SWPS Magazine 2017-2018

Cover by Lauren Christian

EDITORIAL TEAM

Alice Sutton

Liyana Ahmed Jessica Chinn

Lexie Grant

Eva Shah

Tamsin Mantel-Cooper

Alex Seuren

Alisa McInerney Isobel Donnelly

STAFF

Ian Russell (irussell@swps.org.uk)

Kay Eggleton

Steve Jones

Kathryn Burton

Rachel Lawrence Amanda Stebbings

SWPS Magazine is published once a year. Articles are written by

and staff. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Sir William Perkins’s School.

Design and desktop publishing by Ian Russell and Kathryn Burton. Printing by G.H. Smith. School Information: Telephone: 01932 574900 www.swps.org.uk

WHO WE ARE

Every year seems to bring more surprises – events that are both unforeseen and completely unexpected – and 2017 is no different.

A surprise General Election result has created a political landscape of uncertainty and confusion. Reforms that were thought to be part and parcel of the wider background in which the school might be operating have now been put on hold or even

jettisoned altogether. Despite the stormy political conditions, SWPS continues to forge ahead in all manner of ways and means. Our music has never been stronger, with a stunning and moving performance this year of Mozart’s Requiem. SWPS music students and staff, in conjunction with local ensembles and choirs, were able to produce an extraordinary piece of music. In all my years at the school I can scarcely remember music of such quality and verve.

Individual and collective successes mark the world of SWPS sport and it is always a pleasure to be reminded of the many different areas of sporting competition in which our students are achieving success – rowing, netball, hockey and rounders are our mainstream areas of success, but individual talent lies in sporting fields ranging from badminton and sailing to fencing and even to karate; yes, we have a European Karate

Champion among our students! Dramatic productions are unsurprisingly thriving at the school. This year’s production of Beasts and Beauties was huge in cast numbers (the largest ever), dazzling in set design, and ambitious in scope (four plays at the same time). A great and innovative way in which we could put our brand new theatre to use; the performances all lived up to expectations and were a promise of more to come for the future.

SWPS is widely and justifiably famous for its Art Department – the quality that adorns these pages is a tribute both to the outstanding department and to the care, attention and hard work of all SWPS artists. You will not be surprised to learn that this year’s Art Exhibition was to the usual, extra-ordinary standards, resulting in many of the attendees to note the professionalism and skill of such young artists.

This year SWPS has also held its first Well-being Week and has established a functional Well-being Room. This activity and location builds on what SWPS has always excelled at doing: ensuring that the students have every opportunity and space to place their well-being first and foremost, highlighting to them the importance of well-being to their mental health and, finally, providing our students greater occasions to celebrate what they have achieved and who they are.

Chris Muller

BOWING OUT

What did you think of our Head Girls? Here’s what the new ones have to say about the outgoing team

8

With her wholehearted enthusiasm and faultless reliability, Lily has been a great asset to the Head Girls’ Team. She has always been an approachable and friendly face around school and has skilfully juggled activities like rowing and magazine editing with academia. She will be sorely missed but her many impressive qualities and skills will undoubtedly make her a great historian.

Sarah

8

Sarah was an excellent member of the Head Girls’ team. As well as studying hard, she was fully involved in the SWPS community, participating, for example, in music, sport and D of E. Through being on the South African sports tour, and playing netball together, we have become firm friends. I’m sure she’ll do brilliantly as she goes on to study Chemistry. I know that I now have big shoes to fill!

Francesca, or Frap, didn’t really need an introduction when she became Head Girl. We already knew her well from her work on the stage! From drama to music, Francesca fulfilled our school motto of aiming high and getting involved. The example she set, along with her enthusiastic and friendly personality, made her a wonderful mentor, an amazing friend to her peers, and a model Head Girl.

w w Francesca Duke by Alice Sutton

Lauren Oates by Jessica Chinn

Lauren is a genuinely lovely person whom I have never seen without a smile on her face. She has always been there to offer advice and has already been a great help with our transition into the new team. Lauren has set a very high standard for us new Head Girls, which I can only hope to emulate. I wish Lauren all the very best with her ambition to study law at university.

Lily Glover by Liyana Ahmed

Philips by Helen Sproston

politics

Great political speeches have been integral in building our political systems and conveying the thoughts of major political figures, whether they are attempting to convince the public to vote for them, or giving us hope in times of despair. The most renowned speeches probably have that status because they have played a key part in changing the course of history.

Although a powerful speech can owe a lot to the charisma of the speaker, researchers have concluded that great oratory invariably has three main components: style, substance and impact.

A speech might be intended to inspire an audience’s finest ideals and be persuasive in changing their hearts and minds, but if it’s not masterfully constructed, it can be rendered obsolete. Our modern world has been radically altered by words skilfully delivered, by politicians and other influential figures; their articulated beliefs permeate throughout history and have a direct impact on us today, regardless of how long ago their speeches were made.

The “I have a dream” speech by Martin Luther King is one of the most memorable speeches of all time, calling for an end to widespread racism and the establishing of civil and economic rights for all. Despite having carefully crafted his words beforehand, the emotional response from the crowd he

was addressing, gave King the confidence to disregard his script and preach from his heart. His use of repeated phrases and ideas in each sentence, illustrated with metaphors and analogies, made this an eloquent vision and a masterpiece of rhetoric that brought about real change.

Winston Churchill delivered some of the most articulate and impassioned speeches Britain has ever heard. He addressed the House of Commons with a famous speech, after forming his government in 1940, aged 65. Churchill was able to boost public morale and provide hope during the start of World War II by stating that he had “nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” and that his aim was “victory in spite of all terror”. Later in the same year, Churchill delivered other notable speeches: “We shall fight on the beaches…”, updating the House of Commons about the military disaster at Dunkirk, and “We shall never surrender!”. This most poignant speech gave assurance that Britain would fight ruthlessly to defend the country “whatever the cost may be”. Above all, Churchill demonstrated that strong purpose can create a concise and unapologetic speech and can help lead the county from the verge of defeat to victory.

Unfortunately, effective speech making is not the sole preserve of leaders who deserve to be admired. The appalling fascist leader Adolf Hitler is considered by many historians to have been an oratorical master because of

his ability to convince an entire country to justify and participate in his regime during his brutal 12year Third Reich. Delivering over 5,000 speeches, Hitler promised his followers an ideal empire. Researchers describe his voice as “mesmeric” and “spellbinding” with its passionate delivery. Indeed, his approach to public speaking was borderline violent, with extensive use of hand gestures and facial expressions to communicate his ideas.

More recently, and in stark contrast, former president of the United States, Barak Obama, captivated many with his simple yet relatable exchanges with the American public. This year, his Exit Speech gave us an insight into the tough issues American politicians will need to tackle in the near future, but he also acknowledged the people who had been most important to him during his time in the White House, giving an emotional ode to his children and his wife Michelle. Although not the most significant global speech in its consequences, Obama displayed an unadulterated sincerity that politicians rarely show.

Figures such as Socrates, Mahatma Gandhi, John F Kennedy, and Malala Yousafzai have all contributed to the rich archive of global political speeches. It seems to me that the art of speech making is as crucial as ever in determining the quality and influence of political figures in a world where viewpoints are constantly shifting.

Liyana Ahmed (Lower 6th) considers the power of the spoken word

STRONG WORDS

modern languages

BOCHOLT

Charlotte Chinn (Year 9) reports on this year’s phenomenal German exchange programme

This year I was part of the SWPS German exchange programme, which has been running for 35 years. It was an amazing experience. And a lot of fun!

For me, the whole event started in September, when our exchange partners came to England. My partner, Nele, had never been to England before, just as I had never been to Germany, making it even more exciting! During the week she was here, we arranged activities that would make her stay interesting and entertaining, such as visiting London, going to a water park, and going out with friends. I was surprised by how well Nele spoke English; this made the whole exchange

easier as we could communicate very well with one another. There were some moments when the language barrier was problematic but they were rare and any misunderstanding was soon sorted out.

It was sad when our exchange partners left but we all knew we’d see each other soon; we, of course, had our trip to Germany to look forward to. However, I would see Nele sooner than expected.

A couple of months later, in October, Nele came back to London with her family for a holiday! It was an amazing chance to see her again and meet her family as well. My family and I went down to London for the day and met up with them all. We saw some famous London landmarks together and then went

out for dinner. The family were all incredibly nice, and they all spoke very good English, putting my family to shame with the little German they knew. It was a day in which we all had fun, and it helped put an end to my mother’s worrying!

In June, we departed for Germany. It felt like a very long, 10-hour journey to Bocholt, the German town where we were staying. When we arrived we greeted our partners with big, but tired, smiles.

We drove to Nele’s house and started talking, just like we did in England. Once we arrived at her house, I was greeted by the rest of the family; it felt great to see them all again. I was taken to my bedroom, where I unpacked my bag.

One of the first things that happened on the trip was meeting Bocholt’s Mayor. She made us all feel very welcome; now we were ready for the visit to truly begin! We went climbing and swimming, and we visited the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral). I tried speaking German, of course, but I was not as fluent as they were with English. However, they seemed to understand what I was saying! We ended the trip with a disco; it was so much fun!

It was sad, all over again, when we parted and this time we didn’t have the next trip to look forward to. I’m sure, though, that many of us will see each other again.

We learnt a lot from the exchange about the culture and history of Germany, and I am very happy that I participated in the programme.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Je pense que ma plus grande réussite est j’ai réussi à avoir ma licence malgré qu’on ne pesait pas que j’y arriverai car je n’ai pas eu un bac général et on m’a toujours dit que je ne pourrai pas faire une licence avec ça et pourtant me voici avec une licence !

Ich habe lange darüber nachgedacht, und eigentlich ist es, dass ich es geschafft habe, ein

Jahr lang ohne richtiges Brot zu überleben. Das war schon ziemlich hart.

No creo que tenga un logro específico, pero si pienso en lo que estoy feliz, sería mi carrera universitaria y mi trabajo.

What is at the top of your bucket list?

Je n’ai pas vraiment de “bucket list” mais je pense que ce serait finir mes études.

Ich würde gerne mal wieder nach Thailand und mit meiner besten Freundin nach Australien reisen.

Viajar. Viajar más para conocer otros lugares y otras culturas.

If you could go back in time, where would you go; who would you meet?

C’est une question intéressante. Je pense que je retournerais peutêtre voir mes professeurs pour les remercier pour tout ce qu’ils ont fait pour moi jusqu’à présent et pour leur montrer ma gratitude et pour leur dire que j’ai réussi grâce à eux à être ici.

Ich würde zurück in die Zeit reisen in der Shakespeare gelebt hat und ein original Shakespearestück ansehen.

Creo que, elegiría volver a Argentina con mi familia y visitaría mis abuelas que no están conmigo.

What sparked your interest in languages?

Je pense que ce sont les films. Quand j’étais adolescent, quinze ou seize ans, l’anglais n’était pas forcément ma priorité mais je me suis rendue compte que c’était important, que ça m’intéressait énormément surtout au début de lycée, et c’est pour ça que maintenant j’ai fait mes études en anglais.

Als ich klein war, ist meine Familie oft im Sommer mit dem Wohnmobil durch England gefahren. Deshalb kannte ich Dinge wie ‘Teletubbies’ und ‘Peter the Rabbit’ bevor man sie in Deutschland gekannt hat.

Lo que más me gusta de aprender idiomas es conocer otras culturas, tener una mirada de general culturas y poder lograr la de comunicación.

What motto do you live by?

Je n’ai pas “motto” mais je pense qu’il faut juste vivre sa vie et ne pas s’inquiéter ou penser au passé tout le temps.

Ändere was du ändern willst und was du ändern kannst.

Hmm… ies difícil! No se si es un motto, pero, no se seria trabajar con perseverancia para lograrlo que lo que quiera.

Which habit would you really like to break?

TALKING IT OVER modern languages

Before their time at SWPS came to an end, language assistants

Cécile Dorget, Cosima Sauer, and Ana Del Vallenavas met up with Eva Shah and Alisa McInerney (Lower 6th) for a bit of conversation

Il y en a tellement… je dirais qu’il faudrait que j’arrête de m’inquiéter tout le temps de tout.

Das deutsche Vorurteil ist, dass Deutsche immer pünktlich sind. Ich bin aber immer unpünktlich. Das ist eine Gewhonheit, die ich ablegen muss.

Creo que sería la procrastinación! Paso mucho tiempo en el celular.

What would you most like to have accomplished in five years’ time?

Comme je l’ai dit avant avec ma “bucket list,” je voudrais finir mes études, ce serait très très très bien, et bien sûr trouver un travail sur le long terme.

Mein Uniabschluss machen und einen Job haben, den ich mag.

talking it over

Me gustaría haber viajado y trabajar como traductora en trabajo completo.

What are the top three aspects of your country?

Je dirais la nourriture ce qui est une chose important pour la France. Je pense la diversité aussi, il y a beaucoup de mixité culturelle. Je pense que c’est quelque chose d’important pour une vie, et la mauvaise humeur des Français.

Der erste Aspekt ist, dass wir viele tolle Traditionen und Bräuchen wie Fasching oder Sankt Nikolaus haben. Der Zweite ist das Essen. Deutschland ist nicht so berühmt oder beliebt für sein Essen aber ich habe es schon sehr vermisst. Der Dritte ist dass wir in Deutschland für die Uni keine Gebühren bezahlen müssen.

Creo que el primer aspecto tiene que ser la gente y creo que también hay un estilo y una mezcla multicultural lo tanto colocar, pero creo que la cantidad de diferentes paisajes que tenemos, y la comida - también hay una mezcla buena.

If you had your own talk show, who would be your first three guests?

Peut-être le réalisateur Steven Spielberg, parce que je l’aime beaucoup, mais je n’ai pas de personne en tête pour l’instant, je ne peux pas dire vraiment.

Als Politiker würde ich Barack Obama einladen und als Schauspieler vielleicht Benedict Cumberbatch. Als Schriftsteller

würde ich entweder John Green oder J.K. Rowling einladen.

¡Ese es la más difícil! No lo sé pero pienso que serían músicos. Me gusta mucho coldplay así que Chris Martin probablemente,quizás Bono o León Gieco, un cantante argentino… no lo sé.

