Alumnae Tea: Celebrating 50 Years

NEW STUDENTS

MEET NEW

TEACHERS

The F-Word. Exploring feminism

in our time Lost in Translation News from around

the world

Megan Evans’ Summary of events

The Winter

Term

DECEMBER

T H E

B E C K Y

H I G H L I G H T S The Becky Highlights is back and better than

ever! I have had so much fun this issue, work-

ing with new students, new ideas and a new,

re-launched magazine. I have been pleasantly

surprised with everyone’s enthusiasm regard-

ing our relaunch and new magazine and hope

it lives up to expectations. I would particular-

ly like to say thank you to Matilda, Taylor

and Mrs Seal for their continued support and

hard work this term as well as everyone who

contributed to this issue in order to make it a

success.!

Kavya Sharma

Editor in Chief of the Becky Highlights

I have really enjoyed working on this issue,

and love seeing everyone putting their ideas

together in order to produce an incredible

magazine. I hope you like our new magazine

and hope you will support us as we enter

the Shine Competitions

Matilda Cox - Journalism Prefect

I am delighted to have been elected Journal-

ism Prefect. This term I have been pleasantly

surprised with the enthusiasm of all of the

students who were involved. I am really

excited about relaunch of ‘The Becky High-

lights’ and for its promising future!

Taylor Yost - Journalism Prefect Introducing our new coordinator...

Mrs Seal 1. Publisher

2. “Day in the life” - the

Beatles

3. 1920s— a period of

change

What does this mean?

Find out on page 8

ALUMNAE TEA

Walking into Becky High on an autumnal afternoon, the school was buzzing. Students new and old mingling, sharing stories and experiences; creating a unified a unique

student identity

Kavya Sharma

As a current student, it was incredible seeing not only friends reunite, but teachers reuniting with students – showing the genuinely unique relation-ships that are built at Becky High. There were many tears when students were reunited with the “legendary” art teacher, Ms Wilcockson. When talking to this beloved art teacher, you could see that throughout the years, her love for her subject never diminished and she has always remembered the stu-dents she got to know so well. One of her ex-pupils, Alison Evans, passion-ately described how Ms Wilcockson was “a kind teacher who was always involved,” showing how teachers with a love of their subject truly make a lasting impact on people’s lives. Fifty years ago when the school first opened, everyone wanted to be the first student to go into the historic building. But Carole Gillespie was the lucky one. She was, in fact, the first student to step in. Carole was exceptionally pas-sionate about the school, citing it as “life changing” with “huge opportuni-ties.” Carole is a prime example of what the purpose of a grammar school is: a free school for the outstanding, re-gardless of who you are and where you come from. For Carole, the school was key for social mobility. Being brought up in council housing herself and now running her own IT start-up business, PBFP (People Buy From People),

Carole shows how anyone can do anything when they are in a great community with a

spectacular “quality of teaching.”

One special element of Becky High is the sheer diversity of the students’ backgrounds and behaviour, yet it all merges to create a unified student body. Major Fiona Dangerfield, a logistics expert looking after 9500 soldiers and equipment, described herself as a rather “gobby” teenager, always getting herself into the head teacher's office. While she enjoyed her high school experience, she “felt isolated” because she knew that she was a lesbian from a very young age. But now, in 2016, we look at Becky High being a diverse school, catering for all and standing up for human rights.

But some elements of school life have not changed at all. Uniform has always been a pet hate of the students, even years ago when Lucy Worsley was at school. She said that the one thing she remembered from her Becky High journey “was how … [you are] not al-lowed to wear [your] jumper as an outer garment,” showing that at the core, Becky High has not really changed at all. Being part of the 50 year celebrations has been a privilege. I was able to go back in time and gain

an insight into what Becky High was like years ago, share stories and be part of a great communi-ty; which I hope will be this strong and perhaps even stronger when I come back in another 50

years’ time.

Two head teachers

Lost in

translation... Learning languages at a whole new level.

