The high 52 by The High

Editors Ruby Griffiths Edward Fraser Ridhi Aneja

Editors in Chief Jocelyn Kwan, Meghana Mortier

June 22, 2015 Issue 52

Foley the Leader Jocelyn Kwan and Meghana Mortier talk to the new boss.

fter the summer holidays, Mr. Foley will be taking Mr. Ivett’s place as secondary school principal. Having been in our school for 10 years already and having gained experience and school-wide respect, he is “kind of excited” about his new role. We interviewed him to discuss the challenges and changes the school will be facing. After the interview, he couldn’t help exclaiming, “I can’t wait; imagine a whole article written about me!” Can you briefly describe what you do in your current job? Crikey, that’s difficult. Officially my job title is Assistant Principal – IB Diploma Coordinator (but when people ask me I don’t say the hyphen). I have responsibility for the IB diploma and that means that I coordinate all the teachers, the students, the program, the examinations; I make sure that we have the right subject offerings, that students are in the right groups. If there are issues with students which are solely academic, then teachers come and speak to me. I think that the unusual thing about this is that because we’re a school where we know the students very well I often look past just the academics to generally what’s going on with a student in terms of their social and emotional wellbeing, because I think we all know that unless you’re happy with who you are and where you are, then you’re prob-

ably not going to be doing very well academically. That’s the IB diploma bit. The assistant principal bit is then to do with the entire secondary school, which has 4 leaders: Mr. Ivett as the secondary and middle school principal, Ms. Secker as the high school principal, Mr. Harrison as MYP coordinator, and me as DP coordinator. How does that compare to what you’re going to be doing in your position next year? I will become the secondary school principal; it’s sort of being the person who somebody would go to if there are big issues or big decisions to be made, or support that needs to be given across the whole of the secondary school – just like you see Mr. Ivett doing now. Also when students are getting themselves into serious problems, I try and help the student. How do you think the skills that you’ve learned in this job are going to carry over? I’ve been in this position for 8 years and in the school for 10 years. Every Wednesday afternoon we have a meeting of at least two hours. Although Mr. Ivett has ultimate responsibility for the secondary school, he doesn’t take those decisions himself. He shares them with that group of people. We call ourselves the Secondary Educational Leadership Team, SELT. 8 years of being in SELT means that I’m used to the problems and the decisions. Everybody talks about a leadership

Photo by Ridhi Aneja style. You’re either someone like Stalin or you’re like sort of John Lennon and “imagine all the people”.Mr. Ivett’s leadership style is very much one of sharing the decision making. Being part of that has allowed me to understand what’s coming. For me, as an individual, it seems like a natural step in terms of the next challenge. But it will be a challenge. What are you going to miss about your current position? I won’t know the diploma students as well, that’s just inevitable. I imagine I’ll know all their names, but I won’t know what they are like. The fact that I deal with you every day means that I know what your likes and dislikes are, who your friends are, what you like to do. I’ll miss that. I’ll miss the fact that I sometimes don’t have to take full responsibility for a decision. (...)

continued on page 6

Couch Potatoes and Microwaves Charles Wilson rests his case and his weary head.

or those of you who haven’t heard, the IB lounge will soon be a thing of the past. Losing this space will certainly be a massive blow for all diploma students, who feel it is a refuge from the heavy workload which the IB thrusts upon them and a place for well deserved respite. Strictly speaking, year 13’s are not losing any space, but will instead receive a new “social space.” If you are going into year 12, however, the news arguably gets worse as you will be receiving no closed private area at all! Instead, you will be receiving a section of the hallway which will not be exclusive to them as other students will be allowed to relax in it while the the year 13 louge remains strictly out of bounds. ISL students long for the lounge from their first day in year 7. You can often see eager year 11’s trying different ways to sneak into the lounge; however, they are kindly escorted out by the diploma students. Originally, when I first heard the rumors of the lounge being taken away I immediately started asking questions as to why, or what, is going to happen. If you were to badger teachers for a lounge you could expect to hear, “The lounge is a privilege, not every school gets a lounge, consider yourself lucky”. Ms. Secker, Mr. Foley, and I sat down together to discuss the future situation of our lounge. We started with one of the largest concerns: food. Many students are worried we will not have any microwaves in the lounge, and this is true to an extent. We will not be allowed have microwaves in the lounge, but this is because we will not be allowed eat in the lounge whatsoever. Microwaves will be provided in the new building, but how many or where they will be is yet to be decided. Next, we discussed what will actually become of our lounge. I was told that our lounge MUST have a dual purpose, simply because it is thought to be a waste to only use a room for 2 hours out of the 8 hour school day. When I asked what the main purpose of this dual purpose room will be, Ms. Secker responded,“Well it has to have dual purpose, but its primary purpose is for you to have a social space. At

times we may need to use it for other things, but its primary function is a year 13 social space. We recognize that year 13 is a tough year and that you need a place to be together”. When asked about the format of the lounge, Mr. Foley replied, “what we were thinking is to put it (the social area) at the sides of the room and the center of the room will be left to studying,”. However I must state how none of this is definitive.” Finally, we got to the big issue, what makes a lounge a lounge: couches. After explaining that for all students to have couches to sit on in the new lounge there would need to be 28ish couches. I asked how many we would actually be receiving. The answer… None. I was told that, “At the moment there is no plan to have couches in the lounge, what we’re trying to do is create a space which has a different culture from the culture of the lounge at the moment”. Naively hoping, I asked if we students would be allowed bring in our own couches. The answer… No. Mr. Foley explained that, “No, we’re not going to bring in more couches and we’re not going to allow you to bring in more couches”. We won’t be allowed to bring in couches for several reasons, first being that it is believed that no matter what, the students will ruin any furniture brought