Tell us about your biggest pet peeve

Je pense que ce sont les gens qui donnent leurs avis sans qu’on le leur ai demandé.

Wenn jemand die ganze Zeit schlechte Laune hat oder über irgendetwas rumheult. Es zieht dich auch runter und das finde ich nervig.

Depende de mi humor. Pero, creo que la gente que cuando van caminando por la calle y se paran en el medio.

OCCUPIED FRANCE

Céline Cooper (Head of French) talks to Eva Shah (Lower 6th) about her family’s wartime experiences

During World War II, France was occupied by the Nazis from June 1940 to August 1944. Both the French and the Germans thought the occupation would only be temporary, lasting until Britain came to terms. For this reason, France agreed that its soldiers would remain prisoners of war until all hostility ceased.

the two sides of my family had very different experiences

of the German occupation

However, the occupation lasted longer than expected, greatly

affecting the lives of many. As she explained to me, Madame Cooper’s family had two very contrasting experiences:

“When I studied the Second World War at school, I became fascinated with what my own grandparents could have experienced and I started asking a lot of questions. This is when I learnt that the two sides of my family had very different experiences of the German occupation.

On my mother’s side, my grandma and grandad were newlyweds living in Lyon, part of Vichy France (the unoccupied Free Zone). My grandad, Alec, had done his studies at les Arts et Métiers, a grande école (institution of higher education) and was a successful business director. As he was an intelligent man, when the war broke out he was made a captain and therefore had many responsibilities within the army. My grandma, Suzette, was a housewife with no children and lived the life of any normal upper class woman at the time. When France lost against Germany, my grandad was made a prisoner of war and sent to a prisoner camp in Poland. He tried to escape from there twice, and the second time was successful. He found his way back to France to join the resistance straight away. Until his death, he refused to talk about it; all he told us was that they were so hungry in the prisoner camp that when he escaped the second time with another prisoner, they took the cook’s cat with them to eat because he was nice and fat!

He also kept one of the propaganda items used by the resistance, which I show to my Senior Sixth every year. My mum’s parents both had very negative views of the Germans and were appalled that my parents were allowing me to learn German as my first modern foreign language when I started Year 7. I remember it vividly because they were always so polite and it was the first time I heard my grandma swear! I didn’t really understand it at the

time but now I know that for them the occupation symbolised the loss of all the luxury my grandma was used to having, and for my grandad it symbolised the horrors he must have seen and suffered through.

On my father’s side, both my grandparents were very poor factory workers. They lived in a small village near Angers in the northwest of France, the occupied part of the country. When we lost the war, my grandad, Maurice, was sent to Germany to work in one of their factories as part of the STO (forced labour programme) leaving my nan, Aimée, alone with three daughters aged ten, eight and four.

there was a shortage of everything and Aimée struggled to feed her daughters

It was very common for German soldiers to take residency in a French person’s home and this is what happened to my nan. Contrary to my mother’s parents, Aimée was very happy to talk about that time; my grandad died before I was born so I never had the opportunity to talk to him about it. She always looked so serious when talking about their daily life but when mentioning the German soldier she always talked about him fondly. His name was Heinrich and he was married with two children, but his family was still in Germany; my nan said his French was very good and he

often talked about his family and how much he missed them.

In occupied France times were tough; there was a shortage of everything and Aimée struggled to feed her three daughters. The cold and lack of food were the two things she found incredibly difficult to cope with. Heinrich missed his family and began to help my nan by bringing food such as bread and bits of meat, so that she could make her broth last for a couple of days longer. When her youngest child caught scarlet fever, he looked after the other two girls so that she could focus on her sick child. Unfortunately, she died just after her fifth birthday, but Heinrich was there for her and he took care of everything. Their friendship lasted for a couple of years, until the day he was caught by his superior with the food he was going to share with Aimée. It was forbidden to help the French people and his actions resulted in him being sent to the Russian front. My nan said that when he left, they promised to write to one another, and after the war was over my grandad tried to find him to thank him for all that he did. Unfortunately, they never heard from him again; they both assumed he died on the Eastern front. Her stories made me realise that a lot of the Germans we demonised were just normal men who had families too and who were just obeying orders.”

THE TABLE

Francesca Duke (Senior 6th) discusses her A Level drama group’s thought-provoking new play. Pictures by Ian Russell

The Table was a collaborative production, created by the seven members of the cast. We wanted the play to be about the way people can project importance, either consciously or subconsciously, onto a mundane, inanimate object, such as a table. We therefore devised an episodic drama, making a simple, solid-looking, wooden table the connecting element in all our scenes.

Having decided on this structure, we were keen to avoid using, as far as we could, a naturalistic performance style. We decided we wanted to use visually stimulating physical theatre to communicate with our audience.

Through a workshop with the theatre company Frantic Assembly, we learned a lot about physical theatre, such as how it could allow us to distil thoughts, feelings and characters into specific movements. We felt that this would challenge us to look at everyday situations in a new light, as we would be forced to explore the minutiae of each moment.

In the course of our research, we realised that there is no singular concrete definition of physical theatre. We were very influenced, though, by the definition offered by writer Dymphna Callery: “A physical approach to performance where language is only one of the performance elements”.

In physical theatre, movement can be the driving force behind any scene. We went to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the

Night Time, and saw how lifting the actors can add to the clarity of a movement; for example, when the central character’s mother was lifted by the ensemble, she did a somersault in their arms to make it clear she was in the sea. We also saw the Kneehigh theatre company’s 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, which showed us that less is often more. For example, there was a scene when a character entered

the stage holding just a pair of motorbike handles, yet it was clear that he was supposed to be riding a motorbike.

With our production we aimed to: create engaging movements which clearly showed our characters’ emotions and motivations; emphasise the significance of the table and what it symbolised in different situations; devise work using our bodies rather than our minds.

WORKING WITH SEA TURTLES

Report by Ellen Parry (Lower 6th)

Last summer, I spent two weeks in Greece working with loggerhead sea turtles. I volunteered with an organisation called GVI (Global Vision International) who run programmes across the world ranging from animal conservation to community development.

The area of Greece I went to is called Kyparrisia Bay and has just overtaken Zakynthos as the most important nesting site for loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean. Until recently, along the 10 km stretch of beach, around 700 nests were typically found each year, but in 2016 the number was over

2000. Loggerhead turtles are incredibly vulnerable to any changes in their environment so careful conservation is key to their survival.

The programme I was part of had two main elements. For the morning surveys we would leave our campsite at 5.00am and walk along the beach. We would be looking for turtle tracks, which look a lot like tyre tracks on the sand. If we came across a set of turtle tracks, we would follow them and hopefully discover a nest. We would then dig up the nest (which admittedly sounds contrary to the aim of the project, but I promise you it helps!) and take

measurements from the top of the clutch of eggs to the shoreline. If the nest was too close to the sea, we would relocate it further up the beach, to prevent the nest becoming flooded with seawater. I relocated around eight nests and in each there were about 80 to 120 eggs. Despite the large numbers of eggs, only one in every 1000 hatchlings reach adulthood; for loggerheads, this is around 15 to 20 years of age.

the turtles

lay their eggs in a trance-like state, unaware of our presence

Marine turtles encounter a crucial challenge in the first 24 hours of their lives, when they start moving accross the beach to reach the ocean. The BBC documentary Planet Earth II showed a film of confused turtle hatchlings in Barbados moving towards the

bright city lights instead of the moonlight on the sea, highlighting one of the major threats to their survival: urbanisation.

The second element of our work was the night surveys. Small groups of us would leave the campsite at midnight equipped with red light head torches. All seven species of marine turtles are sensitive to white light; it would have scared them and made them return to sea without nesting. If we came across a turtle nesting we would measure their shell, time how long it would take for them to finish the nesting process and place a GPS tracker on their rear flipper. We would manage to do all of this because the turtles actually lay their eggs in a trancelike state, so were unaware of our presence.

Most sea turtles undergo long migrations – some as far as 1400 miles – and yet every two to three years they dig their nests at the very location where they once crawled out of their own eggs; a behaviour known as natal homing. So the hatchlings that I saw will return, in 15 or so years, to exactly

the same place to lay their eggs. Turtles are able to do this because, once they have hatched from the nest, the time they spend on the beach travelling to the sea establishes their internal magnetic compass. This is why it’s important to never pick up hatchlings found on the beach as, ultimately, it destroys their navigation chances.

One of the most amazing features of turtles is how their gender is decided. Unlike most animals, they rely on the

temperature of the surrounding sand during incubation to determine gender. If the sand is warmer, there will be more females and vice versa. Global warming, therefore, presents the most severe threat to their survival as their breeding ratios will be far from equal if the planet continues to increase in temperature.

It now seems ages ago that I saw my first loggerhead nesting and then waddling back out to sea under the spellbinding night sky with the Milky Way as her roof and the Moon as her guide.

The trip was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had and allowed me to meet some amazing people, most of whom I remain in contact with. The trip really opened my eyes to the world of conservation and has inspired me to do an Extended Project on conservation biology, focussing on marine turtles.

I will be doing a wildlife conservation internship in South Africa with GVI in my gap year before University. I may also return to Greece and work as a project leader for the under 18s. I’d also like to work with different species of turtles across the world and work with turtle hatchlings too.

Volunteering was definitely a highlight of my life so far; it helped me to see the world from a different perspective. It was certainly an adventure worth having – one that I will always be grateful for.

Painting

SOPHIE’S CHOICES

Sophie Coulson

(Senior 6th)

Wand power requirements of an Aframax tanker to base our model design around. An Aframax is a medium-sized oil tanker; it gets its name from AFRA which stands for Average Freight Rate Assessment.

discusses the key issues she and her team had to navigate their way through while working on a particularly challenging engineering project last year “ ”

The sources of energy we decided to look into were waste heat from the engines, sea-water, wind and solar.

hen I was in the Lower Sixth, I was part of a team of six science students who worked on a project initiated by EDT (Engineering Development Trust). The main elements of the project, and the scheme it was part of, were outlined in the last edition of this Magazine.

Our brief was to design an oil tanker that exploited renewable technologies to reduce its fuel costs and CO2 emissions; the oil industry has the target of making a 20% reduction in its CO2 emissions by the year 2020, and 50% by 2025.

We were given the dimensions

Our brief was to design an oil tanker that exploited renewable technologies to reduce its fuel costs and CO2 emissions

The oil tanker required power for both its thrust, which was around 100 megawatts (MW), and for the accommodation block housing the crew, around 900 kilowatts (kW).

We had to look at how to both generate and store the power.

With wind, we considered wind turbines as well as sails and kites. Sails are known to work on ships as they were used long before the introduction of engines, but we decided to reject both sails and kites in favour of wind turbines; kites have not been used to power ships on such a large scale, and sails are relatively impractical. We chose to use a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT), which spins about a vertical shaft, rather than a horizontal axis turbine, despite it being the less efficient of the two types. We went with a VAWT because we knew it could be powered by wind coming from any point on the compass, so the direction it faced would not need adjusting in response to the constantly changing wind conditions our oil tanker would endure at sea.

We decided to also use solar panels on our tanker, as there was a large amount of unused space, above where the oil was stored, where the panels could be placed. The crew, we discovered, could not use this space due to safety issues. Solar panels have their limitations. They are expensive and not hugely efficient; they are dependent on weather conditions (they need sunshine, of course!) and they only work in the daytime. However, we decided to use them anyway because they are one of the most advanced forms of renewable

technology, and because they would make use of the otherwise “dead” space on our tanker.

We also looked into the idea of using thermoelectric generators to utilize the waste heat produced by the tanker’s engines. This type of generator works by producing electricity from the heat difference between two of its sides. It exploits something know as the Seebeck Effect – the production of a voltage difference between two conductors of different temperatures. We decided not to use this type of generator as it is currently only around 5% efficient and the technology for it is still being developed. However, we thought it had a lot of potential for use in the future.

sophie’s choices

The final option we explored was obtaining power from saltwater, as this is abundant and very accessible for an oil tanker in the sea. The only technology that is currently available in this field is salt-water batteries. They work using different metal electrodes in salt solution to produce a potential difference. We decided against using these as they too are not yet fully developed and hence are not very efficient. These also, we felt, have the potential to be useful in the future.

To store the energy on our tanker, we decided to use rechargeable batteries as these are known to work on a large scale. We knew they would increase the weight (and therefore decrease

the efficiency) of our vessel, but we decided that this was a worthwhile sacrifice. Energy storage is vital due to the varying and unpredictable nature of weather conditions at sea.

For our oil tanker, we decided that at this stage it would be most effective to use a mixture of both renewable and non-renewable power sources because of current inefficiencies in renewable power systems.

But this is a fast growing field. As the engineers working with these technologies continue to make progress, it will become increasingly possible to have a vessel as big as an oil tanker powered entirely from renewable sources.

MEETING RESISTANCE

Report by Tamsin Mantel-Cooper (Lower 6th)

It is highly likely that you’ve taken an antibiotic at least once in your lifetime and doctors have been prescribing these miracle workers for the past 70 years. Since penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928, these drugs have been used to treat a variety of infectious diseases, from strep throat or ear infections as a child, to burning urinary tract infections or itchy skin infections as an adult. We stuff them into ourselves and our animals: we spray them on crops, dump them in rivers, and even paint them on the hulls of boats to keep off barnacles! In general, they are used to treat or prevent a vast amount of bacterial infections. These drugs have been used so widely, and for so long, that the infectious organisms the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective. Unless we act swiftly, we could be facing a world without antibiotics, such as Penicillin, within 20 years, and could face returning to a life where epidemics of bacterial infections such as the bubonic plague wipe out thousands of people.

There are many ways that antibiotic resistance can occur, the most common being overprescribing of antibiotics to humans. Often, humans are prescribed antibiotics when they are not needed or the wrong dosage is prescribed. They aren’t effective against viral infections, such as the common cold or flu, but people still demand these ’wonder drugs’ as they think they will help them recover faster and get back to work quicker. In some parts of the world such as India, anyone can buy antibiotics over the counter without even seeing a doctor!

Bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter that contaminate food became resistant to antibiotics, because antibiotics that are medicinally important to treating humans are often also used on food-producing animals. We are about to reach the point where more antibiotics are used on farm animals worldwide than on humans!

