Term 2 – 19/20

The Marksman Term 2 – 19/20

Edited by Hattie and Adam

INTRODUCTION Welcome to this term’s edition of The Marksman! Once again, we want to thank all students who have taken the time to write a piece for us. For those students who haven’t submitted a piece to The Marksman before, we accept topical pieces, reviews, and creative writing. We would just like to remind students that two submissions will result in you being rewarded a half colour for the Citizenship Award, whilst five articles will get you a full colour. We will try our best to keep track of students who are eligible, but please contact us if we have missed any! Please feel free to send in any of your own submissions or give us advice and feedback – it is greatly appreciated. We hope you enjoy this term’s edition and have a great Christmas break!

The view expressed by students are the opinions of the students, not of RMGS or the editors of The Marksman.

The Impact of the UK’s Music Scene on Politics 21 Ben Doyle

Book Review - The Memory Keeper’s Daughter Megan Sharp 23

CONTENTS Jose Mourinho and his potentially damaging impact on the Tottenham team Alexander Liley-McCamley 24 Book Review - Aru Shah and the End of Time Shiv Lal 25 TOPICAL ARTICLES CREATIVE CORNER Living with Chronic Illness Lucie Low 5 Palette 27 Should politics really be something people Shiree Mae Alimodian argue about? Johnny Berry 8 Consider the Life of Another 28 Freya Ebeling

Why Is Flooding In The UK On The Rise? 9 The Sunset Forest Katherine Sharp 29 Elizabeth Costen

Is Christmas Really The Most Wonderful Time The Worlds Beyond Our Own Of The Year? 30 10 Octavia Thorpe Amber Chohan

Broken Extract 2 Lost In Translation 33 12 Alexander Liley-McCamley Finlay Bushnell-Wye

Cyberbullying 14 Amber Chohan

Healthy Eating at RMGS 16 Lily Ann Burgess

What is it like being a new Year 7 student at RMGS? 17 Amber Chohan

MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

Marvel Cinematic Universe 19 Shiv Lal

Book Review - A Thousand Splendid Suns 20 Madelaine Hunt

TOPICAL ARTICLES

Living with Chronic Illness

Writing about life with chronic illness is homework for that really scary teacher very hard when in that moment your life with a monobrow, put my milk feed on comes to halt, like a lovely elderly lady with the world's most annoying pump named Margaret, who spotted a sparkly that doesn't stop beeping, attempt to do cat brooch in the shop window. Everyone the homework whilst in the car with half else is busy passing by - catching the of my hair unbrushed, bleep, sit through bus, going to the school, going to the many dull lessons, bleep bleep, take "gym" - the point is everyone's life those really weird shaped pills, bleep continues, whilst you're stuck behind bleep bleep, miss my bus, bleep bleep Margaret, examining her perfectly bleep bleep, procrastinate doing permed hair. So you stand there for a homework by watching way too much while, bitterly watching everyone your Grey's anatomy, bleep bleep bleep bleep age making the memories that they bleep, attempt to throw the feeding won't ever forget, whilst you are stuck on pump out of the window.* Our illness the sidewalk wishing for your chance, and our life blends into a somewhat your chance to feel alive. normality, that is, until you realise most teenagers don't have to pop 20 When you're diagnosed with a chronic prescription meds a day. illness you are taught to go around Margaret, you alter everything in your For those of you wondering what chronic life, everything you know just so you can illness is, it's " is a human health say you're existing. To live with a chronic condition or disease that is persistent or illness however, that's the "fun" part. otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a There are days in our life that completely disease that comes with time" (thanks revolve around the illness, making such a Wikipedia). Yes, that's right, not only fuss of it like it's, its birthday. We take it does it make our life hard it steals our out to special appointments on a budget time where we feel okay. Chronic illness throne (a wheelchair) with pretentious sucks, it sucks so so so bad, and I don't consultants, we give it sterile presents of want to sugarcoat it. I could write loads tablets and needles, and instead of bows of posts filled with pretentious diets and ribbons we give it tubes and lines. claiming to cure all, and soul sucking These are the days where our illness is mind over matter rubbish, but what good the most important things going on in is that going to do? On a daily basis we our lives, but other days, we have to also deal with shed loads of pain, many "you try and go about our day doing the don't look sick"s, poop, weird medical normal things we would be doing if our devices, "just breathe through it"s, body didn't suck. Wake up, press the leaking body fluids we didn't know we snooze button, realise I forgot to do had and longgg waiting times for the pharmacy. Chronic illness changes

5 everything you once knew and shakes this unbearable shame. I was ashamed to your world into something you don't be anything less than perfect, to be recognise anymore, it's like a broken anything less that everyone else. I felt washing machine, but not as nice brandished. I felt alienated. I based so smelling. You grieve a life that wasn't so much of my self-worth on my illness, that difficult, where it wasn't so much effort not only was I afraid of others not to get out of bed. wanting me, I didn't want me. I was scared I would lose the person behind This post I guess portrays my current the pain. I am, perhaps, sometimes still in bitterness towards my illness - I suppose denial. I feel like it's this big bad wolf stopping me from getting my happy ending. I'm If there is anything I have learnt from grieving. I'm grieving an old life once denial is that you aren't your disease, lost. The one where I could experience all there is still a person behind all the tubes the shenanigans teenagers go through, and medication, yes, our diseases take up the one where I would have stories to tell so much of our life, but it only makes up my grandkids, the one where I could eat, a small part of who we are. There is the one where I didn't know what pain nothing to be ashamed of, if you have an was. illness, it makes you special - you fight a battle everyday of your life that most They say there are 5 stages of grief: people would give up on at the first denial, anger, bargaining, depression and hurdle. acceptance. Stage 2 - Anger: The anger in this stage Stage 1 - Denial: When I was first ill, I often feels endless as it stretches to never digested*** the idea that this everything: myself, my family, my illness wasn't going away, I didn't doctors, to bag that breaks and spills its understand or accept that my life was entire contents on the floor. I was angry, going to be different. I instead tried to I was angry that I existed. I was angry just refuse it, turn it away from being that every waking moment I was in pain. part of my life. Turns out the return I was angry there was no magic pill to policy for chronic illness is atrocious, they make me better. I was angry that my don't come with receipts or a 28-day body failed at doing basic human guarantee. There were days many of functions. I was angry my body failed at them, where I would fall into habit and working properly, the one thing it has to tell the world I was fine, tell myself that I do. I felt so angry at everyone else who was fine, in hopes I said it enough the had a body that didn't suck. I would just illness would disappear. There was this sit there with tears filled with anger and underlying fear that the minute I said I ask myself what did I do to deserve this. wasn't fine, I would break and never be The truth? No one did. I just wanted to fine again. The root of the denial was be angry. I just wanted to blame