in. However, the lounge will feature fat boys, which is strange, as if any piece of furniture will be damaged more than a fatboy. Additionally fat boys aren’t the most social piece of furniture and will pick up more dirt than couches would.The reason the couches have to go is to make room for a study space, as it is not believed that the lounge is advantageous just as a lounge. What the Diploma students argue is that the IB lounge is a necessity and one of the most useful facilities there is to help us completely relax during our breaks from IB. We do not want to finish a class or a long hard day of year 13 and go for a break in a working zone. As Basille from year 12 put it, “What we have to get the school officials to understand is the impact the lounge has on us and how this reflects in our classroom attitude and subsequent results. What I mean is that the lounge does a lot (I mean A LOT) in giving us a mental break and an opportunity to fully relax in between periods of study. The IB is a very rigorous program and having the possibility to ‘reset our brains’ once or twice per day is essential to not only our success at the end of our two years but also to the healthy and truly enjoyable nature of being at ISL”. Losing the IB Lounge to the replacement of a “social space” will be an absolute and massive blow to all diploma students.

Photo by Alannah Wilson

ISLGBT Alannah Wilson tells the story straight

hen issues involving discrimination against the LGBT community emerge in school I can’t help but wonder whether the education system can be held responsible. Considering that ISL schools over 600 individuals, the education system here has proven somewhat adaptable to the specific needs of the international students. From the perspective of a year 10 student, there has been little sex education as a whole, and that which occurred in year 8 focused entirely on heterosexual relationships and reproduction. This would suggest that there is a lack of open discussion in the early years about the different sexualities that are prevalent around the world. If ISL is an international school representing a variety of races, cultures and countries should it not also represent a variety of sexualities? Another concerning element is that it is not uncommon to hear students from a variety of years using homophobic slurs. Despite the fact that these phrases may not be used with the intention of attacking the nonstraight community, the prevalence of these words suggests a lack of education about the possible effects they may have on individual students. Which ultimately makes me wonder if ISL is offering an accurate representation of the world, by not offering a detailed and comprehensive education about the variety of sexualities within it. The international community is widely diverse and continues to grow every year. As the community grows at ISL,

so do the diverse needs of the students; ISL currently offers a wide range of choices for students with specific needs: it offers additional language courses; support for students with educational needs; and the teachers are very approachable when you feel the need to ask them for help. The school curriculum seems to be silent on the topic of homosexuality, suggesting that the needs of some students are being overlooked. If the ISL curriculum disscusses heteroseuxality more often than homosexuality is it reinforcing heteronormativity? An example of this preference can be observed through the sexual education that year 8, 11, and 13 go through. At ISL Sex Ed fails to include important information that may apply to students that are not straight. By doing so, they are overlooking a number of students who identify as non-straight. This may cause those students to feel separated from the class because some of the information does not apply to them. By omitting any substantial discussion and education about safe-sex for nonstraight students, ISL may also be setting up more students for an increased likelihood of health issues in their future. Some may say that including LGBT safe sex in the sex education curriculum is encouraging certain views on students, but surely the most important thing is the health of the student body and also, by including LGBT in sex ed, it may be beneficial for straight students too, because it portrays a more accurate representation of the world. ISL is a massive blend of different cultural backgrounds, some of which may be

accepting of homosexuality and some of which may not. Currently, around the world there are over 80 countries that have criminal laws against LGBT acts. Institutionalized homophobia can be affected by a person’s religious beliefs or culture. Although religious homophobia doesn’t seem to be an issue in this school, I think that social homophobia may be. Social homophobia tends to emerge at ISL frequently. An example of social homophobia is when boys have a fear of being labeled as gay because they feel that it is a negative representation of their masculinity. This attitude, possibly the consequence of a lack of sexuality education, may prove to divide straight students and non-straight students due their social status. By distancing themselves from the LGBT community, they feel are asserting their heterosexuality. Bullying based on sexuality is an issue that affects millions of people worldwide. When students use sexuality as a weapon for bullying in a school environment it is often not reported to anyone or acknowledged by the school community. Even so, according to Ms.Varga, if the issue of bullying based on sexuality emerged at ISL it would be treated equally, as any other form of bullying would. Although ISL has had very few issues emerge involving discrimination against the LGBT community, and according to year 12 students different sexualities are briefly discussed in year 12, I think that there is always room for improvement and that the school should consider adapting its curriculum to allow all the students to feel included in class.

A New Beginning Ruby Griffiths meets the Ivetts as they prepare to move on.

ow do you feel … after you grew this baby up?” Mrs. Ivett softly chuckles.

