Aquila | 2017-2018

AQUILA 2017/18

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Contents Note from the Editor-in-Chief

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Note from the Design Editor

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Head Girl’s Report

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A fashion icon and pioneer

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Three girls, three kidnappings and an unbreakable bond

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Imagine 6 Jungle symphony

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Time’s Up

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20 8 Can kids cure loneliness?

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Where unity lies

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Mary and Jodie: The dilemma of unity vs separation

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Regeneration Unity through destruction

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How vaccination has unified the world against disease

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Individualised or unified?

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Wild women unite

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Dunkirk: A timeline

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Candles on the Train Track to Auschwitz

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Black Lives Matter: A united front

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32 How bullying can unite us

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Remembering Grenfell a year on

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Diversidad religiosa: ¿enriquecedora o problemática?

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Religious diversity: Enriching or problematic?

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The unity of sonder

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Unity 39

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A brief history of unity and isolation 18 The fracturing of unity in “Jekyll and Hyde”

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Who is Hussain?

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How the English translation of the Bible united Protestantism

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Valete 40

Does religion unite or divide us?

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Note from the Editor-in-Chief

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n an ever changing and growing world, the need for unity has been a surprising constant. Unity is defined as the state of being united or joined as a whole, which I think encompasses Pipers Corner perfectly: we are a community that works together.

Whether this is unity is in a form as little as class discussion, or as demanding as working as a sports team to achieve success, unity is demonstrated in our school on a daily basis. Not only have we seen a growth in unity between the students within our own community but amongst and between other communities in the world - unity has become what holds us together.

The pages of our magazine encompass many different facets of our topic, including historical unity, religious unity and even the biology of unity. We also felt it important

to focus on social movements that typify the values of working together, such as the Time’s Up movement. Each article focuses on what has and will unite us, or perhaps even what might isolate us and, for me, the students who took part in the creation of this magazine exemplify the exact theme which we based it on and prove just that with growing differences, comes growing unity. The articles also show a unity between year groups, with authorship ranging from girls from Year 7 to Year 13.

The Magazine Committee meetings themselves also personify the theme in which the foundations of our magazine were laid. We would meet all together as a team which was inclusive to whoever expressed an interest, and we would hold group discussion on ideas for the magazine, how we would structure it and, more specifically, the design. I can truly say that a magazine like this cannot happen with just one person - there has to be a united force behind it. I would like to say a huge thank you to all the girls involved and to my amazing editorial team: Alexa and Ruby. I would also like to especially thank Miss Maddock who has

been the guiding light to the success of this magazine and Mrs Knight for her dedication and invaluable advice and knowledge.

What I hope you get from this year’s magazine is a sense of dedication and the effort that every single member has put into it. It is a magazine that tells a story of what unity has and does mean in the world and to the girls who wrote these articles. At times when the world seems most divided, there also comes great unity that can overcome these differences. Now a question I wish to leave with you, is it in fact the differences between us that unite us the most?

Isabelle Moir (Upper Sixth)

Note from the Design Editor

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highlight of my final year at Pipers has been my involvement with the school magazine and I can’t express how much I’ve enjoyed being a part of such a creative, driven and motivated team.

As Design Editor, I have dedicated the majority of my time and energy to the visual aspects of Aquila. This involved selecting design layouts, colour schemes and imagery

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which would all seamlessly integrate into the theme of this year’s publication: Unity.

We were resolute in creating a minimalist, monochrome look to our magazine with an intermittent flavour of colour running through it from start to finish. A particularly important element that we wanted to involve was the wrap-around rainbow title, which is intended to demonstrate a harmonised combination of equality, hope and solidarity - values which feel very current in today’s society, exemplified by recent campaigns such as #metoo and #timesup. In conjunction, incorporating feature pages into the body of the magazine

was integral in the overall development of the publication, as each article really highlighted the key steps that individuals and groups have taken in the pursuit of unity and equality.

We hope you enjoy this year’s Aquila.

Alexa Tunnicliffe (Upper Sixth)

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Head Girl’s Report

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hen I left my first school after the Easter Holidays in Year 2, I was admittedly rather upset, convinced that I would not make new friends and that everything who simply be too different for my liking.

I still remember driving down Boss Lane on my Induction Day and, coming from a school which was positioned right next to a main road, Pipers Corner certainly was different. In 2007, looking out over the greenery of the extensive fields, complemented by a clouded blue sky and scattered bluebells, I could hardly believe that this was a school. Every day, I try to replicate this same sense of wonder and, noting the beauty of the environment which is Pipers, recognise how lucky I am to have gone to this school.

But ultimately, it is not the rolling fields, school garlic bread, or even the new library for which I am most grateful -- instead it is the people. We frequently say that Pipers

is a community and this is a term which I have perhaps used too fleetingly in the past, not fully appreciating the significance of this word. The Pipers Community is a real, if not tangible, thing -- providing a place in which you can make lasting friendships, ask for help and offer support to those who need it more than you do. Incidentally, the thing which I have most loved about being Head Girl is having been able to connect and talk with girls. Within my role, I particularly enjoyed setting up a Post Box in the library for National Letter Writing week where Mrs Harris and I encouraged staff and girls alike to put pen to paper and write to other members of the Pipers community. I am hoping that this will be continued next year, even though I will have gone.

Of course, my thanks must also go to the rest of, what has been, a hard-working and inspiring Prefect Team and one which I am honoured to have been a part of. I also send out my thanks to every single student and staff member of Pipers Corner School. We are all a part of this community and every single person has made this school that little bit brighter. Thank you to the girls who held open a door, offered a smile and had the courage to stand up against unfriendliness.

Thank you to Holly P for starting a Junior Debating Society off of her own initiative; to Isabella M for being the only Prep girl to enter the first Pipers Corner Film Festival this January; to Sophie D for moving the library classroom with her recitation of Lights Out.

It has been nothing short of a privilege to have been Head Girl this academic year and I can honestly say that, whilst tricky at times, was the most valuable gift that I have ever been given. I want to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to my three incredible deputies, Isabella R, Ellie G and Emily B whose support, enthusiasm and willingness to help has eased what can sometimes be a challenging role.

Thank you to everyone for contributing to this community. I would say that Aquila’s theme of Unity for this year could not better encapsulate what it means to be a Pipers student.

Ruby Bones (Upper Sixth)

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Imagine Imagine we are fairy lights, glistening with life. Joined to each other through the touch of our hands.

Our colours, harmonious, shining through the depth of the night. A beacon of safety to guide those in the inky hours of darkness, to the flickering light. If one life ends, we all stand tall in remembrance of the light’s passing. And so, when one hopeful life is snuffed out, we still unite together.

Imagine we are a puzzle, fitting together exactly. We may be different but never alone, for if one fits, the rest will follow. We are each but a fragment of a puzzle. We may be damaged or imperfect but we still piece together.

Imagine we are a solid brick wall, built for a purpose. Teamed together through the cement of friendship and warmth. Chipped at the edges, we may be worn by the weather of time. Through the solidarity, we are invisibly connected; we have understanding, compassion and insight. So in our future we hold the burdens as one. And we, a single being, still exist together.

We may have felt pain, we may be different, but most importantly we all accept each other.

We are all united.

Amy Hassard (Year 9)

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Jungle symphony

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he sound of the waterfall sets the beat of the jungle orchestra with a sparkling array of light, dancing off the drops and flying into the air, before landing and speckling the weathered floor.

The sound is a never ending circle of light and colour, controlling and obeying the jungle. Gathered around are plants of many colours – emeralds, sun yellows and blushing pinks. These wave their approval in the cool, gentle breeze that penetrates the canopy. At the base of the waterfall, unseen, lurks a clouded leopard, come to drink, lapping up the cool water before slinking into the trees, not pausing to appreciate the solo instrument – the waterfall.

Above the waterfall is a bridge of vine that stretches across the pool of water. The ants scurry across, as do the snakes. Still the waterfall plays in earnest, for should it halt there would be nothing.

Dawn arrives, carrying with it rosy skies and ribbons of golden light. In celebration the birds sing - the macaws, hornbills, toucans and parrots. The orchestra is full of life as it beats out the jungle tune of water on water, flecking sunlight across the still-waving leaves. Only the leopards remain silent, waiting for food that will not come for days, or even weeks, but will come.

The jungle waits – waits for its cue in the music that is played by the birds and the beetles, the leaves and the wind. The creatures come and go, obeying and controlling the jungle with both harmonious and contrasting sounds.

Until one day when the plants are withered and the animals are dead. But still the conductor and soloist play on.

Zoe Pearce (Year 7)

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

G

ender equality in the entertainment sector is not an issue that had occurred to me until I began researching prospective jobs in the film industry.

Coincidentally, it was during my research period, that the Harvey Weinstein scandal was exposed across the world’s media, with over 50 women (including the likes of Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevinge) coming forward with allegations ranging from sexual harassment to rape.

The revelations of the “repulsive monster… master manipulator” (as commented by exassistant Zelda Perkins: BBC Newsnight) opened my eyes to the utterly brutal truth of gender inequality and abuse in the film industry. Walking into 2018 with a much greater understanding and concern

their truth due to the etiquette of the industry, to an empowered and unified group, sharing their stories and powerfully making a difference. The purpose of this movement is so prominent in the sense that it is both so real and so raw.

Following the news on Weinstein, “Alianza Nacional de Campesinas” which represents 700,000 women farmworkers wrote an open letter to the women in Hollywood. In response, on New Year’s Day, the women of Hollywood wrote back, launching the campaign #TimesUp, vowing for change nationwide and setting up a new legal defence fund which has raised $16 million to date. The #TimesUp campaign is clearly not just “a moment” it is movement and it is going to make change.

Hollywood actresses Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman recently starred in the series “Big Little Lies”. This series explores the artificiality and the façade that a set of idealistic mums present to their peers on the surface, whilst experiencing toxic and abusive relationships in their private lives. The time that this particular series was released was so current within

Before the #TimesUp campaign, I had never felt this enthused and passionate about a movement before. I think that as I consider the film industry as a potential career path it has made me feel more concerned about sexual harassment and abuse, not only in this industry, but on a worldwide scale too. I was naive and gullible to believe that these actions only happened down dark alleyways in the night - we are exposed as girls. Whether it is in the workplace, the supermarket or that dark alley, we are exposed. But no longer - #TimesUp at Pipers and worldwide. We will not stand for inequality or injustice.

I urge everyone to actively support the #TimesUp campaign. The potential success of this movement is exciting, it is real and raw and we can make a difference if we are unified together.

I would like to leave you with the thoughts of Oprah Winfrey: “I want all the girls [reading] here now to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns it will be because of a lot of magnificent women…fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders

Time’s Up

for gender inequality in the film industry, I have felt inspired by the #TimesUp campaign and its leaders as some of the most empowering advocates for equality. “#TIMESUP IS A UNIFIED CALL FOR CHANGE FROM WOMEN IN ENTERTAINMENT FOR WOMEN EVERYWHERE.” The Official Time’s Up Solidarity Letter

What is so special about this campaign is that the women who have come together to make a difference have done so with grace and dignity. These women have transitioned from initially having to repress 8

the Weinstein Scandal, that viewers couldn’t help but link the two together as viewpoints on a female experience. Both Reese and Nicole, as co-stars of the series, were open about their desire to craft the reality of abuse into a TV series - Reese Witherspoon also citing her experience of alleged sexual assault at the age of 16 as a driving force behind her performance.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, “Big Little Lies” won the Golden Globe Award for “Best Mini-series”, recognition that was so apparent, as it significantly paralleled with the Weinstein Scandal and #TimesUp campaign, further enhancing the cultural importance of this campaign.

who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘Me Too’ Again.”

We are a team. We are part of this movement. We are united. Time is up now.

Chloe Ball (Lower Sixth)

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Can kids cure loneliness?

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oneliness is set to be one of the biggest killers of modern times. The Local Government Association has said that loneliness should be treated as a “major health issue” and the charity Age UK claims that this problem “blights the lives” of over one million elderly people each year.

“LONELINESS CAN BE RELIEVED IF WE GO OUT OF OUR WAY TO TRY AND MEET PEOPLE AND BRING A LITTLE JOY TO THEIR LIVES” SAYS 89 YEAR OLD HAMISH HALL, RESIDENT AT THE ST MONICA TRUST CARE HOME.

Those who suffer from isolation are at a fifty percent increased risk of dying early, which is a greater risk than that of obesity and alcoholism. Loneliness is killing us, and it is time we took action.

“Loneliness can be relieved if we go out of our way to try and meet people and bring a little joy to their lives” says 89 year old Hamish Hall, resident at the St Monica Trust Care Home.

By bridging the gap between the elderly and young people, we would be able to prevent Britain’s biggest killer from plaguing the older generation. It is important to develop connections between

children and care home residents, as not only would this be beneficial for the elderly, but also the children who would be able to learn from the wisdom of the residents.