6 something, even though there wasn't anymore. I just didn't want to be in pain anything to blame. So I blamed myself, anymore. I didn't want to live in my body and hated everything that I was. anymore. Everything I couldn't do seemed like a failure, when I was taking medication I Stage 5 - Acceptance: I'm not sure if I'm thought of myself weak and every time I here or I'm telling myself that I'm at this couldn't eat food I was a disappointment. stage but either way I'm not at stage 1 or 4 either. Things don't change quickly or Stage 3 - Bargaining: I thought I could even change at all, but a bad day or become this Del boy from Only Fools and many bad days doesn't have to mean a Horses, and start negotiating my illness bad life. There's this quote that I've lived to some high power. I started off with a by "Everything will be okay in the end, simple "please", which soon led to me and if it's not okay it's not the end." begging. I was desperate. I was Things might not be okay now, and they desperate for my old life back. I was might not be in 10 years’ time, but your desperate for the pain to end. I was happily ever after will come. So whilst I willing to do anything. A lot of self- don't know if I will ever fully accept my blame came with this stage, a lot of illness, I've learnt to believe in happily those "what-ifs". What if I was a better ever afters, illness or no illness. person, would I be sick? I'm the type of person that believes everything happens *Just to clarify, there is no such thing as for a reason, but during the bargaining too much Grey's anatomy and no feeding stage I couldn't see what that reason pumps were harmed... was. ** When our Chronic illness suddenly has tantrums and worsens our symptoms and Stage 4 - Depression: This was the then it will eventually subside to our moment where I realised nothing was daily symptoms. Flare ups can last for a going to take this illness away, and that few hours to up to months. I know, how realisation was the loneliest and scariest kind of it. thought, knowing I wasn't going to be *** I'm laughing at my accidental pun. the same, knowing I wasn't going to be One of my illnesses involves my gut its better. I suppose because I hadn't terrible job at digestion. So turns out I "beaten" my chronic illness I felt like I couldn't digest truths or food. failed myself and failed everyone else around me. Days became monotonous, and the reason to live was escaping my By Lucie Low fingertips. I was tired, tired of living a life that I didn't want to live. There were days, some dark days, where I felt hopeless and I didn't want to be alive

Should politics really be something people argue about?

At the end of the day, it’s not going to the definition being as follows: a system of change much... government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically It may seem like a stupid question, as through elected representatives. This politics (especially at the moment) is a topic country is supposed to be a place where being heavily debated all over the country anyone, regardless of their background and by almost everyone who hasn’t been living status is allowed to display their political under a rock for the last three years. Debate opinions without fear of oppression, is healthy, but as the question implies, is something which other countries around politics a subject which will inevitably lead the world surely envy, yet we seem to take to argument, if so, why is that, and is it too advantage of the system. Instead of late to change that? allowing people to interpret a party’s belief by themselves, the common practice I feel that, as the UK currently finds itself nowadays has become insulting someone caught up in the middle of yet another whose views differ, until they either general election, there really is no better reluctantly side with you, or are no longer time to talk about this. One of the things comfortable speaking about what they that spurred me to write about this was believe in. As I said before, discussion actually the way in which our politicians about beliefs is healthy and should be choose to act, these people, who the encouraged, yet the toxicity involved with country’s safety is entrusted to, conduct today’s politics makes such a thing themselves in ways which would be borderline impossible. shameful for mere children to act. The issue I’m alluding to is the unprofessionalism As a conclusion, in simple, I think that while within parliament at the moment, and the political discussion is beneficial, if not name calling is a perfect example of this. necessary, I feel that the nature of the Conservative supporters calling Jeremy subject and how people choose to conduct Corbyn, ”an Anti-Semitic Communist” is themselves can be detrimental to the ways just one of many unnecessary, inaccurate people feel about politics as a whole. It demonstrations of people showing truly should be a safe area to express your how little they know about politics. In no feelings, not a target range for you to be way am I supporting Labour nor mercilessly shot down by someone who is condemning the Conservatives, as all ignorant of other viewpoints... parties and their ‘loyal’ supporters have at times spoken unfavourably about their By Johnny Berry 12R opponents, I am merely using this specific example to display how this, fundamentally, should not exist in politics. Our political system in the UK is essentially the embodiment of the word democracy, 8

Why Is Flooding In The UK On The Rise?

