LOXVOXINSIDE THIS ISSUE:BUILDING YOUR UCAS................ P2VOLUNTARY WORK..................... P2

THE VISIT FROM ERNST & YOUNG P3AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL........... P3

FIRST STORY.............................. P4GUIDE TO A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE................................. P4

THE REALITY OF MARRIAGE IN THIS MODERN AGE............................ P5CONTROVERSY CORNER............ P5

IS LIFE IN OUR HANDS? OR IS IT OUT OF OUR CONTROL.. P6

HOT OR NOT: BLACK OPS 2........... P7

BOOK REVIEW.................................. P8FILM REVIEW................................ P8

CURRENT AFFAIRS........................ P9

THOUGHT PROVOKING IMAGES.... P10

When voluntary work comes into your mind, you think of working but not getting paid. You fail to realise the positive side of it. When our work experience in Year 10 got cancelled I had no choice but to seek some sort of work experience myself. After searching many areas I fi nally found work experience in a disability centre; I attended twice a week during the summer holidays. At fi rst, admittedly I felt quite uneasy because I was out of my comfort zone, there is no one that I knew and the people working (carers) are busy trying to look after their patients and cater to their needs. So, I started introducing myself to the patients. It was quite diffi cult to do so, as each individual had a different disability; some being autistic, down–syndrome and etc. Some patients

On Friday 11th January 2013, 12L had a very special visit from Cambridge University to teach them how to further their education after sixth form. We were taught about building our ‘UCAS’ by writing a personal statement and handing them in to our designated universities. This session was extremely useful as we gained an idea on how the application process works when applying for your chosen universities and how your personal statement

is to your future. We learned that in our personal statement, we have to present our skills and personnel as best as possible and convince the potential universities why we should be offered a place. In the 1 ½ hour session, the visitor explained each step of the university application process and even presented us with examples of personal statements. These statements for Medicine, Maths and Computer Science showed us how

signifi cant it is to have a lot of experience for your desired university course. The dedication shown in your statement, the bigger the likelihood that the university will understand your passion and accept you as a part of their community that’s why, the most important thing I learnt is that it’s not impossible to achieve your dream it just takes a lot of hard work and perseverance!

By Anayeth Ali

Building your UCAS

weren’t comfortable as others to speak to me as I was a new face. Gradually, as time passed they got used to me and became comfortable to be around with me as well as I did with them. Each day I was assigned to a group and two carers and we’d take them to places for lunch, somewhere as far as Lee Valley or to a local cafe. Other times we would take them bowling, to the cinema or to the beach. We’d ensure that they were enjoying themselves at all times.When travelling to these places we usually go by their van, but the centre encourages both carers and patients to travel by public transport to increase their independence. When I would travel with them, some people would give funny looks or move away seats from them, which I fi nd so rude, but in reality everyone does that! From my experience, disabled

Voluntary work

people are incredibly sweet. For example when we’d go lunch they’d offer to buy me food when I was fasting and they would question why I would never eat. Overall from this experience, my boss wanted me to come back and I did again last summer and working with the disabled you grow attached to them and miss them once you leave. To come home at the end of the day knowing you helped the carer out and made the patients really happy, made me feel really good.Helping with the disabled for two summers made me interested with the way their mentality works. This interest fuelled my ambition to pursue a career in psychology where I can hopefully go into the therapy side of psychology and help out more people in future.

By Cintya Laouici

Ernst and Young is one of the world’s leading professional accounting organizations in the world. It has workers in over 140 countries. It supports small start-up businesses to well-established companies by making fi nancial decisions and exploring new opportunities. EY (shorthand for Ernst and Young) has recorded a 22 billion turnover in 2011 and is still rising.

The visit was quite benefi cial and very intriguing I would like to explore further as I will consider this as an alternative career route. The representative that visited gave us an insight in to what EY is all about. She also gave us an account of her story - about how she heard about the programme and how she is where she is today. The visitor explained on how to join the programme through various ways which suit every individual.

EY offers programmes for people at different stages in their education. The fi rst one is called the EY school leaver. As soon as you leave sixth form after fi nishing your two year course EY will take you on straight away. To

What are human rights?Human rights are the freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

But what is a human right to you?

How far would you go to protect human life?

