping them pursuing their own ends?

Is this fair that we let people get into drug problems like addiction because they should be free to pursue their own ends?

7. If people are not allowed to commit euthanasia

do they really rights over their body?

8. If you were to go back to a moment, would you make the same decisions? In the exact same circumstances would you make the same decision? Would you still shout at the person that cut you up because of all the external and internal pressures you were feeling at the moment? Or would you be able to make a different decision?

9. Do derogative diseases like dementia not rob someone of all consciousness and selfhood, or is there still something left inside that is a non-bodily form?

10. There is no explicit proof that God does or does not exist, so it must be as reasonable to believe in God as it is to not believe in God? 11. Because so many people believe Michelangelo was a great artist is there something more to judgements than taste that makes his work good?

12. If something is your only hope, should you not be allowed to try it? If it works for one person and saves them, it must be as valuable because it still saved a life? It does not matter how many lives it saves, surely only that it saved a life?

This article was based on ideas discussed at one of the Headmaster’s Symposia held during the year. They are a chance for students from different year groups to discuss and explore ideas in philosophy, led by our Headmaster, Mr Roland J. Martin.

The nature of time - with Ella Worsfold, L6 Lower 6 attended an interactive session on Philosophy. This experience was extremely dynamic as we were positioned in a large semicircle and everyone was encouraged to speak.

We pondered multiple topics from the nature of time to the human experience of reality and the discussion was fairly self-led. I was very interested to learn about concepts such as the future and the past, and what constitutes the nature of reality. This session allowed us to think beyond what we thought we knew and even question the logic of the concept itself. I believe that my outlook on life has been broadened by this experience, as well as my appreciation for the varying opinions of my peers.

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Philosophy Studying fundamental concepts - with Joe Edwards, U5 As part of the Philosophy Day on the 23rd of discussion was successfully steered and mediated November, Mr Campbell-Harris, a philosophy in such a way that everyone’s personal opinions specialist, led a session for the Upper 5 Scholars. were maintained and strengthened through reasoned argument, rather than questioned and The session began with a discussion about invalidated. the interactivity and exclusivity of abstract concepts, all within the context of Venn A further two notions, legality and morality, Diagrams. We were asked to consider whether and their relationship, were introduced to the two seemingly contrasting ideas, such as work group through the consideration of whether the and play, were either completely separate (a laws we are asked to abide by always effect the “binoculars” diagram); or had some level of making of justified, honourable decisions. We crossover (a “butterfly” diagram); or whether discussed a practical application of these ideas one concept was in fact a subset of the other (a – whether anyone should be allowed to stand “fried egg” diagram). It was surprising how back and watch someone being harmed without much disagreement there was between us – this intervening. Almost everyone agreed that the highlighted, to me at least, how these concepts bystander in this situation ought to step in and (for example: work/play; thoughts/feelings) are help, but there was significant disagreement as not rigid, set, clearly definable concepts but to whether this could ever be implemented as a rather flexible ideas open to interpretation. legal concept – a “Good Samaritan Law”.

The discussion was led on to a specific exploration of the intersection between thoughts and feelings – while some of the group believed that the two were largely synonymous and hence the crossover was large, others were (equally justifiably) convinced that every idea could be categorised as either a belief or an emotion. The

Overall, I felt the session was both thoughtprovoking and had useful application in life both in and out of school. While I am personally not naturally drawn to Philosophy as a subject, I found the discussions we had, particularly, in response to the ideas presented by Mr CampbellHarris, to be compelling.

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Academic work Student versus Subject: The American Application Process with Elizabeth Curran For over two years now, I have been looking to apply to university across the Atlantic. Initially, I had no idea how to even start the process, nor did I truly understand why I wanted to either.

I did not have a great ‘light bulb’ moment or a sudden realisation that the key to my future happiness would be to join a sorority, but I did find a certain attraction in America that I couldn’t find anywhere in the UK.

also highlight particular strengths or weaknesses in a person’s academic profile. They may seem like a lot of unnecessary work to some, but if you are genuinely considering America, it is important to try and do them as early as possible (leaving them until the last testing date before the deadline in definitely not advisable). In addition to the testing, the Common App also differs from UCAS in another very important way. One interesting thing that many people do not know is that American universities do not expect applicants to know what subject they plan to take. In the US, what they refer to as college ‘majors’ are not the central aspect of the application and at some colleges you only make your choice in the second term! This is not to say that if you have no clue as to what course to choose you should automatically apply to America, but it does help to show that in the US, the student is just as important as their intended field of study. Instead, their version of the Personal Statement is, in my opinion, far more personal than the British! Possible questions such as ‘Describe a concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time’ or ‘Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea’, push applicants to show their personality and particular interests, and in my opinion, allow students the ability to demonstrate real individuality, without a 4000 character restriction.