Becket Hall Day Nursery in Bristol runs a scheme where, twice a month, the children from the nursery visit their local care home. The residents and children take part in activities such as crafting, baking and dancing, which are all aimed at promoting inter-generational interaction. The time spent with the children is looked forward to by all the residents as most do not have family who are able to visit.

Studies taken from similar schemes in Japan show that having young children interact with older people makes everyone feel a little bit happier. The benefits of facilitating inter-generational contact to counteract loneliness include helping the older generation to have the feeling of being productive and contributing to society, resulting in an enhanced feeling of belonging.

The youthful curiosity and joy of children could be the cure of loneliness. Young children are, for the most part, unhindered by prejudice and so a large age gap is not a barrier to friendship. We could save people from depression and a retirement stunted by an early death if we support the scheme to bridge the age gap and connect two generations that have a lot to learn from one another. The cure to loneliness begins with friendship and there are children across the UK who are eager to bring energy and laughter into Britain’s care homes.

We are living in an age where isolation is killing our older adults. Now in its fifth year of operation, Silverline, a free 24-hour UK helpline for the elderly has been inundated with over 1.85 million calls from lonely and isolated older people. If we were to adopt the schemes already thriving in Japan and America, we could stop people suffering from isolation and give young people the chance to learn about the past. We could reduce depression, illness and an early death by promoting the scheme for intergenerational companionship. Let’s build a bridge between the young and the old.

Phoebe Ranger (Lower Sixth)

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

People breathe smoke filled air Leaking from bombs thrown to where Mothers gently brush their daughter’s hair, Where children used to boldly laugh without a care.

Yet no more.

Coarse screams echo through the streets.

Never had there been scenes so wrong, so bleak.

All because a nation lacked unity.

And yet, When you try to hold their shaking hands, You try to give to them welcoming love.

People will stand, hand in hand, Screaming their lack of trust.

Not believing that kindness is there Not seeing that people care.

A hand slipping into yours It’s new and unnerving yet strength fills you up.

As a group, you may bicker.

As a country, you may disagree.

When problems arise, you stand together Where you know you have unity.

Posters in rows, harrowing sayings along them all Fighting for the better, Fighting for all.

You stumble across problems.

It is hard to find your feet.

But you know, when you are falling, There are people beneath.

Your differences may divide you, yet not all the time.

It is differences through which you find Where unity lies.

Ellen Ponting (Upper Sixth) 11

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Mary and Jodie: The dilemma

“Unity”is not always

a vision of utopia. The legal case which deliberated whether or not to separate the conjoined twins, Rose and Grace Attard, known in court and in the press as Mary and Jodie, shows unity to be a complex and debatable concept in the 21st Century.

The conjoined twins, from the remote Maltese island of Gozo, were born by caesarean section at St Mary’s Hospital, in Manchester, on 8 August 2000, and were “physically united” by the lower abdomen and spine. Mary’s heart and lungs were incapable of functioning without the aid of Jodie’s circulatory and respiratory system, meaning that if it had not been for Jodie, Mary would have died at birth. Due to the twins also sharing a common aorta, Jodie’s heart took the strain of pumping the oxygenated blood to Mary’s body as well as her own. As Jodie’s heart was under this strain of giving life-sustaining support to Mary, it was thought that once they were 12

of unity vs separation

roughly three to six months old, Jodie’s heart would fail and she would suffer a cardiac arrest. Thus, Mary’s death would follow. Therefore, the crux of the debate, that caused such a divide in public opinion, was whether to surgically separate the twins or not.

If separated, Jodie would be 94% likely to survive and be able to live a fairly normal life, but Mary would die within minutes.

However, if not separated, they would both die. This caused conflict, in particular between pro-life supporters and those who advocated for Jodie’s survival. Most of Jodie’s advocates thought that saving one life was better than losing both lives, and most pro-life supporters, including many Catholics, held the view that separation was against their religious beliefs.

Most significantly, Mary and Jodie’s Catholic parents, Michael and Rina Attard, did not want the surgical separation. Their view at the time was that the “approving of the separation was equivalent to signing Mary’s death certificate.” In accordance with their Catholic beliefs, they further said “We truly and sincerely feel that God has determined that our daughters are not part of this world and that they should die together as they have lived together, even if their lives will last only a few months.

We feel that this decision prizes Jodie’s life over Mary’s life and we view our daughters as equal and their right to live as equal.”

Furthermore, they wanted to follow one of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, “Thou shalt not kill”.

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, head of the Catholic Church of England and Wales, gave his view to the Court of Appeal, which coincided with that of the parents, in which he said, “THOUGH THE DUTY TO PRESERVE LIFE IS A SERIOUS DUTY, NO SUCH DUTY EXISTS WHEN THE ONLY AVAILABLE MEANS OF PRESERVING LIFE INVOLVES A GRAVE INJUSTICE. IN THIS CASE, IF WHAT IS ENVISAGED IS THE KILLING OF, OR A DELIBERATE LETHAL ASSAULT ON, MARY IN ORDER TO SAVE JODIE, THEN THERE IS A GRAVE INJUSTICE INVOLVED.”

He viewed killing of Mary, despite not being dependent on Jodie for her survival, as an act of homicide.

St Mary’s Hospital took the case to court in London to decide the fate of the twins, due to the difficult ethical circumstances.

They felt that it was the duty of the law to contribute to the decision, as much as the parents’ duty. The paediatric surgeon, Dr C Everett Koop refused to proceed with the surgery without judicial approval and without legal confirmation that he would not be held accountable for potential charges of homicide.

The main issues analysed by the three Lord Justices of Appeal were: • Is it in Jodie’s best interests to be separated from Mary?

• Is it in Mary’s best interests to be separated from Jodie?

• If these interests were to be in conflict, does one outweigh the other?

• If the outweighing interest favours the operation taking place can it lawfully be carried out?

Lord Justice Ward commented at the time that “the court’s duty is to put the welfare of each child paramount. It is in the best interests of Jodie that separation takes place - it is in the best interests of Mary that it does not. That places the court on the painfully sharp horns of dilemma.” He added “the court cannot fully honour its separate duty to each child to do what is best for that child. In my judgement the only solution is to balance the welfare of each child against the other to find the least detrimental alternative.” Lord Justice Ward went on to say that Mary “is alive because, and only because, to put it bluntly, but nonetheless accurately, she sucks the lifeblood of Jodie and her parasitic living will soon be the cause of Jodie ceasing to live. Jodie is entitled to protest that Mary is killing her.” Lord Justice Brooke addressed the criminal law when saying “Would the doctors be held to have the intention of killing Mary, however little they desire that outcome? The answer is yes. This leaves open the question - would the killing be unlawful? Given that the principles of modern family law point to the conclusion that the interests of Jodie must be preferred to the interests of Mary… the proposed operation would therefore not be unlawful.” Lord Justice Robert Walker agreed with the statements given by his two fellow Lord Justices of Appeal. Therefore, all three concluded that the operation could be lawfully carried out and consequently dismissed the case.

I understand that the biggest concern for the twins’ parents was that the operation would purposefully kill Jodie and therefore act against God’s will. However, in my opinion, Mary’s fate was always that of death. Therefore, by reducing her life by only a couple of months at most, Jodie was able to survive, rather than both of them dying, and neither one benefiting. One could argue that one would be purposefully killing Jodie by not actively saving her, as she was highly likely to survive.

Furthermore, if one takes the opinion that God’s will was for the twins to die naturally together, does one hold the opinion that people with a potentially curable form of cancer should die naturally and not be treated? In my opinion, I think that the court made the right decision to separate Mary and Jodie, even though I very much appreciate the emotional hardship that their parents must have experienced in losing Mary to save Jodie.

Jodie is now living a normal life, and even wants to become a doctor. In this legal case, separation has overruled unity.

Anna McCrindle (Lower Sixth)

The court’s verdict lay in opposition to Mary and Jodie’s parents’ wishes. The parents were upset that the hospital had contested their decision to not separate the twins. They subsequently felt the court, by dismissing the case, had disregarded their right as parents to know what was best for their daughters, and had disrespected their religious objections, with the court blasphemously trying to “act as God”.

The court overruled the parent’s contests, and the 20 hour long operation took place on 7 November 2000. Jodie survived, whilst Mary passed away.

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Regeneration - Unity through destruction

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he front cover of Pat Barker’s 1991 novel “Regeneration” depicts a soldier standing on the ruins of No Man’s Land looking down and leaning on a stick, whilst in the background we see the outline of a soldier heading triumphantly off to war, standing upright and walking forward with his bayonet thrust over his shoulder.

The two images, of the triumphant soldier in the foreground and the broken man in the background, are a paradox. Yet the two images are also united: because they are the same man - either being regenerated

by Rivers’ treatment or degenerated by the experience of war. However, both images

show destruction as, despite being of the same soldier, they represent the divided images of his former and present self, both seemingly different people.

The reason why “Regeneration” comes to mind when one says “Unity” is because of the many facets it explores on the concept of unity and, by default, division.

Barker presents geographical division both symbolically and physically through the distance between Craiglockhart, the military hospital for the treatment of shellshocked Officers, and Edinburgh, a town of civilisation. Although it is only a short bus ride between Craiglockhart and Edinburgh for the patients of the hospital, it might as well be as far away as the Western Front because of the mental stamina required to leave the hospital. Barker presents division in the mental state of the patients shown by their Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, more commonly known at the time as “shellshock” that is manifested in the division between their physical and mental abilities.

In Chapter Five the reader witnesses the lack of unity between mental and physical in a patient called Prior who physically cannot speak and instead communicates by writing his answers down on paper yet claims: “THERE’S NOTHING PHYSICALLY WRONG.” Yet despite, these incidents of division, it is the unity of patient and doctor that runs throughout the narrative, which helps these soldiers to become whole again.

The novel is set predominantly in the military hospital at Craiglockhart near Edinburgh in 1917 and mainly follows Dr Rivers and Sassoon, as well as an array of other patients. Craiglockhart War Hospital, now part of the University of Edinburgh, was used as a military psychiatric hospital for the treatment of shell-shocked officers from 1916 to 1919. Its goal was to regenerate the men and send them back to war, having purged them of their PTSD. This was no easy task as shell-shock was a new phenomenon and treatment was very experimental. In “Regeneration”, Barker chooses to focus on the method of Dr Rivers, known as Captain Rivers by the patients, who used the teachings of Freud and psychoanalysis to simply talk to his patients in order to release the experiences causing their neurosis.

However Barker shows in Chapter 20, when Rivers visits the National Hospital in London, another treatment of soldiers that could so easily have been his approach: electroconvulsive therapy. The understanding and unity between Doctor

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

and patient that made Rivers’ approach so successful is clearly not evident here.

Barker observes, through Rivers’ narrative, that “Contact with patients was restricted to a brisk, cheerful, authoritative greeting.

No questions were asked about their psychological state.” There is also a lack of understanding of the unity between mind and body: “Many of them, Rivers thought, showed signs of depression, but in every case the removal of physical symptoms was described as a cure.” From a 21st century perspective, having had the hindsight of seeing years of PTSD in the First World War, Second World War, Vietnam War and Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, this approach seems bizarre, however in 1917 it was Rivers’ talking treatment that was unconventional.

The lack of unity that Barker presents in “Regeneration” can be seen most strongly in the difference between the soldiers in the hospital and civilians on the Home Front presented in the form of Siegfried Sassoon. The novel opens with Sassoon’s “A Soldier’s Declaration” in July 1917, a real-life document that the poet did send to “The Times” which caused him to be declared insane and sent off to Craiglockhart to keep him out of the press and discredit his anti-war view. Sassoon says in the declaration how “I believe the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it”, making a declaration he will end the “callous complacency” of the majority of civilians and show them the real experience of war “which they had not sufficient imagination to realise.” This lack

of unity between the Home Front and the soldiers is a recurring theme throughout “Regeneration” and is established from the beginning when Rivers asks Sassoon in the second chapter “The point is you hate civilians, don’t you?’ The “callous”, the “complacent”, the “unimaginative” and Sassoon agrees. However, this lack of unity between the civilians and soldiers opens up a new opportunity for unity, shown in chapter four between the soldier Burns and nature.

Barker presents in chapter four of “Regeneration” the new found unity between Burns, a patient at Craiglockhart, and nature. Burns’ neurosis is given to us in chapter two: “He’d been thrown into the air by the explosion of a shell and had landed, headfirst, on a German corpse, whose gas filled-belly had ruptured on

impact. Before Burns lost consciousness, he’d had time to realise that what filled his nose and mouth was decomposing flesh.

Now, whenever he tried to eat, that taste and smell recurred.” Burns can no longer connect with civilian life because of his war neurosis and finds it equally difficult to connect with the other patients, hence why his unity is with nature. In chapter four Burns travels out of Craiglockhart to a field around Edinburgh and climbs up a hill into the woods, believing he is actually back at the Front. However, he eventually finds peace and harmony when he lies naked on the ground surrounded by animal corpses that he found nailed to a tree: “This was the right place. This was where he had wanted to be.” The bodies of the magpies, fox, ferret, weasel and mole become his comrades and he is able to achieve closure when he buries them saying “Now they could dissolve into the earth as they were meant to.” The unity between Burns and nature, shown through his nakedness and union with the animals, is almost prelapsarian and is another wonderful facet of unity within Barker’s writing.