At Loxford we are interested in starting a charity called ‘Amnesty international’. Amnesty International is a charity organisation with the sole purpose to protect individuals wherever justice, freedom and truth is denied. There are hundreds of people involved in Amnesty International all over the world, who are defending human rights

So why don’t you join a worthwhile cause?

If you interested in joining this life changing charity organisation, please give your name to your tutor and ask to be emailed to Mrs Price regarding joining the charity.

By Daneesh Iqbal

Amnesty international

A Visit from Ernst and Youngget a head start into your preferred career, you would jump straight into proceeding gaining technical skills and also professional qualifi cations. This would be without the stress of university fees which makes the programme so appealing.

Another programme is EY degree which is a university course that combines studies with an eighteen-month paid work placement which ends with professional qualifi cations and a graduate job offer. This programme gives you an amazing opportunity to study at a world-ranked management school.

The Ernst and Young Organization is an incredible way to step into the business world – doing high profi le work on business advisory and fi nancial issues. It is defi nitely a career path that I will consider pursuing. I would strongly recommend others to research further. It may not be your preferred career choice however it gives you an alternative route and a wider goal for your future.

By Simi Oremosu

Every Wednesday for the past year there has been a writers club called First Story. What is fi rst story? First story is an organi-sation that supports and inspires creativity, literacy and talent all over the country. First story is in its third successful year at Loxford, where students get a chance to have their own work published. I would proudly like to say the third anthology will be released later on this year. Many students have been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to express their views and opinions, and the launch will give you a chance to hear a few recitals of the fantastic work produced, not only that, you

Many people today believe that stopping yourself from eating, or skipping meals is the way to lose weight. If anything, it does the opposite – has a negative impact on your health. You may be losing the weight, but you will lack a lot more - such as vitamins and minerals that are vital in your system to keep you healthy. The best way to weight loss and maintaining a healthy lifestyle would be to balance your diet, don’t deprive yourself from all treats, but equal it out. Another important step that must be taken to keeping healthy and fi t, is exercise. Chose a sport or any form of exercise and stick to it, be consistent in your workouts and never give up. If you ever decide you want to lose weight and change the way you live your life, do it for yourself, do it because you want to, don’t let anyone determine the way you live your life. One piece of advice for those wanting to lose weight would be to not do it for others, do it to make yourself content with the way you look and feel, that’s the best motivation!

By Sara Cherki

First Storymay purchase and also get the book signed for yourself!

This year First Story has had many sixth formers attend, so why not be another and join this exciting workshop and be part to the team!

“It was fun. It allowed me to overcome men-tal barriers and found that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. I wasn’t in the interested in the idea of writing/poetry, but i stayed fi rst story converted me. It opened my door to imagination.” - Momna Butt

“It was just as awesome, if not more as last year because i was able to build on the writing skills that i had. First story allowed me to express the different idea that i had into poetry and writing and helped build my confi dences when expressing these things to the group.” - Rim Karama

“Yet again another amazing year at fi rst story, i love everything about it and how they’re helped my creativity. First story will always be a part of my life, the experience it has given me will stay with me” - Kemal Cakli

By Daneesh Iqbal

Guide on how to live a healthy lifestyle

Marriage; the reality of marriage is that it’s become just a word. A word which had great signifi cance and a massive impact. However in this modern age, all marriage seems to be is just a word, a meaningless word for that matter. We now live in a society where people marry for money, fame, citizenship and so much more, which slowly slackens the originality of marriage. Society has become so comfortable with the idea, that the façade of a wedding is more important than the actuality of marriage.

I believe the death penalty should be abolished as it goes against a human’s basic right to live. From a young age we are all taught that two wrongs don’t make a right. How can we teach people killing is wrong by killing? The justice system isn’t perfect. The right lawyer could mean the difference between life and death. Most of the inmates at Death Row were given lawyers by the court as they couldn’t afford their own. It’s not fair that someone with more money could get a lighter sentence for the same crimes because they could afford a better lawyer. Witnesses, jurors and prosecutors could also make mistakes meaning innocent people could be sentenced to death. Once someone is killed it’s irreversible whereas if they were sent to prison they could still be released.