Une inquiétante des résultats

A Survey of Results Matilda Cox

A survey conducted by the TIMSS on the 29th November showed that there is a worrying drop in the results of French students in subjects such as mathematics and science. 4870 students were sam-pled and gained an average score of 487 - which is lower than the international average of 500 and the European average of 525. Almost half of French students were in the bottom quartile, while only 11% were in the first. This shows a difficulty with basic maths skills like number pat-

terns and fractions - a cause for concern. It is important that the French government take action to remedy this, before the gap between academic performance in France and in other countries widens

more.

Une enquête qui a était menée par le TIMSS le 29 novembre a montré qu’il y a une baisse inquiétante des résultats des élèves français dans des matières comme les mathématiques et la science. 4870 étudiants ont été échantillonnés et ont obtenu un score moyen de 487 - ce

qui est inférieur à la moyenne internationale de 500 et la moyenne européenne de 525. Près de la moitié des étudiants français se trouvaient dans le quartile inférieur, tandis que seule-ment 11% étaient dans le premier. Cela montre une difficulté avec les compétences mathé-matiques de base comme les modèles de nombres et les fractions - une cause de préoccupa-tion. Il est important que le gouvernement français prenne des mesures pour remédier ça,

avant que l'écart entre les performances académiques en France et dans d'autres pays s'élargisse plus.

Kyla Melville

Where has Germany’s Pumpkin Boom come from?

Woher kommt Deutschlands Kurbis

Boom?

Diese Schlagzeile ist mir aufgefallen, weil sie so jahreszeitgerecht ist, aber auch deshalb, weil ich keine Ahnung hatte, dass die Deutschen solche Kürbis Fans sind! In den ver-gangenen Jahren hat Deutschland einen Kürbis Boom erlebt. Das nordamerikanische

Gemuese war urspruenglich eher ein Nahrungsmittel der Armen, aber jetzt wird es immer beliebter in Deutschland, und man kann sich kaum eine Speisekarte oder ein Supermarkt Magazin anschauen, ohne dass sich darin ein Kürbis Rezept findet. Kürbissuppe, ist eine traditionelle Speise im deutschen Haushalt, besonders jetzt in den aktuellen Herbst- und Wintermenues . So beliebt ist Kürbis geworden, dass selbst die deutsche Starbucks mit

dem Verkauf ihres ikonischen Kuerbisgewuerzes begonnen hat.

This issue caught my eye partly because it is so seasonal, but also because I had no idea the Germans are such pumpkin fans! In recent years, Germany has experienced a pump-kin boom. The North American vegetable was originally thought as food for the poor,

but it has now become increasingly popular in Germany, and you won’t be able to glance at a menu or supermarket magazine without finding a recipe with pumpkin in it.

Pumpkin soup, is a traditional item in a German household, especially now in the sea-sonal autumn and winter menus. In fact, pumpkin has become so popular that even Ger-

man Starbucks has started selling their iconic pumpkin spice.