Eleanor Storey (Upper Sixth)

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How vaccination has unified the world against disease 220 years ago, the first

vaccination was developed and used to treat smallpox when Edward Jenner invented a method to protect his village against the illness.

This then led to the astonishing revelation that we could cure diseases through the use of vaccination, and so man has been able to successfully remove some of the biggest killers known to the human race. The original method of vaccination included taking material from a smallpox blister and then inserting it into another person’s arm.

This process then helps the body to build up immunity to that strain of disease. Thanks to Jenner we can now reduce the risk of infectious diseases and viruses world-wide.

Due to Jenner’s invention of the vaccination, we have now almost completely cured countless diseases. Every year before the vaccination, 530,217 people died due to measles, 47,745 people due to Rubella and 4,085,120 to Varicella (chickenpox). Now, the estimated number of deaths in the UK today (from these same diseases) is down to single figures.

Yet, it is not only common illnesses that are 16

treated by vaccinations, the process can also increase the average life expectancy.

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the average life expectancy of an adult was 27.

By the mid-1800s it had increased to 41 years. Whilst other factors like hygiene and diet could come into play, scientists believe that the vaccine was the single most important factor in prolonging life expectancy for both adults and children.

It is astonishing to see the change that the humble vaccination has made to the world of medicine and healthcare. The vaccination has given us the ability to unify the world against disease and illness.

Today we are incredibly fortunate to have a health service that offers free medical care, vaccinating us against common diseases that could wipe out populations. However, not every country is lucky enough to have the NHS. In many developing countries such as Togo, Mozambique, Madagascar, Afghanistan and Haiti, to name but a few, access to the simple necessity of a vaccination is simply not a reality.

Although the vaccination unified the world against diseases like Polio and Ebola in areas such as Sierra Leone, there are still millions of people who do not have the luxury of having vaccinations to protect them from

the diseases that threaten their lives. As a human race, we are making some steps towards improving this problem. From the Band Aid song in 1984 to the yearly event of Children in Need, the world unites to present those in need with aid and life changing medicine. Through compassion and awareness, the world can unite and improve the futures of those who are less fortunate than we are. But we are not there yet. There are still too many people suffering needlessly, too many deaths that could be prevented by a simple injection.

So what can we do to help? Save the Children help to vaccinate children so that they can live past five years old in poverty stricken areas of the UK and abroad, donations to this charity are vital for them to continue their work. If you wish to be more directly involved, they also offer Gap Year opportunities for those who wish to take part in relief work and aid work in the developing world.

However you look at it, vaccinations are vital to all. Not only because they cure, but because they unite us in a common goal: to eradicate all death by treatable illnesses.

Imogen Hunter (Lower Sixth)

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Individualised or unified?

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he irony of America celebrating the very individual concept of independence by coming together collectively as a group on a unified day of Independence has not escaped my thinking over the last few years.

That American citizens come together, unified, on the Fourth of July to celebrate, ironically, their independence and separation from Britain, can be somewhat confusing. It seems baffling to imagine the values of unity and independence being celebrated on the very same day. However, the more we consider the themes of unity and independence, the more we begin to realise that they aren’t perhaps as opposite as first supposed - perhaps they are indeed two sides of the same coin. So how does America unite on their Independence Day? Many states have decided to unite in their own unique way. In Estacada, Oregon, every Fourth of July they hold a Timber Festival. Within this, there are lawnmower races, log rolling contests, live country music and axe throwing competitions - people from all over the state flock to attend this well-known event. Jesse Jones, a recent attendee of the Timber festival, claims “It’s good to see the traditions keep going and everyone’s having fun as a family”. Jones notes the festival’s ability to unite family members of all ages, including young children. He fondly recalls helping his daughter to win the Children’s Choker Setting, in which children race to see who can wrap a rope around a log the fastest.

One of the most uniting competitions, however, is “Double Bucking” which, in recent years, has been the favourite event and attracted the most people. Working in teams of two, local loggers work together to see who can saw off the end of a log the fastest and are united in the process.

Another unique way that Americans unite can be found in South Kentucky where every Independence Day they hold

a Computer Shoot. People from across the state travel to watch old computers being blasted into smithereens. Every year whether it is donating their old, unwanted computer or standing watching the harmless explosions, this unique activity unites Americans from across the state.

However, a more traditional American Fourth of July activity, and perhaps the most famous, takes place on the South Lawn of the White House. Here, officials invite Military families, to commemorate the Fourth of July and the Military’s service to the American people. The celebration culminates in an iconic firework display.

In fact, statistically firework displays are the most common way Americans unite on the Fourth of July -- Americans light about 200 million pounds of fireworks, that are imported from China costing approximately $247,100,000.

to Iraq to offer American Citizenship to 150 military personnel fighting in the war there. This touching and patriotic ceremony united the American public as well as those fighting overseas.

Of course, the Fourth of July is a huge and monumental day in American history, on which the country’s “birthday” continues to be celebrated. Whether they are attending parades, marches, the South Lawn Fireworks display or their own unique state activity, this is an enjoyable day for all Americans and has certainly united a country that individualised itself from Great Britain -- in the most positive way possible.

Emma Cook (Lower Sixth)

In 2010, the White House famously used Independence Day to send a message of unity. In a televised naturalisation ceremony, Vice President Joe Biden flew

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A brief history of unity and isolation

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aile Selassie once said that “History teaches us that unity is strength” and when I look back over the dates and significant events that I myself have studied, I realise that it is this mass support and effort that comes with unity that has been key to the outcomes of some of the most important turning points in history.

WHAT WE CAN INFER FROM THIS IS THAT WITH UNITY COMES POWER AND WITH THAT POWER, GREAT FORCES OF GOOD CAN OCCUR. THERE IS ALSO A DANGER THAT WITH THE POWER OF UNITY, GREAT FORCES OF EVIL CAN ALSO TAKE HOLD.

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The strongest example to my mind is the Suffrage movement in the twentieth century when, from 1903 to 1928, women in the UK, from all different social classes and backgrounds, came together with one common purpose: to gain the vote and gender equality. Now, if the Suffragettes had been only two or three women angrily protesting outside of parliament one Sunday afternoon, then all that would have happened was perhaps a stern telling off from a local police officer and maybe, if they were lucky, an article in “The Times” the subsequent day. But, the Suffrage movement was supported by a majority of women from all different nationalities and faiths, congregating together to fight for a

right that should have always been theirs - a key example of this being Princess Sophia Singh and her defiant beliefs that challenged both patriarchal society and her own royal duties. The Suffragettes were an ever growing major concern for both politicians and police officers due to their violence and overwhelming support and I believe that it is their unity, above all else, that won them that right to vote.

What we can infer from this is that with unity comes power and with that power, great forces of good can occur. There is also a danger that with the power of unity, great forces of evil can also take hold.

The strongest example of the misinterpretation of unity is that of Adolf Hitler and the unity of the Nazis during the 1930s and 40s in Germany. Before their rise to power, the Nazi party was merely a group of 23 right-wing Nationalists who were bitter about the establishment of the democratic Weimar Republic. They were never properly regarded by politicians of the Reichstag or taken seriously. This was the case until ex-corporal Adolf Hitler

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discovered and joined the party in 1919, building upon its foundations until they were the biggest party in the Reichstag, a success which was gained through immoral, and even illegal, methods. When Hitler ultimately became the Fuhrer in August 1934, he immediately forced the German Army to swear an oath of loyalty to him and established policies that were both oppressive and undermining. These policies included those which discouraged women from going to work or university, allowing only 10% of applications to be female. Not only this, but compulsory youth groups were established that stripped the innocence away from children and prepared them for serving the state, indoctrinating them with Nazi ideals.

The single reason that Hitler was able to climb his way to absolute power was the unity of the supporters that he accumulated over the years leading up to his takeover.

This abuse of unity stained our world’s history and, given the fact that this atrocity happened not even a hundred years ago, it still has an effect on today’s society.

However, history also teaches us that when one figure stands in isolation against a regime or stands on their own for a belief that too can have a significant and potent effect. Seventeenth century physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first to observe and investigate the surface of the Earth’s moon and the phases of the planet Venus in 1609, and his intelligence and ground-breaking observations led him to become court mathematician in Florence.

His successes, however, only lasted until 1614 when Galileo was accused of heresy against the Catholic Church for publicly supporting the Copernican theory that the Sun was the centre of our universe and that the Earth, as well as the other planets, revolved around it - a theory we know to be true today. In response to Galileo’s claims, the Roman Inquisition tried Galileo and sentenced him to “indefinite imprisonment” and all heliocentric books and ideals were banned.

Scientists living in similarly religious societies have found themselves isolated from the mass beliefs of the public; however, historical figures such as Da Vinci and Darwin challenged the mass population’s stern beliefs of the Bible and miracles by counteracting them with science and fact.

Throughout history, unity has always tried to smother isolation, especially when it is isolation which is challenging unity. Yet most of the time, this is unsuccessful because isolation, an individual standing out from the crowd, is often the moment that makes the most impact.

It is because of this that Joan of Arc stands out in history. She was one of the earliest female figures to stand against the patriarchal society, and she led a French army into victory in a besieged city of Orleans.

However, in 1431 Joan of Arc was captured and was burned at the stake after accusations of being a witch at the age of just 19. Unity of the people who condemned the idea of a powerful woman once again suppressed and censored an individual who stood out.

Ultimately and ironically though, today we see Joan of Arc as a symbol of French unity and liberation.

Unity and isolation are the complete opposites of one other, yet I believe that in some ways they are not much different.

As with both comes great potency and the ability to revolutionise our world and the world of our ancestors. From both unity and isolation come scientific theories and social developments. With unity comes unshakeable strength, yet with isolation can come an outstanding impact: both features are required to make history.

Grace Pratt (Year 11)

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A fashion icon and pioneer

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oco Chanel is undoubtedly one of the most influential and iconic pioneers within fashion and, even today, her classic clothing designs are popular in women’s clothing.

However, many are unaware of Chanel’s unusually modern attitude to life: including her strong feminist views, her inclusive approach to design and her innate desire to push social boundaries - qualities which have united modern women in the fashion industry. These atypical qualities can be explained with reference to Chanel’s humble and mysterious childhood, which she frequently attempted to conceal.

Chanel was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel in a workhouse in the Loire Valley where her mother worked. Sadly, her mother passed away when Chanel was just six years old.

The young Chanel was sent to the orphanage of the Catholic Monastery of Aubazine, where she learnt the trade of a seamstress.

Here, Chanel’s passion for sewing was ignited. During school holidays, she would stay with her relatives in Moulins, where she improved her sewing skills and, when she turned 18, she left the orphanage and went to work for a local tailor. Eventually, Chanel opened her first shop in 1910 where she sold hats on Paris’ Rue Cambon and later opened clothing stores in Deauville and Biarritz, thus beginning her remarkable career as a fashion designer. Coco Chanel’s upbringing built the foundations of her philosophy and outlook on life and she sets an example to all that success does not depend on social class or wealth, but on individual talent, resilience and determination.

“THE MOST COURAGEOUS ACT IS TO THINK FOR YOURSELF ALOUD.”

Impeccably tailored jackets, a monochrome colour palette and luxurious fabrics were the key characters of Chanel’s iconic and elegant style and were broadly recognised and admired by fans, contemporaries and the media alike. However, Chanel emphasised comfort over constraints in fashion, declaring that “simplicity is the keynote of elegance”, a principle that broke

the restrictions of the misogynistic fashion of the 1800s and is still relevant today. This was best demonstrated when, in 1926, an image of a short black dress was published in an issue of Vogue and named “Chanel’s Ford” because, like the Ford Model T, it was simple and accessible to women of all social classes. Chanel designed the Little Black Dress to be versatile, affordable, and neutral, appealing to the widest market possible and uniting women. Vogue declared that this chic, long-sleeved design in unlined crèpe de chine would become “a sort of uniform for all women of taste”. Furthermore, the timeless “Little Black Dress” was a radical update for the modern women at a time when it was indecent to reveal one’s ankles; especially with its revolutionary, striking silhouette and dark tone - black having been exclusively associated with mourning in the Victorian era. For Coco, the colour black was the zenith of elegance and it became a colour to be worn daily.

“I GAVE WOMEN A SENSE OF FREEDOM.”

Chanel was also highly influential in the early feminist movement. She decided a woman should have the same freedoms as a man and believed that binding corsets and long skirts were both mentally and physically holding women back. Coco promoted feminism and broke numerous social boundaries -- for example, having realised that it was uncomfortable to wear a long skirt while horse riding, she wore male horse riding trousers instead.