For most people my age, university applications consist of months and months of grueling UCAS forms and Personal Statements- showing how much you love your subject and how committed and interested you are in that particular field of study. Obviously, this is a very simplistic overview of British applications, but for me this alone was confirmation that it was not something I wanted to do. The American equivalent, called ‘The Common Application’ or ‘Common App’ for short, is ostensibly quite similar to UCAS. It requires previous examination grades, teacher references and information about the applicant themselves and connects you to all of the top universities in the States. At this point, you are probably questioning the relevance of the title ‘Student versus Subject’, which ironically is something that I too had to think very carefully about. In Britain, university application, through UCAS, is centered around the course you are applying to; your personal statement aims to show off just how obsessed and in love with that area you truly are. However, American For some, essays and the Common App is their application is an entirely different kettle of fish… idea of a nightmare, and that is fine- it is not going to appeal to everybody. However, for As well as GCSEs and A Levels, British others, like me, the idea of going to America is International applicants are also required to an exciting prospect and one that should not take all of the standardised testing, the SAT be ignored. The US is home to many of the or the ACT. Both are acceptable and neither top ranking international universities such as is prefered over the other, but I decided to do Stanford and the Ivy League colleges, and with the SAT which is essentially comprised of state of the art campuses, there is little not to three areas: Reading and Maths, an Essay and like. When looking to apply to any university, it later on, Subject Testing. These multiple choice is important to consider what type of experience examinations give universities an insight into you want. I am slightly biased, but I would where you are in relation to your peers and can encourage everyone to consider the US system.

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Other academic work The Tacitus Lecture and Competition - with Charlotte Blythe and Thomas Youngman The Tacitus Public Speaking Competition is run annually by the World Traders, held at Westminster School. The competition is based upon the Tacitus Lecture, given this year by Nathan Myhrvold PhD, on the motion ‘CyberTrade: Will AI Displace or Enhance our Work?’

Following this, various schools competing had to research further into this line of enquiry, and then present a short seven minute presentation about their findings and conclusions.

The lecture itself was held on the 23rd of February 2018, due to the exclusivity of the event it was an honour not only to attend, but to be surrounded by many influential economists and livery company members as well. The speaker, Dr Myhrvold was charismatic, delivering an energetic yet thought-provoking speech, which gave us an insight into the developing world of technology and the imminent impacts posed for our future generation.

The information we attained from this lecture, we used as a basis for our research and analysis behind the motion. There were six members within our team; Charlotte Blythe; Thomas Youngman; Ashley Mok; Leon Kanavos; James Parteka and Conrad Parks. To begin with we devised our argument into six categories- ethics; empathy; jobs; current uses; dangers and public views- assigning each member a crucial role to specialise in their field and enhance the quality of our presentation.

provided, we presented first. We proposed that AI would enhance our working lives for the foreseeable future, backed up by facts and figures previously researched. Afterwards the judges posed multiple surprise questions, in which we had only a few seconds to discuss and answer. Having given a strong performance, we proceeded to watch the other three schools give their presentations.

After much deliberation, the Judges concluded that the City of London School for Girls were the overall winners. However, we were awarded second place. Later on we were approached by multiple judges who highly commended us and informed us of how close the result was.

This research-based, independent competition has enhanced our skills and views of our future education at universities. It was a fantastic opportunity and thoroughly enjoyable for all parties involved, we wish good luck to next year’s economists and hope you succeed.

We travelled up to Westminster School on the 20th March 2018 to deliver our final prepared piece. Upon arriving we discovered only four schools were competing as the remaining four had dropped out due to the strenuous nature of the work and juggling the competition with school life. Having stolen most of the biscuits

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Academic work The Troubles - with Kaiya Rai The origins of the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland dates all the way back to the 17th century, where Protestant ‘planters’ were given land taken from the native Irish in Ulster. This resulted in the Williamite Wars and the Irish Confederate Wars, all culminating in the introduction of the Penal Law which ensured Anglican dominance in Ireland, that curtailed the religious, legal, and political rights of anyone who did not conform to the state church, the Anglican Church of Ireland.

The Act of Union was later passed in 1801, meaning Ireland lost its Parliament in Dublin and became directly controlled by Westminster, but was effectively repealed in the creation of the Home Rule movement, intending to provide selfgovernment for Ireland within the UK. Therefore it can be seen that the sectarian tensions between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland underlined many of the conflicts in the Troubles.