ਕੋਲਕਾਤਾ ਦੇ ਹਸਪਤਾਲ ਨ ੂੰ ਅੱਗ ਭਾਰਤ ਵਿਚ ਘੱਟੋਲੋਕ ਮਾਰ ਵਦੂੰ ਦਾ ਹੈ 20 ਘੱਟ

Odisha hospital fire kills 20 people

Aman Hoonjan

ਘੱਟ-ੋਘੱਟ 20 ਲੋਕ ਭਾਰਤ 'ਚ ਹਸਪਤਾਲ' ਚ ਅੱਗ 'ਚ ਮਾਰ ਦਦੱਤਾ ਦਗਆ ਹੈ. ਅੱਗ ਭੂਬਾਨੇਸਵਰ ਦ ੇਸ਼ਦਹਰ ਦਵੱਚ ਪਰਾਈਵਟੇ ਬੀਮੇ ਹਸਪਤਾਲ ਦੇ ਇਨਟੈਨਦਸਵ ਕੇਅਰ ਯੂਦਨਟ ਦਵਚ ਸ਼਼ੁਰੂ ਕੀਤਾ, ਉੜੀਸਾ ਰਾਜ ਦਵਚ ਅਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਖੇਤਰ ਤੱਕ ਫੈਲ. ਇੱਕ ਦਬਜਲੀ ਸ਼ਾਰਟ ਸਰਕਟ ਕਾਰਨ ਮੰਦਨਆ ਜਾ ਦਰਹਾ ਹੈ. ਪੀੜਤ ਦੇ ਬਹ਼ੁਤੇ ਦਰਪੋਰਟ ਸਮੋਕ ਦੇਸਾਹ ਤੱਕ ਦੀ ਮਤੌ ਹੋ ਗਈ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਮਰੀਜ਼ ਦੇ ਦਰਜਨ ਸ਼ਦਹਰ ਦਵੱਚ ਹੋਰ ਮੈਡੀਕਲ ਸਹਲੂਤ ਲਈ ਦਲਆ ਦਗਆ ਹੈ. "ਅੱਗ ਦੇ ਆਲੇ-ਦ਼ੁਆਲੇ 20 ਲੋਕ ਮਰੇ ਅਤੇ 100 ਵੱਧ ਲੋਕ ਜ਼ਖ਼ਮੀ ਨੰੂ ਛੱਡ ਦਦੱਤਾ. ਉਹ

ਭੂਬਾਨੇਸਵਰ ਦਵੱਚ ਵੱਖ-ਵੱਖ ਹਸਪਤਾਲ ਅਤੇ ਕਟਕ ਦਵੱਚ ਮੈਡੀਕਲ ਕਾਲਜ ਦਲਜਾਇਆ ਦਗਆ ਹੈ," ਰਾਜ ਦੇ ਦਸਹਤ ਸਕੱਤਰ, ਆਰਤੀ ਆਹੂਜਾ ਨੇ ਦਕਹਾ ਦਕ. ਜ਼ਖ਼ਮੀ ਦੇ ਕਈ ਗੰਭੀਰ ਹਾਲਤ ਦਵਚ ਹਨ. ਵਰਤਮਾਨ ਦਰਪੋਰਟ ਦਵੱਚ ਦੱਦਸਆ ਨੰੂ ਮੌਤ ਟੋਲ 23 'ਤੇ ਹੈ.

At least 20 people have been killed in a fire at a hospital in India. The fire began in the intensive care unit of the private SUM hospital in the city of Bhubaneswar, in Odisha state and spread to

other areas. An electrical short circuit is believed to be the cause. Most of the victims reportedly died from smoke inhalation and dozens of patients were taken to other medical facilities in the city. The

fire began in the intensive care unit of the private SUM hospital in the city of Bhubaneswar, in Odisha state and spread to other areas. An electrical short circuit is believed to be the cause. Most of the victims reportedly died from smoke inhalation and dozens of patients were taken to other medi-

cal facilities in the city.

New students meet

New teachers As new students ourselves it was very interesting, seeing what

The Questions we asked were:

1. What did you want to be when you were younger?

2. What song best describes you?

3. If you could travel in a time machine, where would you go?

Mrs

Hill Deputy Head

Mr

Campbell Assistant

Head

Mr

Kitley Head of

Science

Miss

Goodall Head of

Music

Mr

Smith Head of

Drama

Mr

Chohan Head of

Maths

Mrs

Paterno Head of RS

Miss

Green Head of

History

Miss

Munday-Cripps PE

1. Designer and teacher

2. -

3. The Tudor Times

1. Scientist and teacher

2. “We are the Champions” by

Queen

3. Dinosaurs, Prehistoric era

1. Astronaut and Rock star

2. “What does the fox say”by

Ylvis

3. Prehistoric era

1. Blue Peter presenter

2. “You can’t stop the beat”

by Marc Shaiman

3. 1940’s for the swing music

1. Stand up comic

2. “Get happy” by Primal

Screen

3. 1956 to watch “Look back

in anger.”