In the First World War, women had worn trousers for practical reasons; however, Chanel turned them into a fashion statement and heightened their popularity.

Whilst at a beach resort in Deauville, Chanel chose to wear sailor trousers instead of a swimming costume to avoid exposing herself and the style spread quickly with many of her fans emulating the trend.

Furthermore, Chanel broadened the use of Jersey fabric, which was traditionally used for male underwear. When Chanel first opened her shop in Paris, many of the garments were made of Jersey which shocked her customers. However, Coco saw potential in the fabric for womenswear as it was not expensive, it draped well and suited the busy and active lifestyles of her

clientele. Her promotion of Jersey fabric encouraged women to break the gendered restrictions placed on them, giving them more confidence in society and empowering women through fashion.

“I MAKE FASHION WOMEN CAN LIVE IN, BREATH IN, FEEL COMFORTABLE IN AND LOOK YOUNGER IN.”

It is important to acknowledge Chanel’s role in unifying women from all aspects of life in the early twentieth century. Firstly, Chanel united women in society through making fashionable, statement jewellery available to women of different financial backgrounds. Chanel wore large, false pearls and glittering gemstones as the perfect accompaniment to her minimalist clothing.

She thought it was best to have a pile of imitation jewels than one or two expensive ones and her philosophy brought everyday costume jewellery into mainstream fashion.

Furthermore, Coco promoted the suntan as fashionable: she got sunburned while cruising in France and returned home to show off her golden complexion. Therefore, in a world rife with racism, where everything white was beautiful and dark skin was deemed less desirable, Chanel recognised that all skin tones are equally beautiful.

These examples give a small insight into the life of Coco Chanel with her influence on fashion, her modern outlook on life and her contribution to unifying women in fashion. Her legacy continues to live on, projecting Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel’s message that “A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”

Alice Slade (Lower Sixth)

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Wild women unite

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omen are uniting around the world.

In the Middle East, women are burning their burqas, defying their rulers and standing up against their government. In Kenya, Unity Village provides a safe place for women and children to escape from the horrors of abuse and forced marriage.

The Women’s March of 2017 showed the need for further advancement regarding the equality of women and in California, female celebrities dressed in black to form a united front against sexual harassment.

The fight for gender equality and unity is happening across the world and we have started to break down the invisible barriers that stand strong before us.

“WITHIN EVERY WOMAN THERE LIVES A POWERFUL FORCE, FILLED WITH GOOD INSTINCTS, PASSIONATE CREATIVITY, AND AGELESS KNOWING. SHE IS THE WILD WOMAN, WHO REPRESENTS THE INSTINCTUAL NATURE OF WOMEN.” Clarissa Pinkola Estés.

In order to become a stronger and more united front, we need to contact the Wild Woman that has been suppressed inside of us for thousands of years. The Wild Woman is the part of us that is free, wise and intuitive but these qualities have been lost and suppressed during our fight for equality. Today, we see that this is slowly changing. People across the world are showing more support every day for gender equality and women’s rights. This has been shown by the 1.3 billion people whohave signed up as supporters of the HeForShe campaign that was launched by Emma Watson in 2014. Over time, women have been able to unlock the spirit of the Wild Woman leading to us being able to strengthen ourselves and stand taller than ever before.

“WE REALISE THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR VOICES ONLY WHEN WE ARE SILENCED.” Malala Yousafzai.

The suffragettes didn’t allow for their voices to be silenced by the government or the chauvinistic views of people in the early 1900s and that perseverance and connection with the Wild Woman led to 22

them securing the vote for women. It has been a century since those inspirational women won the vote and so much has changed since then; however, we still have a long way to go until we reach true gender equality. Through the power of unity and solidarity, we will be able to do so much. In an article published by The Sunday Times Magazine, Emily Maitlis, the presenter of Newsnight said “I want our children’s children to be hearing about misogyny as if it were something imaginary.” In less than 50 years, the idea of equality should be commonplace and women should be able to have the same rights as men. This is not a difficult target to achieve; however, according to Emma Watson, in her speech at the launching of the HeForShe campaign, “if we do nothing it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a 100, before women can expect to be paid the same as

men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as children. And at current rates it won’t be until 2086 before all rural African girls will be able to receive a secondary education.”

“I THINK THE KEY IS FOR WOMEN NOT TO SET ANY LIMITS.” Martina Navratilova.

In order to break down these century old barriers before us, we need to prove to ourselves and each other that we can progress and gain equality for women around the world. Women and girls are strong and capable and therefore, we need to allow ourselves to get back in touch with the Wild Woman who lives inside us. The unity of all of our Wild Women will allow us to get one step closer to gender equality.

“IF NOT ME WHO? IF NOT NOW, WHEN?” Emma Watson.

Sophia Stepney (Lower Sixth)

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Dunkirk: A timeline Arguably the most powerful display of unity in military history was the evacuation of Dunkirk. This was British unity at a time when the military seemed to be in despair.

After recently watching Christopher Nolan’s cinematic depiction of this most famous of operations I was struck and my heart warmed by the display of unity shown by all involved.

The Dunkirk evacuation, was the extraction of soldiers during World War Two from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in Northern France. The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded

by German forces. In his famous “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech to the House of Commons, Winston Churchill called Dunkirk “a colossal military disaster” yet, within the very same famous speech, he also hailed the rescue of the troops as a “miracle of deliverance”.

Before the operation was completed, the prognosis had been gloomy, with Churchill warning the House of Commons on 28 May to expect “hard and heavy tidings.”

Subsequently, Churchill referred to the outcome as a “miracle”, and the British press presented the evacuation as a “disaster turned to triumph” so successfully, that

Churchill had to remind the country, in a speech to the House of Commons on 4 June, that “we must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory.

Wars are not won by evacuations.”

This disaster, of what many initially viewed as a military failure, was turned into an event of unity as it was the combination of the air force in dog fights, the help from small ships to evacuate the men and the decision and organisation of parliament to achieve this.

Those displays of unity successfully evacuated many of the troops from the beaches.

Isabelle Moir (Upper Sixth)

In order to fully understand how this so called “disaster” could turn into a “miracle” through the united efforts of soldiers and volunteers alike, one must look at the events of the evacuation in detail:

Just before 1900 hours on 26 May 1940 Churchill orders Operation Dynamo to begin, by which time 28,000 men had already departed. Initial plans call for the recovery of 45,000 men from the British Expeditionary Force within two days, at which time German troops are expected to block further evacuation. In reality, only 25,000 men escape during this period, including 7,669 on the first day.

27 May 1940 The Luftwaffe heavily bomb Dunkirk, both the town and the dock installations. As the water supply is knocked out, the resulting fires cannot be extinguished. An estimated one thousand civilians are killed, one-third of the remaining population of the town. The Luftwaffe is met by 16 squadrons of the Royal Air Force, who claims 38 kills while losing 14 aircraft. The RAF continues to take a heavy toll on the German bombers throughout the week.

Soldiers are being bombed and strafed whilst awaiting transport and are, for the most part, unaware of the RAF’s efforts to protect them, as most of the dogfights take place far from the beaches.

As a result, many British soldiers bitterly accuse the airmen of doing nothing to help.

24 May 1940 The Germans have captured the port of Boulogne and surrounded Calais. Thus, the retreat is being undertaken amid chaotic conditions. Due to wartime censorship and the desire to keep up British morale, the full extent of the unfolding disaster at Dunkirk is not initially published.

27 May 1940 (the first full day of the evacuation) One cruiser, eight destroyers, and 26 other craft are active. An emergency call is put out for additional help, and by 31 May nearly four hundred small craft are voluntarily and enthusiastically taking part in the effort.

The first of the little ships arrive at Dunkirk. The wide sand beaches mean that large vessels could not get anywhere near the shore. In most areas on the beaches, soldiers queue up with their units and patiently await their turn to leave. A wide variety of small vessels from all over the south of England are pressed into service to aid in the Dunkirk evacuation. They include speed boats, Thames vessels, car ferries, pleasure craft, and many other types of small craft. The most useful prove to be the motor lifeboats, which have a reasonably good capacity and speed.

28 May 1940 The Belgian Army surrenders, leaving a large gap to the east of Dunkirk. Several British divisions are rushed in to cover that side.

30 May 1940 Churchill receives word that all British divisions were now behind the defensive lines, along with more than half of the French First Army.

4 June 1940 By the end of the operation 338.226 Allied Troops had been rescued by over 800 boats.

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Lois GoBe / Shutterstock.com

Candles on the Train Track to Auschwitz

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nder a white sky and the face of the AuschwitzBirkenau watchtower, we stare out across the death camp.

The signature train track, which carried 960,000 people to their deaths, fractures the camp in two and, on either side, the barracks are endless, stretching laterally and vertically with a clinical precision and regularity distinctive only to a military regime. “You can smell death”, Ellie says.

Perhaps the most surprising thing, entering the camp, is just how normal the surrounding village of Oświęcim is.

From the coach window, we watched as supermarkets, houses and bus stations swept by, waiting for them to peter out as we approached the camp. But they do

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not. The red brick building’s signature to Auschwitz-1 are seen when, mere seconds ago, the coach window housed civilian normality. There is no gentle transition, as we both expected there to be, but civilian life around the preserved site of AuschwitzBirkenau continues, as it must. Directly before the concentration camp, we visited a small market square which, in the early 1940s, had housed a ghetto; however, once again, sitting empty and littered with residents, if it had not been for the tour guides, we would not have known what happened there. But now we do know.

And it’s a moment that not only should be known, but a moment that needs to be known.

Last February, The Holocaust Education Trust led their annual Lessons from

Auschwitz Project, which selects two Lower Sixth students from schools across the United Kingdom, taking them on a one day visit to Auschwitz and giving them the chance to understand more about what happened in Poland under the Third Reich. Whilst we know that we can never understand what happened there, reading those ironic and harrowing words “Arbeit Macht Frei” for ourselves on the gates of Auschwitz, we understood more than we had done before. And that’s important.

When recounting our experiences after the trip, it was essential to us that we articulated the evil that hangs and whispers in every corner of that perdition. We wanted to provide people with an understanding of what we witnessed and to help them to comprehend the dehumanised sights which

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paradoxically live amongst the darkness of Auschwitz. Perhaps most haunting was the abundance of hair.

“I CAN REMEMBER TURNING THE CORNER OF THIS COLD CONCRETE BUILDING TO BE CONFRONTED BY A JUMBLE OF BRAIDS, CURLS, LOCKS AND STRANDS OF HAIR FESTERING IN THIS ONE ENORMOUS GLASS CONTAINER. I REMEMBER TURNING THE CORNER EVEN FURTHER, WHERE MY EYES FELL IMMEDIATELY UPON A STRAGGLY PIECE OF RED RIBBON THAT WAS STILL ENTANGLED IN THE REMAINS OF A LITTLE GIRLS PLAIT. ALL I COULD THINK WAS THAT ‘THERE IS NOTHING THAT SPEAKS LOUDER AGAINST THE NAZI CRIMES THAN THIS, THESE BUNDLES OF HAIR.’ BUT, WHAT WAS WORSE, WAS THE INCONCEIVABLE FEELING THAT WITHIN THIS MOUNTAIN MY ANCESTOR’S HAIR LIES. IN ADDITION, WHAT SHOOK ME THE MOST ABOUT THIS TOWERING GLASS CONTAINER WAS THAT IT HOLDS NOT ONLY PART OF THE HUMAN BODY; BUT PART OF THE HUMAN PERSONALITY— PART OF ONE’S IDENTITY. I BELIEVE THAT HOW YOU WEAR YOUR HAIR CAN TELL A LOT ABOUT YOU AS A PERSON. HAIR IS SO SIMPLE YET IS SO FUNDAMENTAL IN EXPRESSING YOUR INDIVIDUALITY AND THE FACT THIS FORM OF EXPRESSION HAS BEEN HACKED AWAY SHOWS HOW THE NAZIS DID NOT JUST MURDER MILLIONS OF MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN BUT LITERALLY HARVESTED THEIR REMAINS TO DRIVE GERMANY’S INDUSTRIAL MACHINE.” - Ellie.

We saw the hair, shoes and pots of the prisoners in such close succession that it was only afterwards that their significance could really be understood. The scale here is just so massive that, as we said, we can never understand it. However, when we hear the stories of individuals, we are reminded that this suffering is not collective and generalised, but personal.

One corridor of the camp has been lined with identification photographs of inmates and, despite the Nazis only having taken pictures in the first few months of the camp’s opening, there are still enough that these two walls were be fully filled.

Seeing the brave and even, in one instance, smiling pictures of these people, it became increasingly clear that this is exactly what they are: people. Perhaps the most shocking and moving photograph, however, was that of a young, fourteen-year-old girl who, just moments before it had been taken, had been separated from her mother.

Understandably weeping, the child had been beaten across the face. In the picture, her eyes are puffy and her lip is bleeding from the club. Her experiences may be similar to those of other prisoners, but they are also individual and personal. One of the primary aims of the Lessons from Auschwitz Project was to re-humanise the victims of the Holocaust and this photo is just one example of a moment where we felt truly connected to the victims on a human level.