Should rapists, murders, pedophiles walking free in our society? How you would feel if your neighbor was one of these? Would you not feel a little uneasy? They gave up their rights when they committed a horrifi c crime, so why do they deserve a second chance at life when they attacked an innocent person? Capital punishment has been proven to lower crime rates in countries. We as citizens are entitled to live in a safe environment. We as society should be protected against such people; they do not belong within society at all. Millions of taxpayers’ money pay for their care, where is the sense in that? These ‘people’ are on the same level as animals as they lack the ability to reason so in-turn should be treated like the same way, if they disobey the guidelines - they should be put down.

By Aminah Warraich and Sophia Khan

Reality of Marriage in this Modern Age

Where a couple can plan such a big extravagant wedding, but after 72 days get an annulment can be applied for, making it seem like it the marriage never happened. We continue to watch and observe in our society, as little children learn the wrong ways of society’s actions; marriage isn’t just a ‘thing’ you get involved in for the sake of it, buts it’s a union bounded together in the presence of God. It is something religious and sacred, it is not something when you get into, that when the

going gets tough you depart from, but you stay and try to power through it, because a marriage symbolises you becoming one with your partner.Within marriage sins continue to occur, adultery, fornication etc. and yet we imperfect human beings rise and criticize marriages of all sorts, when marriage itself has become a fl aw in our society. Our society, our laws and our mind-set is marriage’s own worst enemy.

By Tayo Badru

Controversy Corner

One of many beliefs is that there is no such thing as a coincidence, in life there is no such thing has a mistake. Every action we make is all linked to our future. It is said that the world’s greatest lie, is that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us and our lives become controlled by fate, as interpreted in The Alchemist written by … Are we controlled by fate or do we have our own life in our hands?There are some that believe that God knows our past, our present and our future, the every choice every human being will make and where it will leads us. This means ultimately we are walking puppets, following a written script. Then there are those who believe that we control our lives, we control the journey we take and the outcome of it. As you look at your life, do you believe you’re in

Is our life in our hands? Or is out of our control?control, that you have a choice in the choices you make and the future you end up with?Myths, theories and books, they all believe that one way or the other - that our very existence is due to fate, possibly written in the stars. Some believe it is all around us and some that our lives have been destined to be the way it is.

In one way or the other we are linked, all with a purpose to fulfi l,

if so, if a man kills, is that due to fate as it links to a greater purpose or is it just inhumane actions?Thought for the mind; do we live in a world of fate or of natural occurrence? You decide

By Tayo Badru

To all the people who are considering buying Black Ops 2, I suggest you read this fi rst because there is no point buying a game you won’t like. Below you will see what’s ‘Hot’ and what’s ‘Not’ about the 7th addition to the franchise of Call of Duty.

HOT:The campaign mode in the game is outstanding. It is one of the best story modes ever to come out

of Call of Duty. You discover what the world is like in 2025 and new hidden secrets that reveal the last days of Alex Mason, Jason Hudson and Frank Woods. You play the role of David

Mason (Alex Mason’s son) in an effort to stop an extremist leader who has been driven insane by the death of his sister. You will also get to play a mission where you are the extremist himself.

The new zombies addition is a great advantage to the game. You will play on new maps such as Town, Farm and Bus Depot in new game modes such as Tranzit. Tranzit is a mode where you are transported from area to area on a bus.

NOT:The new zombies ranking system is very puzzling. Treyarch have not released any information about it, but all we know is you rank up for playing well in a game, and rank down for not playing the zombies enough or playing bad in a game.

The multiplayer gameplay is a quiet a let-down. Despite the new maps offered, Black Ops 1 multiplayer gameplay is preferred. The style of Black ops 2 multiplayer is more

like Modern Warfare 3. There are levels on guns and the killstreaks are measured by points, not kills.

A MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE WHO ALREADY OWN BLACK OPS 2!!IF YOU DID NOT PRE-ORDER BLACK OPS 2, YOU WOULD NOT GET THE MULTIPLAYER AND ZOMBIES MAP OF NUKETOWN 2025. UNFORTUNATLY, THE ONLY WAY OF GETTING THE MAP IS TO BUY

THE SEASON PASS ON XBOX FOR £35 OR ON PS3 FOR £42.