1. Research scientist

2. “Simply the Best”

3. 1980s

1. A Philosopher

2. “Bolero” by Revel

3. The Renaissance in

Florence

1. Author and teacher

2. “Don’t Stop never give up”

3. 1920’s Jazz Age and the

change for flapper women

1. Professional sportsperson

2. “What have you done to-

day..” Heather Small

3. Henry VIII’s reign

Mr

Isaachsen Head of

ICT

Mr

Jennings Maths/ICT

Mr

Rehman Maths

Mr

Patel Maths

Mrs

Gruar Languages

Ms

Stankard Science

Miss

Davies DT

Mr

Horton DT

Ms

Savage Geography

Miss

Wells PE

Mrs

Lyons 6th Form

Admin

Mrs

Drew IT Technician

1. A Fireman

2. “Firestarter” by Prology

3. The future to see lottery

ticket numbers

1. A Scientist

3. Secondary School

1. Computer programmer

3. The Past 100 years

1. Archaeologist

2. “Village Green Preserva-

tion Society” The Kings

3. The Bronze Age

1. A Vet

2. “She’s a Maniac”

3. The fall of the Berlin Wall

1989

1. Primary school teacher

3. 50 Years in the future to see

the technology

1. Professional netballer

2. “Champion” by Chipmunk

3. Just after WW1

1. Everything!

2. “Dancing on My Own”

3. 2050 to see how the globe

is coping economically

1. Wildlife photographer

2. “Imagine” John Lennon

3. Back in time to see if the

history books were right

1. Nurse

2. “I will survive” Gloria Gay-

nor

3. Somewhere for a holiday

1. A physiotherapist or nurse

2. “Green Eyes” Coldplay

3. The mid-90’s to see her

mum again

Radhika Mahesh, with Sienna Defoe, Chloe Stock-

ings and Nathesa Sivakumarun

Every

Falling

Star

On Thursday the 13th October, author Sungju Lee came to tell us his story

of how he came to escape North Korea.

Sungju Lee was born in the capital city of North Korea, Pyeongyang. Pyeongyang is potentially a very rich and wealthy city, yet wealth was not evenly distributed, leaving the rest of the country in poverty and fam-ine, with many orphaned children eating off the street, stealing and begging. Lee lived with his mother and father, who was an ar-my general during Kim Il-Sung's dictator-ship. However, when his son, Kim Jong- Il became dictator, the army fell apart and Lee's father lost his job. The redundancy forced them to move north where they couldn't afford much to eat. One night, when Sungju Lee was 12, he and his mother were asleep where his father left on a scavenge for food. But he returned. Lee tried to protect his mother, but one night, his mother too left the house and never returned. After days without food, Lee's only chance to eat was through begging. After countless at-

tempts at begging, a lady gave him some bread. But the next day when the same woman walked past, she didn't give him any-thing, leaving Sungju to take some bread from her bag. When the woman saw him steal, her hus-band beat Lee. After living in the streets for some time, Lee realised that the only way to survive was to join gangs and groups where he met a gang of boys his age. Due to his training in Tiquando, he soon became their leader. They moved to many different cities in North Korea where he was forced to fight many other gangs.

“I didn’t want to

fight them. I had

to”

Saakshi Sharma

By the time he was 16, he had forgotten what a family was like, the only family he knew, were his 'Brothers' in his gang. After years of gang-life, he had grown to resent his own family and parents. When he and his gang were in the Pyeongyang train station, a man started to talk to him and claimed that he was Lee's grandfather. He told Lee to go to his house,

which Lee agreed to on the condition that his gang would go with him. In an act of desperation, his gang had planned to steal from this man, yet after entering the house, he noticed pictures of his mother and father on their wedding day. His grandfather then gave him a letter from his father writing about the game that they used to play – causing Lee to fall into the whirlwind of family again...