Flooding in the UK seems to be on the people still don’t believe that climate rise. In past few years, flooding appears change is real… to have become more frequent and So what’s the government actually more dangerous. Locally, in 2013, the doing about this? Despite spending River Medway burst its banks in £2.6b over six years on 1,000 projects to Maidstone, West Malling, and the save 300,000 homes from flooding and Weald, affecting many local families coastal erosion, the government are and wildlife. Worse, just this summer the mainly spending their money town of Whaley Bridge was evacuated protecting urban areas, rather that the as the nearby dam was damaged and rural areas where most of the flooding in danger of flooding the valley below occurs. This could be considered to be it. Even now (November 2019), towns in justified as more people live in urban Yorkshire are underwater. But is UK areas in the UK, but the government flooding actually on the rise, or is it just simply sacrifices these small rural that the frequent floods simply have communities to save the country’s more devastating effects. cities. Furthermore, flooding defences In 2000, the UK had its wettest year on that the government does install are record. Only 6.6mm less, 2012 holds the often overcome in the floods that record for the second wettest year ever occur in the next few years. This in the UK. Rainfall is clearly becoming happened with the flood defences in worse in the UK, and since flooding Cumbria (which anybody who did occurs when large amounts of rainfall GCSE Geography will know about). In falls at the same time, or in a short 2015, Storm Desmond overcame the period of time, this may be a reason expensive flood defences built after why flooding is also on the rise. the 2009 flooding there, rendering the defences useless. The government has, But why, in recent years, has it been however, started the Flood Action raining so much more? The vitally Campaign, which aims to teach important report from the UN younger people about flooding and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate flood risks. Change (IPCC) suggests that climate change is the cause of this flooding. When more and more locations around According to their report, climate the country get flooded each year, change and a warming planet is especially at Christmas time, and with leading to more extreme rainfall. By Rochester being one of the areas at 2100, there will be about a 10% rise in “high risk” of flooding in the UK, average annual rainfall. In particular, shouldn’t we all start worrying more the UK and Europe are expected to see about it? more heavy rainfall events by the end of the century. This means that not only By Katherine Sharp is flooding on the rise in the UK, but it’s only going to get worse. And some

Is Christmas Really The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year?

Christmas day is fast approaching and for many it really is the the most wonderful time of the year. A time of joy and happiness, the excitement of putting up the beautiful, sparkly christmas tree whilst playing Christmas songs, cuddling up on the sofa wearing snug pyjamas keeping warm on those cold winter evenings watching Christmas films with loved ones, children eagerly counting how many sleeps they have until Christmas day, when they will finally get to open their presents and know if they have made it onto Santa’s good list! When Christmas day is finally here, everyone looks forward to sitting down with family and friends enjoying a delicious Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, exchanging gifts and presents – getting into the festive spirit with our nearest and dearest fills us with so much happiness yet it is also a struggle in countless ways for too many others, for some this picture of happiness is a far cry from reality.

For some families, Christmas can actually be the most stressful time of the year. In the UK, many families are living in poverty (not having enough material possessions or income for a person's needs). Thousands of families will be getting rations from foodbanks this Christmas, which will just be enough food for them to get by.

An article from the Independent stated: “As many as one in 10 London families rely on charity handouts to survive and food banks are expecting a surge of usage in December”. There are certain areas where families are living in such extreme poverty that children won’t get a single Christmas present this year. Official figures suggest that more than 130,000 children across Great Britain will spend Christmas day in temporary accommodation.

Whilst festivities are in full swing for many over the Christmas period, there are those who are sleeping rough on the streets or on park benches who don’t have this luxury, for them it is a major struggle just to stay warm and eat some food.

All over the country there are wonderful charities who try to help these individuals, many of these are close to home, here are some examples:

 Medway Street Angels – outreach service for people sleeping rough in Medway  Pathways to Independence - Medway and Kent charity supporting the homeless  Caring Hands – helps the homeless and vulnerable in Medway

According to the Caring Hands Charity based in Chatham, “Medway has the largest total number of homeless people in Kent”. 10

It is heart breaking to think that whilst we are enjoying ourselves over Christmas and wrapped up in our own lives, living in our comfortable homes and sleeping in our warm beds, there are others less fortunate than ourselves who are struggling to survive on a daily basis and often wondering where their next meal is coming from.

Always look out for those around you who aren’t so lucky, small gestures of kindness are what make the world go round and the next time you go shopping, look out for the food donation boxes in Tesco where you can anonymously leave an item whilst doing your weekly food shop. Not only will this item go to a foodbank, Tesco makes a financial donation of 20% of the value of items donated to the foodbank.

By Amber Chohan

Lost In Translation

Why don’t people study foreign languages anymore?

Every student in Rainham Mark studies two foreign languages-if you’ve only studied one, you have the pleasure of a second being introduced next year. When you look at your timetable and saw you had Spanish next period, or French or German, what was your initial, instinctive reaction? As is commonplace nowadays I’m sure you probably dread it or you begin scheming on a new way to wind your teacher up. After all, languages are useless, aren’t they?

But why do people think that? The better question would be why do more people think that? A study conducted in 2018 showed that the proportion of students taking an MFL GCSE has decreased from roughly 75% in 2002 to just 47% in 2018. That means less than half of students across the UK decide languages are not important enough to study beyond KS3, and in doing so are deprived of one of the most valuable skills in life; the art of communication. This issue transcends solely GCSE students. The study of French at A Level has lost nearly a third of participants as well as a 37% decrease in the number of students taking German. Although there has been a marked increase in the number of students studying Spanish, there is still a pervasive trend nationwide regarding the number of students studying a foreign language in higher education.

The first reason is rather obvious, especially to a student; the prevalence of online translation software, for example Google Translate. Why even bother learning a language? If I ever have to read something in German, I can put it into a translator and have my answer in seconds. Although this may ring true for the simplest of phrases, heed the caveats often forgotten or disregarded; homonyms and idioms. For example, if you put “live” into Google Translate, are you going to get the translation of ‘live’ as in the process of being alive or ‘live’ as in ‘I watched the TV show live’? Without a basic understanding of language, you would be none the wiser. Most idiomatic phrases do not make sense when translated literally, for example the French idiom of “c’est casse-pieds!” translates to it is “it is broken feet” or “it breaks my feet”, when in reality it would translate to “it’s a pain in the neck”. Without a knowledge of the language and culture, you would be rather confused reading that off of a translator. For this reason manual translation will always be infinitely more accurate.