The spread of the resistant strains of bacteria from person to person, such as MRSA, or from the non-human sources in the environment is also another factor in the growth of antibiotic resistance. As a result of antibiotic resistance, super bugs have evolved. This means that once again, diseases such as tuberculosis and septicaemia that killed people in the earlier centuries are now coming back to haunt us. Super bugs could kill a human every three seconds by 2050 unless the world acts now; experts warn that resistance to the drugs that are used to fight infections could cause a bigger threat to mankind than cancer.

Antibiotic resistance means that surgery could also carry a much higher risk of complications

due to infections, and it could eventually be too dangerous to perform surgery such as caesarean sections, joint replacements and organ donations.

So how can we reduce the chances of an antibiotic resistant world? Well, it’s impossible to completely avoid the risk of antibiotic-resistant infections. However, it is possible to reduce the chances of antibiotic resistance – this can be achieved by reducing the unnecessary use of antibiotics in agriculture and restricting animal usage from critically important antibiotics. We could help reduce the demand for antibiotics by promoting the development of new vaccines and using alternatives to antibiotics such as colloidal silver. The general public also need to be able to recognise when antibiotics are not needed. There is a big campaign within the NHS to prevent doctors and dentists prescribing antibiotics for trivial conditions, this means that antibiotics are now no longer routinely used to treat uncomplicated ear infections in children and sore throats and coughs.

It is important to research and develop new antibiotic drugs so that pharmaceutical companies are encouraged by meaningful incentives, such as a reward for bringing a new drug to market.

It is hoped that the problem of antibiotic resistance is taken seriously by the medical profession, vets and farmers, and that awareness is raised amongst the public, so that we all cut down on the use of antibiotics worldwide in order to be able to treat future bacterial conditions and prevent superbugs from potentially wiping out the human and animal population.

Picture by Grace King (Senior Sixth)

Nanotechnology is the term used to define science and engineering at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometres. One nanometre is equivalent to a billionth of a metre: a virus is about 40 nanometres in diameter and DNA is roughly 2.5 nanometres across, both of which are far too small to see with the naked eye. To put this into perspective: if one marble represented one nanometre, a meter would be equivalent to the diameter of the Earth.

Since specialist equipment is required to even observe material of this magnitude, it is difficult to believe that individual atoms and molecules can be physically manipulated in ways which will revolutionise industries such as medicine, energy, security and environmental science.

It is even harder to believe that this profound technology is already dramatically benefitting global quality of life.

Despite the futuristic impression given by the advanced science behind nanotechnology, it is actually already prevalent in our day-to-day lives. A surprising number of everyday gadgets already utilise nanotechnology to improve quality and durability. The most common example would be water and scratch resistant smartphones, which are the result of a thin clear nanoscale film covering the surface.

Nanomaterials like these are arguably the most exciting product of research, with applications including lightweight body armour for soldiers and light weighting of vehicles for fuel savings.

” “

The nanoscale provides endless opportunities for current technologies

Aside from practical uses in the first world, nanotechnology has more humanitarian applications which could make a real difference in improving quality of life in low income and developing nations. Cost efficient, portable 15-20 nanometre wide water filters have been manufactured to treat drinking water in emerging countries which can filter out bacteria and viruses. Considering current figures show 663,000,000 people live without clean water, millions of lives could be saved

with the cheap, extremely effective technology which were previously too expensive for charities and organisations to save.

As the technology is explored further, more futuristic applications are constantly being discovered. Nanoscale materials are being manufactured which contain flexible nanoscale sensors allowing for health monitoring, the capture of solar energy, and even the harvest of kinetic energy from movement, all through clothing made from washable durable ‘smart fabrics’.

This form of continual monitoring of medical conditions would greatly improve the freedom and independence of patients with health issues such as diabetes. Better understanding of an individual’s condition enabled by this would pave the way for personalised treatment options and thus higher success rates of treatment. The physical methods of treatment themselves are also being revolutionised through nanotechnology, with the development of painless vaccine delivery without the use of needles on the horizon.

Essentially, the nanoscale provides endless opportunity for enhancement of current technologies. It makes what was once deemed impossible probable and will only lead to further discovery. This is why the new branch of science that is nanotechnology might just be the most exciting development yet.

Bethany Watkins (Lower 6th) investigates nanotechnology and the impact it could have on our future

THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE ?

OUR ELECTION

In our June mock election all of the candiates ran committed, hard-fought campaigns. The Conservatives won and the Green Party came second; Lexie Grant (Lower 6th) now talks to their candidates: Iesha Allen (Conservatives, Yr 10) and Emma Falkentoft-Hansen (Greens, Yr 10)

How did you first get involved in the school election?

Iesha Allen: It was quite spur of the moment; I thought it sounded like a good idea. A friend was also going to get involved and she ended up supporting me.

What aspect of it appealed to you the most?

Emma Falkentoft-Hansen: I have

quite strong political views. And I feel that not enough people know much about the Green Party, other than they care for the environment, so I thought it was important to get across what else we believe in.

IA: What drove me the most, when choosing to represent the the Tories, was that I would be able to challenge myself. The Conservatives aren’t a political party that I completely identify with. I wanted to be able to challenge myself and speak for a party whose views didn’t necessarily align with my own, and I think I learnt a lot from that experience.

What did you have to do for the election campaign?

IA: The campaign was divided into three separate stages. The first stage was very much me gathering a team. I had five of my friends helping me, for example

by making posters and distributing them around the school. The second stage was studying the Tory manifesto, clarifying what our strengths are as a party, and making that material into an easy to understand, marketable speech that would appeal to everyone. The third stage was the hustings.

Which aspects did you find particularly challenging? Which aspects did you enjoy the most?

EFH: The aspect I found the most challenging, yet also what I enjoyed the most, was the hustings. Even though I enjoy public speaking, it was quite intimidating as there were a lot more people there than I had anticipated. But I still really enjoyed the experience.

What were the key messages that you were trying to get across?

EFH: Of course the environment is at the heart of what the Green Party stands for. However, I think our manifesto was also focused on change – making this country a true democracy. Even within the Party itself, everyone involved gets a say. We also believe the younger generation are incredibly important for the future.

IA: Our campaign was primarily focused on the repercussions of Brexit and how the Tory Party as

a force in Parliament will be able to deal with it, especially in terms of negotiating a great deal that will allow us access to economic groups such as the Single Market and the Customs Union. It was also very much about reassuring people that the Tories will make a good job of all that.

Were you pleased with the Brexit result?

IA: I would have preferred us to have stayed in the EU, because I think economically we were in a much stronger position, and it gave us a lot of ties to Europe and the world.

Did that create a dilemma for you while you were campaigning?

IA: Yes, definitely, as I don’t necessarily align with the Tories on everything. There were several moments of conflict regarding Brexit; their hard Brexit strategy was initially something that I felt really conflicted about. However, I figured it was something that I had to get on with and communicate in a way that people would understand.

Which aspects of UK politics do you think need changing?

EFH: I think that there needs to be more truth in the news and in the stories we are told. We hear a lot of scaremongering from the parties and the media, and a lot of biased opinions. It can seem confusing to the public when they are trying to decide how to vote.

IA: I agree with Emma: clarity is really important. I also believe that everyone needs to be able to have a say in politics. I think this may involve allowing my generation to have more of a voice. The majority of young people voted differently from their parents over Brexit. In the election, more young people voted for Labour and the Greens. I think if the voting age were lower,

the outcome of elections would be very different.

In our election we had a Tory landslide and the Greens achieved an impressive second place. How do you account for the differences between our results and the results nationally?

EFH: I think a large part of it is the different generations. In school we are younger than the rest of the British voting public and, due to this, we tend to be more open-minded. I think it is also about education in relation to the Green Party. Most people believed we were only concerned with the environment and not strong enough to run a government. However once people knew more about us, they realised we were a strong party.

IA: Many people may not consider Teresa May to be someone they can relate to. Being able to identify with the person you are electing is really important. If a party doesn’t build that connection with the voting population, they will not get voted into power.

There seems to be a lot of tribalism in UK politics. For example, when they are in the House of Commons, our politicians spend a lot of time shouting at the other side. What are your feelings about this?

EFH: I believe

there’s not a lot you can do about that, due to there being lots of strong personalities within Parliament as well as MPs feeling very strongly about their party and its policies. I think it’s quite natural to an extent. However, I do think that Parliament could be run in a less traditional way and I feel as though we need to break away from the system we have at the moment.

IA: I definitely agree with Emma regarding the House of Commons situation; I do understand that people have very strong opinions and are passionate about what they are debating. This is good in a way because it means there will be change and people’s voices will be heard, especially if there are politicians who echo what the public are saying. However, the way these messages are being communicated at presented is, arguably, not very democratic.

Tabitha Inglis (Year 9)

Mia Watson (Year 7)

Emma Currier (Year 7)

Iris Patten (Year 8)

Sarah Biswas (Year 8)

Georgina Bullen (Year 7)

Maeve Slater (Year 7)

Sophie Young (Year 8)

Milly Wee (Year 7)

MY TOKYO EXPERIENCE

Last summer Anais Patten (Lower 6th) spent three extraordinary weeks on a Study Abroad programme in Tokyo. Here’s her report

It all started in October 2015 when my family decided to go on a two-week holiday to Japan. We already knew that we enjoyed Japan’s cuisine and popular culture, and we wanted to visit the gorgeous shrines and landmarks, and experience life in a country that’s very different to England. I’ve always had a passion for experiencing new places and different cultures, and it’s been fuelled by my family’s love of travel.

I had learned a little of the language before going on the holiday, which I enjoyed as

Japanese shares almost no roots with our own, making the learning feel very fresh and exciting. Written Japanese has three different alphabets: hiragana and katakana, which are syllabaries, and kanji, which is made up of Chinese symbols denoting words. I found being able to read both katakana and hiragana when I was in Japan thrilling, and the more I heard the language around me, the more I grew to love it.

After coming home I started to think seriously about studying Japanese at university. However, I felt I needed to have a taste of what studying the language in a school environment might be like. My parents and I found a Study Abroad course that combined both learning the language and exploring the culture. Suddenly, I was going to Japan on my own for three weeks!

At first I was terrified. I had never travelled on my own before, and the idea of jumping into something like this, not really knowing what to expect, was daunting to say the least. For a while, it seemed the more excited I grew about my impending journey, the more anxious I began to feel. After a smooth transfer through France, though, I began to feel at ease.

When I exited the gate at Narita airport in Tokyo, I was met by my supervisor and teachers,

and I waited with them for the other students to arrive. There were 18 students in total on the trip, and the ages ranged from 14 to 18. After spending a night at a hotel, we were able to meet our host families who we would be staying with for the duration of the trip. My host family consisted of a 14-year-old daughter, a nineyear-old son, and the mother and father, who insisted I call them Okaa-san and Otou-san (mother and father in Japanese).

I had to travel a fairly long way to the language school from my host family’s house, which was in Sagami-Hara, outside Tokyo. I spent around an hour on the bus, followed by an hour on the train into Shinjuku station (the busiest train station in the world!), and then a twenty-minute walk to the school. Fortunately, on days when

I managed to find a seat, the long commute provided a good amount of time for me to study.

The school itself was located on the twelfth floor of an office

building and contained two classrooms: one for beginner level students and one for intermediate level; I was in the latter. The small number of students in the class meant that we all quickly became quite familiar with each other, and the shared experience of living in another country brought us even closer together. Most of the students came from the USA, but there were a couple from Spain and China and one from Nigeria. The mix of different cultures and backgrounds was very interesting, as everyone perceived the experience slightly differently,

sharing their own views on the culture and society of Japan.

On the course we visited many places and took part in lots of cultural activities. Highlights included the Tea Ceremony, Japanese calligraphy, Asakusa and a visit to Harajuku and the Meiji shrine. The classes were also very effective as they were taught purely in Japanese. This rapidly built up our skills as we were not switching between English and Japanese all the time; it allowed us to eventually think in Japanese as opposed to just speaking it. Of course, actually being in Japan also forced you to constantly use Japanese.

My host family were wonderful and, by far, the highlight of my trip. By staying with a family in a foreign country, you not only experience an outsider’s view of society, but also get a glimpse of society from the inside. This felt like such a valuable experience, especially as someone who is used to visiting countries as a tourist!

The challenge of the language barrier also really helped me to improve my Japanese, and my host family were also able to improve their English! I became very close to the family. I talked with my host sister and mother frequently, and played Mario Kart and other games with my host brother. I did some of the chores around the house and helped my host mother with the cooking.

We did a lot of activities together. I was able to go to a yukata (summer kimono) festival with my family, and had a daytrip to Kamakura where we visited

four different shrines, ate soba and took part in zazen (a ZenBuddhism meditation exercise). I also went to a karaoke session with my host sister and one of her friends, which was great fun. My host mother cooked the most amazing Japanese dinners every night, which I still miss! We are still in contact and frequently send emails.

My Study Abroad trip to Japan was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I became vastly more confident and sure of myself as a person. I also was able to make friends for life, not just within my class, but also in my host family. My Japanese improved exponentially throughout

the program, and I was able to experience parts of Japanese culture from the inside – a very rare opportunity. And it helped strengthen my desire to study Japanese at university.

Ja, mata!

PRODUCTION IN A WEEKEND

ANNIE

Report by Megan Dodd (Lower 6th)

This is the musical that many of us had been hoping would be our Production in a Weekend. We had high expectations and we wanted to execute it brilliantly. We auditioned many talented students and were certainly spoilt for choice; at times we were brought to tears by the full range of emotions communicated by our young actors. When we cast the show, knowing who we would be spending the weekend with reassured us that our production of Annie had the potential to be a roaring success.

Although for some the show truly did come together over the weekend, it is impossible to ignore the hard work we all put in behind the scenes to bring 1930s’ New York to life on stage in Chertsey. From costume bargain hunting and dance choreography, to set planning and volumes of music transpositions, our team pulled together tighter than ever. It may not have been an easy street but we loved every minute of it. The gifted artists from our year sketched outlines of the set, finalised colour choices and purchased paints. We had to source numerous props ensuring that we did not blow our budget; it was a learning experience for all of us, which taught us plenty of life lessons – not least, that you really are never fully dressed without a smile. A lot of hurdles had to be jumped but spirits remained high and we persevered, remembering that the sun will always come out tomorrow!