With incredible suffering though comes incredible bravery and morals - Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran theologian and preacher who was living in New York at the time of Hitler’s ascent to power. However, despite the relative safety of North America at this time, the young man knew that his real duty lay in Germany and that he could not simply watch from afar as though sitting amongst “lilies and flowers”.

Rather, following the example of Jesus, he directly and dangerously involved himself in the Nazi resistance, taking part in the plot to assassinate Hitler and establishing a network between churches to speak out against the regime. Bonhoeffer was executed at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp in 1945, but his teachings and example remain valuable even today. He encourages us to stand up against injustice: “we cannot simply bandage up the victims, but must drive a spoke into the wheel of change itself ”.

Sophie Scholl, a student at the University of Munich and a member of the White Rose, distributed thousands of leaflets to young people showing the truths of the Nazi Regime. She said, “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”

Georg Duckwitz, a member of the Nazi party, simply said “I know what I have to do” when he found out that Germany was to invade Denmark. He travelled to Sweden, which had remained neutral, and made a deal with Per Albin Hansson which allowed Danish Jews to emigrate to Sweden. In doing this, an act which was invariably dangerous and could easily have led to his execution, it is thought that he saved the lives of 99% of Danish Jews.

Duckwitz teaches us that we can withstand injustice, but not without risk.

AS ANNE FRANK WROTE IN HER DIARY, WE NEED TO USE WORDS TO STAND UP FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE IN, TO USE THE POWER OF WORDS FOR GOOD, TO VOICE OUR OPINIONS, TO CONQUER INJUSTICE AND TO STOP WORDS FROM EVER DEFINING WHO WE ARE.

Anne Frank noted, “I am so grateful to god for giving me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and express all that’s within me as when i write my spirits are revived’.

She shows us all how we need to use our gift of free speech, our voice and our words to do good and to make a difference by standing up for injustice.

One of the most important things that we have learnt from our visit to Auschwitz is the importance of standing up against injustice, and thence helping to prevent this from happening again. But we also know how important remembrance is which is why we have worked with the school to establish a Holocaust Memorial at Pipers.

As night spread across the barren field of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a group of Lower Sixth students from Buckinghamshire each lit a single candle on the slates of the iconic train track by which so many innocent people met their deaths. However, illuminated by the gentle flames, abundant and powerful in number, there is a glimmer of hope in this remembrance. On the school memorial, we quote Anne Frank: “look at how a single candle can both defy and define darkness”.

Ruby Bones and Ellie Green (Upper Sixth)

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Black Lives Matter: A united front

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hen talking about nationwide racism, it is America that is often used as an example. One reason behind this may be that, in recent years, statistical recordings of racial hate crime have skyrocketed and broken records across the Land of the Free.

IN FACT, A 2016 STUDY BY “THE WASHINGTON POST” FOUND THAT, IN THE US, BLACK CITIZENS ARE 2.5 TIMES AS LIKELY TO BE KILLED BY THE POLICE AS WHITE PEOPLE.

America’s long history of slavery and segregation makes it no stranger to racism; however, in 2011, a study by Pew Research found that 8% of Americans believed that racial injustice was not a problem at all, whilst 16% believed it was a small scale problem. The rise in race-based police brutality, the number of black people in prison, and modern-day de facto segregation would beg to differ. Many black Americans are speaking up and using the media to talk about this, although they sometimes receive criticism for doing so. The Netflix Original Series “Dear White People” was a

perfect example of this, as it received many complaints of reverse racism, despite using its storyline to highlight the struggles of life for black Americans. Likewise, as black people become increasingly openly proud of their cultural heritage, wearing hairstyles such as cornrows and dreadlocks, which have been almost lost for centuries due to white influence, we have seen white people appropriating their culture and using it as their own, without giving the history behind the style the credit it deserves.

However, hope is not completely lost, as heart-breaking as the situation may be. This is where the powers of worldwide unity play an essential part. For every black child killed because a white police officer mistakenly assumed they were initiating violence, there arises a trending hashtag on Twitter which thousands of people across the globe use to give support and advice to that child’s family and friends. For every law or decree passed in America that makes living as a non-white citizen that much harder, there is a protest happening in a major city like New York City or Washington DC, where hundreds, even thousands of black people and their allies are ensuring that their voices are heard.

Googling the term “Black Lives Matter” will reveal a worldwide movement which started up five years ago as a way to stand up against the prejudice in America, and which now involves millions of people, of all races, in almost every country in the world.

THE MESSAGE THAT BLACK AMERICANS ARE GETTING ACROSS IS CLEAR: WE WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS. WE WANT SAFETY AND RIGHTS FOR OURSELVES AND OUR CHILDREN. WE WILL NOT STAND BY AND SAY NOTHING.

Of course there has been much opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. Last year, a retaliating movement known as “All Lives Matter” was founded. Supporters of this movement claimed that black lives were in no way any more important than any other lives and that all lives should be celebrated.

However, as one Black Lives Matter supporter said in a Tweet referenced by the NY Times: “imagine going to the doctor with a broken bone and having your doctor refuse to help you, saying that all your bones deserve the same amount of attention. That’s the All Lives Matter movement.”

The Black Lives Matter campaign is an incredibly important movement. When asked, black Americans frequently say that white silence is a form of consent, and therefore it is key that all of us, whatever race we may be, add our voice to the conversation.

We must be led by our black counterparts, echoing their messages and following their lead in the fight for equality. If ever there was a time to put on a united front in the face of racial injustices it is now.

Emilie Eisenberg (Year 11)

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

The fracturing of unity in “Jekyll and Hyde”

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nity is defined as the state of being joined as one. But is it right for an individual to only have one personality, and not be made up of many complex emotions? The infamous 1885 novel “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, which was written by Sir Robert Louis Stevenson and set in the Victorian era, begs the question: what would happen if we had two personalities - an “evil” side and a “good” side?

For modern readers, Jekyll’s worry that he can only be one unified and “good” version of himself in the public sphere, is complicated. Nowadays, we all recognise the complexities of our own personalities that vary with age, mood and circumstance.

However, whilst we may recognise varieties in our own unified personalities, we are still coming to terms with the complete splitting of personalities into two distinct individuals. In modern medical science, such a phenomenon may be termed as: dissociative identity disorder.

CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO CONSTANTLY AND UNCONTROLLABLY SWITCH PERSONALITIES DAY IN, DAY OUT, BUT REMAIN PHYSICALLY THE SAME PERSON?

Although this is an incredibly rare condition with only 1% of the recorded human population having this disorder, it is detrimental to a person’s mental health.

Some readers of “Jekyll and Hyde” think that Stevenson wasn’t actually discussing the idea of having a good side and an evil side, but maybe raising the idea of personality disorders, something which very few knew about back in the Victorian

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era - perhaps Stevenson was suggesting an idea he potentially didn’t even understand himself yet.

However, some readers of the novel understand it to be a warning of discrimination as opposed to a compelling description of personality disorders. In the Victorian era, for men especially, variances in mood and personality were largely unacceptable. In the novel, Stevenson portrays Jekyll as being judged by all of his gentlemen friends when he deviates from his socially respectable self. For example Dr Lanyon, who is an old friend of Jekyll’s, wants nothing to do with him due to his unsettling behaviour - highlighting the importance of Reputation in the Victorian era. All of Jekyll’s friends, excluding Mr Utterson, discriminate against Jekyll for his strange behaviour and hence some readers believe the novel to be a protest about male prejudice and discrimination. This could link to the author’s own origins.

Stevenson himself was known to be an “oddball”, he stayed inside, was usually ill with diseases including leukaemia, and

wrote a diary for most of his life. Stevenson didn’t socialise with others as he was scared of social events. The idea of Stevenson writing about everyone judging Jekyll when he was acting strangely could link to his own self-doubt and insecurities of being around people.

Stevenson was fascinated by the idea of gentlemen who appeared presentable in public but had secret immoral lives. Hence, the idea of a unified of personality of Victorian gentleman was a difficult concept to understand for modern readers and 18th Century readers alike.

The way in which you interpret the novel’s philosophies will determine the messages that you take away from its reading. No-one can be entirely sure of Stevenson’s intentions in his novel because gentlemen in the Victorian era were, as we have seen, undercover in their behaviour.

I think it’s clear to say the novel is open to interpretation... Do you think that personality is unified in “Jekyll and Hyde”?

Amber Joy (Year 11)

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Who is Hussain?

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ussain was a 7th century revolutionary leader who made the ultimate stand for social justice in the face of corruption and tyranny. He gave everything, including his life, for the dignity of his society.

Hussain ibn Ali was born in 620 AD in the city of Medina (present day Saudi Arabia).

He came from a family renowned for their strong values of justice, charity and peace – the family of Muhammad (the Prophet of Islam). Hussain was widely respected across the lands of Arabia and beyond for his generosity, sincerity and wisdom.

Despite coming from a relatively privileged background and being a prominent figure in the Islamic Empire, Hussain would dismiss his status, in favour of breaking bread with the poor and needy. He challenged the status quo and united people together.

Now, hundreds of years on, many people are still influenced by the moral teachings of Hussain, thanks, in part, to the newly founded organisation “Who is Hussain?”

The organisation was founded in 2012 by a small collective of people and since then it has operated in over 60 countries worldwide, contributing to helping the homeless: feeding more than 268,929 hungry individuals and donating blood to over 2,130 people. The charity work that they do to improve people’s lives is both staggering and moving.

Their aim is to inspire individuals through the values and ideals that Hussain Ali stood for; those of justice and empowerment. For many people Hussain stands as an emblem of equality and unity, he acts as a role model for all, regardless of gender, age, sexuality, nationality or class, and he believed in values that should unite us, rather than those that divide us.

Last year I was fortunate enough to have witnessed a demonstration led by the ‘Who is Hussain?’ organisation. I was astounded by the vast numbers of people who took part in this demonstration, walking in solidarity with both banners and flags held high. Something which really stood out to me was not only that people were holding hands (physically joining in unity with one another) but the messages I saw written on the signs that they were holding expressed such powerful sentiments. Some were entitled: “Terrorism has no religion” and “ISIS is not Islamic, nor a state”. These messages really hit me and helped me to reflect on the issues faced by many Muslims who have to experience these constant stereotypes associated with terrorism.

The “Who is Hussain?” movement, and Hussain himself, are a pertinent and relevant reminder of the importance of challenging perceptions and putting on a united front in the face of inequality.

Alexa Tunnicliffe (Upper Sixth)

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How the English translation of the Bible united Protestantism

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n 1382, John Wycliffe attempted to translate the Bible into English for the first time; however, his manuscripts were destroyed and his efforts denounced by the Roman Catholic Church, an institution who knew all too well that this could greatly undermine their own authority.

Deemed a “heretic”, he was killed, his body burned and his ashes sent down the Severn as a warning to his followers.

For our Twenty-First Century milieu, it seems, quite frankly, ludicrous that the Church could prohibit the distribution of scripture translated into English. In Great Britain, all sermons from the pulpit were spoken in Latin, Latin being the language of Rome. Whilst the floor was filled with the faces of the working class, historians, including Leonard Boyle, say that it was nothing more than a formality. Latin was taught only to those at public schools and prestigious universities like Oxford and Cambridge which meant, ironically, that Jesus’s teachings of selfless agape were taught in a highly elitist manner and not understood by those less affluent Christians.

In the early 16th Century, William Tyndale sought to reform the corruption of the European Bible by, once more, translating the New Testament into English. Some historians have suggested that this not only was a significant event, but also an inevitable one. The printing press had been invented in 1450 which meant that, unlike Wycliffe who had had to write out each manuscript by hand, Tyndale only needed one handwritten translation which could then be printed and distributed. Not only this, but the press was being put to good scriptorial use - in the late 15th Century, the Torah (the Old Testament) was translated into English and widely distributed amongst synagogues, paving the way for further reform. Church authority was, for the first

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time, being seriously challenged and L.J. Trinterud has speculated that Tyndale was perhaps most influenced by Martin Luther who had nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in 1517. In the house of John Walsh, Tyndale reportedly, and infamously, said, “I defy the Pope and all his laws”, and his translations were circulated amongst, and gratefully received by, the common people, but, ultimately, Tyndale met a similar fate to Wycliffe. The Church described his actions as blasphemous and so, despite having fled to Germany, he was promptly executed. In his final, strangled breaths, he is rumoured to have said, “Lord open the eyes of the king of England”, a prophetic desire which, on the 1601 coronation of King James I, would begin to be realised.