When the Ivetts arrived at the newly born Commonwealth International School 25 years ago it was the start to one of the many phases Mr. and Mrs. Ivett guided the school through. ISL started with 120 students, and like a small toddler learning to walk, ISL made small plodding steps forward with each moment of life. After meeting in Athens, the Ivetts have taught together for 33 years, and have been the outstretched hand to this rapidly developing, and now, what could be considered, “adolescent” ISL. “It’s such a fantastic school to teach in [so] why would I move?” As we are reaching the next stage of our expansion next year, Mr. Ivett will be transitioning back to his deeply rooted passion for teaching. The lucky year sevens and eights will have the

honour of being taught by one of the most respected teachers in ISL; plus, next year’s IB students might have the chance to learn language and literature with him too. Additionally, Mrs. Ivett will be retiring from her position as head of the Language Department and starting her part-time job teaching two French classes. However, despite reducing to two classes, Mrs. Ivett is just as busy! After being asked what she will do with her time as a free woman, Mrs. Ivett replied with a full timetable of yoga, Pilates, tennis, hiking, voluntary work, and plenty of visits back to Athens – the origin of the Ivett power couple. Mr. Ivett admitted that the fourth phase of the school’s development “would probably kill [him],” especially considering the time and effort put into the development of ISL. Originally, Mr. Ivett had started at the school with an 80% timetable teaching both English and Drama.Not only has he influenced the direction of the school, but each individual under his lesson plan; Mr. Ivett’s plethora of memorable moments teaching will only grow bigger when

he becomes a full time teacher again. “It’ll be nice to focus on it completely… and not make compromises.” Yet, this job “won’t be easier,” regardless of the slight relaxation of stress that comes with the new job. There are always new challenges that come with the territory of being a teacher, challenges that both Mr. and Mrs. Ivett will be facing. However, this is apparently not too bad, since “[every] problem [is] interesting”. Mrs. Ivett commented on the lack of monotony when teaching - different children needing different teaching methods. However, overall the connections made with each student and family are what Mr. Ivett deems the thing “[he] enjoy[s] most”. “It’s a good job, we like the change or we’d never have survived here.” The large portion of the development of this school over the course of 25 years can be accredited to the Ivett duo. Now as ISL reaches its next phase, the south campus, the Ivetts can take a respite and enjoy the piles of marking to come.

Photo by Ridhi Aneja

Il-Leg-al? Camilla Lozinska-Brown addresses the shorts situation.

he most recent newsletter contained a section on the new dress code, which has been imposed by the school. This includes the ban of any sort of ripped jeans and shorts for both girls and boys, and a special note on short shorts which was specifically aimed at the female student body. These clothes were banned under the pretext of being too “scruffy” for a school environment, but the majority of the student body will disagree with this statement, as ripped jeans can be made to look chic and classy, although the same cannot be said of sweatpants and sport shorts. These sport clothes can be seen worn by students in all years, and one wonders why the school does not ban these items if they consider ripped jeans too “shabby”. Is it because the extra skin is too “provocative”? As a female student at ISL, you feel specifically targeted during the summer months, as we are the constant subject of criticism on shorts and skirt lengths. According to authoritative figures within the school, there is no clear rule on the permitted length of shorts, except a few vague guidelines. These guidelines state that shorts must cover one’s behind, have enough material to have legs and be detached from the thighs. Consequently these vague rules result in confusion on what is considered appropriate and what is improper for a school environment. Most parents in the morning check on the appropriateness of their child’s outfit; therefore, shouldn’t the school trust parent’s decisions? The constant emphasis on the length of a girl’s shorts creates an environment in which girls constantly feel self-conscious about the clothes they wear, as they feel that if too much skin is seen they are attracting unwanted attention. Not only does this create an uncomfortable environment, but this conveys a message that a girl’s legs are sexualised. As a result, girls are brought up through the school environment being taught that they are considered sexual objects through the dress code, which highlight a girl’s need to cover up her legs, as it is depicted that seeing too much leg or (God forbid) stomach will distract boys in their academic studies. I remember in one of the very first assemblies of this school year, it was suggested that girls should

not wear bum shorts as not only is it inappropriate, but it might be distracting for boys. At the time, I took no notice, but once I had reflected upon the subject, I felt slightly shocked, even though I do completely understand that clothes which expose one’s posterior are completely inappropriate and unpleasant in a school environment. However, I do think that this request could have been worded in a better context, and not passing on the idea to girls that their bodies after a certain age are sexualised. Granting all this, a few female students do dress rather inappropriately for educational circumstances, especially when you cannot discern their shorts from underwear. Understandably, shorts that do not have enough material to cover their behind are not suitable for an educational environment; as it is a rather unpleasant sight having to see your peer’s backside in full view.

everyone’s right to have access to it. These new fashion restrictions limit the ways that a student can grow or identify as a person. The different outfits students wear may provide them with a source of confidence and comfort as they may feel secure in their attire, thus improve their learning environment. Removing this source of comfort and assurance could affect their schoolwork and grades. Would a school like ours, intent on the pursuit of excellence, want to affect a student’s chance of reaching their full potential? Therefore, within reason, the school should allow students to dress in clothes they feel comfortable in. This way, students do not feel that their freedom of expression is being impeded upon or ignored by these newly imposed restrictions.