Every Falling Star is the first book to show modern North Korea to a young audience. The book has shown to be a

powerful memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju, forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself.

Sungju richly re-creates his scabrous sto-ry, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his

gang, his “brothers;” to be hungry and to fear arrest, imprisonment, and even exe-

cution. This poignant memoir allows young readers to learn about other cul-

tures where freedoms they take for granted, do not exist.

FEATURE

Religious

Pluralism:

Realistic or

Ridiculous With Taylor Yost

With the influence of social media and educational platforms, Religious Pluralism – the

acceptance of all religions as being of equal value – is becoming increasingly referenced.

This has sparked both discussion on differing faiths and debate as to the honesty of the

actual acceptance of religious pluralism as an ideal.

Authoritative figures such as Pope Francis have recently vocalised hopes for religious uni-

ty, stating that,

“Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters, and ...

must act as such”.

He has suggested on a small scale that differing religions should become more toler-

ant and compassionate in a time where migration and diversity within communities is in-

creasing. However, with modern religious extremism clearly evident, both historically as

with The Crusades, and at present, it is easy to suggest that unity is a naive ideal to aim at

– it is unlikely that social cohesion will be a collective aspiration.

Extremist acts performed ‘in the name of God’ have strongly suggested this as interpreta-

tion of religious scripture and doctrine is increasingly showing aspirations to widen the

gap between religions and push own individual faith to become a dominant religion.

Contrastingly, the education system in Britain is evidence to suggest the realistic and

pragmatic approach that is aiming for religious pluralism to be focussed on; the govern-

ment has implemented a scheme of learning that requires all students up to the age of

sixteen to be compulsorily taught Religious Studies. Whilst this does not mean that each

student will adopt a tolerant and open-minded view towards different faiths, it does sug-

gest that a wider knowledge on religion will encourage students to begin

understanding the subjective nature of religion – that all religious views are equally viable

and meaningful (John Hick).

Although the government has made efforts to increase tolerance of religion, it seems un-

likely to suggest that an in depth understanding of differing views will be gained, particu-

larly with the government now aiming to promote ‘British Values’, including focus on

only the ‘national religion’ – not all religions.

Having questioned how realistic acceptance and encouragement of diversity is, it cannot

be ignored that deep-set traditions will be passed on to family members as a result of

home life. Due to this, it seems clear to suggest that religious pluralism – whilst an ideal-

will not be achieved unless authoritative figures/schemes are put in place to enforce this,

to the point where acceptance of religion is the norm.

“E” equals explosion Electronic cigarettes are supposedly the' safer and healthier' but unlike traditional cigarettes, they have shown the tendency to explode or blow up . Fortunately, these accidents have been proven not to occur often, however when an e-cigarette battery does malfunction, the injuries can be fatal— burns on the hands and face, fractured bones and even loss of eyesight have been documented in-juries. Dr. Anne Wagner of the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) said that it is 'literally an explosion.' In the University of Colorado hospital, they have treated six people who have been seriously injured by

e-cigarettes since the beginning of the year. Most explosions result in third-degree burns and almost all victims will require skin grafts - leaving a significant scar. One of the patients that they have treated was 19-year old Alexander Shonkwiler af-ter his e-cigarette battery exploded in his pocket and set his trousers on fire and causing a serious burn on his thigh. It sparks controversy as to what cigarette is 'healthier and safer', and which form of cigarettes are worse for you - the ones that cause fatal lung cancers or the ones that blow up and effects are unknown?