Over the jam-packed weekend, our incredibly committed cast faced stressed sixth formers, countless costume fittings, and what I hope were memorable and immensely enjoyable rehearsals. I don’t think there was a moment of boredom and although some of the girls may have thought it was a hard knock life running dance numbers over and over again, the results were amazing. The cast exceeded our expectations; seeing what we had spent months blocking come to life on stage was fantastic, and seeing each actor put their own spin on their characters was

very exciting. As the weekend progressed, everyone’s enthusiasm grew. On the day of the production, after dress and technical rehearsals, we had a final pep talk and the show commenced. Even though there were some questionable set changes on our part, the performers were phenomenal and could not have made us more proud. We are so grateful to have been able to work with our remarkable cast and for the huge effort they put in to the show. They certainly did not leave us thinking that something was missing

On the Sunday night, we were rewarded with a splendid show that left us feeling overwhelmed and full of pride. Through ticket sales, and the generous donations from our enthusiastic audience, our production raised £1300 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

ANNE BOLEYN; FEMINIST?

Painting by Rhiannon Beddoe (Senior 6th). Words by Lexie Grant (Lower 6th)

When we think of Anne Boleyn we normally think of scandal, seduction, betrayal, and her fate, which was sealed with a dramatic execution. But what if she was simply a woman born before her time; an intelligent woman who played a risky game of politics and lost? Although, of course, the term feminism did not exist during the Tudor period, there are still powerful figures like Anne throughout history that can be seen to challenge the gender norms.

Whilst it may seem

anachronistic to call Anne a feminist, she can be seen as a feminist role model from the standpoint of the 21st century post-feminist society. Historian Alison Weir believes this portrayal of Anne can be traced back to her early life spent at the French court, where influential women such as Marguerite of Valoise, who has been described as the first modern woman, surrounded her. This may have exposed Anne to the revolutionary idea of the querelle de femmes (the woman question), which challenged female roles in society and questioned whether men really were the cleverer sex. Anne would have also been familiar with the literary works of Christine de Pizan, such as the Book of the City of the Ladies, published in 1521, roughly around the time Anne returned from France, and described by historian Constance Jordan as “the most explicitly feminist text to be published in England in the first half of the century.”

But how does the idea of the querelle de femmes relate to Anne and her mission to win over King Henry VIII and become Queen? Weir states, “it is a concept that [Anne] would have understood and it underpinned her ambitions and self-image.” This is evident in Anne and Henry’s courtship, which lasted seven years, whilst Henry tirelessly tried to obtain a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. This

is admirable in itself as Anne was able to capture the King’s attention and even to become ‘obsession’ without becoming his mistress. Instead, she arguably used her wit and intelligence to entice him, with the promise to produce the male heir he so desperately wanted in order to achieve her goal of becoming Queen.

However, Anne’s strong character and ambition are what doubtlessly led to her downfall. As well as her unpopularity at court and frequent spats with the King, Anne did not comply with typical wifely behaviour or stay in her proper place as suggested by her involvement with the reformation of the Church. Anne’s unconventional, outspoken and at times flirtatious nature is perhaps what helped Cromwell to build up a case and even make the charges of adultery against her appear believable to court. Ultimately, it was her failure to produce for Henry his promised male heir that sealed her fate.

Over the years, there have been many different historical interpretations of Anne Boleyn in books and the media from seductress to cold opportunist, and even a witch. Personally, I believe that Anne was a strong, intelligent, aspiring woman, who to an extent can be seen as having feminist characteristics and can be regarded with a certain degree of admiration.

hacking

illegally using a computer to access information stored on another computer system or to spread a computer virus. “ ”

The above definition, from the Cambridge English Dictionary, firmly presents hacking as a crime. It seems to me, though, that hackers fall into one of the following categories: anarchists (people who want to cause chaos), mavericks (people who

noun

the activity of

see hacking as a challenge to overcome), or cyber criminals (those who hack with criminal intent).

Anarchists (or hacktivists) hack to advance their cause, whether political or ethical. For example, the app Snapchat, which I suspect will be familiar to the majority of readers, was allegedly hacked in the April of 2017. According to Information is Beautiful, the popular social media site had a total of 1.7 million records stolen by an Indian Hacker Group after the CEO of the company’s alleged statement that India was a “poor country” to which he had no intention of expanding. The hacking group apparently made this information available on the dark web. I fear that this underbelly of the internet is now dominated by an embarrassingly large number of puppy-filter selfies. Although these hackers claimed to have leaked the stolen data, Snapchat itself did not confirm any breaches of data. The credibility of such

stories must always be taken into consideration.

Snapchat was successfully hacked in 2014 and it is not clear if this latest supposed hack was simply a hoax aimed to embarrass the company’s CEO. However, it does show an anarchist movement using hacking, or the allusion of it, to support its own agenda.

In June 2016, the then 31-year-old Lauri Love, an Asperger’s sufferer, was accused of stealing a large amount of data from high profile US agencies such as the Department of Defence, Nasa and the FBI. He was allegedly working as a member of the hacktivist group Operation Last Resort. The group was engaged in a campaign that was a response to the death of Aaron Swartz, American Computer programmer and fellow hacktivist.

My second category, mavericks, contains people who could be described as loners, seemingly driven by the thrill of the hack and the challenge it provides. For example, 16-year-old

WHO ARE THE HACKERS?

Jessica

Chinn (Lower 6th) explores the shadowy world of computer hacking. Picture by

Maria Marshall (Senior 6th)

who are the hackers?

Grant Manser, according to the Telegraph newspaper, made £50,000 from the sanctuary of his bedroom by selling a programme he had developed on the dark web. His customers used his software to attack over 200,000 websites including companies, schools and even government departments. The programme worked by overloading systems with information until they could no longer operate (a lot like an A-Level revision schedule). However, Manser’s lawyer claimed that he was not a hacker and it was his “immaturity and naivety which led him to commit these offences”.

In 2009 and 2010 a German teenager hacked into the computers of renowned pop stars such as Lady Gaga, Kesha, Justin Timberlake, and Mariah Carey, stealing personal information, private pictures and unpublished songs. Although he made €15,000 from selling this data, the judge ruled he was “driven more by a desire for recognition than criminal intent”. He was ordered to start a programme of therapy for internet addiction. Although both these teens gained financial reward from their activities, it appears that this was not their initial motivation.

The people in my third category, cyber criminals, are clearly driven by ruthless greed. Around ten years ago, the main trend in cyber crime was to steal millions of credit card details to enable financial fraud; the hackers

could make large sums of money through selling on this stolen data. However, due to improved security measures and modern law enforcement, it is now more difficult to make money by stealing such information. The latest tactic of these criminals is to deploy ransomware, a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid to the hacker. A recent, high profile example of this is the cyber-attack on the NHS. The attack affected many hospitals and GPs through the deployment of the software Wanna Decryptor.

Staff had to resort to the outdated method of pen and paper, along with personal mobiles, after the damaging software affected key systems, including telephones. The ransomware scrambled the computer data and demanded payments of €300 to €600 from the user for them to regain access. It is clear that the motives for hacking can vary greatly. However, if you do happen to be studying computer science, I would recommend finding an entirely legal way of advancing a cause, challenging yourself, or turning a quick profit.

INCONCERT

Words by Theresa Scrutton (Director of Music)

Our concert on Saturday 11 March was the culmination of many months of dedicated hard work on the part of our students and their teachers.

The School Orchestra boldly opened the evening with Farandole from the L’Arlesienne, Suite No.2 by Bizet. Music Scholar Violetta Suvini then stepped forward with her violin to play the gloriously dramatic and extremely challenging Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saëns. Her performance held the audience completely spellbound from the first tender, sighing phrase to the exhilarating concluding bars. The School Orchestra accompanied their soloist well, sensitively accommodating her skilfully nuanced phrasing and tempo changes as the rollercoaster of changing moods in the music dictated. The orchestra’s programme moved from France to northern climes with Finlandia by Sibelius, Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain, a tone poem inspired by Russian legend, and then to Norway with Morning from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite.

Charlotte Mackie, Lila Radja and Millie Wills, advanced and talented flautists who have performed on many occasions together, comprise the Senior

Sixth Flute Trio. They played The Trio from Act 1 of La Boheme by Puccini and The Gypsies’ Chorus from Carmen by Bizet. Their poised, beautifully phrased performance impressed the audience, particularly those who also play the flute who commented on their excellent intonation (not easy to achieve when three flutes get together!).

The first half of the evening concluded with the Chamber Choir, directed by Margaret Hull, performing a cappella the truly uplifting Lift thine eyes to the mountains from Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. After the interval, the audience returned to their seats to listen to a phenomenal performance of Mozart’s Requiem by the Chamber Choir, augmented by guest singers that included current staff, ex-staff, parents, friends, and members from the Guildford and Egham Choral Societies. Lila Radja and Eileen Zoratti shared the soprano solo parts and Francesca Duke and Megan Graham shared the alto.

The Chamber Orchestra, led by Violetta Suvini and Catherine Abela, provided the accompaniment for all the solo and choral movements in the Requiem. Their performance was breath-taking, achieving extraordinary levels of virtuosity and emotional expression.

physical education

TOUGH COMPETITION

Ian Russell talks to

Annabelle Taylor

and Emily Keen

(Year

11), two of our medal-winning rowers. Pictures, from a range of this year’s events, by Paul Daniels

I hear you did rather well at a recent event. Is this so?

Annabelle Taylor: Yes! We were in the women’s J16 Doubles event at the British Championships in Nottingham. We were competing against the best sixteen-year-olds in the country, some of whom we already knew from the GB camp and the trials we’d been on earlier in the year. We came second, won silver medals, so we were over the moon!

How did you get started in rowing?

AT: It was watching the senior athletes in school. They were always there whenever we were training and they would train really hard, but it looked like they were having so much fun. From the beginning, it was a dream of mine to make it into the top boat in the school.

What are the main things you like about it?

Emily Keen: For me it’s racing. Because all the training you’ve done comes together and makes it all worth it, especially when you get a good result. Also, training and seeing improvements in yourself.

AT: My favourite thing has to be the team aspect; I love being in a crew. I love that we go through everything together. I really don’t think I would have made it through the year without them.

What don’t you like about it?

EK: The blisters and the ripped hands. And early morning land training – ergos, weights, and body circuits.

AT: The winter months are definitely hard: from the freezing cold morning water sessions to the never ending endurance ergos, all finishing with a week long seat race where you have to race against your friends - that’s all pretty tough.

What was your training for the Championships like?

AT: Running up to the event, Emily and I were out in the double every day, sometimes twice a day, so we were constantly doing timed pieces to try and find some extra speed. Our coach kept adjusting our boat to see if he could help us go any faster.

How did you feel before the final race?

AT: It’s a hard feeling to describe. We had already done a time trial and a heat, so we knew if we just gave it everything then we should medal, but that didn’t really stop us feeling nervous. There’s not really a worse feeling than attaching to the Stake Boat before a start (at the start of the race, the stern of each competing boat is held by someone on a Stake Boat, to make sure that everyone starts from the right point). I could feel myself shaking!

EK: I was quite nervous beforehand, because we haven’t raced in the doubles that much this year. During the race, it felt okay; we had a good start, it felt pretty comfortable. And then, obviously, the pain came at about halfway. We were in second place and had 1K to go. We were pretty sure that was where we wanted to be, heading for Silver. Towards the end we were feeling pretty happy, because we thought we were probably going to get a medal, but also pretty exhausted. When

Portrait by Jonathan Keir

we crossed the line, it was a great feeling. It didn’t completely sink in straight away; the real happiness came afterwards.

AT: There was a lot of support from the spectators through the last 250 metres. When we crossed the line, we were relieved that it was over, but it was one of the best feelings.

What are your plans for the next few years?

EK: Hopefully, a few more national medals. Obviously there’s managing time with A Levels, but I think we want to qualify for the Henley Royal Regatta in the quad because we didn’t manage that this year, and that was one of our aims. Also, we want to represent Great Britain for the junior team; that would be amazing.

AT: I hope to get in the top quad again and, this time, qualify for Henley. But I think the main thing we want is to end up in Team GB competing in the Coupe de la Jeunesse (the European Junior Championships), in Ireland, at the end of the year. That’s always been my dream, to be in Team GB.

by

physical education SPORTS DAY

Pictures by Alice Sutton and Liyana Ahmed

SWPS Sports Day 2017 was a great success; the weather was warm and sunny, there was a great turn out of parents, teachers, students, and alumni to cheer the athletes on, and FOSWPS provided a BBQ with plenty of Pimms to keep the spectators suitably refreshed. The event was brilliantly organised and the whole day ran very smoothly. The Houses were represented with great enthusiasm by all of their participants; the Lower School’s banners could be seen across the field, the Sixth Form donned their house colours with pride, and there was certainly no

(Lower 6th)

shortage of glitter!

Competition was intense –each student put to good use the skills and techniques they’d learnt in their PE lessons, and excellent performances were seen throughout the day. This year we even had a long-standing record broken: Matilda O’Dea in Year 8 took first place in the 1500m and achieved a new record of 5.03 minutes, smashing the record set in 1989.

For a second year running, thanks to their consistent efforts and achievements across all year groups, Pankhurst were the clear overall winners of 2017 Sports Day with a lead of 46 points.

Burton & Ian Russell

physical education

Words by Katy Brewster (Year 10)

In October, I set off with a group of SWPS girls from Years 10 & 11 to South Africa! After a very long journey, we made it to Knysna where we settled in, ready for our action-packed tour.

We didn’t have long to acclimatise as we were up bright and early the next morning to visit the Belvidere Estate. The rowers would be spending the next couple of days racing (very successfully) and the rest of us would be doing some serious tanning. We then took a lengthy coach journey to Haarlem where we would play our first netball match of the tour. Personally, this was my favourite experience of the tour. We had an amazing welcome, enthusiastic crowds and a delicious match tea. The people there were wonderfully friendly, with a few younger children letting us teach them some gymnastics and beat them in a human pyramid competition.