The rule regarding short shorts, which the new dress code focuses on, is sexist, as there is no mention for boys that their shorts must be a certain length. Both boys and girls have legs. Therefore, I do not see why shorts, which do not show one’s bottom, are considered provocative or inappropriate for a school environment. Why is it when a girl wears ‘normal’ length shorts is it seen as unsuitable?! I have noticed that as one becomes older, especially in the cases of girls, you cannot show too much skin as it is seen as improper and that you are asking for unwanted attention. When a girl enters her teenage years, her body suddenly becomes a sex symbol, as all these restrictions are implanted on the way she dresses. This way of thinking fuels ‘rape culture’, which essentially places the blame on women and the clothes they wear for being sexually assaulted. The new dress code rules can be considered to agree with these statements as they are insinuating that girls must not show too much skin or they will be asking for negative attention from the opposite gender. People dress in different ways to express themselves through their different outfits or styles, or some students simply wear clothes they feel comfortable in. Therefore, implementing all these different rules can be considered a form of deprivation of freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is one of the fundamental human rights, and it is

Illustration by Jocelyn Kwan

“You are either Stalin, (...) Being in my job for 8 years, I am fairly comfortable, and it doesn’t feel as stressful as it felt 8 years ago. Now in Mr. Ivett’s job it will probably feel more stressful even after 8 years. But I signed up for it, that’s what I wanted: a new challenge, I wanted to do something difficult and new. What are you not going to miss? I am not going to miss going to the exam hall for year 12 in a mathematics examination, and finding that 8 students have come to the examination without a ruler. I will go to the exam hall occasionally, but I won’t be responsible for finding 8 spare rulers out of 50 students.

I quite like the idea that I’m going to have a say in things that are going to be done. What are you especially looking forward to in your new job, what’s particularly exciting? When you decide you’re going to go for a job like this, you have to figure out why you are doing it. You have to be careful of wanting to do it because you feel like you can have influence in how things should be. But I quite like the idea that I’m going to have a say in things that are going to be done. One of the things I really enjoy is complex, intellectual problem solving, but also the people who are part of that. I like the fact that people care about what you’re going to say. And that relates to students as well. If a teacher tells a student you must do this, the student’s heard it so many times and they might be hearing it from their parents. But then if the secondary school principal tells you as well, you think, “well hang on a moment, this is something serious now.” Are there things you already know you’ll want to change? The first year of the job is actually not a time to be changing things. It’s a year to be trying to figure out where we are, what things people are happy with, what people feel we need to improve, and what things actually we don’t need to change at all - by people I mean students, parents, and teachers. Next year is a special one for us anyway because we’ve got so much change com-

ing whether we like it or not, and to try and bring more change would be foolish. Next year the key thing is, to make sure that the change that happens, we have control over. Trying to get the new students and teachers to become ISL-like in their approach to school. I don’t think the current students want to see a whole bunch of students coming in who are vastly different to them and who change the dynamic of the school for the worse. The only way you get change in a community is where there’s a clear consensus and then your job is to lead people through that change. You mentioned how the expansion is going to change our school quite a bit, what do you think are the key things that are going to change in how your future job is going to work and how your current job is going to work? Let’s talk about this job first. Obviously the new person is going to have twice the number of students eventually. Perhaps not next year; there’ll probably be 80 students in year 12 next year.. But there are something called year level leaders; one for year 12 and one for year 13. They will take care of a bit more of the pastoral stuff that I have done as diploma coordinator. So the diploma coordinator will be able to focus much more on leading the curriculum. With the MYP coordinator, my replacement will lead the heads of departments as well. They’ll be responsible for things such as subjective elements so the students’ marks aren’t affected by which teacher they have. Also, that their skill development makes sense as they go from year 7 to year 13; that they’re not starting off in year 7 with something which is very easy, and then it gets easier in year 8, then really difficult in year 9; that is what we call vertical integration. Also that there’s horizontal integration across subjects; that you’re actually doing the

The only way you get change in a community is where there’s a clear consensus. same thing with Mr. Friend as you’re doing with Mr. Hunter as you’re doing with somebody else. In Mr. Ivett’s present position, which will become mine, the first key thing is

that it won’t have middle school responsibility directly. That will be Mr. Harrison’s job: to create a middle school culture. So that job will be a little less direct contact with middle school students, but there’ll be more of them, so one of the biggest challenges for me will be learning everybody’s names. I have a few strategies. I’m going to go on the year 7 field trip and either the year 8 or 9 ski trip, so then I’ll know two of the three years. After that I’ll just have to learn the new students coming in. But the interesting thing as well is that I won’t teach the diploma after next year. I’m only teaching the diploma this year because I told my year 12 class that I would take them through to year 13. I’ll probably teach either year 8 or year 9 Humanities, which is what I taught when I first came here 10 years ago. Inevitably, I won’t know as many students as well as I have done in the past. My challenge is to know as many students as deeply as I can. And that takes real effort. The other thing is that there’ll be more teachers to manage.

or you are John Lennon” With all the changes that are going to occur, what are the things that you want to see stay the same? The relationships that exist between students and students, and students and teachers. That’s doesn’t mean every part of the relationships. There are certain parts of relationships where people don’t understand the people who aren’t the norm. That part I want to see improve. We as a school want to make sure that our relationships are more understanding of people who are different than ourselves. But I really want the way that the teachers know the students thoroughly, which means that they can support them academically, socially, and emotionally, and that’s something that we really can’t change. How do we get our students to be open with their teachers in terms of sharing their own relationship and wanting to get to know their teachers? How do we communicate to our teachers that this is a school where we care about our students, where you don’t find teachers who shout at students, who don’t let students talk, or who cut them off mid-sentence? They’re the things which I really want to stay the same. Another thing is that I want to stay a school where the students feel that it’s cool to be successful academically and that people are proud of being seen as the most academic student in the year group, or working the hardest, or making the best of their abilities.