These tensions were so deep rooted in Irish history that, whilst the Troubles wasn’t purely a religious conflict, they contributed a huge part of it.

The Easter Rising of April 1916 was the rising of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Infiltrators protesting for an independent Irish Republic. From this, the two main groups in the conflict arose; the Nationalists, who wanted to remain as a part of Ireland, and the Unionists, who wanted to be a part of the United Kingdom.

The spark that set off the Troubles was the civil rights movement, inspired by the American civil rights movement against the Vietnam War. The movement started due to a number of key factors the protestors demanded, including: an end to job and housing discrimination, the demand for political equality in the “One man, One vote” campaign, to end Gerrymandering, a reformation of the police force (RUC) and a repeal of the ‘Special Powers Act.’ In 1967 NICRA (the official civil rights association) was formed.

There was a rise in high profile political activism and marches in 1968. The NICRA march on 5th October has been described by historians such as Dr Simon Prince as the ‘point of no return,’

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as RUC officers beat marchers indiscriminately and without provocation, over 100 people were injured and, as a result, rioting followed for 2 days in Derry. O’Neill, in response, promised concessions to civil rights movement. This was not enough for many nationalists but too much for unionists, and there was a four day civil rights march from Belfast to Derry. Marchers were subject to a pre-planned ambush at Burntollet Bridge and a series of other attacks. Furthermore, that night, RUC officers attacked Catholic homes and residents in the Bogside area of Derry.

This caused the creation of “Free Derry” as this area was barricaded and became a no-go area for security forces, and O’Neill resigned as Prime Minister in February 1969, as he tried to introduce the ‘one man, one vote’ policy but it was met with huge opposition within his own party.

The next key moment in the Troubles was the Battle of the Bogside, as a result of continued RUC brutality. The Loyalist “Apprentice Boys of Derry” were allowed to march along the edge of the Bogside, where taunts and missiles were exchanged. The RUC backed the loyalists and tried to storm the Bogside, and in response to this, nationalists held protests at RUC bases in Belfast, and some resulted in clashes and attacks on RUC, leading to gun battles between RUC and Nationalists, and between Nationalists and Loyalists. The Battle ultimately caused British troops to be deployed in Derry and Belfast, and caused the IRA to feel the need to rearm and get involved to protect nationalist interests.

Then, in January 1972, ‘Bloody Sunday,’ or ‘the Bogside Massacre,’ occurred. It was a massacre of peaceful protestors marching against the policy of internment (the imprisonment or confinement of people without trial, introduced in August 1971). The march had already been declared illegal, but 28 unarmed civilians were shot by British soldiers and caused further disillusionment with Unionists and Britain.

Initially, the Widgery Tribunal described the

Other academic work soldiers’ shooting as “bordering on the reckless”, but accepted their claims that they shot at gunmen and bomb-throwers, although this has since been widely criticised as a whitewash.

Bloody Sunday was one of the most significant events of “the Troubles” because a large number of civilian citizens were killed, by forces of the state, in full view of the public and the press, and it was the highest number of people killed in a single shooting incident during the conflict.

From late June to early July 1972 British Government held secret talks with the Provisonal IRA, and a ceasefire agreed but this ended after 13 days when talks broke down. On 9th July “Bloody Friday” was the IRA’s response to the breakdown of talks and some saw it as a reprisal for “Bloody Sunday”. 20 bombs exploded, mainly targeting transport infrastructure. Nine people were killed, including two British soldiers, and 130 were injured. That night the British army began carrying out raids on IRA suspects. The raids sparked gun battles and continued over the next three days, resulting in more than 100 people arrested, and bomb making equipment, explosives and ammunition was seized.

Moreover, the IRA controlled areas in Belfast and Derry were retaken, and the IRA, according to Kevin J Kelly, “had done irreparable damage to their cause… They handed Britain a perfect propaganda opportunity… Nearly everyone was sickened by the slaughter” Then, in October 1973, the Sunningdale Agreement was negotiated, which intended to produce a political settlement within Northern Ireland with an “Irish dimension”. The agreement detailed a “Power-sharing” executive and a “Council of Ireland”. However, the IRA opposed Sunningdale and this agreement split unionists because many opposed the Council of Ireland which was perceived as being an allIreland parliament in waiting. Ultimately the agreement was brought down by UWC who organised a general strike. This lasted 13 days and curtailed business in NI and cut off water and electricity and during this two week strike, loyalist paramilitaries killed 39 civilians.