In light of the Divine Right of Kings, a doctrine which made the monarchy’s influence almost equivalent to God’s, King James was able to realise greater influence that Wycliffe and Tyndale could ever have achieved. Following Puritan criticism of the Church, James held a conference which aimed to reach some sort of compromise, recognising the growing influence of this denomination. Despite having said that he found “safety in the hierarchy of the church” in his first public address as King, he also partially agreed with the followers of Martin

Luther and recognised that the Catholic Church had become corrupt. At the conference, Reynolds, a Puritan, suggested that the Bible be retranslated, contending that “those which were allowed in the reign of King Henry VIII and King Edward VI were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the original”. In solid agreement, James, particularly wary of the revolutionary and biased tone of Catholic scripture, commissioned the translation of the Bible into English, appointing fifty of England’s most accomplished language scholars.

King James I wanted this Bible to be one that could “be read in the whole church” - one which was accessible to all British citizens. This new, more egalitarian, approach to scripture provided a point of union between classes and was able to bind the Protestant denomination. Even to this day, this Bible is valued indefinitely and Bernard Ramm has suggested that it is their sola fidei regula approach which distinguishes them from the Catholic Church.

Ruby Bones (Upper Sixth)

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Does religion unite or divide us?

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cross the world people belong to a myriad of different religions: widespread religions such as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism; slightly smaller religions like Buddhism or Sikhism; and lesser known religions like Neo-Paganism.

According to data released in 2014, there are as many as 4,200 religions in total. Having said this, it is almost impossible to collate an exact figure because defining what exactly constitutes a religion is a complex matter.

As testament to the complexity of the task, The Oxford Dictionary cannot define it with a sole definition, citing religion as both “The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods” and “A particular system of faith and worship”. With so many different (and often conflicting) beliefs, it seems almost inevitable that different religions will clash, leaving the question of whether religion unites or divides us.

Looking into the origin of the word “religion”, it shares linguistic similarities with the Latin verb “religare”, meaning “to bind”.

Within each individual religion, followers are bound by common beliefs about the world.

In most religions, followers come together regularly at a local place of worship to share in these common beliefs. For instance, many Christians go to church every Sunday to listen to sermons, receive Holy Communion (bread and wine which represents the body and blood of Christ) and join in prayer.

Similarly, followers of other faiths gather at their respective place of worship on the specified day (or days) their religion stipulates. Owing to these regular gatherings, people get to know other people of the same religious belief, forming communities. These communities consist of like-minded people.

AS HUMANS WE LIKE TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER. RELIGION HELPS US DO THIS BY UNITING PEOPLE WHO SHARE A COMMON BELIEF.

Moreover, festivals and celebrations often have a substantial place in religion. Some examples include: Christmas; Diwali; Hanukkah; Eid al-Fitr; and Passover. Festivals are quintessentially unifying, bringing people together to celebrate and share good times.

These good times, shared with friends and family, can become lifelong memories and strengthen the sense of community among followers of each religion. Another example of a religious festival is Raksha Bandhan.

This is a Hindu custom in which Hindus tie red and gold bracelets called “Rakhi” around each other’s wrists; this is believed to protect the receiver for the following year.

Despite this being a small and seemingly inconsequential gesture, it is a gesture of friendship and care, celebrating and strengthening the bond between people. It unites them.

Conversely, differences in beliefs can cause tension between followers of different religions, occasionally leading to violence in the form of war or terrorism. Contemporarily, this sort of conflict between religions is demonstrated by extremist groups like ISIS, who teach that everyone should follow in their religion, and believe that their god is telling them to kill all “non-believers”. In addition, the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians has its roots in religion. Although on the surface the conflict is over land, the conflict between the religious beliefs of both sides is acting as an obstacle to achieving peace. This is down to the fact that Jerusalem is believed to be a holy place in both Judaism (which the majority of the Israelis follow) and Islam (which most of the Palestinians follow.) Therefore both sides want to own and control Jerusalem, and this has contributed to impeded progress with regards to reaching peace.

Furthermore, there is the (often less evident) conflict between followers of the same religion.

This can be between different sects, subgroups or denominations of a certain religion, or it could just be between groups of people who follow the same denomination of a religion but have read or understood something in a different way. As a consequence of this sort of disagreement, people may sometimes get angry or feel that someone who believes something different to them is bringing shame to their religion and offending their god, sometimes going so far as to proclaim that that person is not a true or faithful believer.

Assessing all the ideas and evidence I have set forth in this article, I find it is difficult to answer the question “Does religion unite or divide us?” with a clear-cut “yes” or “no” answer. Instead I conclude that religion unites people of the same religion with similar beliefs, whilst causing people with different beliefs to become estranged from one another. With a view to reducing conflict caused by religion so that people of all different faiths can unite and coexist peacefully, it is important that society as a whole is educated about different religions’ beliefs and customs so we can understand other people’s points of view and accept them, regardless of whether or not we agree with them. If we as a society can do this and be more compassionate, the world will be a more united and peaceful place.

Heather Nixey (Year 11)

Apple’s Eyes Studio / Shutterstock.com

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Three girls, three kidnappings and an unbreakable bond

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magine you are the mother of Amanda Berry. Your daughter went missing on 21 April 2003 from Tremont, Ohio, aged 16, and the last anyone heard of her was a phone call to her sister to confirm that she was getting a ride home from the Burger King where she worked.

However, when your daughter failed to return home, you panicked, like any loving mother would. You phoned the police, hoping for help to locate your daughter’s whereabouts, but due to Amanda’s troubled childhood, the police labelled your daughter, for whom you deeply care, as a runaway, and put minimal effort into launching

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an investigation. It is now one week after Amanda’s disappearance and you’re sat at home, melancholy and desolate. The phone rings, and you hear a deep voice on the end of the line – “I have Amanda. She’s fine and will be coming home in a couple of days”.

Suddenly, you’re hopeful and though you don’t recognise the voice, you are holding on to the fact that your daughter will “be home in a couple of days.” However, a couple of days pass, followed by weeks that soon turn into years, and soon enough, once ten years have passed by, it becomes easier to accept the scary thought that you will never see your daughter again.

When Amanda Berry arrived at the home of her kidnapper, she met Michelle Knight who was 21 at the time of her “disappearance” in August of 2002. Knight already had a child and, due to the fact that she was an adult, her kidnapping was also regarded as a runaway and Knight was removed from the National Crime Information Centre database 15 months after she disappeared.

In 2004, a 14-year-old girl named Gina DeJesus went missing on the way home from middle-school along Lorain Avenue, the same road that Berry went missing

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

just two years prior. Young, innocent and naïve, DeJesus believed that her kidnapper, Ariel Castro, was going to drop her safely back at home - after all, he was the father of Gina’s closest friend, Arlene. She trusted him and willingly got into his car. However, this man was not who she thought he was but, instead, a criminal who already had Berry and Knight captive at his home. She, DeJesus, was his third victim. Unfortunately, due to the sad fact that nobody witnessed the kidnapping, an AMBER alert was not issued, infuriating Gina’s father who believed it should work for any missing person at any time. This was, perhaps, the first major mistake made by the police. DeJesus arrived at the house of Castro, who was regarded as a friendly member of the community, partially due to his role as a school bus-driver.

ARIEL CASTRO HAD KIDNAPPED THREE YOUNG GIRLS IN THE SPACE OF TWO YEARS AND THE POLICE MADE NO CONNECTION BETWEEN THEM.

When Knight was kidnapped, Castro dragged her upstairs, tied up her hands and feet, pulled her up, and left her there for three days. It was only on the third day that he finally fed her. This was an insight into the next 11 years for Michelle – starvation.

Diaries were kept by the women that speak of “forced sexual conduct, of being locked in a dark room, of anticipating the next session of abuse, of the dreams of someday escaping and being reunited with family, of being chained to a wall, of being held like a prisoner of war, of missing the lives they once enjoyed, of emotional abuse, of his threats to kill, of being treated like an animal, of continuous abuse, and of desiring freedom”. The women were locked in an upstairs bedroom, where they were forced to use plastic toilets that were “emptied infrequently”. They were fed one meal a day, and allowed to shower twice a week.

The many years that the women spent in captivity consisted of starvation, physical and mental abuse, rape and punishments. Unlike most kidnappings, there were three victims and whilst the concept of this kidnapping, on the surface, seems worse, the women became familiar, soon acquaintances and then friends - after all, they only saw each other and Castro for this extensive period of time.

Whilst they weren’t friends by choice, they weren’t kidnapped by choice either, and so the disturbing and frightening acts forced upon them and the pain and suffering they were put through meant that the only people they could reach out to were each other. When one “acted up” and perhaps refused or fought against something inflicted upon them, the others would stand up and fight back too.

When one was refused a meal in a similar situation, the others would secretly save some of their own, despite them all being starving.

In a time of hopelessness and despair, when they wanted to die, or worse still, thought that they would be killed by Castro, they found unity.

The Escape Unexpected, miraculous, extraordinary and unbelievable are the only words that can describe the day of 6 May 2013.

Amanda Berry, the second victim, was able to make contact with neighbours, leading to both her and her daughter’s escape, followed by the rescue of DeJesus and Knight by the authorities. According to police, when Castro left the house that day, Berry realised that he had not locked the home’s “big inside door”, although the exterior storm door was bolted. She did not attempt to break through the outer door because “she thought Castro was testing her.” Previously, Castro tested the women by leaving the house partially unlocked and exits unsecured. If they attempted to escape, he beat them. Instead, she screamed for help when she saw neighbours through the window. One neighbour, Angel Cordero, responded to the screaming but was unable to communicate with Berry because, raised in a predominately Hispanic neighbourhood, she spoke very little English. Another neighbour, Charles Ramsey, joined Cordero at the house’s front door during the rescue. He kicked through the bottom of the storm door, and Berry crawled through, carrying her daughter.

Berry told Ramsey that she and her child were being kept inside the house against her will. Soon after, she went to another neighbour’s house and called 911, saying;

Castro was arrested on 6 May 2013. He was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape on 8 May, charges that carried prison sentences of ten years to life in Ohio.

Castro pleaded guilty on 26 July 2013, to 937 of the 977 charges against him, including charges of kidnapping, rape, and aggravated murder, as part of a plea bargain which called for consecutive sentences of life in prison plus 1,000 years, both without parole. On the evening of 3 September 2013, one month into his life sentence, Castro, aged 53, was found hanging by a bedsheet in his cell at the Correctional Reception Centre.

The trio of kidnappings combined with years of abuse to follow were undeniably one of the most barbaric and disgusting crimes to ever be committed in the history of America.

However, amongst the criminal activity and desperation was an underlying unity between the victims. In a situation where the police neglected their duties and let down families, friends and the communities that trusted them, the three women at the centre of the events demonstrated extraordinary unity which kept them going until the day that Berry escaped – the day that they found the light. To this day, the three girls, especially Amanda and Gina, are the closest of friends, but one might go so far as to regard them as sisters because the bond and unity seem to be just that little bit stronger.

Lucy Hobbs (Lower Sixth)

“HELP ME, I’VE BEEN KIDNAPPED, AND I’VE BEEN MISSING FOR TEN YEARS. AND I’M HERE. I’M FREE NOW!”

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

How bullying can unite us

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2001 Australian study led by Lyndal Bond found that 32% of bullied Year 8 students were suffering with anxiety.

This correlation has only become more prevalent as reports from the Anti-Bullying Alliance and againstbullying.org have publicised this link between mental health and treatment by peers. Reactionary studies went on to report that these mental health problems were long-lasting and sustained into adulthood. Whilst these studies have indeed been able to emphasise how damaging bullying is, which is practically useful in terms of prevention and heightened awareness, they also fail to provide comfort for victims of bullying, telling them that this anxiety and depression will follow them through life. How can one find hope and closure when reflecting upon these studies?

Convinced that this is the case -- that these mental health problems are supposed to withstand, some psychologists speculate that people are consequently more likely to suffer with them than others.

However, a recent 2017 study led by UCL, which has been popularised as the largest meta study on this topic, has alternatively shown that anxiety and depression caused by bullying decreases over time. This new understanding is more than just comprehensive, but actively pragmatic because it can give those who have been bullied hope that things will get better.

It reinforces the idea that bullying can indeed build resilience and, whilst I do not

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think that bullying can, in the slightest, be considered a positive thing in itself, it can certainly have positive outcomes. It seems paradoxical to say, but tackling bullying can aid personal development and ultimately bring us together, even if it initially requires isolation.

I recently read “Positive: A Memoir”, the autobiography of then 19-year-old Paige Rawl, which recounts and explores her experiences of bullying in middle school.

Born HIV positive but unaware of the stigma surrounding this condition, Rawl led a fairly ordinary childhood because, despite the regular hospital visits, vaccinations and medication; she had never known any different and did not even think to discuss it with her classmates. At the age of 11, however, after telling her close friend Bridget that she was HIV positive, she became painfully aware of the discrimination which those with HIV and AIDS face. Within a couple of hours, the whole school knew, Bridget refused to talk to her and nasty anonymous notes had been left in her locker.