The next few days raced by

in a flurry of regattas, a trip to Featherbed nature reserve, and we fed some elephants! We even managed to fit in another two sweaty hockey and netball fixtures.

After a week of Knysna excitement, we left for Cape Town. This was another highlight for me as we went up Table Mountain and looked out over Cape Town and the beautiful South African scenery. That afternoon, we visited Langa Township where we were given a tour and fed delicious local food accompanied by drums, before challenging the locals to a tough game of hockey.

The time flew by with visits to see penguins and seals, another regatta, two more netball matches, and a final hockey match. We had a fascinating tour of Robben Island, learning some history of the island and Nelson Mandela’s time there, and we

also enjoyed a cultural dinner in Cape Town, where we were served many traditional dishes, had our faces painted, and were treated to some African dancing and music. Our final adventure was to Aquila Game Reserve, where we met some Cheetahs along the way. We were lucky enough to spend our final night in small huts next to the reserve, and even luckier to wake up to Buffalo playing on our doorstep. We had an evening and an early morning drive where we saw many stunning animals, including a two-hour old baby hippo.

We had an amazing tour: blue skies almost every day, lovely food, challenging sport, and the best experiences ever! None of which would have been possible without our brilliant teachers. Sadly, we did have to leave eventually, but I had such a great time and now have incredible memories of my time in South Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA

WHY I LOVE M A THS

Words by Isla Galpin (Year 8). Picture by Katerina Matheson (Senior 6th)

Ithink the reason that I like maths so much is because it just makes sense. I can look at a maths problem and know how to work it out because it’s all in front of me. Numbers, letters and signs are out on the paper, making it seem more confusing than it really is, and hiding what the answer to your problem may be, but it’s all there for you. You just need to know how to find the answer.

Before walking into a maths exam, you pretty much know what’s coming. It’s going to be all the same things that you’ve been doing in class just with different numbers. Maths usually has rules for each topic, and if you know that rule you’re fine. One simple rule can cover a whole topic of maths. I think that sometimes the rule can get confusing when you’re asked to do it backwards or asked with a lot of extra information. But I think that you just need to remember the original rule and remind yourself that nothing changes that rule.

Another thing I like about maths is that very rarely do you have to give reasons for your answer. This is because your reasons are your workings. And I certainly can’t do lots of maths without workings. 1 + 1 = 2. That’s the answer; you don’t need to give a reason for that answer.

My favourite topic in maths is probably algebra. It’s like a coded letter. You’re given the code but you need to figure out what it says. It may be hidden in a jumble of letters and numbers but really, it’s basic arithmetic with some letters as well.

Maths is in most parts of our lives. We use it everywhere we go. We use it so much and we don’t even

know. If you think about it, maths is numbers and we learned how to count and add in maths. And counting is in pretty much everything. It’s used everywhere and even though there are times where you may be sitting in a maths lesson asking yourself why you need to know this, there are reasons.

You might say that you don’t like maths, but it has so many different forms. From basic arithmetic and counting to area and algebra. So, there might be one aspect of maths that you like and another you don’t.

In maths, if you know the rules and have enough time in the exam it is possible to get 100%. I like that concept because I can go into a maths exam and at least aim for 100%, whereas in another exam I may be aiming for lower. I think the thing that I struggle with most in maths is making silly mistakes which I look back on and get really annoyed over. I will quite often look back over a question and know the answer instantly but somehow, I managed to trip up in the exam when I was, most probably, rushing.

I do tend to rush in maths sometimes and this does mean that I make silly mistakes. I try to check my work in any exams and always forget how many mistakes I do make, until I go over it and kick myself when I realise how many marks I could have lost. It is a great relief, however, when I find out the (hopefully) correct answer and save my fall.

I think that everyone can find that they like maths in some places, even if they haven’t discovered that place yet.

IT’S ALL RELATIVE

Words by Sarah Walton (Lower 6th)

Standard economics is a model based on ‘homo economicus’, which considers humans to be consistently rational and selfinterested. This model assumes people make decisions based on what will benefit themselves the most without considering the implications for others, hence decisions are always optimal because they are made based purely on the weighing up of costs and benefits to the decisionmaker. Behavioural economics is a method of economic analysis that applies psychological insights into human behaviour to explain economic decision-making. It recognises that humans are not always rational and accounts for the three unrealistic traits that the standard economic model includes: unbounded rationality, unbounded willpower, and unbounded selfishness. A key idea behind behavioural economics is relativity: humans think of value in relative terms rather than absolute terms. This means that people derive pleasure from the quality of a deal, not just the value of the object they are purchasing. Due to this need to consider things relatively, humans always compare options when making decisions; when there isn’t an obvious comparison to make between the options, it is difficult to make a choice. Therefore, people’s decisions are often unknowingly influenced simply by the availability of a comparison. Imagine you are presented with three options for a holiday, which are all the same price: a week in Paris, four days in Paris or a week in Rome. Which would you choose? Due to the human trait of considering things in relative terms, a week in Paris is likely to seem the most attractive option. This is because there is an easy

comparison to be made between Paris for a week and Paris for four days: Paris for a week is clearly the better option. Despite the fact that a week in Rome and a week in Paris are of equal value, the availability of an obvious comparison between the two holidays to Paris, which showed the week in Paris to be more valuable, means a week in Paris appears to be the overall best choice.

Dan Ariely, author and professor of psychology and behavioural economics at Duke University, set up an experiment to test this idea using people, rather than holidays, as the options. He took pictures of two equally attractive males to ask girls about, and two equally attractive females to ask boys about: these were option A and B. He then used a computer programme to adjust the options slightly so that they were noticeably less attractive than before: these were options A- and B-. He printed sheets with pictures of both A and B and either A- or B-, so that there was a total of three options per sheet. Finally, he approached students on the Duke campus to ask which of the three options they thought was the most attractive. The results showed that 75% of the time people chose A if the sheet had A, A- and B printed on it, while they chose B if the sheet had A, B and B- on it. These results confirm the theory that humans are influenced simply by the presence of a clear comparison.

It is apparent that the majority of human behaviour is subconscious, however, behavioural economics attempts to account for the irrationality of human behaviour, enabling us to understand why we make particular economic decisions and how our irrational behaviour can impact our daily activities.

Picture by Grace King (Senior 6th)

Alyssa Mantel-Cooper (Year 11)

Cerys Beddoe (Year 11)

Elin Raynaud (Year 11)

Left: Kitty Gahir (Year 11)

Millie Price (Year 11)

Eden Plaistowe (Year 11)

Siena Pledge (Year 11)

Grace Bradshaw (Year 11)

Elisa Brookes (Year 11)

Left: Bea Ross (Year 11)

geography PHOTOGRAPHY TRAVEL

The standard of entries for our competition this year was again extremely high.

1st Prize went to Maddie Arnold (Senior 6th) for her beautiful pictures of Vietnam (opposite page).

Second place went to Rhiannon Beddoe (Senior 6th) for her compelling photos of Ghana (this page). The students’ photographs featured on the following pages were all Highly Commended.

Opposite page: Isle of Lewis by Kate Raven (Year 10)

This page: above three pictures: Zambia by Josie Blake (Year 9); three pictures on the right: Norway by Bea Ross (Year 11)

This page: three pictures on the left: Marrakech by Alice Sutton (Lower 6th). Below: Dubrovnik by Eden Plaistowe (Year 11)

Opposite page: Scotland by Merle Mowbray (Year 8)

The deadline for submitting entries for our next travel photography competition is: Friday 29th September 2017 For more details, talk to Mr Russell, Head of Art & Design.

NATIVE ALASKANS

Report by Annabelle Workman (Lower 6th) Picture by Katerina Matheson (Senior 6th)

Different cultures are always intriguing, especially those with very strong beliefs and traditions. Native Alaskan culture is certainly that, with its own distinct culture and rich history. When one thinks of Native Alaskans, visions of a furwearing, igloo-dwelling, sled-dogmushing people spring to mind. Perhaps not surprisingly, this is not necessarily incorrect.

Despite being passed down orally, their cultures and traditions still have a surviving cultural vibrancy. Yet the Native Alaskans are not without their difficulties. Like many traditional peoples they continue to be encroached upon by outsiders leading to considerable cultural dilution.

In the beginning

If humans originated from Africa,

how, you may ask, did they travel to the continent of North America across thousands of kilometres of sea?

Anthropologists believe that humans travelled to Alaska over the Bering Land Bridge from Asia and Siberia in pursuit of migrating land mammals during the last ice age. This Land Bridge was later submerged with water around 11,000 years BCE creating the Bering Strait. There are estimated to have been around three major migrations from Eurasia to Alaska, with each settling and becoming the ancestors of different and diverse tribes. Currently there are 229 federally recognised tribes in Alaska.

Tribal culture

There are five main groups of tribes in Alaska: the Athabascan (inland dwelling), Aleut (island

dwelling), Tlingit (southern coast), Inupiaq (Arctic Circle) and Yup’ik (south western coast). It is difficult to make generalizations about the cultural life of Native Alaskans as each tribe has its own specificities, even to the extent of anatomical differences.

Commonalities among the tribes exist in some aspects of daily life, for example the shared value of nature and animals and the importance of family. All tribes were hunter-gatherers at some point with some, such as the Inupiaq still being dependent on it today. Life revolves around the cycle of the animals on which they survive, be it polar bears, whales or caribou, hence the immense value placed on animals. This produces a culture of sharing and community, both of which are primordial in their lives. Native Alaskans are

religious, but it is not a western understanding of faith. It is something in which you must be raised or spend a great amount of time surrounded by to understand and therefore cannot be taught. This is also why many are able to be Christian, the presiding religion in Alaska, without it conflicting their traditional beliefs: their religion is not their faith, it has no scripture and is a culture and way of life.

Contact with the outside world

European contact began in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus Bering, leading a Russian expedition, discovered Alaska, claiming it for the Tsars. These new arrivals soon began to exploit a major natural resource of the region: fur. Between 1743 and 1799, 187,000 pelts worth 6 million dollars were taken from Alaska for trade. However, there was no equality between traders and natives. Pelts were bought at a fraction of the price for which they were sold; Alaskan Natives were abused and enslaved, to the extent that entire villages were annihilated by Russians. Furthermore, entire cultures were changed: the Russians imposed their culture upon the natives,

native alaskans

which is why today the main religion is Orthodox Christianity with churches in most Alaskan towns.

In 1867 William Seward, the US Secretary of State, bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. At the time it was called “Seward’s Folly”, but it could be regarded as one of the most important decisions the USA ever made. Its natural resources have vastly enriched the USA and arguably had a huge impact on their development in the 20th Century.

As the fur trade declined, a new resource brought a new wave of immigration: gold. First found in 1848, with mining starting in 1870, the discovery of gold in Alaska brought the Native Alaskans further into the evolving world as they had increased contact with European miners, who with them brought sickness. There were a multitude of illnesses to which the Alaskans had no immunity, such as smallpox and polio, causing a staggering loss of two thirds of the native community.

The diseases were horrendous and the social impacts destabilised many communities. Anthropologists believe that many survivors lost entire families and villages to disease, and as a result

dispersed, causing whole cultures to be lost. Especially important was the loss of tribal leaders, people who were an integral part of maintaining cultural traditions. This has sown the seeds of today’s social degradation and loss of traditional values.

Current issues

The loss of social and cultural integrity is thought to be the root cause of many issues facing Native Alaskans today, as it results in disharmony among communities who once were able to peacefully cohabit. This disharmony is also an issue within tribes as people forget and lose values, arts and traditions which were once held dear.

Additionally, they are again subject to the effects of the exploitation of Alaska’s other major natural resource: oil. This does have benefits with a third of Alaskan jobs being tied to the industry. However, for the Alaskan Natives there are disagreements due to the ethics of the industry, particularly issues surrounding the building of the Trans Alaska Pipeline. Is it acceptable for this to be built over traditional hunting grounds? Is the damage to wildlife in the event of a leak, such as the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989 worth the benefits? Can traditional communities survive such encroachments, particularly as the effects of global warming also impact on the region?

The future is uncertain for the Alaskan Natives. They still have powerful beliefs which have prevailed through centuries and there is a wealth of knowledge that society today can learn from them. The value they place on both nature and community is arguably something that many western societies have lost in the rush for modernisation. It seems that now, as almost every home in Alaska has Wi-Fi, they may be assimilating with the western world; however, I believe that it could be us who should be learning from them.

english

GENESIS 4

A new short story by

On the first day without you, I was disoriented, as if I had taken a melancholy plunge into a nebulous, dismal ocean of anguish. Everywhere I turned I saw grey, as if my vision was veiled by my own dull desolation. I could not eat nor speak, an acrid, burning taste encroached my mouth. I felt as if I had been enveloped by quicksand; it was invading my senses, making my movements sluggish. Remorse sealed my tear ducts, suppressing any cries that begged to be released.

On the second day without you, I used all my strength, the miniscule amount I had left, to sit up and look at myself in the mirror. I was not ready for what I saw. My usually rosy skin was replaced by an ashen and pallid complexion. I was stripped of the healthy glow which normally adorned my features, my face having become waxen and artificial. My eyes were sunken in, glazed over and ringed with grotesque bluish-yellow bags. My own reflection startled me: sullen, emotionless eyes stared back at me, a morose expression seemingly fixed into place, unwavering and lifeless.

On the third day, I was angry. I cursed Fate, I cursed God, and I cursed Life. No good power commanding this earth would allow something as shamelessly merciless as this. My insides were smouldering, scorching with fury, blistering my soul to the very root. My throat was raw and hoarse, as if it had been repeatedly scraped with sandpaper and any word I said would come out raspy and discordant. My palms were brutally decorated by red crescent-shaped

Eileen Zoratti

(Year 11)

marks, caused by my nails digging into the soft skin as a result of my tightly clenched fists. Never before had I been so enraged.

On the fourth day, I tried to make a deal with God. I told him I would do anything to get you back from the gruesome clutches of Death, but my begging and bargaining was futile. I tried apologising for losing faith in him, but my attempts were fruitless. I searched for a sign that my pleas had been acknowledged, but there was nothing apart from the steely silence that seemed to be following me, encompassing me. He abandoned me; and so I abandoned hope.