I want to stay a school where the students feel that it’s cool to be successful academically Do you think it’ll be strange that Mr. Ivett will still be in the school? I think so. It’s an unusual situation but I know that Mr. Ivett is doing it for the right reasons. It’s really useful that, when things are difficult, I can go and ask him for his advice. Mr. Ivett has been the secondary school principal for 25 years. He came when the whole school was 120 students and the secondary school was a handful of students. Much of what you see around you in terms of us being a successful school was built by Mr.Ivett along with Mrs. Ivett. He genuinely cares deeply about every single student and he also has a remarkable ability to give students the benefit of the doubt and to try and figure out what is causing the student to behave in the way that they are. He has a lot of patience in terms of allowing people to solve their problems. It’s not like I’m taking over from somebody from whom the only way is up. Some people will feel that the only way is down. It is kind of strange that he will still be there watching what I do. At the same time, I’m not Mr. Ivett, I’m different, and I’m not going to try and be Mr. Ivett either because we’re a bigger school, we’re a different school,

I’m a different person. I just wonder how he will reflect back and think at times “wow, that was a job that I used to do,” and see how it’s changed. Do you think there’ll be a similar dynamic with you still being in school and someone taking over your job? Yeah, I think so. When I became the diploma coordinator, M. Fazan took over being the CAS coordinator from me. There were many things he did much better than I did but I didn’t have the time to look back and think, “He’s doing that much better than I did, he’s doing that much worse than I did.” I think the person taking over from me is a remarkably intelligent and articulate person; I know she’ll do a wonderful job, I know the students will like her. She’s ISL in terms of her personality; she’s gentle, empathetic, kind.

It’s not like I’m taking over from somebody from whom the only way is up. Some people will feel that the only way is down. As secondary principal you’re in the spotlight; everybody’s looking at you. We can talk about impostor syndrome, where people in positions of responsibility feel like they’re not good enough, and that the job should be given to people who are more capable. I think when I become secondary school principal I will feel a bit like an impostor, as I did when I first took up IB diploma coordinator. You look around at the teachers you have – really intelligent, articulate, kind, patient teachers –and it’s hard for me to realize that I’ll actually be responsible for the secondary school when I know that actually most of the secondary school teachers could do the job if they were given the right environment and experience to develop. It’s a really important part of being secondary school principal, to give other people responsibility so that they develop the skills so that the next time we have a secondary school principal position available there’s a whole bunch of people who could take on the role. I think, to a certain degree, there’ll be a point in the future when people think, “It was better when Mr. Ivett was in charge.”

This is not Banter Jennifer Fernandez Owsianka is not one of the lads.

t all started when my sister sent me a horrifying article from the Times. The article discussed the rise of the new university culture, ‘ Laddism’ or ‘lad culture’, which directly promotes sexual harassment, and sexism within British universities. This culture is very often excused as harmless joking between male students who are just up for a bit of ‘banter’, but in reality this culture focuses on sexist humour and comments and, the objectification, dehumanization and degradation of women. In other words, more often than not, rich, privileged men in sporting and drinking societies breeding rape culture in universities for fun. But this is not exclusive to universities: here at ISL, I go around hearing my male peers uttering sexist comments on how women belong to men, all washed off with howling laughs and excused as great ‘banter’. The spread of the ‘lad culture’ today can be due to the accessibility of internet, which allowed the ‘lads’ to form the very famous website UniLad in 2010 by Alex Partridge, who described it “as the number one university student lads’ magazine and guide to getting laid”. The UniLad published an article named “sexual mathematics” in 2012 in which the writer stated “if the girl you’ve taken for a drink…won’t ‘spread for your head’, think about this mathematical statistic: 85% of rape cases go unreported. That seems to be fairly good odds”. Those who are part of ‘lad culture’ are a class of people who see rape as acceptable and even encourage rape as means to becoming a ‘real man’. This laddish behaviour not only promotes gender inequality and gender roles but also the male attitude towards women which is starting to become acceptable in events, societies, websites and sporting clubs in universities and beyond. If you still don’t believe that this culture is spreading, then explain why a third of male universities students say that they would rape a woman if there were no consequences involved? In the UK 1 in 5 women are victims of sexual offences. A survey done by the Telegraph stated that 1 in 3 female university students experience sexual assault. The various articles I have read are filled with graphic sto-

ries of female university students being raped, degraded, sexualized, groped, or feeling terribly unsafe in bars and night clubs. I could tell you about Jess*, who was raped by her boyfriend while she slept during her second year at university or about Lucy*, who was raped by two men simultaneously whilst 4 other men were in the same room telling her to shut up, as she cried, because they wanted to sleep. The bullying and the insults Lucy received following the rape were the worst part of her story. The fact that 85% of rape cases go unreported shows not only the psychological impact rape has, the self-blame and guilt the victim feels, but also the lack of support the justice system provides. Victims of rape at universities almost automatically feel guilty and can become too afraid to even go out on the campus or drop their studies altogether. You may be wondering what universities are doing. Two words: not much. In May 2015, the high court refused to allow a judicial review of Oxford University’s sexual assault policy following a complaint made by former Oxford student Elizabeth Ramey who was raped during the end of exams party. In 201011, at Oxford university there were 9 403 female postgraduate and undergraduate students, out of which 700 were victims of severe sexual assault and 3 130 experienced some form of sexual assault, according to Elizabeth Ramey in her article “Why I’m suing Oxford University over rape” in the Telegraph. Most British universities refuse to investigate sexual assault on campus, which tells the victims of rape that they want to preserve the reputation of the offenders rather than deliver justice and value the human rights of the victims. Furthermore, this enables offenders to repeatedly rape and forces survivors to remain ashamed and silenced. The reason for the rise of sexual harassment in universities is due to