“I didn’t think anything of it”, Rawl writes in retrospect, “I knew kids who had diabetes, kids who had knee troubles, kids who had acne: everybody had something. HIV just happened to be my thing”. As a result of this single disclosure, Rawl was bullied through middle school, and, shockingly, even faced prejudice from her teachers. During a football match one afternoon, with her teeth flashing in Rawl’s memory, the coach had casually said, “we can use Paige’s HIV to our advantage. The players on the other team will be afraid to touch her. She will be able to score all the goals”.

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Reading this now, you probably and hopefully have the same response that I did - but it’s not her fault? She’s only a kid? She didn’t ask to be born HIV positive? Why should someone be bullied for having a life-threatening illness? Why should anyone be bullied at all? Rawl’s story raises these crucial questions: the ones that we should be asking ourselves every time we see an act of discrimination and prejudice taking place. And the fact that it does raise these questions makes her experience worthwhile, something which Rawl herself recognises in the afterword to her memoirs: “I have a voice I didn’t have before. That’s a gift -- a gift I can use to make the present-day world a little kinder”.

Rawl’s experiences as a victim of bullying, horrific and damaging as they were, have allowed her to act as a force for good, spreading awareness of AIDS and bullying and helping people in a way which would have been impossible if she had not experienced it herself. Now, at just the age of 21, she has published an autobiography, appeared on the front cover of Time Magazine and is a representative for Project Kindle, an organisation which tours American schools to spread awareness of both bullying and HIV / AIDS stigma.

Bullying is linked directly to self-isolation, but Rawl has acted as a friendly and familiar face for children who are suffering as she did. As I said, it sounds paradoxical, but bullying can bring us together and does not have to negatively define us. Let it define you, but positively.

RELIGIOUS

Ruby Bones (Upper Sixth)

ATHIEST

YOU

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

BasPhoto / Shutterstock.com

Remembering Grenfell a year on

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ust for a moment, take yourself back to the events of last year and remember those who lost their lives in the horrific Grenfell Tower inferno back in June of 2017.

The fire was international news but, for those who lived in London W11 it was, and still is, a tragedy happening in real time. A fridge-freezer in a flat on the 5th floor of the tower was the first step in the deadly chain of events and the fire wrapped itself around the tower block and took many lives away with it - children, the elderly and all ages in-between.

The entire community suffered through unimaginable loss and bereavement. Shock and upset moved through the nation and spread internationally throughout the morning following the fire and the inital aftermath. Yet even a year later, the sight of the tower inflicts extreme psychological damage on those who lost their homes, relatives, loved ones and friends. For it to remain standing is unthinkable to many.

Residents living nearby are subjected to this most awful visual reminder everyday. Even so, they continue with impeccable strength and fortitude.

have been my mum’s house, that could have been my nephew, that could have been me up there”. The track then segues into Simon and Garfunkel’s ballad of resilience and support.

“IT’S INCREDIBLE WE SURVIVED. SO MANY PEOPLE WERE LEFT INSIDE. WE HAD RELATIVES AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO CALLED AND SAID THEY WERE STILL TRAPPED IN.” Mahad Egal, Grenfell Resident

The words of the song and the initial rap remind us that unity in the face of disaster is so necessary, you never know when it may be you who relies upon the support of strangers in an hour of need. Although Grenfell was the most awful of tragedies, the ensuing support from local communities, the resilience of the residents and the publicity and aid generated by the charity single, remind us that even when faced with catastrophe, we are able to show solidarity, unity and humanity.

On 21 June, a week after the atrocity, a charity single was organised and a collection of artists covered “Bridge Over Troubled Water” originally by Simon and Garfunkel. More than 50 stars, including Robbie Williams, Rita Ora and Jessie J, were assembled by Simon Cowell to record the song. The song was recorded at Sarm Studios, half a mile away from Grenfell Tower. Beginning with a rap written by Stormzy, the lyrics promise: “I refuse to forget you, I refuse to be silenced, I refuse to neglect you”. He continues with “that’s for every last soul up in Grenfell even though I’ve never even met you...that could

Olivia O’Callaghan (Year 10)

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Diversidad religiosa: ¿enriquecedora o problemática?

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oy en día todo el mundo está de acuerdo que existe una gama más amplia de religiones diversas en España que hace cincuenta años, pero se trata de un argumento continuamente discutido en cuanto a si esto es una buena cosa o una mala.

En este ensayo, voy a analizar los argumentos contradictorios de ambos lados del debate, pero yo diría que para muchas personas, no solamente en España sino por todo el mundo, la práctica de su fe es una parte vital de su vida, y si el mundo existiera sin esta fe, no tendríamos la misma diversidad cultural.

Para empezar, existen muchas personas que creen que la práctica de una amplia gama de religiones crea una comunidad diversa, y es un hecho bien sabido que hoy en día en España hay una mezcla rica de religiones. Por ejemplo, la fe la más practicada es el catolicismo (69%) y luego existen las otras confesiones del cristianismo, los musulmanes, los judíos y los hindúes que viven pacíficamente en el mismo país. A mi modo de ver, es una lástima que haya habido tal estigma contra esta mezcla de religiones, ya que como consecuencia de esto, hace que las personas de un país sean más tolerantes, especialmente en las ciudades principales como Madrid y Barcelona donde hay una comunidad densamente poblada. En esta era moderna, se está convirtiendo en cada vez más importante subrayar la importancia de la tolerancia y la aceptación de las personas de una fe diferente a la generación más joven para evitar las guerras interreligiosas del pasado como la Inquisición Española, en el que murieron 150.000 personas inocentes a manos de un gobierno con ideas anticuadas. Aunque fue un evento trágico, nos permite aprender de los errores del pasado y quizás cambiar nuestras mentalidades para mejorar la convivencia de mañana. Entonces, teniendo en cuenta la educación, me parece increíble que mucha gente esté todavía de acuerdo con la supresión de la práctica de una amplia gama de religiones porque, en realidad, reduciría la posibilidad de 36

más ataques racistas y el aislamiento social, pero también si hubiéramos abordado este tema más seriamente antes, tal vez no sería una cuestión relevante en nuestra sociedad moderna.

Sin embargo, hay todavía dos caras de la moneda y sería ingenuo ignorar los argumentos de muchas personas que son devotos a su fe y no creen que la convivencia entre las religiones distintas pueda existir. Mientras la mayoría de personas puede comprender las prácticas de religiones distintas, alguna gente dice que no le importa lo tolerante que sea la sociedad española, siempre habrá discusiones menores a causa de los morales diferentes. No estoy sugiriendo que estos comenzaran las guerras internacionales sino que da comienzo al maltratamiento de los grupos étnicos marginados; ya no es una nueva cosa. Aunque se considera un grupo que practica una religión específica, durante siglos los gitanos de España han sufrido del aislamiento social desde su llegado a la Península Ibérica, y actualmente no se sienten aceptados por la sociedad moderna española. Existen ejemplos de guetos de los gitanos y de otros grupos marginados en España en que han formado algunas colonias más pequeñas que se les ha excluido de alguna interacción con otros miembros de la sociedad.

Se ha demostrado que con el aumento en el número de guetos, el nivel de la delincuencia en estos lugares ha subido también. A pesar de considerar las excepciones, hay personas que dirían que este aislamiento podría convertirse una causa de las guerras interreligiosas porque se ha ocurrido a pesar de esta aparente nueva tolerancia.

Después de haber considerado los impactos, ambos positivos y negativos, de la práctica de una amplia gama de religiones y los ejemplos verdaderos del mundo hispanohablante, yo diría que si la diversidad religiosa no existiera, no viviríamos en un mundo tan diverso y tan especial. Aunque las guerras del pasado han dejado un gran susto en la historia española, muchas personas no creen que sea una cosa necesariamente mala. Esto nos permite educar a la próxima generación sobre el peligro de la intolerancia y solo puede ser una buena cosa para el futuro.

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Religious diversity: Enriching or problematic?

T

oday in Spain the majority agree that there is a greater range of religions than there was fifty years ago, but it raises the continued argument as to whether this is a good or bad thing.

In this essay, I am going to analyse the conflicting arguments on both sides of the debate, but I would say that for many people, not just in Spain but also around the world, the practice of one’s faith is a vital part of their life, and if the world existed without it, we would not have the same cultural diversity.

To start with, there are many who believe that the practice of a wide range of religions creates a diverse community, and it is a well-known fact that nowadays in Spain there is a rich mix of religions. For example, the most practised faith is Catholicism (69%) and then there are other denominations of Christianity, Muslims, Jews and Hindus who live peacefully together in the same country. From my way of seeing it, it is a sham that there has been such a stigma against this mix of religions, because as a consequence of this, it makes people of a country more tolerant, especially in the main cities, like Madrid and Barcelona, where there is a densely populated community. In this modern era, it is becoming more and more important to underline the importance of tolerance and acceptance of people of a different faith to the younger generation, in order to avoid the inter-religious wars of the past, like the Spanish Inquisition, in which 150,000 innocent people died at the hands of a government with outdated ideas. Although it was a tragic event, it allows us to learn from errors of the past and perhaps change our mentalities to improve tomorrow’s co-existence. Therefore, taking education into account, it seems incredible to me that many people are still agreeing with the suppression of a wide practice of religions because in reality, it would reduce the occurrence of race related problems and social isolation, but also if we had started to take this issue more seriously beforehand, it would not be such a relevant question in today’s modern society.

However, there are still two sides to this and it would be disingenuous to ignore the arguments of many people who are devoted to their faith and do not believe that co-existence between different religions can exist. Whilst the majority of people can understand the practice of different religions, some people say that it does not matter how tolerant a society is, there will always be minor arguments because of different morals. I am not suggesting these could start international wars, but that it gives rise to the mistreatment of ethnic marginalised groups; we have seen it before. Although they are not considered a group that practises a specific religion, for centuries Romany Gypsies in Spain have suffered from social isolation since their arrival in the Iberian Peninsula, and currently do not feel accepted by modern Spanish society.

There are many examples of gypsy ghettos and other marginalised groups in Spain in which they have formed some smaller colonies that have excluded them from interaction with other members of society. It has been proven that with the increase in the number of ghettos, the crime level in these areas has also risen. Despite considering the exceptions, there are people who say that this social isolation could become a cause of inter-religious wars because it has happened, despite this apparent new tolerance.

After having considered both the positive and negative impacts of the practice of a wide range of religions and the real examples in the Spanish speaking world, I would say that if religious diversity did not exist, we would not live in such a diverse and special world. Although wars of the past have left a large lasting impact on Spanish history, many people do not believe that this is necessarily a bad thing. This allows us to educate the next generation about the danger of intolerance and that can only be a good thing for the future.

Jade Burnand (Upper Sixth)

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

The unity of sonder

I

don’t sleep at night. I often find myself staring into the abyss of incoherent thoughts: “Oh dear lord, why did I do that really irrelevant thing with no consequences whatsoever five years ago and why is it still replaying on my mind like a broken record, why am I still cringing into my pillow with regret?”

Welcome to my existential nightly routine.

I don’t know why I feel like this. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to wake up in a different body, to lead a different life altogether. Other times I feel like my life isn’t going anywhere and I’m not out there helping people as I should be. Some people feel an urge to just run away or get on a plane to nowhere. I probably overthink things; my ethnicity for one thing is something that I think about, or the fact that I am so incredibly lucky to attend the school that I go to and live in the city that I do. These are my privileges.

What would it be like to be less privileged?

I think you’d be lying if you hadn’t stared at

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the ceiling, noticing little marks that hadn’t been there before, wondering about why we are here or what the meaning of life is.

You can get lost for hours just imagining all the different ways people may have experienced this day. It makes you feel useless at times when you think about how you can’t end world hunger, or stop sexism, or homophobia. Instead you must lie there feeling useless and alone. Yet you’re not alone. Across the other side of the world someone else’s heart is beating at the rate of yours. Are they wondering the same thing? I recently discovered a new word: “sonder”. It’s the realisation that each random passer-by is living a life as graphic and complex as your own, consumed in their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and chaos. Sonder constantly occurring invisibly around you with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as a silhouette sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of lights and traffic passing on a motorway.

The thing that I’m trying to get at is that we’re all unified. We’re unified in our thoughts and sleepless nights and feeling like we’re alone. We’re unified by the fact that we all wake up under the same sun, under the same galaxies and

the same constellations. We’re unified even though we’re strangers. There are infinite possibilities and a million ways that this day could have gone. You could drive yourself to the brink of insanity just thinking about it. Roughly seven billion people experienced this day in a different way to you. They all woke up with the sun rising and went to sleep with stars at night.

It’s true. I may not know anything about being an adult. I am not wise. I make mistakes. I am 16 years old and there are many things I have yet to experience.

However, I refuse to be oblivious. It is so important that we acknowledge that our diversity unites us and that it’s okay to be different, but what’s not okay is marginalising people and disregarding those differences. Perhaps you may feel that it is not my place -- as a person who can say she has never been short of food or a bed, or been taunted about her race -- to write this sort of article. However I hope you do feel the way I do, in that one thing is for certain: there is beauty and unity in the way that our lives as strangers unite us.