Another reason I believe is to blame is the new GCSE and A Level courses for MFLs. In our school, as you may or may not know, you must take at least one foreign language at GCSE level. However, in 2004, MFLs were made non-compulsory at GCSE level, and therefore the national numbers for MFL participation at GCSE level dropped significantly. What has made these numbers decline further is the more rigorous and undisputedly harder courses; nobody wants to take a course which, on paper, seems as if it will be too hard and too much work to complete in such a short period of time, therefore people just don’t pick a language. It has been said that the new style of examinations indicate that the new GCSE will improve the standard of the foreign language, but only for the higher achieving students. Due to this, the 12 number of students taking an MFL at A Level as they do not have the prior qualifications needed to take the course, or they believe it is too much work in such a short period of time. The obvious solution to this would be to make MFL examinations easier, or if not easier make the higher grades easier to achieve. It is demotivating when you put your all into a subject and receive a mediocre grade in return, all because the higher grades are abnormally hard to achieve. The adage Rome wasn’t built in a day rings true in regard to learning a new language. Think how long it took you to learn your own mother tongue surrounded by speakers of that language. Now, think how long it will take for you to learn a newer, sometimes more confusing language with little exposure to native speakers; it is important to bear this in mind and to persevere in your studies.

Finally, many people use the dreaded B-word as a way of justifying their ignorance towards languages. You know it, I know it; Brexit. The number of people using Brexit as an excuse for not learning a language almost defies belief. You hear people using the inability to work abroad or go on holiday as an excuse, as well as the prophesised reduction in tourism in the UK as an excuse. But without a well-rounded knowledge of languages, how do we communicate? Surely this divide growing between us and the countries in the EU will only get worse if one cannot communicate and articulate their differences? It seems that with every individual who shuns languages as a result of Brexit, the gap between us and the rest of the world is growing and growing. If this issue is not rectified, soon enough it will be a very lonely world where no trade is made between countries both tangible and intangible. It is a daunting prospect that I’m sure will only worsen in unison with the worsening standard of foreign language in the UK.

So, what is the point in learning languages? Well, not only does it give you the opportunity to do global business, it enriches your character with a greater knowledge of a greater number of people around the world. What’s more valuable than knowledge and compassion? As Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart.”

By Fin Bushnell-Wye 12A

Cyberbullying

Cyber bullying is any form of bullying which takes place online or through smartphones and tablets, social networking sites, messaging apps, gaming sites and chat rooms where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. If an adult is involved in harassment it’s called Cyber Harassment or Cyberstalking.

Cyber bullying can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation - some cyberbullying even crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behaviour. Whilst there is no doubt that Internet access is a wonderful tool to navigate your way through the world wide web, providing you with a wealth of information at your fingertips in a matter of seconds, means that sometimes means a victim can be targeted relentlessly. These channels can ordinarily be great fun and a positive experience for most, but what do you do when things go wrong?

Cyber bullies are sometimes referred to as ‘keyboard warriors’ and they can say things to others that they wouldn’t necessarily say face to face. They are mostly anonymous because they can often feel bad themselves and shameful of who they are and what they are feeling. Fake profiles are often created with either limited information about themselves to remain low key or they can also completely exaggerate what information they write to give themselves high importance when in reality their actual perception of themselves is very low and negative. Kids who are bored and looking for entertainment will sometimes resort to cyberbullying to add some excitement and drama to their lives. They also might choose to cyberbully because they lack attention and supervision from parents. As a result, the Internet becomes their only source of entertainment and an outlet for getting attention.

Cyberbullying can occur on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube.

Comments, photos, posts, and content shared by individuals can often be viewed by strangers as well as acquaintances. The content an individual may share online – both their personal content as well as any negative, mean, or hurtful content – creates a kind of permanent public record of their views, activities, and behaviour. This public record can be thought of as an online reputation, which may be accessible to schools, employers, colleges, clubs, and others who may be researching an individual now or in the future.

Cyberbullying can harm the online reputations of everyone involved – not just the person being bullied, but those doing the bullying or participating in

14 it. A negative online reputation, including for those who bully, can impact college admissions, employment, and other areas of life.

Bullying can often revolve around a person’s social status at school and some kids will cyberbully others based on the school’s perceived social ladder. For instance, a mean girl might get cyberbullied by an anonymous group of girls who are hoping to bring her down a peg or two. Differently, a mean boy might target a boy who is excelling academically because he is jealous about his success but whatever the reason, kids sometimes feel their cyberbullying behaviours are warranted and deserved. Consequently, they usually do not feel remorse or guilt for cyberbullying and because teachers and parents may not overhear or see cyberbullying taking place, it is harder to recognize compared to other types of bullying and in many cases individuals have had to leave school, work and social networks to escape persistent bullying.

The growth of social media has left many youngsters vulnerable and the most common negative effects of cyberbullying are hurt feelings, anxiety and depression but cyberbullying can have very dramatic effects as well. Studies have shown that Cyberbullying can make young people more than twice as likely to self-harm or attempt suicide.

Try to consider the impact your words may have and think twice before posting online. There are many organisations that can help cyberbully victims, always seek help and guidance.

By Amber Chohan

Healthy Eating at RMGS

At Rainham Mark Grammar school we fruit you want from what's on offer and strive to make the school as healthy as create your own personalised pot. They are possible. As part of an enrichment project a hoping to price this as low as possible to group of students were asked to look in to encourage more people to buy healthy pupil’s opinions of the food and come up food. with some ways to make the school healthier. The canteen is also hoping to offer a meal deal where if you buy a sandwich you get a The project leader, Amelia Wilson, free piece of fruit of your choice to help partnered up with James Okulaja. Together they carried out a survey of students in Year further implement a healthy diet. There is 10, they found that students would like to also generally just going to be more fruit buy a healthier option but it is always more sold at school which will hopefully make expensive than “junk” food. They also RMGS a healthier place. found students were struggling to reach there 5 a day due to the unhealthy food By Lily Ann Burgess they eat at school.