And you think Becky

High is competitive? Potentially the most oversubscribed school

in the world, the VidyaGyan Leadership

Academy is a boarding school in India which

offers an ‘elite’ education to students from

poor backgrounds. Even though there are

only 200 places available each year, there are

around 250,000 applications from families

who want a better life for their children. It

was set up the Shiv Nadar Foundation and is

completely free; the students are taught,

clothed, fed and housed by the school. The

school only accepts the very clever and very

poor – you cannot even apply if your family

income is above what is the equivalent to

£1,500 a year. After these first applications,

only about half of those who applied actual-

ly turn up for a written test. This drop in

numbers is possibly a result of families

struggling to get to the test-centre. From

the results of the written test, a shortlist of

around 6000 is drawn up and these prospec-

tive students then have to take another se-

ries of tests. The applicants’ homes are also

visited. At the end of this process, the

school takes in 200 pupils, both boys and

girls where they begin their journey into

formal education.

News from

around the

world A series of news in briefs...

Saakshi Sharma and Kitty Sparrowhawk

Theresa May is the second

woman to hold the post of British prime minister, the first being Margaret Thatcher. My question is, ‘is she a feminist?’ It is often held up to expectation that being a woman makes a prime-minister a feminist, yet as-sumptions of these are frequently being proven to be inaccurate. At the age of thirteen Theresa May gained a place at the former Holton Park Girls’ Grammar School, a state school in Wheat-ley, near Oxford. She then studied geogra-phy at St Hugh’s College at the University of Oxford and graduated in 1977. May be-came the MP for the seat of Maidenhead in 1997 and currently has a majority of 54%. She was the longest serving Home Secretary since James Chuter Ede, who served from 1945 to 1951 and was Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016. Before David Cameron appointed her to the post of Home Secretary, one of the key posts in government, May was a member of William Hague’s front-bench opposition team, as Shadow Spokesman for Schools, Disabled People and Women from 1998 to June 1999. She was also the first female ap-pointed Chairman of the Conservative Party in July 2002. While serving as Home Secretary May co-

founded Women2Win, a Conservative Party group that supported David Cameron’s com-mitment to select more women to fight win-nable seats and elect more Tory women to Parliament. In 2005 there were seventeen Conservative women MPs, representing 9% of the political party. Now there are sixty-eight Conservative female MPs. The cam-paign intends to increase the number of Conservative women MPs by providing training, mentoring, support and advice to women who wish to enter Parliament or be-come more involved in Politics. Theresa May was heavily involved when the UK hosted the first Girl Summit in 2014 where she announced positive measures to help survivors of female genital mutilation and crack down on this illegal practice, also persuading David Cameron to pledge his support to this cause. At the Home Office, she introduced a law against coercive con-trol to ensure emotional abusers could be punished as harshly as those responsible for physical domestic violence; she also voted for welfare reforms, such as Universal Cred-it, handing over all financial support to a sole family member. Clearly the majority of Theresa May’s ac-tions have been positive for women and thus she appears to be an active Feminist: She hasn’t remained passive but instead has used her position to support and encourage femi-nism.

The F-word

POLITICS

With Gemma Davis

With Matilda Cox

The Result:

Unprecedented Against all the odds, fighting

all expectations, Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States with a secured Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Election night started with unexpected early wins in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio- hinting at the later victory of the most im-probably presidential candidate America has ever seen. The shocking result came in at 2:30 am on the 8th November when the Re-publican won Wisconsin- passing the 270 electoral college votes needed to secure the presidency with 306 to 232- despite failing to get the public majority. Following this, his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton phoned to concede but still did not make a public address until the following week where she confessed that “coming here to-night wasn’t easy” but still maintained a hopeful demeanour, stating that “we have work to do.” After a campaign which was revolved around a series of controversies- arguably ones which would have destroyed any other candidate other than Trump- and a number of debates in September and October which appeared to give Clinton the upper hand, it was looking impossible for the Republican to gain a victory. As is the same for any election, the result did not please everyone to say the least- per-haps more so this time given that Trump lost the popular vote by over 2 million. Im-