Daisy Haywood (Year 11)

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Unity Let us grow together, hand in hand, When we unite it is easy to stand.

Let us never break, but even if we do We will always unite because together we grew.

Let us dance together, through blue skies and rain.

Help me to feel powerful, even when I am in pain.

Let me cry on your shoulder when the tears run Remind me that behind the clouds, there is always the sun.

Let us fly together, higher than the hills Be there with me through all the thrills Always stay with me and be in my heart Whether we are together or apart

Let us be united together, through the good and the bad Because when we are together I never feel sad.

When we are united, we can never go wrong Because unity is beautiful, and it makes us all strong.

Callie Herbert (Year 10)

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Valete

Helen Semple Deputy Head

Peter Forrester Bursar

Shaun Dumbrell Head of Grounds

Helen Semple joined the school in September 2017 as Acting Deputy Head for one year. She brought with her a wealth of experience gained in top boarding schools across the country and she rapidly became an essential part of the team. I have often made the point in my time as Head that it is sometimes not the years you spend in a school - but what you do in your time here - and Helen certainly epitomises the fact that one can have a real impact in just 12 months. There have been few parts of the school which have not benefited from her natural and indefatigable drive to make improvements where she sees that they will benefit both students and staff, and also from her enjoyment of working with young people. Helen willingly embraces aspects of education which others might feel less enthusiastic about - including policies, duties, staff cover - and is also not afraid to have those potentially “difficult” conversations. The fact that in spite of this Helen has quickly become a most popular member of the Pipers team is down to one of her most impressive attributes - her infectious ability to see some humour in almost every situation.

Peter’s tenure as Bursar and Clerk to the Governors lasted from Christmas 2004 until Christmas 2017, a period that saw the growth of the school in pupil andw staff numbers, as well as great changes on the school site. His myriad responsibilities included the financial management of the school and management of the estate, to which tasks he brought a wealth of financial and business experience. His was a significant contribution to the school’s substantial development over that period.

Shaun Dumbrell started work for Pipers in April 2001 as Head of Grounds. During his time here he has worked for two different Heads and four Bursars. There have been some significant changes during his 17 years at Pipers including the building of the South Wing and Lady Bucks extensions to the school, the improvement to the dance studio, the new Astro Court and of course the Arts Centre and most recently the Science Laboratory.

Peter’s experience of education was limited to his own and that of his family but he soon developed an understanding of the school and its academic goals, supporting Pipers in a highly professional manner. For most girls his was the tall, dog-walking figure surveying the boundaries and checking building operations. To staff he was the budget setter with a willing ear and supportive attitude.

The Senior Leadership Team respected him as an articulate, measured and key member, complementing their strengths and supporting initiatives to move the school forward.

Shaun has enjoyed the diversity of the role as he can go from weeding the beds in the sunshine to cutting the hedges, mowing the lawns and then straight to the Bursar’s weekly meeting (making footprints on the carpet on the way)!

We will miss her wonderful and wicked sense of humour, her ability to make SLT meetings fun and the fact that she does not allow us to take ourselves too seriously. She leaves us to take on a role as Deputy Head - People and Diversity at St Paul’s Girls School, where we know that she will make a significant difference. She leaves Pipers a more inclusive community and one which is significantly more self-aware in terms of our attitudes and actions towards others.

We will miss her - but her ability to communicate via GIFs when words fail even her, means that we feel sure she will keep in touch in the future.

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Peter’s relationship with the governing body was excellent. All were familiar with his chuckle and laid-back style but knew that his keen intellect didn’t miss a nuance of a meeting and, although barely a note was taken, superb minutes were recorded. It was a tribute to the respect in which he was held that former governors and chairmen returned to join the current Board of Governors at a dinner in his honour. This was held in the Performance Arts Centre, the final project with which he had been so deeply involved and a fitting recognition of the important contribution he had made to the success of the school.

Peter retired with plans for, eventually, a house move. It was to be preceded by a number of constructional, manufacturing and organizational projects which seemed not to daunt him in the least! Happy times, Peter.

Shaun has fond memories of preparing the grounds each year for the PTA Ball and the Parents’ Day, setting the grounds and flowers up and making the place look its best. He recalls his early days when he used to give talks in the greenhouse to the Pre-Prep girls and at the end he would give each girl a small plant to take away. Shaun remembers that the girls would carry the plants “as if they were made of gold” and take them home to look after and watch grow.

Shaun has decided to retire and says he will miss the open air, friendly atmosphere, cheerful people and of course the fabulous grounds at Pipers. We wish him all the very best in this next phase of life.

Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Rev. Mary Gurr School Chaplain

Gill Graham PA to the Deputy Head

Jackie McGonigle Teacher of PE

Mary Gurr was a school Chaplain like no other. She joined the Pipers community in 2003 whilst she was Vicar at Micklefield and Wycombe Marsh. As a busy vicar she always made time for the girls and staff at Pipers and her presence and leadership at our services, her preparation of girls for Confirmation made a real difference to many students and staff. Never afraid to innovate, or to take forward worship and spirituality at Pipers, Mary pioneered our Whole School Outdoor Services, which were, occasionally, outdoors, our Christingle Services and our Prayer Spaces.

She has also taken numerous assemblies and acted as a liaison with other local clergy. With a busy parish of her own, in which she worked tirelessly for her parishioners, Mary was a wonderful link with the local community; she developed our Harvest Festival so that we supported local charities and also our Gift Assembly in conjunction with the Salvation Army. Mary was always incredibly supportive and positive about any of our suggestions for worship - even the less conventional ones.

Gill Graham arrived at Pipers in May 2016 as PA to the Deputy Head and immediately immersed herself into Pipers life.

It is hard to believe that Jackie is leaving Pipers Corner! Over the years Jackie has been such a welcoming member of the PE Department, making sure that new staff are quickly fully acquainted with how everything works. As the years have passed, Jackie has remained constant as the Department has changed, but her manner and attitude has never faulted; she remains as positive as ever.

She was also unflappable - some may recall the Carol Service in which a flower display around a candle went up in flames, or when part of the “Church Marquee” blew down at the Leavers Service. She has the remarkable ability to see the good in everyone and in every situation.

Mary moved to Oxford but continued as School Chaplain until March 2018 when her role as Oxford Dioceses Homelessness Chaplain meant that she wanted to focus on starting up the first Oxford Winter Night Shelter programme. Unsurprisingly, knowing Mary, this project was a huge success; the shelter involved seven city churches which each opened their doors to the homeless one night a week for 89 days.

A keen communicator, Gill enjoys working in a team environment and has always been a friendly face around the school, remaining cheerful despite the demands of organising cover and invigilation!

As an old girl of Pipers herself Gill’s sense of duty, determination, spirit, adventure, and resilience all shine through. However, underneath all of this lies a kind and compassionate individual, able to see humour in the darkest of hours, show humility and fun. A unique combination to Pipers girls that many would aspire to.

We wish Gill every success and happiness and look forward to hearing of all her new adventures.

How will she be remembered? For her successes with the Prep swimming teams – she was delighted when the new pool was built and allowed the girls to train regularly; but she will still tell you about the outside pool and the incident with a cow! For her development and success with the Equestrian Team – Jackie is a passionate horse rider who still competes and it was only natural for Jackie to build this team. She happily gives up her time for this pleasure (and regularly tells the Department about the success, in blowby-blow detail, including pictures) and we are delighted that she is going to continue to be involved after her retirement. For her cheeky rapport with the girls, her no nonsense approach, her endless enthusiasm, her constant seeking new ways to teach old skills, her commitment to teams and for her dedication to sports tours, and for collecting her coffee in the staff room still wearing her swimming costume!

23 years working in one school is an incredible achievement, and I don’t know who will miss her more, the girls or the staff!

We have been delighted to welcome Mary back to Pipers at the end of this Academic year to take the Leavers’ Service which is fitting as she is a leader herself - but we hope to keep in touch and to support her in her work in Oxford.

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Valete

Olivia Morris Teacher of PE Since Olivia rejoined the PE Department in 2015, having previously been PE Assistant, for the Academic year 2011/12, and even before that a Pipers’ pupil, she has demonstrated a clear passion for Physical Education and School Sport. She has been a well-motivated and committed team member, demonstrating an excellent ability to motivate and enthuse students and staff alike.

The Staff vs Sixth Form events this year, which she organised, were great fun and she has also reinstated the Pipers Annual Parent and Daughter Tennis Tournament which is hotly contested! Olivia also took on the role of Mandeville House Coordinator over the last couple of years, setting an excellent example to the House Prefect Team and student members.

Olivia has a great sense of humour and she has been a pleasure to work with. We wish her well in her new endeavours and will no doubt see her again on the sports pitches with her new school!

Jacqui Onslow Teacher of Food Technology Jacqui Onslow joined the Food Department three years ago, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge and expertise in her teaching of Food. Jacqui has taught the girls from Years 3 to 9 and her enthusiasm and commitment has truly inspired the learning of each and every girl. Jacqui has created the exciting curriculum for Prep to make it very engaging and, even on Friday afternoons, whilst some teachers might be flagging Jacqui is always still raring to go.

Although Jacqui is retiring, she shows no signs of slowing down. She is always full of energy and her calm and can do attitude will be dearly missed. Jacqui has four grandsons and another on the way and will, we are sure, still be using her gift of teaching as she often cooks with her grandsons. She is also heavily involved with the charity JET in Uganda so we have no doubts she will still be very busy in her retirement.

Jacqui will be greatly missed by the Pipers community and we wish her a long and happy retirement.

Daryl Skeggs School Nurse Sister Skeggs joined us in 2014 and since that time she has supported countless girls who have come through her medical rooms.

Endlessly patient and highly knowledgeable, Daryl has run the Medical Centre with great efficiency and attention to detail.

Dealing with a wide range of ailments and medical issues on a daily basis calls for both confidence and understanding, and Daryl has always been excellent in both respects.

Of course, her no-nonsense approach and her ability to get girls back into lessons has also been valuable - as well as her skill in getting from one end of the school to another, with a wheelchair, in record time.

Having prepared medical details for countless school trips, Daryl was reassuringly present on our first ever trip to Peru in Summer 2016 - though the absence of any altitude sickness and a healthy trip for all meant that she was able to enjoy the trip along with the rest of us. The staff at Picaflor House, the after school project at which the girls volunteered, were trained by Daryl in resuscitation with the same confidence she has imparted to staff in her regular briefings at the beginning of each term and in training us to use epipens or the defibrillators we have on site. Daryl’s care and concern for our students has been exemplary; they have been in very safe hands.

We wish Daryl, her husband and their dog well for their move to the South Coast and for a slightly less hectic pace of life.

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Unity AQUILA 2017/18

Lara Boocock Lifeguard/PE Assistant

Jake Spargo Prep Teaching Assistant

Cat Stow Teacher of PE

Lara joined Pipers in September and has been an asset to the PE Department, and the school as a whole, throughout this year.

She is highly motivated and enthusiastic in everything that she does.

Sometimes you have to seize opportunities when they present themselves!

We were extremely lucky to find Cat in late August when our Head of PE ruptured her Achilles tendon and discovered she would not be able to return to school at the start of term. Cat had been working in a school in London, but had given up the post to start a PGCE course in September 2017. We persuaded her to join us; so she came with experience, but still required the school to help her become fully qualified teacher. And what a pleasure it has been to have Cat in the Department for a year!

She has assisted the Department in a wide range of tasks (not just on poolside!), demonstrating limitless organisational skills, and showing a caring and kind manner to all pupils. And all this she has done with a smile on her face!

Lara has a passion for sport and Physical Education and has helped lead various activities in lessons and clubs. We wish her all the best next year when as she leaves us to go and complete her Teacher Training.

When Jake joined us in December for a couple of weeks work experience, we had no idea what a super teacher he would turn out to be! Needless to say, seven months later, we have been delighted with his contribution to the Prep Department. Jake has impressed everyone that he has worked with and thrown himself in to school life at Pipers Corner School. Whether it is running reading intervention groups or starring as the Greatest Showman in a drama production, Jake has approached all these challenges with a happy enthusiasm that is infectious.

Jake is leaving us to train as a teacher at Reading University. We wish him all the very best and hopefully he might be able to come back to Pipers to complete some of his school based tasks.

She has taught across all the year groups; experiencing the joy of a Pre-Prep class, as well as enthusing her GCSE PE class with a dynamic approach to her teaching. Cat has gone above and beyond in assisting with the extra-curricular life of the school, running her own teams as well as assisting at numerous sporting events across the year.

We had no doubt that Cat would pass her GTP placement with flying colours and secure a permanent PE teaching post for next year; we wish her every success.

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Pipers Lane, Great Kingshill, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP15 6LP theschool@piperscorner.co.uk 01494 718255 www.piperscorner.co.uk www.facebook.com/PipersCornerSchool @PipersCornerSch

UNITY

“We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”

J.K. ROWLING

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