On the fifth day, I forced myself to go outside. Before you left, the periwinkle sky, adorned with billowing alabaster clouds, and the vivid emerald grass dotted with rich, almost kaleidoscopic flowers, was an escape. It reminded me of our childhood, when we would chase each other around the soft green planes, enveloped by an animated atmosphere which kept us thriving and in high spirits. We were blissfully unaware of what would come between us; what you would do to me, and, in turn, what I would do to you. But now, the landscape which was once splashed with an array of different hues was stripped of its vibrancy. It all seemed muted and achromatic. Among this barren display, a few birds were flying back and forth, their lively chirruping felt as if they were jeering at me, mocking me. The piercing sun almost seemed to be shrieking at me; the sharp, shrill brightness cutting through my vision, compelling me to turn back to my morbid refuge. Even Nature, which used to be my escape,

seemed to be plaguing me as punishment for what I had done.

On the sixth day, I woke up wrapped in a calm breeze of peace. The serene, golden aura in which I was encased steadied my breathing; the silken touch of tranquillity filled me with relief. I’d accepted that you were gone, now having joined God in the frosted sky, flying alongside those silken clouds which overlooked the very neighbourhood in which your life both started and ended.

But on the seventh day without you, I realised exactly what I had done. Why had I blamed God when it was me who handed you over to Death’s rigid and inescapable grasp? Your fate was decided the moment I pushed you into the same creek we used to play in as children. The same creek through which we would wade in matching pink rain boots, laughing and splashing, halfsubmerged in the crystal water. Our proud mothers looking on, saying that our friendship was the type that would last forever. But that was ten years ago. Now, the most prominent memory I have of this creek is the power which filled me as I stood over your thrashing body, my foot over your head so that it remained submerged. I was consumed by a frenzy of hatred and jealousy; you were always the favourite, always the prettiest, and always the friendliest. Even then, with your lifeless body splayed across the shallow water you were an image of perfection. I thought the bitterness and resentment I felt towards you would vanish if you were gone, but it has only been replaced by an obsidian cloud of guilt and blame, which will torment me for the rest of my life.

Picture by Rebekah De Menezes-Wood (Senior 6th)

PROMINENT IN PLAYS NOT IN SOCIETY

Words

by Alexandra Seuren (Lower 6th). Picture by Rebecca Player (Senior 6th)

In Ancient Greek society, the division of the roles of men and women was deeply embedded into cultural normality. Clear parallels can be drawn between the social norms of ancient Greece and those of cultures existing under a century ago. Whilst men were expected to partake in the assembly and fulfil the role of the oikos (head of the household), women were confined to a life indoors: looking after their children, weaving and making sure slaves fulfilled their daily tasks.

In a society that valued women’s silence, their prevalence in Greek theatre is striking ” “

However, in a society that valued women’s silence, their prevalence in Greek theatre is striking. In Sophocles’ Antigone, a drama written around 441 BCE, much can be learnt from the character of Antigone. For a modern audience, Antigone can be viewed as a symbol of embryonic feminism. In her undeviating defiance of King Creon’s decree that prevented the burial of her brother, Polynices, Antigone decides to bury him despite the risk to her life, in pursuance of justice, telling her sister to “shout it from the rooftops”. Having been brought to the King, Antigone conveys an attitude of resistance, unusual for an Athenian woman, showing that a mere mortal could override the unshakable traditions set by the Gods. In my opinion, much can be learnt from Antigone’s example. Despite living in a society which condemned her opinion, not only because of its conflict with the King’s decree, but also because of her gender, she took a moral stance, requiring great courage and self-belief.

Likewise, Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata, written in 411 BCE, depicts the strong female personality of Lysistrata and her remarkable scheme to end the Peloponnesian war, a manifestation of male power and violence. Lysistrata rallies a group of women from across Greece to commit to her plan of complete chastity which eventually forces the men to end the war. In Ancient Greece, women had no political power, however, whether intentional or not, the play explicitly argues for a greater respect of women’s opinions and abilities. This is particularly shown when Lysistrata confronts the magistrate, explaining that women are equally as capable of making democratic decisions, but remain silenced by their husbands.

Lysistrata encapsulates a sense of capability, defying stereotypes which can still be observed in some societies today. As well as this, the play also illustrates a sense of support between the women, as they express a solidarity for each other’s common plight, despite being from vastly different backgrounds. For me, Lysistrata’s example of women supporting women is admirable, and acts as an important reminder to modern feminists to spend time working together towards a common goal, rather than fighting against each other.

“Antigone

can be

viewed as a symbol of embryonic feminism

”On the other hand, Greek theatre can also bring us examples of strong willed women who may not be clear role models. Euripides’ tragedy Medea, written in 431 BCE, depicts the story of a woman betrayed by her husband who is driven to pursue revenge. Medea represents a woman who has been victimised, and is therefore forced to fight back. Medea murders her sons which, although unacceptable, can be seen as appropriate in response to her husband Jason’s decision to leave her for a much younger bride, Princess Glauce. Jason’s disloyalty is also highlighted by the sacrifices Medea made for her love: by leaving her family to help Jason collect the Golden Fleece. Sympathy is created for Medea not only in the depiction of her devastation, but in her speech, conveying the social plight of women. She suggests that

once becoming a wife, women are expected to “accept him as possessor of [their] body” and concludes her struggle, stating that “[she’d] rather stand three times in the front line than bear one child”. As a modern audience, we can relate to Medea’s speech, as it reflects the same problems that many women still face today. However, Medea kills her sons out

of pure hatred and revenge for Jason’s abandonment, arguably diminishing any sympathy for her situation.

Despite the fact that these women are not traditional role models for modern feminists, I think that we can learn from these female characters who independently stood up for their beliefs and defied social norms.

religious studies

SOUTHALL

The trip was to support the students’ work in both geography and religious studies. They visited a Mosque, a Church and a Gurdwara to gain some insights into Southall’s most prominent religions. It proved to be a fascinating, and immersive, experience as the students were able to see the culture of the three religions first hand, particularly in the case of Sikhism as they were able to try some of the authentic cuisine provided by members of the Gurdwara – it is their custom to regularly offer this food to members of the public, regardless of their beliefs.

much of what makes Southall unique comes from the combination of religions practised in the area

In January, around a hundred SWPS students went on the annual Year 9 trip to Southall. Jessica Chinn (Lower 6th) reports “ ”

It seems that much of what makes Southall such a unique place comes from the combination of religions practised in the area.

Locally, Southall is sometimes referred to as Little India. The cultural

reasons for this were very evident in the neighbourhood’s streets, which are lined with a vibrant collection of original, independent, local shops. These sold an assortment of beautifully coloured fabrics and clothing, such as headscarves and saris, as well as a tempting variety of Indian foods and sweets.

Once back at school, the students worked in groups on an RS project, creating displays that communicated the key things they felt they had learnt from the Southall visit. The projects were extremely bright and colourful, often decorated with bracelets or fabrics purchased on the trip, and full of evocative photos. The project was also a competition, run between all the groups in the year. A richly deserved first prize went to Gemma Thorpe, Imogen Elliot, Hannah Bodoano and Melina Eleftheriadis.

Painting by Rhiannon Beddoe (Senior 6th)

english

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Alice Sutton (Lower 6th) discusses A Thousand Splendid Suns and the inequality still faced by women across the globe

This year, we’ve witnessed 100, 000 women marching through our capital protesting against the election of Donald Trump, seen pictures of half a million people on the Women’s March in Washington and watched almost 3 million people across the United States fight for women’s rights; it’s evident that the world’s women are not satisfied, and rightly so.

Women still earn, on average, 15% less than men, fewer than 30% of our government ministers are women and there are only 7 female CEOs on the boards of companies on the FTSE 100. But what about the women around the world who don’t even have the right to work, let alone to participate in government or to hold positions of authority? Do we appreciate the extent of their suffering and inequality in contrast to our own, comparatively limited gender inequality?

As part of our A level English course, my lower sixth class has been studying Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns Telling the intertwined stories of two women and set in Afghanistan spanning the period from 1964 to the present day, the topic of gender inequality could not be more heart-wrenchingly relevant. As the world focused on the politics of the conflict between the royal rulers of Afghanistan, then the communists, and eventually the Taliban, the devastating war that women themselves were fighting against their oppressors, was either obliviously or consciously ignored. From studying this book and exploring the contextual foundations of the story, we have

learned or been reminded of a great deal about gender inequality in Afghanistan.

Forced marriages, lack of freedom and identity, and mental and physical torture are just some of the social and political injustices faced by Afghan women, and this is explored and challenged by the female protagonists of the novel, Mariam and Laila.

Mariam, as a child born out of wedlock – something which would be considered perfectly normal in modern Western culture – experiences consequences detrimental to her own and her family’s quality of life and reputation. In a highly religious and traditionalist society where honour is everything, Mariam’s status as a harami or illegitimate child is disastrous to her future. The internalisation of cultural views leads to prejudiced treatment, resulting in her father casting Mariam and her mother out and marrying Mariam off, at the age of 15, to an abusive stranger, Rasheed, who is almost 60.

Forced marriage and sexual abuse are amongst the most significant topics relating to female suffering and oppression in Afghanistan with, in 2012, 15% of children being married by the age of 15, and 40% by the age of 18. These figures illustrate the normality of arranged and forced marriages in Afghan culture and the lack of control that young women have over their own lives. Hosseini deepens our awareness of this through his narration of Laila’s life after the tragic, sudden loss of her parents in a bomb attack in Kabul. Though they had been unusually liberal in their prioritisation of her education and happiness over marriage, her dream and chance to be an

independent, educated young woman is cut short by her near death and subsequent reliance on Rasheed who “rescues her”. He ensures that she is dependent on him by buying her the medicine to enable her to recover, and provides Laila with her only chance of survival, financial stability and a home.

The sexual assault and abuse of women is an issue which, to this day, remains a taboo subject in Afghanistan. Due to the traditional nature of the Afghan culture presented by Hosseini in which wives are their husband’s property, women generally don’t report assault as they internalise and accept the fact that it is expected in marriage. Those who do report assaults are more stigmatised as rape victims than the actual rapists, and often branded as adulterous and unfaithful to their patriarchs. Afghanistan passed the Shia Family Law in 2009 under President Hamid Karzai, which took away women’s rights within a marriage and specifies that Shia women must submit to their husbands’ demands. It even specifies that they must have sex with their husbands at least once every four days, except in the case of illness. With the support of the conservative political elite, Afghan courts have taken, and continue to take, action in efforts to remove or limit women’s rights.

So, of course, we should continue to fight for the human rights that we, as equals to men, deserve. However, maybe we should make a greater effort to support the advancement of freedoms of all women, across all countries, particularly countries less liberal and westernised in their treatment of woman, countries such as Afghanistan.

design and technology

Jewellery and clock by Ellen Woolnough (Year 8)

Jewellery and clock by Iris Patten (Year 8)

Pine box and torch by Tiggy Edwards (Year 7)

Outdoor coffee table and fire pit by Isabella Daniels (Lower 6th)

Architecturally inspired desk organiser with desk light by Cassie Johncock (Lower 6th)

OBJECTLESSON

Anita Downey (Speech & Drama Teacher) talks to Liyana Ahmed (Lower 6th) about a few of her favourite things

Dictionary

I have always been a lover of language; for as long as I can remember, I have loved exploring bizarre and unfamiliar words in the dictionary. Everyday as a child I would play a letter a day game to see just how many words I understood. My love of words was so apparent that every year I was given an up-to-date dictionary, and now I have a dictionary in

Petit Point

I create small, detailed pieces of embroidery, as doll’s house furniture, using a technique known as petit point. It requires precision as well as imagination and allows me time for simultaneous thinking and reflecting. I spent my childhood in Malaysia, where we had a live-in seamstress and a room full of materials. I developed a passion for the rich history of coloured threads, and for combining modern styles with local character. The time consuming nature of this craft – an individual piece can take a couple of years to complete - gives me a great sense of creative fulfilment.

American Cigar Cabinet

I am a lover of order and having everything in its place. However, I am admittedly a bit of a contradiction, as I cannot stand the concept of predictability! When I got my first flat, I went to Nottingham to buy some material for curtains. I saw this

beautiful piece in the market and I decided that if it gave me such pleasure in that moment, it would surely continue to provide the same. Suddenly, it seemed worth much more to me than just curtains. Its history - for example, who might have used it - still intrigues me. Despite my obsession with order, I enjoy the prospect of spontaneity; something I am reminded of by this table.

object lesson

The Waves by

Virginia Woolf

The Waves take us into “the world that lies submerged in our unconscious being” and explores the nature of consciousness. I like the bounds of realism but this experimental style of writing also appeals.

Mont Blanc Pen

I have written from an early age and I love the feeling of a pen in my hand. The rhythm of a pen helps my thinking stay sharp without the safety of modern spellchecks. My father was a collector of pens and I would sneak into his office to use them, except for the elusive few that were locked away. I received this pen for my fifth birthday. Owning a Mont Blanc pen was a requirement of the finishing school I attended in Switzerland. When I use my pen today, I think back and remember things that I learnt at school. My father used to tell me that imagination runs down from your mind to your pen and, as you can’t buy imagination, it is important to try to claim it from your mind - I love that.

Silver Spoon

This spoon was a gift, for me, when I was born. When I was young, I was only allowed to use it on certain special occasions. When I got older, my parents gave it to me to keep. I use it everyday, as a sugar spoon, to remember the special occasions and little joys of the past. Memories are very important and this spoon is filled with occasions worth remembering daily. This is my most treasured item.

Japan and Cranes

Sadoko Sasaki was two when the atomic bomb dropped in August 1945. At the age of twelve she was diagnosed with leukaemia. During her time in hospital she started folding origami birdscranes - hoping to make 1000, as Japanese legend says this will grant you a wish. Sadoko died having made 644 cranes. In 1958 a statue of her, holding a golden crane, was placed in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Every year school children finish making the remaining 334 cranes and put them in a shelter nearby. This year SWPS Speech and Drama students, who were doing a play about Hiroshima at the time, also contributed. Taking them to the shelter myself was a truly special experience.