There is also a new map pack called Revolution, which is already out on Xbox Live but no date is scheduled for PS3. It consists of four new maps (Hydro, Grind,

Downhill and Mirage), a new gun called the Peacekeeper SMG, a new zombies game mode called Turned (You play as a zombie) and a new zombies map called Die Rise.

By Stephen Day

Hot or Not: Black Ops 2

‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ Film Review

stained scarf which Basil once had in a box. Gray attempts to strangle Lord Henry as he is furious but hears Emily’s long call. Whilst Dorian is distracted, Lord Henry pushes Dorian aside and exposes the portrait.

Lord Henry is terrifi ed at the canvas and throws a lit lamp at the portrait causing it to catch fi re. He storms out the room locking the attic gate hoping Gray and his portrait are destroyed, before Emily sees Dorian trapped and pleads for the key to save him. After seeing her, Dorian realises how much he loves her and ensures that he loves her whilst Lord Henry drags Emily away. Gray turns back to the attic stabbing the painting with a poker whilst his body ages, leaving the attic in an explosion. I thought this ending was perfect; it was an unusual storyline and was very imaginative.

By Sannah Iqbal

Dorian to perform such acts with other people instead of spending time with Sibyl, which he later regretted. In return, he lost what was the love of his life. However this could have been blamed upon Lord Henry, as he persuaded Dorian to live a different life which lead to Sibyls death. If Lord Henry didn’t convince Dorian to do so, he may have lived a happy life with Sibyl. For these reasons I felt the most sympathy towards Sibyl but also with Dorian.

The most dramatic scene throughout the fi lm was at the end. Dorian Gray doesn’t age throughout the whole fi lm which creates suspense. Although, it all becomes clear near the end. Lord Henry breaks into Dorian’s house to discover the hidden portrait. Although, he is interrupted by Dorian before he is able to uncover it. Gray tries to convince Lord Henry that he still cherishes their friendship and loves his daughter Emily. Lord Henry fi nds a

This fi lm is based on a young handsome character named Dorian Gray who fi nds himself in confl ict after trading his beauty to his painter, Basil, when he paints a portrait of him. The confl ict continues when Lord Henry manipulates Dorian to live a life of ‘pleasure’. Dorian gives up his one true love (Sibyl) in order to live a life full of pleasure. Sibyl loved Dorian terribly but she is hurt by Dorian; as he thought it was too soon to have a family but Sibyl disagreed. Unfortunately she soon died. However Dorian was informed Sibyls’ corpse was found in a nearby lake. Sibyls’ brother also informed Dorian that Sibyl was pregnant, which devastated Dorian even further.

As Sibyl wanted to start a family and Dorian didn’t, makes me sympathise for her. She seemed ready for a family but Dorian was caught up with his ‘enjoyment’ so he hardly spent any time with her. It was immature of

The Dark Knight RisesThe fi nal chapter of the batman trilogy leaves you frustrated at Batman’s unbelievably ludicrous ability to swim in recently frozen waters and the inability of Banes mercenaries’ to use guns strapped on their shoulders. But the movie is full to the brim with explosions and fi ght sequences to keep you awake and submerged in a world of placid character development. Cat-woman is only fantastic in ways a teenager could imagine, Batman is able to heal from a back injury with a punch from an old man and Bane has a serious weight problem. Alfred Hitchcock stated, “The length of a fi lm should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder” and at 165 minutes, have a bottle at hand.

Skyfall James Bond has been around for over 60 years in literature and fi lm, yet he isn’t plagued by apathy, but greater enthusiasm than ever before. Skyfall is the highest grossing fi lm in the UK of all time, 7th worldwide and it begs the question, what makes it tick? Well the fi rst 12 minutes alone are action packed enough to send you home satisfi ed; there are Gadget, cars, explosions, fi ght scenes, the iconic villain Silva, Judi Dench as M, the marvellous direction by Sam Mendes and the women, my God the women are all so great. But the heart and soul of this movie is Daniel Craig, sophisticated, smart, sexy, and shirtless. His casting as the iconic MI6 agent is nothing short of brilliant.