mediately after the announcement of a Trump victory, a wave of protests was sparked across the US, along with a huge number of celebrities voicing their outrage and sadness on social media- including the likes of Katy Perry, Madonna, Chris Evans, Rashida Jones and Cher. Perhaps unsurpris-ingly, the election of Trump opened the door to a number of race-motivated verbal and physically attacks all over the states. Many Muslims took to Twitter to share their experiences- confessing to hearing abusive comments like “your time is up” and “Trump’s in, you’re out”. It still remains to be seen whether the some-times appalling promises Trump made dur-ing his campaign will be followed through. Thousands in the United States are now liv-ing in uncertainty- not knowing whether they will even be allowed to stay in the country that they used to call home. What is sure though, a Trump America will be ex-traordinarily different to the Obama Ameri-ca which the world has grown to know. 2016 has been the year of unpredictable re-sults- maybe Brexit should have acted as a warning about the worldwide discontent for established order. Experts are saying that these two “anti-establishment” results are likely to be repeated in the upcoming Italian constitutional referendum or Austrian presi-dential election- which could trigger another euro crisis. Perhaps this Trump victory highlights an emerging trend- that fewer and fewer people want politicians in politics.

School Charities 28 Too Many

MAKING THE

WORLD A

BETTER PLACE

28 too many is a charity based in the 28 countries in Africa where female geni-tal mutilation (FGM) is rife. FGM is a traditional practice that has been going on for over 2,000 years; however, it causes severe pain, shock and has a long lasting impact on women. Their goal is to end FGM by working closely with other charities based in Africa and aim to help the lives of 140 million

On 7th October, Becky High had a mufti day in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital, which is our national charity. GOSH is a world famous children’s hospital which treats over 268,000 sick children every year. Through the efforts of the school, Becky High have raised hundreds of pounds - all of which will go towards fund-ing new technology and research so that GOSH can treat more patients every year.

Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity

Link School

We are currently supporting our link school "Kachieng Secondary" in Kenya, where we have already had have mufti days to donate money to the school. All proceedings have been given in efforts to re-build the school and provide the students with new technology to help them learn in a more interactive way. Becky High has collected coloured biros to give to Kachieng Secondary and we were also able to write let-ters to some of the students.

Kyla Melville

Rosie’s Rainbow Fund

Rosie’s Rainbow fund is a charity dedicated to helping sick and disabled children in hos-pital and school by helping them learn how to play a musical instrument. The charity was set up by Rosie’s family after she died aged 11 from becoming terminally ill with vasculitis; a devastating illness affecting the

blood vessels. During her time in hospital, she expressed a strong wish to help families with coping having a child in hospital. Throughout the year we plan to have vari-ous fundraising activities to help this cause further.

RRS IMUN During this half term holiday, eleven students from years 11-13 were given the opportunity to attend Royal Russell School International Model United Na-tions. The four day conference consist-ed of formal, UN-style debate within specialised committees as well as one large assembly, stu-dents from across the globe gathered to discuss some of the most pressing issues in the world today. These topics varied from the question of the rights of refugees to whether free contraception should be granted to those living in LEDCs. Two students from Beaconsfield High, Ma-tilda Cox and Avnish Nijjar, were allocated the esteemed roles of committee chairs; this meant that they were responsible for run-ning the debates and overseeing the commit-tees. Further to this, the school had even more success with Saudi Arabia representative, Alia Chohan, year 12, successfully getting her resolution on the question of racism to be discussed in the general assembly. Congratulations to Avnish, Matilda, Kavya,

Josephine, Ellie, Simran, Alia, Holy, Katie, Scarlet and Lilly for having such a success-ful conference. Overall, the conference was a fantastic op-portunity for all the students to practice their debate skills as well as developing con-fidence in public speaking and interacting with peers from all around the world. The event was also a unique chance for us to re-search global issues and learn about the views of different nations since we debated from the stance of an assigned country. The trip was thoroughly enjoyed by all, with so much gained, many thanks to Mrs Packer for organising and Mrs Brewer and Mrs Brown for accompanying us.

Katie Hearne

NEWS IN

PICTURES

Winners at the Marlow Music Festival

Speed-Networking Careers Events