I love Japan not only for the order and discipline one sees there, but also because of the way the Japanese base their lives around the seasons. They value each season and alter their lives accordingly. I was once in a shop, about to buy quite an expensive object, when the owner’s cherry tree started to bloom. He immediately closed his shop and I was unable to purchase my goods. He went out to admire his cherry tree because it symbolised the beginning

of spring, for him and his family. Nature permeates so much of the Japanese thinking.

I love the language simply because it is so difficult. I did a sample language test and found Japanese the hardest, so I made it my mission to learn it. The historical purity of the language is kept with the hirohana syllable. Imported, modern words have a different syllable, the hikana, so the traditional language is not diluted. My annual visits to Kyoto University (Kyodai) have given me an insight into this fascinating culture.

Alex Seuren (Lower 6th)

Rachel Anstey (Lower 6th)

Anais Patten (Lower 6th)

Catherine Trelawny (Lower 6th)

Alice Sutton (Lower 6th)

Rhiannon Beddoe (Senior 6th)

Katerina Matheson (Senior 6th)

Maria Marshall (Senior 6th)

Safiyya Beere (Senior 6th)

Below:

Grace King (Senior 6th)

BEASTS & BEAUTIES

Jessica Chinn (Lower 6th) reports on this year’s triumphant SWPS drama production

Last February, SWPS Drama Department put on perhaps one of their most extravagant shows yet. The promenade production of Beasts and Beauties was a huge success and required no small amount of hard work from the directors, cast, and crew. The production consisted of four 20-minute performances of different plays repeated four times a showing for three overall performances – that’s a total of 12 performances of each play! The plays themselves were: Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard, Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Table These fairy-tales came with a dark yet alluring twist, true to their traditional Grimm origins, with the

exception of the more comical The Magic Table.

Both The Magic Table and Hansel and Gretel were directed by Sixth Form students, although from the level of professionalism you wouldn’t have been able to tell. The high standard of each and every performance made the entire experience unforgettable and the atmosphere created by both performers and hosts was magical and very fitting with the fairy-tale theme. It will most certainly be a difficult production to top, both in terms of the final performance, and the fun we all had taking part in it.

Madeleine Carr, Georgia Cox Lousada, and Sophie Park (Lower Sixth), directors of The Magic

Table, talk about their experience of directing the play: “Directing one of the four plays in Beasts and Beauties has been one of the best opportunities we’ve been given during our time at SWPS. This comedic and light-hearted play was definitely a challenge to direct, although we believe this made the experience even better and the end result even more satisfying. It improved not only our directorial skills but also our leadership skills, which we will be able to use in the future. It was great being able to work with younger students in the school and witness their confidence grow throughout the process. The Magic Table was an incredible experience that we’ll never forget.”

HOUSE TEA

Words by Helen Eldridge (Head of Home Economics)

While all SWPS students will be aware of this extremely popular competition, not many will know that the original idea for it came from some former members of the Head Girls’ team when they were in Year 9. They were interested in having a tea competition and their idea was developed into a House activity, which is now a firm favourite in the school calendar.

The competition usually takes place in the spring term and is

open to everyone in Years 7 and 8. Groups of three students from the same House work together to plan a tea, which they will prepare and serve. If there are more entries than spaces to cook, the House Captains select the menus that impress them the most; they then judge the House Heat. The winning team from each House then makes their tea and serves it to the school chef who judges the competition final.

This year the competition was won by Montagu House, with

Georgina Bullen, Emma Currier and Jenny Gray (all Year 7), creating a delicious Indian-themed tea that thoroughly impressed our judge. All the entries were of a very high standard and, as usual, a great deal of thought and effort was put into the planning, preparation and serving of the delicious tea by each team that participated. House points are awarded to everyone who enters the competition and prizes are awarded to the winners and runners-up.

home economics

BLITZAPFELKUCHEN

Quick Apple Cake

A recipe by Ute Haring (Art & Design Dept); perfect for afternoon tea

60g butter

60g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

zest from 1 lemon

250g quark or fat-free fromage frais

1 tsp baking powder

approx 650g apples

approx 100g brown sugar

flaked almonds (optional)

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 175 C (350 F). Mix the softened butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl using an electric hand mixer, adding the eggs one at a time. Add the lemon zest and quark (or fromage frais) and stir well until fully mixed.

Pour the mixture into a greased springform cake tin and even out with a spatula. Peel, quarter and core the apples, and then cut into wedges. Arrange the apple wedges on top of the cake mixture. Sprinkle with flaked almonds (optional). Put in the oven to bake for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, take the cake out and sprinkle with brown sugar; you could also add a sprinkling of cinnamon at this stage too. Put the cake back into the over for a further 5-10 minutes. Check the cake is ready by inserting a fork or skewer in the middle – if the fork comes out clean, the cake is done. Stand to cool before removing the cake from the tin.

Pictures by Kathryn Burton

english

IF ONLY FOR A DAY

A new short story by Pippa Brown (Year 11)

Isee the way they all look at me, “the ugly sister”. I can see the pity in their eyes, as they make an effort to look past my blotchy skin and imperfect teeth. Somehow they never quite succeed in allowing it to go completely unnoticed, however hard they try.

Sitting at the table, I glance over at Jane, gazing over her sparkling features with my own, dull ones. Oh! What I would give to look like Jane for a day, to feel what it’s like to be something other than myself. To look in the mirror and not see a hard-featured girl whose Roman nose will never fit in.

I gaze after her, after all of them in turn, as they giggle and smile, Lydia with her sultry manner and flirty eyes as she flashes her smirk at the soldiers on the table opposite. Lizzie next, with her style and symmetry. I’ve many a time seen men lost in her mysterious eyes, while she pretends she cannot see them practically falling at her feet. Then we come to Kitty, often overlooked yet, if you study her closely, her classical beauty becomes clear, her delicate features softly layed on her radiant complexion.

To add to my irritation, they are blissfully unaware, for the most part, of the gift they have been given. They dance innocently through their apparently perfect little lives, caressing smooth silks with graceful fingers in order to find the next divine gown for some ball or dinner.

I don’t mean to sound bitter, I really don’t, yet I can’t help but feel as though I must have done something wrong, to be constantly overlooked, or worse, have people stare, fixated on my stodgy frame or frizzy hair. What did I do? To be surrounded by beautiful sisters, who sing and dance and laugh, who play cards with soldiers who would immediately give them an engagement ring if they thought they had even the slightest chance. However, I don’t just sit idly by and watch them living the life I yearn for. I spend; or rather waste, hours in my room, attempting in vain to give myself something, anything to be proud of. I write poetry, practise my dancing, play the piano, read more books than anyone could ever imagine as they frolic about, unaware of the jealousy hiding behind my dull grey eyes. I work and work, devoting my life, only to be humiliated by my embarrassed father, who will never be proud of me, but is determined to mortify me at any opportunity.

Sometimes I fantasise about it, how it would be, if things were reversed. I’d sell my soul to be one of them for a day, to walk in their dainty shoes and decorate my fingers with their twinkling jewels. I sound fickle and spoilt but the dream that I will one day wake up and be somewhat attractive simply will not leave me alone. Periodically I mortify myself at these events, just walking into the room next to them, trailing behind

like some unwanted insect that just won’t seem to buzz off, or like a smell stuck to the bottom of their shoe that just won’t rinse away.

If I was the bewitching one, just for once; if I received some of the attention I’m sure I too have done nothing to deserve, I would spend hours getting ready, loosely curling my hair so as not to look as if any effort whatsoever was involved. Then I would choose the most marvellous dress that even Mr Darcy has not seen at an event in London before, made of the softest lilac silk, dripping with deep purple lace trimmings. I would not even care for the attention it would bring, as I would be too busy with the other stunning creatures, chuckling and gossiping away, pretending that we do not know the whole room is bewitched by us. The string of pearls draped around my neck would glisten in the candlelight and catch the most eligible bachelor’s eye, possible even the wonderful Mr Collins. He would ask me to dance, and it would not be a pity dance, like the few Lizzie occasionally sets up for me, but a real one, with someone who actually wants to be seen with, or even talk to me.

Lord knows why I am tormented with these pompous fantasies. However, as guilty as they make me feel, I don’t deserve to be judged for wanting more. Sometimes they give me a hopefulness that I will one day not even look, but feel beautiful, when I walk into a room.

Picture by Rhiannon Beddoe (Senior 6th)

art & design

ARTISTIC NATURE

Kathryn Burton, technician and artist in residence, talks to Emily Peyton (Year 10) about her work

When did you first discover your love for art?

I have enjoyed drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. My grandma was really talented and I always used to like drawing with her, so I’ve enjoyed it for a long time.

Do you have a favourite medium or subject matter?

Pretty much all of my work is watercolour now. I do still like to draw and sketch, especially on location; sometimes that’s a bit difficult with watercolours as you’ve got so many pieces that you need to take with you. I prefer painting natural things like butterflies, animals and generally brightly coloured things; anything with texture and colour.

Is there a recent piece of work you could talk about?

I graduated last year (with a 1st Class degree from Arts University Bournemouth) and my last project at university was based on butterflies. I worked with a friend and we made a book on the life cycle of butterflies. We looked at them very closely and in a lot of detail. We were trying to capture how intricate their tiny wings are; you can see all their tiny scales when you look at them up close.

The piece I’m currently working on is a commission from the SWPS art auction. One of my example pieces was a butterfly; the person that commissioned me requested a blue butterfly in the same style.

Have any other artists influenced you and your work?

I’ve always enjoyed the illustrations in children’s books. One of my favourites

would be The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I love the textures and the vibrancy in his work; in his collages he creates really interesting shapes. Another would be the Percy the Park Keeper books by Nick Butterworth. I think they are just beautiful and there is a real softness to his work. I have never really been interested in traditional watercolour paintings – I can appreciate them but they don’t really interest me – I think contemporary illustration is more interesting.

So far, how have you found your time here at SWPS?

I’ve really enjoyed it. It is nice to be working in an art department because I get to see all the creative goings-on. I think all of the students here are lovely and I love seeing the different styles of artwork created by the sixth form and GCSE students.

Do you consider art to be more of a job or a fun pastime?

I definitely do art for fun; I think that’s one of the joys of being creative. If you can find something that you enjoy doing and make it your job, you never have to work a day

in your life! But I do still go out and do my own drawing. The only way to improve is to keep practising.

Do you have any big projects planned?

I’m currently working on a children’s book. A friend has written a story and I am illustrating it. I think we are going to do something with it; I have illustrated quite a few of the characters, and a few different scenes, and I’ve done quite number of rough drawings. I think we might send it to a literary agent and see if we can get some feedback. If nothing were to come of that I would look into publishing it myself through amazon or something. It is very different to what I am doing at SWPS because children’s illustration provides a completely different audience for me to think about.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I would love to be a full-time freelance illustrator by then, finding my way in the creative industry. Being a published illustrator would be brilliant.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S

co-curricular AWARD

Louise Raven (D of E Manager) talks to three volunteers about their experiences.

Pictures by Catherine Trelawny (Lower 6th)

Each year approximately ninety students in Year 9 register to participate in the Bronze DofE award, an estimated 50 students from Year 10 sign up for Silver and on average 14 Lower Sixth Formers undertake their Gold DofE Award.

The DofE programme at SWPS is a large operation. There are four sections to complete for the Bronze and Silver Award –volunteering, physical, skills and an expedition with an extra section at Gold, which also includes a residential section involving a five day course covering a wide range of activities. However, it is the expedition section that the school is heavily involved in organising.

At each level the participants attend a training day walk and a practice expedition. The qualifying expedition then takes place in different areas of the UK so that the participants walk in different types of countryside as required for Bronze, Silver and Gold.

At present, the volunteer population at SWPS comprises parents of current and exstudents. Many teachers also write assessor reports for students as part of their skill and physical sections, which is very much appreciated.

Volunteering is a commitment

and those who are involved will agree that it is great fun, an opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills and be part of the DofE community. Three volunteers kindly offered to speak about their role, experiences and why they offered to volunteer.

Edward Knott joined as parent volunteer this year when his daughter started her Bronze Award. He is being trained to be an expedition supervisor, which involves supporting the participants to plan, prepare and train for their expeditions. He explains that: “my wife volunteered me because she knew that I would jump at the chance of learning new skills, especially outdoor activities and being involved with the participants to help them develop their skills.”

He says that talking to the other new parent volunteers, it was apparent that everyone came with different experiences. Some parents were complete novices to camping and walking which was really refreshing because he had been expecting everyone to be an amateur Bear Grylls! “I had no knowledge of DofE so I was concerned about fitting in, but honestly everyone was so friendly and made me feel very welcome.”

Edward has found the support offered to the volunteers through training courses to have been particularly beneficial. “The first

training day was brilliant as it covered camp craft, packing rucksacks correctly, navigation and First Aid. Any questions were dealt with and the trainers had so much experience to share. We were then required to carry a full pack and walk for two days and camp for one night as if we were doing our Bronze expedition. Having now completed the training day walk with my group, I am now gearing

up to supervise them on their practice expedition in June – I can’t wait!.”

Peter Ahm joined as a parent volunteer five years ago when his eldest daughter signed up for Bronze. His youngest daughter is now doing Silver. Many new parent volunteers progress to become a supervisor for Silver, and Peter also helps deliver some of the in-school training for the Bronze and Silver participants as well as the new parent volunteers. He points out that the step up to Silver provides greater challenges due to the longer duration, more difficult terrain, longer distances and greater navigational expertise required, where the compass is essential.

After three years as a supervisor, Peter trained to be an expedition assessor. “The assessor carries the responsibility of ensuring the group meet the 20 conditions of the DofE Award and although I miss the continuity of nurturing and supporting one group as a supervisor, it is very rewarding when you are able to let the whole group know they have successfully passed their qualifying expedition.”

Why did he volunteer? “It was an opportunity to walk in some beautiful locations in the UK, enjoy the great camaraderie between the adults, and to see the participants develop life skills as for many this is their first experience of camping or hill walking.” He adds that many volunteers carry on long after their own children have left SWPS.

Mike Parr is one of our Mountain Leaders (ML) and holds an outdoor First Aid qualification. The ML training is tough and takes place over many months. It consists of a six day training course and a five day assessment to make sure they have the knowledge and skills to keep groups safe in the mountains in what can be some hostile terrain and weather conditions.

