Portsmouth Point: Thanks a Million

Thanks a Million!

James Burkinshaw describes how the Portsmouth Point blog following has grown this year

Portsmouth Point blog began 2021 by receiving its ONE MILLIONTH page view – testament to our loyal readers and dedicated team of editors and contributors. Since the first Lockdown, in March 2020, the blog has been in a unique position to help pupils, staff and members of the wider school community share ideas, opinions and enthusiasms. Portsmouth Point published more articles in 2020 (545) than we had in any twelve-month period previously (breaking the record of 485 articles set in 2013). Between January and July 2021, we have already posted 342, so there is certainly no sign of the intellectual engagement and creative energy of our pupils abating any time soon.

We have been so lucky, this year, with our dynamic editorial team of nearly 70 pupils from Years 7-13. I want to pay particular tribute to the Year 13s leaving us at the end of this year. Alex Barker wrote with enthusiasm and insight on topics from American football to the politics of heavy metal. Tara Bell’s passion for literature and her purposeful political engagement came through in every article she wrote, from the significance of ‘Jane Eyre’ to a critique of liberal feminism. Claudia Bishop was as knowledgeable and incisive about film and TV as she was about psychology; she was also an excellent interviewer. Honor Mitchell Brock wrote informedly about economics and raised awareness about alopecia. Edith Critchley wrote with infectious enthusiasm and intellectual acuity on a vertiginous variety of subjects from ecocriticism to women’s rugby, George Eliot to the Apocalypse. Emily Curwood’s intellectual interests ranged from AI to the biology of the gut, the politics of Turkmenistan to secondwave feminism. Anna Danso-Amoako wrote with conviction and cogency on medicine and politics, from the civil rights movement to the role of technology in health care. Max Harvey was brilliant at explaining complex scientific topics, from particle physics to the nature of time and the possibility of alien life, in a way accessible to non-specialist readers without compromising the intellectual rigour of the articles themselves. Sarnaz Hossain was equally at home discussing driverless cars and Cantor’s infinity as he was setting tough algorithmic puzzles for our readers. Esme Kelly was as entertaining and informative on the subject of cyborg-grasshoppers as she was on the joys of ‘Animal Crossing’. Thomas Locke was an adept interviewer and wrote perceptively on socio-cultural issues from Katie Hopkins to social networks. Sebastian Martin deservedly won the Sports Journalism prize for his engaging coverage of the South African rugby tour, the significance of Maradona and the impact of COVID on sport among other subjects. Jay Pasricha’s enthusiasm was always apparent, whether writing about the challenge of competitive climbing, unusual historical weapons, historical accuracy in computer games or the significance of water mills.

Sophie Reeve-Foster wrote with subtlety and sensitivity, whether defending ‘Nativity’ as a good Christmas movie or discussing the decriminalisation of sex work or the issue of mental health at Christmas. Habina Seo’s love of music, art and architecture permeated her writing, from sustainable architecture to the role of Viennese building design in the history of the symphony, the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge or the future of popular music. Seb Sharpe always wrote with assurance and wit on subjects from horse racing to F1, American football or the Black Death. Samantha Todd’s poetry was a highlight, ranging from relationships to identity, medicine to the passing of time. And I always looked forward to anything written by Nick Lemieux during his half-decade as a Portsmouth Point editor; whether he was contemplating