Amelia and James took the results back to the group and they brainstormed ideas of how they could improve the healthiness of students diet within school. Amelia got in touch with the canteen and talked to the them about the situation, head of the canteen staff, Carol, was very willing to work with the sixth formers to create a healthier menu.

Carol contacted the green grocers, and out Amelia Wilson, Carol (head of the canteen staff) and of her budget got £200 worth of fruit. On James Okulaja the 20th of November the school had a free fruit tasting at break, it was open to all years and a wide variety of fruit including lychee, raspberries and pineapple was offered. The tasting was a huge success and had very positive feedback.

The plan for the future is to introduce a fruit salad bar, which is essentially like a pick and mix for fruit. You can pick and choose which

What is it like being a new Year 7 student at RMGS?

For many Year 7 pupils, starting a new afraid to seek help, there are so many friendly secondary school filled with new teachers, faces around the school always happy to guide new subjects, new rules and new friends can you and you can even email your teacher feel intimidating and daunting. When you’re directly if you have any queries or questions. at Primary school, your parents come into the It helps to be organised and get homework playground to drop you off and pick you up, done as soon as possible, leaving it till last they can speak face to face to your teacher if minute can create unnecessary stress and may they have any concerns or questions, it’s a leave you feeling bogged down. much smaller and cosier environment. In Year You quickly start getting to know your 6, you are one of the oldest kids in school, you classmates better, as you all spend so much tower over most of the younger children and time together; the shy ones, quirky ones, they look up at you as if you’re a giant, but geeky ones, crazy ones and of course the class that quickly changes once you start secondary jokers - we certainly have a mixture of school! The age range is from 11-18 and some personalities in B7! I’ve made some lovely of the Sixth formers are now towering way friends who are kind, caring and considerate - above you! some of your peers could be your friends for Up until now, there has always been one main life! teacher in the classroom and 1 or 2 teaching Even though I’m only midway through my assistants but now there is a different teacher second term, I already feel like I have gained for every lesson which surely must be a good so much independence and as my mum likes thing because not everyone may have liked to constantly remind me , I’m “no longer a just having 1 teacher for a whole year (some child!” and this new found independence is a teachers are like marmite - you either love or “natural step towards becoming a young loathe them!) It suddenly becomes our adult!” I’m not even 12 yet!! As the weeks have responsibility to bring the correct books and flown by, I’ve had to adapt to this new ‘grown equipment to lessons (even though your up’ routine but it really has become easier, I rucksack feels like it weighs a ton!!) and know what is expected of me and even though homework must be handed in on time I have moments where I feel like my brain has because let’s face it, everyone fears getting been frazzled from all the learning crammed that dreaded detention! into just one school day, I can honestly say I In secondary school, the teachers are all love coming to school each and every day experts in their field which is reassuring, and eager to further enhance my learning and you soon realise that everyone is spend time with my friends. approachable and keen to help you get to By Amber Chohan grips with the change from primary to secondary school. Religiously checking your timetable, going to different classrooms every 50 minutes, regularly logging into Moodle, Hegarty Maths, My Maths etc and taking more responsibility for your own daily routine all quickly become second nature, despite seeming initially overwhelming. Never be 17

MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Some people say that it isn’t for everyone. Me? Definitely! Others say that it is just for nerds (shaking my head). Some people say that it is just for younger children (still shaking my head). I say it is for everyone! There are currently 22 films in the MCU, with a few more currently in development (Black Widow, The Eternals, and many more). People all over the world have watched these films and some of the actors have become amazingly famous since joining the MCU. Netflix, Sky or any other place you can watch films are most likely to have these films on there so you can always watch it. One of the reasons I love the MCU is because the actors show so much emotion and really portray their character in an excellent way. For example, it is obvious that Tony Stark/Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr) is an amusing, sarcastic and an intelligent man. Marvel was created in 1939 when Stan Lee wrote The Fantastic Four (28/12/1922-12/11/2018). In a majority of the films Stan Lee appears as a cameo, each time playing a different character. He was once the bus driver driving the school bus Peter Parker - aka Spiderman - and his friend Ned Leeds in Avengers: Infinity War were on. The only variation of actors as part of the MCU and other companies is the role of Peter Parker. We see that that the role is played by Andrew Garfield, Toby Maguire and Tom Holland. I can’t deny that Tom Holland is best suited for this role. This year, there were three films tied to the MCU released, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and Spiderman: Far From Home. The reason Marvel is so popular is because it is a mix of action, romance, drama, modern day life and fictional scenes. This makes it so unique and amazing compared to other films. Despite the fact that a greater part of the films are rated 12, I believe that anyone above 9 should be able to watch and understand the MCU. By Shiv Lal

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

A Review by Madelaine Hunt Khaled Hosseini’s novel, ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, is a story of people finding love and hope in times of conflict. It is set in post-Soviet invasion Afghanistan and follows the narrative of two women growing up in their country that is slowly becoming a war zone. Mariam is fifteen when she is forced to leave her home in Herat and move to Kabul to marry a much older man; Kabul is a strange new city compared to her kolba and she has to spend her days as a housewife picking up after Rasheed. Laila’s home is destroyed by conflict and she has to leave behind her bright future and the love of her life to settle into Mariam’s unhappy home to survive. Both Mariam and Laila have to suffer the abuse of their husband Rasheed whilst Afghanistan is becoming more and more dangerous to its citizens. The two women find themselves in an unlikely friendship that sees them through the many tragedies that they face in their life, bringing hope to their family in the conflict around them. ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ offers a different perspective to the conflict in Afghanistan, as both of the narratives are from a female perspective. Throughout the Taliban regime, women were sentenced to immense oppression under the enforcement of Sharia law, which called for women to be covered at all times, unable to leave the house without a male chaperone as well as other restrictions to their rights. Hosseini’s depiction of these changes in Afghanistan through the eyes of Mariam and Laila offer a voice to the many women that were subject to these difficulties in real life and had to grow up suffering because of the political changes.