Many of our ML’s supervise a group on the Gold Award. Gold is

where the participants demonstrate a greater level of self-sufficiency, walking longer distances in wild countryside and for a longer duration. This includes remote areas of the country such as the Lake District or Snowdonia where bad weather is considered normal.

Mike has been involved for 15 years as a volunteer. He is also an assessor and passes on his expertise and knowledge by tutoring the new parent volunteers and Bronze, Silver and Gold participants.

And why does he keep doing this? The answer is simple – he enjoys it. He says it is not just getting out and walking, but the satisfaction of seeing groups achieve things they weren’t aware they were capable of and growing in confidence as a result.

The volunteers at SWPS are an amazing population of people who generously give up their time and the school is truly blessed to have them. Their commitment and wonderful passion for the Award is pivotal to the success of the DofE programme at SWPS.

L IFE B EYOND SWPS

ANNABEL WILLIAMS

I have just finished my first year studying classics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, having left school in 2016. I was heartbroken to leave SWPS, although the exciting prospect of university lay ahead of me. I benefited from the supportive academic environment at school and I was very settled there. I chose to further my study in classics because of my great Latin lessons with Mr Muller and Miss Hudspith in the lower school, and because they and Mr Peel enthused and prepared me so well for what was to to come at university during my time in the Sixth Form. The classics teachers have really inspired me; they make the subject engaging, teach to an excellent standard, and they all have high ambitions for their students.

Oxford is a great place to be if you are academically ambitious and study a subject that you really love. The courses are rigorous and the atmosphere among undergraduates can be a bit intimidating at first. However, I hit

the jackpot when I was interviewed at Lady Margaret Hall. LMH is much like SWPS. Its atmosphere is informal in terms of Oxford colleges, and college life is relaxed and underpinned by gentle humour. It has a pioneering, modern outlook, much due to the fact that although now mixed, LMH was the first Oxford college to admit women in 1878. As a result, the college has a fantastic library, since originally women weren’t allowed to use the University libraries, which accompanies its extensive and beautiful gardens. Our principal is forward-thinking, a strong advocate of social media, and keen to entertain speakers such as Gina Miller, Malorie Blackman and Emma Watson to kindle ambition and a wideranging interest in current affairs among the students. To me, LMH is the perfect fit for a SWPS girl. Oxford has, so far, been challenging, but most of all fun. Though often billed as all work and no play, there is time and so many exciting opportunities for music, sport, societies and socialising during term time. Just as being a member of the choirs, performing in plays and concerts are my fondest memories of school, I have continued to sing at university and won a choral scholarship for the LMH chapel

choir, which is my proudest achievement of this year. I feel that SWPS prepared me well for settling in at Oxford and gave me the resilience to cope with the ups and downs, particularly surviving a year of weekly essay crises! I am really enjoying my studies and I am not sure what the future holds beyond Oxford, but for now I am making the most of this wonderful opportunity.

AMY SAUNDERS

I left SWPS last year and went on to study for a master’s degree at Durham University.

When I think of SWPS, I think of dress up week. It was a wild mix of emotions, but definitely the highlight of my time there. Saying goodbye to friends of seven years is made slightly easier when they’re covered from head to toe in blue face paint.

I have always been very science focused, but my decision to study chemistry was largely influenced by the legendary Mr Schofield. Not only was he an incredible teacher, but he encouraged us to get involved in the subject outside of the classroom, such as organising trips to lectures and the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition. Seeing how the theory and equations that we learnt in class could be used in the real world is what drove me to want to know more.

I chose Durham University because is there really anywhere else for an Oxbridge reject to go! In all seriousness though, I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s a gorgeous historical city with a surprisingly decent night life, despite being home to the worst nightclub in Europe (after the previous champion burnt down). I’ve loved every second here and I couldn’t recommend it enough.

My university experience so far has been pretty intense. So much has been packed into a short space of time that the year has flown by. As everyone says, the biggest adjustment has been the teaching style. There is a lot less

life beyond swps

prescribed work and a lot more independent research. Like everyone told me, I highly recommend doing the extra reading! However, most of you will, like me, probably ignore this advice and try to cram it into the few weeks before the exams. Sometimes we have to make these mistakes for ourselves, so more than anything enjoy the year.

Since leaving SWPS, the thing I am most proud of having achieved is an A2 equivalent in German as part of my degree. Having dropped German after GCSE, I have since recognised the importance of being able to speak other languages and the opportunities that arise because of it. Over the summer I stayed with a German family as their Au Pair. I taught the children English, practised my German speaking and learnt more about the culture. I hope to spend my final year of university living in Germany and completing my research project there. Schemes like this are available at so many universities, and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I would really encourage anyone to get involved.

The one thing I wish I had known when I was 16 was not to

worry too much about failing an interview or getting perfect grades. Just try your best and wherever you end up will quickly become your favourite place in the world.

life beyond swps

HAZEL SOAN

It was way back in September 1972 when I left the high sash windows of the art room at Sir William Perkins’s Grammar School for Girls for the red brick studios of Camberwell College of Art & Design in London. My maths teacher had prudently suggested I choose an academic route, “You are Oxbridge material, do not waste your intellect,” but I had dreamed of going to art college since my early teens and was not to be swayed. I spent my free time drawing, painting and writing poetry, and was investigating careers in which I could make a living through art – advertising, art therapy, architecture, illustration, landscape design – nothing quite clicked. The endearingly eccentric manner of my art teacher, Miss Heaney, further fuelled this interest in a path less travelled. Looking back, I am impressed that the school supported my decision even though it went against their advice, evidence that SWPS encouraged independence and was always progressive.

Art college in the early seventies was the cool place to be and Camberwell was exciting. Making artwork every day – painting, developing photographs, turning pots, sculpting wood, and shaping letters – was very stimulating. I had no regrets, as maxi skirts replaced mini skirts and I walked the streets of London barefoot hippystyle, carrying paintings back on the bus, often on my head to protect wet paint! The attraction of the other artistic disciplines gradually receded during this first year and fine art/ painting became my first love. I knew now I wanted to make my living as an artist.

I left London for Leicester Art College, with its modern light-filled tenth floor studios overlooking the zigzag city and the far-off fields. Here, my painting thrived in the sunlight. I would come into the studio early to paint diagonal sunbeams against partition walls, trying to grasp how light could be represented with pigment. My passion for the twodimensional world of painting grew and has never stopped.

In the second year of my degree, a chance glance at one of my lecturer’s

confidential evaluations galvanised my purpose: the top line read “Hazel has schoolgirl enthusiasm and romantic ideas about being an artist...” the tone was not complimentary, but it served me well. I resolved to harness my girlish enthusiasm to make a successful living by painting, which is exactly what I have done!

From the beginning I travelled widely for inspiration – particularly in Africa – selling my original paintings through galleries and publishing work as prints and cards, or calendars, placemats and even puzzles. My watercolours, which had previously been just sketches for my oils, became my most sought after works and are now the pieces for which I am most well-known. In the 1990s, I was asked to present my own television series, Splash of Colour, for Anglia TV, and later was offered the role as Art Expert on Channel 4’s popular painting programme, Watercolour Challenge. I have always felt at ease in front of a camera and have presented numerous DVD films, which now, in an era of video streaming, attract wide Youtube audiences.

My love of the written word and the English language, the academic side that my SWPS teachers staunchly defended, led

me to approach book publishers, HarperCollins and Pavilion. My latest book on painting sold out after just two months publication, and the sixteenth is on its way. Writing provides an almost equal pleasure to painting: one word beside another is like placing one

brushstroke beside another. I also write regularly for magazines. There is no established career path for artists to follow, save painting and finding a gallery to promote your work. You are very much on your own, so it is essential to embrace your own company. You have to be prepared to put yourself out there, risk rejection and failure, to pull yourself up from the pit. Pithy quotes adorn the walls of my studio (e.g. “I am my own worst critic but I never undermine my own confidence,” Tiger Woods). You have to be your own life coach. Undoubtedly an exterior faith also helps; my Christian beliefs protected me from wallowing too deep in unnecessary

self-doubt! There were times when I dreamed of a regular wage, but the bliss experienced when a painting is going well is unbeatable. The satisfaction of overseeing your life’s purpose, the excitement of a near permanent sense of adventure, the joy of knowing you are doing, what you enjoy most, and the emails from people who have been moved by your work, is well worth the setbacks.

Would I advise my young self to take a different path? No, I would say follow your passion, the only real limit is time; so make sure you spend it doing what you love!

life beyond swps

PRIYA MISTRY

I left SWPS in 2012, with my best memories coming from the early years, especially at Christmas time! I will never forget the Pantos, with the teachers taking part too, having post-box design competitions and themed dressups. My favourite memory of SWPS was the warm atmosphere of the school and the teachers that supported me to get to where I am today!

Selecting my course for university was a tricky decision as I liked a variety of subjects, thus making it difficult to choose one specialised area of study. In the end, I decided to combine my love of art and science to read Product Design Engineering. This allowed me to gain an understanding of several disciplines of engineering, which made studying more exciting.

Choosing Nottingham University was relatively simple – after attending an open day, I instantly knew this would be an ideal place for me. The professors and students were so passionate and friendly. The student life, the city, the facilities, and beauty of the main campus were other appealing factors. Going to Nottingham was a great decision

that I will never regret.

I’ll never forget the first day: moving to a new place, meeting people from all over the world and adjusting to a broadened environment. It was an amazing experience to have such freedom and control of what I wanted to do. You end up doing all sorts of crazy things, like working until two in the morning and then going out afterwards!

The atmosphere at Nottingham was one of the main things I loved; I was able to experience both a campus and city lifestyle. And, it has been wonderful to know that since leaving university, I still have the guidance and support from my tutors and professors.

I graduated a year ago and, after four years of intense work, I decided I wanted to take a bit of time out to travel and spend time with friends and family. I have been to Mexico, Canada, Washington, Budapest and France – in the next few months I am hoping to go to Chicago and California! Taking time out meant that I could visit my family in different parts of the world, sightsee, and have guaranteed hot weather.

I have also been learning new skills that might help me in my career and have spent some time looking for a job that I will enjoy.

I’m starting my new job in September, at a company called ARM Holdings, headquartered in Cambridge, which means I will be moving there. It is a scary thought to be leaving Surrey permanently; however, I am excited about the opportunities available and the doors this role will open. Cambridge is a lovely place that I am intrigued to explore further. The company also has a primary

office in Silicon Valley, California, where I hope I will one day be working.

Accomplishing a Masters in engineering with First Class Honours was one of my proudest achievements; being able to combine everything I learnt at school and university to achieve a great degree was an amazing feeling. I was also very pleased when I was offered a job that met my objectives, in a role that I really wanted. A valuable insight I gained at university, was learning how to manage and juggle challenging situations, which I hope will prepare me for the working world.

The key challenge in my design projects was trying to satisfy all areas of development, which is to say ensuring that a product can be manufactured efficiently, with a working mechanical structure, and at the same time be aesthetically pleasing. It was interesting to learn how to incorporate these factors to produce a final product that users would want to buy.

I would say that it is important to be ambitious, as it will eventually pay off. Having goals to work to makes your achievements more satisfying. Live by the motto, “work hard, play hard”!

SENIOR SIXTH 2017

Louise Plastow

Katy

Baker

Becky De Menezes-Wood

Bella Hill

Eleanor Cooper

Rebecca Lambert

Beth Harrington-Gray

Sarah Phillips

Ellie

Parker

Florence Brill

Sam Elliott

Tamsin

James

Natalie McNeill

Stephanie Silva

Libby Hall

Heather Bradshaw

Chelsea Warcup

Molly Workman

Lauren Simmons

Lucy Gates Amrita Kullar

Safiyya

Beere

Emma Leighton

Sithokozile

Thabethe

senior sixth 2017

Grace Dixon

Lily Glover

Eleanor Andrew Emma Fountain

Emily Redbond Gillett

Charlotte Hawkes

Katie Ingram

Hannah Potter

Freya Clare

Sophie Davey

Georgia Ayres

Francesca Foster

Poppy Hodge

Lauren Oates

Hannah Johnson

Ruby Hastings

Amasha Kottearachchi

Emma Leverton

Serena Hardy

Antonia Bowyer

Francesca

Duke

Charlotte Mackie

Catherine Barr

Katerina Matheson Violetta Suvini

Shirley-Ann Aduakwa

Eden Conelly

Milissa Wills

Madeleine Dugas

Sophie Coulson

Rui Lan Zhang

Shana Khiroya

Zel Arif

Maria Marshall Lila Radja

Katherine Furness-Reed

Isabella Zabarte

Olivia Greathurst

Georgina Crew

Eleanor Goswell

Rosie Down

Serena Parkin

Maddie

Arnold

Rhiannon Beddoe

Sofia Kotlarz

Grace King

Lucy Gray

new head start

Here’s what the outgoing team have to say

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What is our new Head Girls’ Team going to be

GANG OF FOUR w w

Alice Sutton by Francesca Duke

I find it impossible to think of anyone who more embodies the school’s ethos than Alice. Over the years, she has played key roles in music and drama productions, art and sport, and I have no doubt that she will be an excellent ambassador for all areas of the school. My advice to Alice would be to make sure that every voice in your year group is heard, not just those who shout the loudest! 8

Liyana, your charm and immediate likeability make you a superb asset to this year’s Head Girls’ Team. The year will probably be pretty stressful for virtually everyone in the Senior Sixth; just being the friendly face that people can talk to, and rely on, can make a huge difference. That said, this year will go faster than you think, so enjoy every minute of it. And good luck!

Jess Chinn by Lauren

Oates

My earliest memory of Jess is of seeing her on stage when she was in Year 7. She remains a compelling actress and an incredible singer. She’s also a friendly, enthusiastic and bubbly character who will be a great asset to the team, not least because she appears to get on with everyone! As clichéd as it sounds, my advice would be: just do your best. I have no doubt you’ll absolutely ace it!

Helen Sproston by Sarah Phillips

Helen is both selfless and caring, which makes her extremely well suited to the responsibility of Deputy Head Girl, as she will always be there for her fellow students. From years of playing netball with Helen, I know her tolerance and patience will also put her in good stead for the role. Enjoy your final year Helen, but remember to keep a balance and get involved in lots of things.

Liyana Ahmed by Lily Glover