During the mid-70s, the British took their ‘no-go’ zones of Derry and Belfast, and began describing the IRA campaign as ‘terrorism,’ meaning that their actions became smaller scale and more clandestine. Furthermore, the sectarian dimension of the conflict was brought under some control in 1976 with an agreement between republican and loyalist paramilitaries to cease using car bombs and targeting ‘enemy’ civilians In January 1980 the prisoners in the Maze, or Long Kesh, prison issued a statement outlining what were known as the “Five Demands”: the right not to wear a prison uniform, the right not to do prison work, the right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits, the right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week, full restoration of remission lost through the protest, and on 27 October 1980, seven republican prisoners began a hunger strike aimed at restoring these demands.

After 54 days Hughes called off the hunger strikes to save Mckenna’s life and it seemed as though the British Government was going to make concessions, but in January 1981 it became clear that the prisoners’ demands had not been conceded. Prison authorities began to supply the prisoners with officially issued civilian clothing, whereas the prisoners demanded the right to wear their own clothing, and so the second hunger strike began on 1 March, when Bobby Sands refused food. The first few weeks attracted very little attention from the outside world as there was virtually no publicity, but five days into the strike, Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Frank Maguire died, resulting in a by-election. Sands stood as an Anti H-Block candidate against Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West. Sands was elected to the British House of Commons. Gerry Adams remarked that Sands’ victory “exposed the lie that the hunger strikers—and by extension the IRA and the whole republican movement—had no popular support” On 5 May, Sands died (age 27) in the prison hospital on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike, prompting rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland, and more than 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral.

On 31 July, the hunger strike began to break, when

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Academic work the mother of Paddy Quinn insisted on medical intervention to save his life. Four more deaths followed, and it became clear that the families of the remaining hunger strikers would also intervene to save their lives. The strike was called off at 3:15 pm on 3 October. Three days later, Prior announced partial concessions to the prisoners including the right to wear their own clothes at all times without any formal recognition of political status from the government. The British press hailed the hunger strike as a triumph for Thatcher, with The Guardian newspaper stating “The Government had overcome the hunger strikes by a show of resolute determination not to be bullied”. At the time most thought the hunger strike a crushing defeat for the republicans, a view shared by many within the IRA and Sinn Féin. IRA recruitment was boosted, resulting in a new surge of paramilitary activity after comparatively quiet years of the late 1970s. The Republican movement had achieved a huge propaganda victory over the British government and had obtained a lot of international sympathy, as is evident in TASS Moscow’s description of Sands as a civil rights protestor and H block as a concentration camp. Furthermore, political support for the republican movement was demonstrated in two by-elections and the general election in the Republic of Ireland. This suggested to Sinn Fein that becoming involved in politics might help them achieve their objectives by other methods. The ‘long war’ then became the strategy for the IRA’s campaign in the early 1980s, whereby they would be reorganised into small cells, more difficult to penetrate with informers and continue their armed campaign indefinitely until British withdrawal. In parallel, they would win political support through their party, Sinn Fein, and this was known as the ‘Ballot Box and Armalite’ strategy and indicates a less emotionally driven, and more tactical approach of the movement, perhaps implying the strategic and more carefully planned trajectory on which the Troubles was headed towards.

Political violence went on throughout the 1980s but in spite of the IRA’s attempts to up its intensity, never reached the levels of the 1970s. Bombings of civilian targets, particularly the Enniskillen bomb

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of 1987 in which twelve Protestants attending a war memorial service were killed, also damaged their popular support. Throughout the conflict Catholics voted in greater numbers for the SDLP over Sinn Fein. The IRA also continued to attack targets in Britain and further afield, attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Brighton in 1984 for example and blowing up eleven British soldiers on parade in London as well as Harrods department store. The peace process then began as, by the late 1980s, there were signs that republicans were looking for an end to the conflict. On 15 December 1993, the Joint Declaration on Peace (more commonly known as the Downing Street Declaration) was issued and stated that the British government had no “selfish strategic or economic” interest in Northern Ireland. This statement would lead, eventually, to the repeal of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. On 6 April 1994 the Provisional IRA announced a three-day “temporary cessation of hostilities” to run from Wednesday 6 April – Friday 8 April 1994 and was followed six weeks later by a ceasefire from the main loyalist groups.

The peace process was long and very unsteady, with ceasefires declared and then broken quickly after, but ultimately everything culminated in the Good Friday Agreement which stated the constitutional status of Northern Ireland would be decided only by the democratic vote of its inhabitants (known as the ‘consent principle’) but that people from Northern Ireland would be entitled to both British and Irish citizenship.

Self-government was also returned to Northern Ireland but it was stipulated that government must be formed by equal numbers of nationalist and unionist ministers in proportion to their vote.