The Impact of the UK’s Music Scene on Politics

“There ain’t nothing great about Britain” shouted Northampton rap artist slowthai as he concluded his performance at the Mercury Prize awards. His statement, and perhaps more importantly the effigy depicting the Prime Minister’s bloodied and severed head that he held for all to see, resulted in a large amount of criticism for the creator of Nothing Great About Britain. “I held a mirror up to this country and some people don’t like its reflection” wrote slowthai, real name Tyron Frampton, on twitter after the event. Whilst the incident may have been an unexpected twist to the Mercury Prize awards, such political expression from UK music artists has been hardly out of the ordinary in recent years. For example, it was only a few years ago that popular grime MCs such as Novelist, JME and Stormzy would come out with their public support for Jeremy Corbyn. Such public declarations of support would spark the creation of a movement dubbed ‘Grime 4 Corbyn’ encouraging people to register to vote and show their support for the Labour leader at the ballot box. The campaign promised free tickets to a grime show if you registered. The overall result of the campaign was extremely significant; a large number of young people would ensure that they were registered to vote for the 2017 election. After the campaign, a survey concluded that roughly 24% of grime fans were influenced to vote for Labour as a result of ‘Grime 4 Corbyn’. Recently, the idea has had a resurgence: ‘Grime Corbyn 2.0’ has been launched to lend support to Jeremy Corbyn before the election on December 12th, with the digital event set to include a up to four hours of radio sets. Meanwhile artists such as Wiley, who had previously been very critical of the Labour leader, have tweeted come out in support for the upcoming campaign.

Stormzy, a public supporter of the Labour Party, isn’t shy in offering his opinions on not only the wider political scene but individual political figures too; “Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell?” the Croydon born artist would ask the former Prime Minister on stage at the 2018 Brit Awards.

In an ever changing political landscape, the influence of political messages from some of the UK’s most popular artists can’t be underestimated; UK grime artists are very much rooted to the communities that they grew up in, and thus influencing the younger generations growing up in these same areas. The main demographic influenced by political messages from their favourite artists are those aged 18-24, and figures suggest that there was a 20-point rise in in voter turnout from this group between 2015 and 2017. Since the 2017 general election, much of the new music in the grime and the UK Hip-Hop scenes has remained just as politically charged. Considering these genres are perhaps some of the most popular amongst Britain’s youth, it is easy to make the link between these genres and the immense support Labour has amongst young people – YouGov figures have Labour as the most popular party in from those aged 18 to 29, as defined by voting intention. Furthermore, the grime scene is heavily diverse; it contains a range of artists from different backgrounds. The importance of such representation for minority groups cannot be understated – having role models from your own communities is incredibly important. Consequently, political statements from their role models may carry more weight than the words of distant, unrelatable politicians. A large amount of Labour voters are part of two intersecting groups where grime and hip hop are most popular: young people and black communities. Some argue that the impact of these genres and artists are huge, to the point that they may even be affecting the voting pattern of these two very large demographics in the UK. It is perhaps naïve to believe that music alone can win or lose an election - the UK is incredibly diverse, with a range of communities influenced by a range of factors. What can be said, however, is that music such as grime can, and will, have a vast impact in certain areas. Whether or not you agree with the messages delivered by artists such as slowthai or Stormzy, the discussions they have sparked will perhaps bring a much-needed political debate to the young people of Britain. By Ben Doyle

‘The Memory Keeper’s Daughter’ By Kim Edwards - Book Review

‘The Memory Keeper’s Daughter’ by Kim accepting people for who they are and Edwards is a hard-hitting novel about loss, reducing discrimination. He doesn’t tell grief; how you can’t keep secrets forever his wife that he has decided to send her and that they always arise eventually. away; he just tells her that their daughter ‘died as she was born’.

This deplorable act of betrayal towards his wife automatically makes the reader feel like they should be against him because he is the reason his family’s life is essentially a lie, however he did it to prevent future, deeper suffering on his family. He had good intentions, yet he is struggling immensely. His wife, Norah, struggles with the social effects of losing a child- she gets a small amount of pity from others, but her daughter is then forgotten, and life moves on. She fails to accept for a long time that she only has one child, and her stress leads to devastating side effects such as alcoholism.

David lives his life with the weight that he The beginning of the novel is set in 1964 has a living daughter, and no one apart and is a story of a man, David Henry, that from him knows for a long time, which gives away one of his new born twins, as therefore drives a wedge between him he feels forced by social expectations to and his loved ones. The isolation he feels give away his downs syndrome daughter, because of his submission to social for fear she will be treated differently expectations causes his life to fall apart. because of her disability and because of By the time he has the courage to confess the inevitably hard life she would lead. He to someone it is too late for his would rather pretend she is dead than redemption, as everyone has learnt to know that his daughter is disabled, which move on from their traumatic past. is shocking and hard for a reader today as society has come so far since the 60’s, in By Megan Sharp

Jose Mourinho and his potentially damaging impact on the Tottenham team

As a Tottenham fan, I was understandably upset when Mauricio Pochettino, after 5 years at the club, was sacked. However, I was astonished when the day after, I checked the sports news and none other than Jose Mourinho was appointed within 24 hours! If you don’t know, this is a very short time for a team to be managerless. The period between the sacking of Tim Sherwood and the appointment was two weeks. The appointment of Mourinho was very controversial. In the two days following his appointment there was two petitions to get him sacked. However not all Spurs fans were upset about the appointment. A few weeks after, my friend and fellow Spurs supporter Zach Maxwell had this to say: “I don’t think that Mourinho is bad as we hadn’t won a game for ages before, but now we have Mourinho and we have won our last two games. Like under Pochettino we were fourteenth and now we are 10th. It’s not good but it’s in a space of one game so it’s good actually.”

However, there is two sides to every story Mourinho is famous for his arrogance and self-pride. He often singles out a player and blames it all on him. He also has a practice of the most boring and unentertaining style of play possible: park the bus. He most famously has a three-season stint, and here is some proof of concept.

