ASPIREASPIRE The official termly newsletter of Langley School SUMMER TERM 2018 ISSUE 18 TEL:0121 706 9771 EMAIL:[email protected] WEBSITE:langley.solihull.sch.uk Aspiring to be the best we can be: Student Enrichment Freedom By Eoin Hodgkiss 9O National Writing Day – Let Them Loose! I feel free when I draw. th Flowing, swirling colours turning a blank canvas into a masterpiece On Wednesday 27 June, students at Langley participated in a only dreams could previously create. national project to celebrate the freedom of expression that writing No limits, offers as part of National Writing Day. The theme for this year was No boundaries, ‘Freedom’ and students wrote first as a class to produce a piece of Only you and your imagination. shared writing before writing independent creations. Students’ Nothing can stop me, not even the sky, enthusiasm grew throughout the day as they had the opportunity to The stars, write without limits and create without constraints. The universe. A single stroke of a pen can create the most inspiring landscapes, A single colour can portray an ocean of feelings and thoughts. I feel most free when… Bernadette Jordan 8H Freedom smells fresh. Like fresh ideas- I feel most free when I’m let out. Released from my horrible cage that I spend every A new outlook on life, hour of every day of every week, waiting in. Waiting for something that I know might A clean fresh canvas for when life goes wrong. not ever come. Waiting, just waiting… Freedom sounds relaxing. No pressure, I know that I shouldn’t be excited about being let out, I should be savouring every last No judging faces, moment but I’m not. They say that “it’s the best” that I’m in here, and that they have No sound. “saved me” but all they have really done is make my life worthless. I have gone from Just me and my thoughts in an oasis. something that was created to soar through the skies to something that is more of an Freedom can be a sound, ornament, something to look at. People like looking at me, staring at me, pointing at A feeling, me. And they all like laughing at me, not with me. A scent: They seem to think that I’m helpless, that I can’t do anything for myself. They think Anything your heart decides, that they are cleverer than me. But they aren’t. We are just as clever as they are, Because freedom is whatever you want it to be. possibly cleverer, because we know how to survive in the wild, yet they wouldn’t last Your freedom is yours and yours alone. five minutes out there. They are all treated like heroes. But they’re not. They are life snatchers, they see you out in the wild, see your colourful feathers and hear your squawk, so they snatch you and trap in a fearsome cage, a bare and rusty cage that I FEEL MOST FREE WHEN... by Eoin Hodgkiss 9O smells and feels like it’s about to fall apart. They say that they are saving the species, …Freedom isn’t free, most of you will say but really they see it as their golden opportunity to make even more money. But actually, freedom comes by me in the form of victory, There is this word I have spent a long time thinking about: freedom. I like to associate Freedom at the wheel, around every single bend it with me being let out of my cage, and swooping over the highest mountains, In the driver’s seat, my perfect day to spend, skimming across the vastest oceans and soaring over deep, dark forests. Now that’s Some of us grasp it twenty-four seven what I call freedom. The majority of us don’t find it until we’re a hundred and eleven They say that I might be let out one day. But it’s not for definite. Nothing is ever for I feel most free when the adrenaline surges through my body certain. I just want to smell freedom, to taste freedom, to touch freedom. Me, the team, the cup, the car and the Grand Prix Life is boring. Every day I get up, fly the short distance to my food bowl with its feeble The burble of the engine, the sound of a victory to gain dried seed and peck at it listlessly. No juicy colourful berries from the highest tree But what do I know the victory could be in vain tops for me. And then it’s time for a day of being laughed at, being mimicked and Red light, green light, go go go pointed at. They’re copying what I say, trying to make me copy them. This isn’t The engine heats as the diesel flows freedom. This is humiliating. Round the Apex then a tight left The rear end spun out I have been let out once. That one precious time is something that I will never forget. Could my freedom holdout? I only had five minutes to take to the skies and feel the wind on my face. But it didn’t last. Freedom through my veins, my brain, They say I can leave soon. I’ll be let out. They pretend to be heartbroken that I’m Could I hold it, I don’t know being released but really they’re glad that they won’t have to put up with my never Yes, no, yes , no as the adrenalin starts to grow, ending squawking and pecking. They think I’m desperate to stay, but in my head, I’m already counting down to my day of freedom. It’s like it’s the end of my prison I had found inner freedom sentence. People think that it’s easy to be me. But it’s not. I will never be beaten. It’s a hard life being a caged bird. When I feel most free by Jenna Remes 7H When I feel most free by Easha Haroon 8H I can relax and not have to worry about anything When I feel most free, it’s me against the world. It’s when I’m focussing on myself, I can listen to the birds chirp and sing. whether that is when I’m shopping for new clothes or waking up in the morning; it’s When I breathe the magnificent nature’s scent warms my body personal time. Breathing in the fresh air and cold breeze as I walk to school, I realise I feel comfort within even with no-one around me. how lucky I am to feel so much inner peace. But then I’m quickly distracted with the horrible thought of thousands of children who can’t feel peaceful, who don’t have a The sun fades and the rain starts as if exchanging shifts real home and must always seek refuge. I try and distribute this thought with a But still I feel joy as if I’ve been given gifts different one; a bright, azure sky and the golden sunshine hitting my back. Then, A shiver runs down my spine. peace restores itself once again and I’m brought back to being hush and happy- the way freedom works with me. The birds hide and take shelter Away from the pouring rain. Freedom, to me, is almost the equivalent to karma. If I do good deeds, I feel free, but The leaves fall and gently sway if I don’t, I feel pressure devouring my mind. I wish it were possible to describe this And mould themselves to the ground like clay. type of pressure- maybe the word ‘anxiety’ sums this up pretty accurately. But I’m talking about freedom- a rare feeling where you’ve nothing to hope as life feels As I walk the leaves crunch underneath my feet heavenly, for however long you cling on to this privilege. When I feel most free, I can I spread my arms as the wind pushes against me affix my eyes onto anything and have deep, deep thoughts about everything. I notice As the wind supports me. every single branch on the biggest of trees and the twisted brown lines they assemble to form a lumpy arch of bright green leaves (with or without my glasses I I feel free in the comfort of my garden, can observe this). I feel free as the rain falls and brushes against my face, When I feel free, I can soar through the sky like a bird that’s just been released from Feel free not having to worry about my perfect imperfections, its cage. Only, the world is my cage and I am sometimes trapped inside of it. I feel free. 2 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Headteacher Introduction HEAD’S LINES Dear Reader A very warm welcome to the Summer 2018 edition of Aspire . And what a great summer it was! Reading through these pages, you will see the vast range of activities and unforgettable learning experiences that were on offer to our fine, young people last term. From a wonderful dance performance opportunity as part of the pre-race entertainment at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone to entertaining our local senior citizens during Langley’s summer tea party in our theatre, from winning the Solihull Inclusion Sports Award to an enthralling visit by the UK’s national children’s playwright, from the simply excellent production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to the first ever ‘Langfest’, we were becoming quite dizzy with the amount of things going on in school and beyond! I have to give a special mention here to the Class of 2018.