the rise of porn culture amongst adolescent boys, according to Ann Olivarius, the women rights defender and lawyer who sued Yale University over sexual assault cases that resulted in Yale becoming the first US University to set up an internal procedure to deal with sexual assault cases. In 2013, a report was made by the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics pointed out that female students in full-time education were at higher risk of sexual violence than the general female population. Universities are supposedly places of study and intellectual development, but instead I see them now as places where men take pleasure in sexually harassing, humiliating, objectifying, and touching women. The dehumanisation of women in British universities makes me realize to what extent gender inequality exists, even amongst rich, educated, and privileged young men in 2015. I admit I was shocked when I read about this ‘lad culture’ in the article my sister sent me, not because I don’t know anything about sexism or rape (quite the contrary), but because this violent and degrading treatment of women (for the first time ever) felt so near and close to me. There are many ambitious women at ISL who dream of going to privileged British universities, but did the thought of this misogyny this disgusting and unjustified banter ever enter their minds? This monstruous and infectious disease that is attacking British universities not only concerns them but also all the students at ISL who are thinking of going to university. People I meet find it shocking, ridiculous, or even embarrassing that I stand up for gender inequality with no fear or shame and, frankly, with anger. You see – none of this is banter. This is disgusting and distasteful misogyny. This is about women. This is about you.

Good Enough is Better Adela Sahraoui will not let her grades define her.

xcellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good, which is near impossible. Yet, there seems to be a competitive streak at ISL that “expects excellence from their students,” as once quoted in assembly. The message being excellence equals happiness. This puts constant pressure on us, the students, who seek to get the highest grades; it’s pushing us to compare ourselves to our peers when we shouldn’t. Everyone is more - or less - gifted in some areas than others. Our huge focus on the importance of grades for the future is making us judge our own worth and intelligence based on other people’s grades. It is incredibly demoralising when peers are high flyers with 6s and 7s, and aren’t satisfied. There are a significant number of people who seem to be aiming for 30 or 40 points out of the IB when I question whether I’ll even get past 30 points. This can have a large impact on self-esteem when you feel that you are competing against peers who are intel-

lectually out of your league. The potential problem with this strive for excellence is that, if everyone seeks it and works tremendously hard to achieve it, then it loses its value. In addition, if you expect to get the highest grades all the time, the whole purpose of improving and the happiness gained by attaining this goal seems futile. From that point on, you can only go down or continue worrying about maintaining your grade without paying attention to your achievement. We can’t always be 100% and it should not be expected of us to be that. We can’t always push our own boundaries, especially if this consists of sacrificing sleep or time socialising with friends and family members as we try and be a ‘perfect’ student. If we are already striving for excellence, then we will be seeking to be the best in everything we do for the rest of our lives and compare ourselves to people who are completely different from us. We then move into perfectionism. A duel between oneself, where the person hopes that their determination will bring them success; but even when they do reach their goal, it doesn’t stop there. They don’t celebrate their

exploit, but instead focus on the next thing they have to excel at. This strive for excellence is not only in academic areas but also in sport, where only the best get chosen to play in competitions and benefit from the experience of playing tournaments with other schools. This can reinforce the feeling of not being good enough, yet surely sports should be open to everyone regardless of individual ability. Shouldn’t the focus be more on participation and enjoyment than competition and winning? This incessant pressure to excel in everything we do, brings us to a state of mind where our achievements are measured in comparison to those of others and where failure is not acceptable. This should not be the message promoted by schools and universities. Ideally, education should be about the personal fulfilment of each individual student who learns and grows with a sense of curiosity about the world. If our main purpose in life is the pursuit of “excellence” as opposed to happiness, then we are setting ourselves up for inevitable failure and disappointment in the future.

On Your Marks... Go! Zsofi Igo wants her Year 10 science essay back.

SL has no real rule concerning the return of marked work despite the nominal one week deadline, a schedule that students and teachers alike know to be stuff of dreams. ISL strives for excellence in terms of a holistic education, but how can this be achieved if by the time we get our work back, we don’t even remember what it was about? Teachers should know that the later they give back work, the less students care about the comments and improvements-to-be-made...and more about the grade, which is not what we want, right? Plus, it is not what teachers want either because they always say, “Read the comments, I put a lot of effort into writing detailed comments on everyone’s work”. There are two simple fixes for this problem: 1) don’t give too many assignments or 2) give

the work back on time! As a student, I often find it quite a nuisance to have the stress of meeting deadlines and then have teachers say after two whole weeks (or more), “Oh sorry, I haven’t had time to look at them because I’ve been busy (e.g. with kids, other work, social life…)”. How is it fair that we always have to sacrifice our free time to meet deadlines, otherwise we are punished (homework reports); but teachers can take forever to mark work because they just “didn’t get round to it yet”? We are just asking for you to complete marking in the reasonable time frame of one week, which is very manageable, seeing the size of an average class at ISL. Teachers should all be following the outstanding example that the math teachers in this school are setting, as they (almost) always give back tests the next lesson and longer assignments within less than a week. They know that if they drag out the marking of tests, the