Two seasons 2002–2004 Porto

Four seasons 2004–2007 Chelsea

Two seasons 2008–2010 Inter Milan

Three seasons 2010–2013 Real Madrid

Three seasons 2013–2015 Chelsea

Three seasons 2016–2018 Manchester United

I personally am worried for the future of Tottenham as Mourinho has a completely different style of play than some of the main players, like Dele Alli and Harry Kane, have been playing their whole careers. Along with the fact that Mourinho is a generally obnoxious and horrible person, in my opinion - this seems like a bad combination and a bad three seasons for Spurs.

By Alexander Lilley-McCamley

Book Review: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

When I first read this book, I felt that it thought were real. This is why it is such a really connected with my religion. special and crucial moment in the book. Hinduism. But then I realised how wrong An additional reason that I love this book I was. This book can and has been read is that it teaches us a lot about Hinduism worldwide and it is known that in 2020, but also respect, religion and belief. its sequel will be released. This has These are great virtues to have in life but caused much excitement upon readers it doesn’t mean that not having them and I would like to tell you what an makes you unable to read this book. amazing book it was for me to read. Roshani Chokshi has also written many It just shows that you can be anyone and other books in different series but I am you can do anything that you want to just focussing on this one. achieve in life.

A description of this book: Aru Shah. A In conclusion, I would recommend this to normal, approaching teenage girl. Eager all children age 7 and above. If you have to impress her school friends, she lights a no books to read, then you MUST read cursed, forbidden lamp. When this book! It is educational and majority accidentally summoning an ancient is fictional, but some teaches you about pigeon and finding her long-lost sister. religion. Hope- like I did- you enjoy She sets on a dangerous and perilous reading this book! quest to defeat evil. By Shiv Lal I really like this book because, despite having no illustrations it seems to open your mind in a way that you have never thought before. The setting, the plot and the meaning of the story is so clear. Another reason why I recommend it to you.

My favourite characters in this story are probably Mini (Aru’s long-lost sister) because of her courage and her high intellectual manner of thought when in a life-threatening situation. I also am fond of Boo (the pigeon) because of his unique, sarcastic and amusing character.

My favourite part of the book is when Aru meets the pigeon for the first time. When she can’t decide what to call him, she finally settles on the name ‘Boo’. They talk about things that Aru never

CREATIVE CORNER

PALETTE

Take a brush and let it glide with wisps of red and blue Let the silence seep in as mind and hand become tuned

A flood of pigments rushing, unravel visions, cocooned the silence, it now settles thoughts submerged in a palette of hues

Once layer upon layer build you’ll see that amongst the silence, tones and imaginary comes life of thought, with visionary

So take a brush, and it will glide, for the colours of your psyche, breathe life.

By Shiree Mae Alimodian

Consider the Life of Another

Consider the life of a sloth, on a stray fragment of ice. A bleary fog of slumber: Consider the life of a sea turtle half blind, half deaf, a serene stretch of turquoise: a lethargic sigh here and there. floating, gliding A dozy blend of awake and asleep along the depths of the that chugs over his head and into undiscovered, the trees, untouched, unsoiled. he is oblivious Moonlight sinking into sand, to gravity. soft silver. He knows no seconds, Crabs hitch a ride he knows no minutes, on her back. She doesn’t mind, he knows no hours and he knows her face a careless smile no days suspended in sea froth as he mopes around in a timeless and salty blue waves. haze. But litter drifts down, A rainforest of green foliage: no fingers to untangle her throat, leaves that hang, strangled, ragged gasps the wrong way up, her hatchlings all alone. his house, his home, slash and burn. By Freya Ebeling Long arms left with no trees to hug.

Consider the life of a polar bear. Sun-kindled flakes of snow: sledging, sliding, over stretches of white, huddles of mountains watch him glide, snuffling in matted tufts of pine, king of the arctic, he rules the sublime. He follows the scent to provide for roly-poly pups that bumble across ice. He is invisible, save for the ebony splodge of his nose.

Temperatures rise, shivering, emaciated

"The Sunset Forest" – Elizabeth Costen

Racing to the peak of the highest mountain, darkness approaches. It’s beautiful, really, in that strikingly potent way – a perfect storm. The low hanging thunder clouds, the dusky hues of violet and amber, the pearly lightning that blinds the world with a sort of broken halo. Perhaps the ethereal shadow of an animal dances, ghostly through the trees; it might have been a deer or a wolf once.

No life truly remains in the sunset forest, not any more. No birds sing their melancholy melodies from the ruby treetops, nor do they take flight. Do you still seek shadows amongst the boughs and dappled light?

A breeze that is gentle and harsh all at once caresses the canopy above. It brings the brazen chime of a bell, eerily quiet (yet far too loud in the ever-silent glade). A dissonant harmony. Soft soaring, fast fluttering, light lifting wings that belong to no bird or bug haunt the twilight sky.

A voice too eloquent, too ancient, too powerful leaves devastation and a screaming wreck in its wake. Divine ecstasy, dangerous pride, dark fall. It’s agony, that old adage that we all know too well, excruciating to stray from their path and their rules.

The forest belongs to them, you know, and they control it all. Time itself bends to their will, halting even the moon as she tracks her graceful arc across the star-lit sky. Stop. Start. Stop again. Lightning strikes, and for a moment you could swear your soul caught fire. There is power among these trees of gold and amethyst jewels, too much power…

The beast that stalked through lilac leaves takes form, but not quite. Is it corporeal? It matters not. You’ll never escape. A charge, and a scream too distant to be yours echoes through your own mind. Wake up. Wake up! Wake up!

Is it possible, that the sunset forest exists only in dreams?