This article was based on a talk given at the Bachelor Society by Kaiya Robinson and Lani Robinson.

Book reviews

Book reviews One Of Us Is Lying - Karen M. McManus This gripping teenage thriller tells the story of five students of varying personalities and backgrounds: Bronwyn is the intelligent Yale hopeful, Nate has an alcoholic father and a mother who neglects him and has therefore turned to drug dealing, Cooper is the talented Jock in the popular crowd, as is Addy, the pretty Homecoming Queen, and Simon, the notorious founder of the school gossip app AboutThat.

One day after school these five strangers walk into detention together but only Bronwyn, Nate, Cooper and Addy come out alive. As the police investigate into the death of Simon, more and more is revealed about the other four students and their personal lives, with each one seemingly having a reason to murder him.

of The Breakfast Club and American high school thrillers such as Pretty Little Liars as plot twists are present everywhere and the plot never gets boring; the structure of having the story told alternatingly in first person from each suspect's point of view lets the reader gain an insight into the character's mind and what his/her thoughts are throughout the investigation. The ending comes as a complete shock to anyone who reads the book as it is completely unexpected: throughout the book each character is gradually stripped of the lies he/she has told until at the end their true personality is shown to the reader.

Overall, this is a very good book packed with gripping suspense which certainly keeps the reader hooked until the very end once started.

This book is highly recommended to any fans -Zoe Dahse, L5

Ghostwritten - David Mitchell Ghostwritten is as much an exercise in Sherlock Holmes-like problem solving as it is a novel. It opens with a terrorist attack on a Tokyo subway train, before jumping to Hong Kong to tell the seemingly unrelated story of a disgruntled accountant. Then we are whisked back in time and into mainland China amidst Mao’s communist revolution, to a small shack in the mountains where a woman lives alone with a tree which she believes can talk. But not for long - we soon find oursleves in Mongolia accompanying a lost soul on its search for a body. Then, in the next chapter, we are in St Petersburg, Russia, in the company of art theives and gangsters. And after that, we are taken to London, where we meet a freelance writer and join him as he helps an old man write his autobiography. At this point, the reader is left confused as to how these very different stories could possibly be related to one another.

But in the final three chapters, Mitchell deftly weaves together all the strings he has laid out in the first part of the book. Slowly, the significance of every action and character becomes clear, and the reader can only marvel at the web that Mitchell has created.

Ghostwritten is simultaneously a crime novel, a ghost story, and several romances, but above all it is a brilliantly written, exciting and clever thriller that challenges traditional ideas about how a book should work. Highly recommended - but you might want to make notes as you go along!

-Tom Hobbs, L6

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Acknowledgements

The editors

Tom Hobbs is a Lower 6 student studying Further Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy and Ethics. He hopes to read Physics and Philosophy at university.

Stephanie Taylor is an Upper 5 student. Alongside her core subjects, she studies Geography, History, and Latin. She plans to study Chemistry, History, and Further Mathematics at A Level.

Isabelle Tod is a Lower 6 student studying Zoe Dahse is a Lower 5 student. Alongside her English, French, and Philosophy and Ethics. core subjects, she studies History, Geography, She hopes to read Philosophy and Modern and Art. Languages at university.

Abigail Dopson is a Lower 5 student. Alongside Kaiya Rai is a Lower 6 student studying English, her core subjects, she studies Latin, History, and History, and Philosophy and Ethics. She hopes Geography. She is thinking of studying French, to read History and English at university.

History and Mathematics at A Level.

Jennifer Dunstan is an Upper 5 student.

Alongside her core subjects, she studies History, Latin, and Computing. She plans to study Physics, Chemistry, and Further Mathematics at A Level.

Clara Harris is an Upper 4 student. Alongside her core subjects, she plans to study Computing, Music, and Design Technology at GCSE. Georgie Allan is an Upper 4 student. Alongside her core subjects, she plans to study Latin, History, and Design Technology at GCSE.

Rebecca Dunstan is an Upper 5 student.

Alongside her core subjects, she studies Geography, History, and Computing. She plans Abigail Bower is an Upper 4 student. Alongside to study Further Mathematics, Chemistry, and her core subjects, she plans to study History, Psychology at A Level.

Geography, and Philosophy and Ethics at GCSE.

Acknowledgements Design and layout by Tom Hobbs Articles contributed by Scholars from across the school Photography by staff and pupils from across the school Some images from Wikimedia Commons, used with permission under Creative Commons license.

All the Scholars would like to offer our thanks to Dr Lister, for without her dedication and hard work throughout year, the programme would have been much the poorer.

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