students’ learning and consolidation of those subjects learnt, will be weakened. This applies to all subjects, even if it is less present, which should mean that all teachers should be giving back work within a week. In Hungary, there is a rule that if the teacher doesn’t give back the marked work within two weeks, the student can decide if they want to count that grade or not. This is not such a bad idea and maybe it should be enforced at ISL as well, as it would pressure teachers to mark faster in order to get enough summative grades in their books. It would also benefit the students because they would be getting work back faster and they would have the choice to discard a grade that was particularly bad, if the teacher didn’t keep to the deadline. Deadlines for teachers would also get rid of the annoying: “Have you marked it yet?” question which they hate and it would benefit all the students’ learning and development.

The X-am Factor Chloe Rodriguez talks about a few of her favourite things.

h, the sweet, sweet month of June has finally arrived! This means sunny summer weather, finally being able to wear shorts (Get those rulers out ladies! Remember the five centimeter rule!), the looming end of school, and with that, the heavily anticipated exams and the accompanying stress and frustration. Fortunately for the Year 10s, as first time exam takers, we didn’t have nearly as much stress as some of the years above. Exam week was probably one of the better ones of the entire year. Walking to the exam hall in the early summer weather was nothing, if not pleasant. Study periods were more of a double period of idle talk of summer plans and a string of Buzzfeed quizzes. However, for those who will be taking exams in the future, here are some helpful study tips from yours truly.

1) Take a walk!

Studies show that walking helps boost creative activity and inspiration within the brain. It doesn’t matter where...the

act of walking itself is the main factor, not the environment. In many cases, the creative levels and cognitive functions of those walking were consistently and significantly higher than those who study sitting. So, you there, get up from your seat! Do some stretches, and get yourself outside. Take time to admire your surroundings, and start walking. Keep walking. Walk far away, further and further from all your pressing obligations and responsibilities. Do not return.

2) Have a study buddy!

There are a variety of advantages to studying with a partner. Two heads are better than one, and you and a buddy can share flashcards, study tips, and resources for revision. Learn to benefit from each other’s strengths. A study partner will understand some topics or problems that you don’t and you will be able to explain some subjects to your partner in return. It’s a great trade-off! If it still doesn’t work out, be prepared to betray your partner. Start to feed your study buddy incorrect information. The more false material you give your partner, the easier the curve

will be. So, get out there, find a friend, and pair up!

3) Chew gum!

I once saw in a Buzzfeed article (during study period actually) that chewing a certain flavour of gum while studying, then chewing the same flavour again while taking an exam, helps you remember important pieces of information. Apparently the familiar taste of the gum will trigger memory cells within the brain and thus you remember whatever it is you studied. Alright, I’m not actually sure this really works, and I don’t know if it can be proved... and I’m probably never going to try it, but still. They probably wouldn’t even let you chew gum in the exam hall anyway. And what happens if the gum loses flavor halfway through the exam? You’d just have a piece of flavorless gum stuck in your mouth for the next 45 minutes. Gross. Sorry, you should probably just ignore this tip. So, I leave you with these life saving tips for the exams to come next year (I wrote this during the exam period - reread this next May). Happy studying everyone (for next year)!

Mouse Clicks and Pied Pipers Edward Fraser geeks out.

BO’s Silicon Valley is one of the funniest and most entertaining shows I have seen in a while. This show features a cast of similarly witted, highly computer-literate men who are on the journey of starting their startup technology company Pied Piper in Silicon Valley, California. If you’re not already familiar with Silicon Valley, it is where most large technology companies are based, as well as most startup technology companies as well. Pied Piper, a company created by the main character Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), specializes in file compression – essentially making large files take up less space. Richard Hendricks, the brains behind the operation, is also forced into a partnership with Erlich Bachman (T. J. Miller), as he was under Erlich’s incubator while Pied

Piper was being created. An incubator, in the Silicon Valley world, is basically just a sweatshop for programmers – they go on with their own personal business endeavours and in turn get to live inside Erlich’s home and, most importantly, steal from his fridge. Erlich, in return, gets 10% of the company should it become successful. He realizes Pied Piper’s potential and decides to gather everyone from his incubator to help work on the company, which totals to about six people. The Pied Piper team is under control of Peter Gregory (Christopher Evan Welch), a billionaire funding their company. Peter Gregory’s rival, Gavin Belson, another billionaire in Silicon Valley played by Matt Ross, immediately starts a battle between his company Hooli and Pied Piper. This battle features Pied Piper pinned against Hooli’s new compression company, Nucleus. The fight is eventually taken to TechCrunch Disrupt, a large competition for technology startups,

which gives the winners of the competition $50,000 to help with their startup’s funding. The second season of the show has just aired, and fortunately it’s made by HBO and therefore will not air all at once like Netflix shows, preventing you from watching an entire season in one sitting.