THE WORLDS BEYOND OUR OWN OCTAVIA THORPE

There are many things in our world that defy all attempts of explanation. Things that can't make sense, refuse to be comprehended, and cannot be traced anywhere. Some fears can be allayed with "Things are weird", but to the inquisitive mind, this explanation just will not suffice. Ask yourself: If you're reading this, then you want to know these things. You want to discover the world beyond our own, even in all its weirdness, because you have to know how the world works. Why should the explanation "It just is" sate any curiosity?

Gathering information from four planes is a task that anyone would call monumental, although collating information for an introduction - an insight - into these places is a fundamental keystone in any voyage of discovery. This guide isn't for the worlds-weary traveller, this is meant for a novice.

The fact of our world is that it is one of many, layered on top of or adjacent to one another.

Sometimes, you may have seen someone shimmer or flicker at the corner of your eye. Sometimes things stop existing, and sometimes things start. Sometimes things move without you interacting with it. These are caused by the Neutral Plane's effects on our environment.

The Neutral Plane is the easiest to talk about with science-like authority, given that it is more an extension to our world rather than anything else. To say that it follows our world's rules, however, would be incorrect. Nothing is as easy to understand, compared to our own world that we live, breathe, exist and die in.

To lift the curtain on this void of a Plane that has been conjured up in the imagination, you'd have to see examples in action. Know who - what - resides within. This is why the fae are a crucial piece in this corner of the puzzle.

Fae entities are inherently magical in nature. They are often located and hunted down with the intent of studying them in mind. They are often seen as horned entities, although their exact form changes, even before your eyes. They act to maintain The Balance, which will be covered in a later section of this book, but it's easier to understand it as the natural order of things. They often appear in our own world, often morphing slightly in the limits of your vision. They are magical, inherently so, and these slight discrepancies in their appearance 30 can simply be ruled as their form not being like fluid, at times. Not to say they don't have rigidity, but it is to say that their anatomy is significantly different.

A fae entity in a human form (it is vital to declare such, since the fae can take other forms as it is necessary to do so, but not to the extent of a shapeshifter) has a skeleton closer to silver than bone, in terms of consistency, electrical conductivity and rigidity, although not in terms of malleability (The substance in the skeleton is much harder to meld) or thermal conductivity (the substance is much lower). In terms of light reflectance, the skeletal substance has a much lower value.

The fae are the epitome of what the Neutral Plane is. It's not entirely unknowable, but not entirely knowable, either. This is where all planes' magical energy comes from, and while energy in our world cannot be created or destroyed - such is taught in our own plane's scientific study - energy does sometimes diffuse from the Neutral Plane into our own plane, and vice versa. This is the origin of chaos in all the planes, and such needs to be understood, solidified as fact, and accepted before anything else can be learned.

Other influences from the Neutral Plane are all magical creatures. It's the safest place a human can inhabit of all alternate planes, although escaping it is nigh-impossible. These entities include shapeshifters (mentioned earlier), humanoid entities adapted through both exposure to magical energy and evolution, and are less fundamentally abnormal as the Fey are.

There is a fundamental chaos in all things, although - and there is a great debate on it - it can be mostly (at least) attributed to the Neutral Plane. Its building blocks are chaos and changing what we know, altering things for the better and worse. This natural ripple is what magicians tap into, breaking all rules of logic in that they penetrate the barriers between the Upper Plane, the Neutral Plane and the Lower Plane. Magic doesn't seem to permeate as strongly in our world, possibly reinforcing the theory that the world we inhabit has a stronger barrier between it and the neutral plane.

It's speculated that the other beings in this other world are descended from human interference in aeons past, seeing that humans exist in both places, although it is also a compelling argument that humans in our own world managed to escape the Neutral Plane, in aeons past. It's a great debate much like the creation myths that many religious groups

31 argue over. It cannot be proven either way, although there are two primary schools of thought. If you look at scholarly articles on the subject, convincing articles, arguments and opinions on the matter will be found.

To break down the types of being in this world, it would be easier with a proportional representation. This is averaged between the main settlements census reports and averaged out. It may not reflect the true information, although it does give some idea as to the proportions.

The fae take up between 2% and 5% of the total population, and this value tends to fluctuate depending on the Balance.

Shapeshifters have an origin that's untraceable, hence why they are in this section. The only "true" native species to the Neutral Plane are the fae, although placing shapeshifters in neither the Upper or Lower planes reflects the origins of the known shapeshifters. They take up between 1% and 2% of the Neutral Plane's population, although whether it's more is unknown, given that shapeshifters keep themselves to themselves, due to - like the fae - often being accosted over it for studying.

Humanoid entities include elves, humans, dwarves, halflings, variations of those folk, and folk that are between two types. They take up most of the population, as expected, although the origins do tend to point towards humans that have changed over millennia. As well as that, being human-adjacent means that there isn't much inexplicable phenomena in them, although it has to be noted that some of these folk can wield magic with high accuracy, although while the fae seem to have inherent magical ability, anyone else tapping into the natural power of the world has to study how to do so.

Broken extract part 2

23:00 24/3/32 North Korean parliament, Pyong-Yang

Kim-Jong-un sat alone in his office in discontented thought “I can’t let this happen. Since our glorious nation was graced with the beauty of existence my family have been working to defend our nation through fear against the capitalists. Now it is all undone. If the capitalist pigs want to get rid of nuclear weapons, I will get rid of them on one of them. But he had noticed he wasn’t the only unhappy person in the conference room. He noticed another man in there who felt the same way about this. He looked to the phone. And so the plan begun. “Yes, is that Premier Jinping there? It’s Kim-Jong-un here. I have a proposal.” He spoke these very words, the first of many that would lead to disaster. He told Jinping of his idea and he accepted. But he had one term; only North Korea would be firing, They had too many a detonate in one spot without destroying the world. And all was planned. The next day, 30 missiles would obliterate Guam, and North Korea would conquer South Korea and Japan. Little did anyone know what destructive plant would bloom from this radioactive seed. By Alexander Lilley-McCamley 33