Mad Max: Fury Road Chloe Rodriguez watches explosions, crashes... and feminism

hen I first bought tickets to see Mad Max: Fury Road, I honestly did it as more of a joke than anything. Watching really bad movies just amuses me to no end, and from what I could see, Mad Max seemed like a laughably terrible film. I entered that movie theater thinking I was signing up for another bad, testosterone filled 3 hours of blood lust and post-apocalyptic madness. However, I suppose the phrase “don’t judge a movie by its ridiculous desert monster truck poster” comes to mind after watching this movie. Mad Max: Fury Road is set in a seemingly endless desert in an undisclosed location, years into the future. In this post-apocalyptic hellscape, most resources such as water, oil, and farm produce are considered rare commodities. The namesake of the film, Max (Tom Hardy), is a lone wanderer and survivor of the recent wars over resources. Max is captured by the War Boys, a tribe of bald, pale, war crazed fellows. Their leader is the Immortan Joe, a monstrous figure that wears a mask decorated with horse teeth and whose toad like skin is covered in a plastic breastplate. He lords over the entire Citadel, controlling the sources of water and food, as well as keeping his own personal harem of wives (sex slaves, really). Charming fellow I’m sure, once you get to know him. The Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), Immortan’s top warrior, whisks Immortan’s wives away and pile on on a war rig in search the Green Place, a supposed oasis. Max forms an uneasy alliance with Furiosa, a rogue War Boy, and the Immortan’s wives, and together they attempt to find their way to the Green Place. Ever since the movie’s release, it has been receiving high praise from both critics and audiences from all over the world. I suppose it was alright, but I wouldn’t really raise your expectations too high if you’re planning to watch this film. The setting is quite familiar; a post-apocalyptic Earth with a scarcity of basic resources and the destruction of most major civilizations as we know it. So concept-wise, it wasn’t particularly groundbreaking or overly interest-

ing, but for a film within that genre, it is pretty decent. If you’re looking for a good action movie, this is certainly it. It’s extremely fast paced and the entire film is just a whirlwind of car chases, gunfights, and explosions. So many explosions in fact, that I almost felt as if I was watching a Michael Bay movie. However, unlike Michael Bay, almost none of the explosions in Mad Max were CGI. This films has been years in the making and every single exploding vehicle and magnificent car crash was real. The script however, left much more to be desired. The entirety of Mad Max’s dialogue could probably be read in about 7 minutes, and those impressive explosions do distract from whatever it is anyone is saying. There has been a lot of buzz about this film being radically feminist. At first, I found it very hard to believe. Our first glimpse at the wives is a little disheartening; they are essentially supermodels dressed in gauzy strips of white cloth and metal crotch pieces, hosing themselves down in the middle of nowhere. It looked like a post-apocalyptic themed Playboy photoshoot. However, the film recovers and winds up becoming a testimony to female resilience. The Wives, who have been sex slaves all their lives, actively fight against their abuser, Immortan Joe. “We are not things!” the wives exclaim. It’s obvious that they aren’t there simply for decoration. Finally, we have Furiosa. Wow, what a gal. She has a prosthetic arm, and seems to be fond of smearing grease all over her forehead. (The fragrance people over at Dior must be having a fit over their J’Adore endorser Charlize Theron spreading the black stuff all over her brow.) The title of the movie is very misleading. The movie isn’t about Max, it’s about Furiosa. Nothing in this film could have happened without her, she leads the entire operation, and Max happily steps back and lets her. It’s beautiful to see this strong, disabled woman isn’t treated as an object of pity or sex appeal. Instead, she is a complex, multi-dimensional human being, who just happens to be incredibly bad ass. This movie wasn’t feminist because Furiosa got to engage in as much violence as the men, but because George Miller showcases the horrors of sexism and manages to write characters that cannot simply be replaced by a sexy cardboard cut out. It’s not perfect, but it sure is progress.

Fire Emblem: Awakening Conrad Grindheim

he Fire Emblem series is known as a hardcore Turn-Based Strategy RPG (Role Playing Game) that challenges even the most experienced of videogame veterans. In this iteration for Nintendo 3DS, Fire Emblem: Awakening, the game is as customizable as ever, with the ability to create your own avatar, choose between 4 difficulties, choose between two game modes, and so much more. The story follows the struggles of Prince Chrom and his army as they journey through the kingdoms of Ylisse and Valm on a quest to vanquish the Grimleals (a group of people who worship Grima, the fell dragon, and plan to resurrect it to take control over the Halidom of Ylisse). At first, the game seems to have your typical “save the world from the evil dragon” story. However, as the game progresses, the plot becomes more and more engaging, leaving you wanting more. From a gameplay standpoint, Fire Emblem: Awakening is very set-up and preparation based. Before starting a mission, you have to carefully choose your units, where they are placed, what weapons and items they have, and who they team up. On the topic of teaming up, Fire Emblem: Awakening allows two units to pair up with each other to boost each others stats. For example, if two mages pair up with each other, they boost up their magic stat. As they pair up with each other more and more, they become more friendly with each other and boost their stats even more. However, stat boosts aren’t the only benefit of teaming up. As the characters get more friendly, they start having support conversations. Support conversations are short conversations in between characters that gives you a glimpse into the daily lives. These are my favorite part of the game since they make the characters feel extremely real, and more often than not, are very humorous.

Wishful Thinking Jocelyn Kwan is rooting for Team Rain

High School Leavers Conrad Grindheim

ANNA

MAURIK

ANSHUL

NOAH

DAGMARA

SAMUEL

DANIEL JULIETTE KIPRAS LENA MARGOT