The AvengersThis is by far the mother of all superhero movies ever made. Uniting comic book characters all the way from the hulk to Hawkeye, making them seem conceivable, authentic and relatable. The highlights have to be incessant amount of action and smashing that make you feel like a child. Plus, Scarlet Johansson as Black-widow is an act of genius Einstein may not comprehend with. A feisty, bold and feminist fi gure for women in tights, she really pulls it off... the role. Yet, what did amaze me in this immense summer blockbuster was how Hulks pants stay intact despite him expanding in size to be larger than a rhino on steroids.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part III have to say, despite the negative reception of this fi lm, it was pretty good. Despite promoting sparkly vampires and paedophilia the silver lining lies in... I’m sorry, I cannot lie anymore. This fi lm is merely a desecration of the meagre essence of sanity left within the human race. Those who have witnessed the atrocity that is this fi lm, may God have mercy on your soul. If you chose to like this fi lm, come forth for help is at hand, for an individual’s ability to survive the length of this movie is nothing short of a feat as great as man landing on the moon. Please, hide your kids, your wives, grandparents, neighbours and animals from this movie.

LooperWhat can be classifi ed as a mash-up of a sci-fi western is truly a diamond in the rough of 2012 fi lms. Limited by a modest budget, Rian Johnson has forged a timeless time travel fi lm. Needless to say, there are frustrating imperfections like Gangster Rabbi’s, stupid, unnecessary suicides and completely non-futuristic weapons. Plus, it’s so damn stupid to use time-travel to kill people, you could prevent the Holocaust, 9/11, re-sit your exams. But no you resort to killing debilitated drug addicts.

By Usama Nadeem

F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American author of short stories and novels and was reputed as one of the greatest American writers in the 20th century. ‘The Great Gatsby’ written in 1925 is cited to be Fitzgerald’s most famous novel and which he considers his masterpiece. After his fi rst novel became a rapid success in 1920, later he met his wife Zelda as they both entered a wealthy life of attending lavish parties inspired by the ones he wrote in Gatsby. He was once said ‘Sometimes I don’t know whether Zelda and I are real or whether we are characters from my novel’. The story of The Great Gatsby is taken place in 1922 in

America after World War I. The novel is narrated by Nick Carraway who is also one of the characters. Nick narrates the story of moving to West Egg which is home to the ‘new rich’ and meets Jay Gatsby, a millionaire whose mansion is next door to him. Nick meets his cousin Daisy and her rich husband Tom who knew Nick from a social club at Yale. Another meeting with Daisy and Tom, Nick meets a girl called Jordan who he takes with him when he receives an invitation to Gatsby’s party. Gatsby is most famous for throwing these lavish parties at his mansion that everyone turns up to. Nick discovers that no one knows much about the host as he hears rumours fl oat around in the party. Many uninvited guest turn up at the party simply because of the alcohol that was prohibited in the 1920’s. It is later discovered that Gatsby only throws his parties for his true love Daisy hoping that she will attend. The characters coincide with each other which leads to a dramatic end for Gatsby. The novel has been turned into fi lm over the years with a recent adaptation out during the summer this year. It has been directed by Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge...) with Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby.

By Arefa Uddin

Book Review

Film Review★ ★

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Paralympics runner Oscar Pistorius pleads innocent for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.Steenkamp was 29, a model and law graduate. She was a talented woman with a bright future ahead of her. The couple had been together for a couple of months, their relationship was described ‘healthy and fabulous’. The shooting took place on Valentines Day; Reeva had planned a surprise visit at Oscars house. Oscar shot her four times thinking she was an intruder at his home. There are speculations that he knew it was her.

The day before the shooting, she had said how much she was looking forward to Valentine’s Day.

“What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow??? #getexcited #ValentinesDay,” she tweeted.A South African magistrate is distributing his confi rmed decision on whether Oscar Pistorius, accused of murdering his girlfriend, should be freed on bail.UPDATES-Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail by magistrate Desmond Nair-The magistrate has stated he must hand over his passport and is not allowed to leave the country.- He has been set bail at 1m Rand- Oscar will have to report to the police twice a week

Current AffairsParalympic star crashes

Aldi, Iceland , Lidl and Tesco are the four main supermarkets to get caught up in the controversy over horse meat. They have been removing their beef products as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland found traces of horsemeat contained in the frozen beef burgers. The Food Safety Authority made the discovery and found out the products was processed in Ireland. After the professors came to a conclusion from their fi ndings they fi gured there are no health risks but any customers who wish to return the products will have the right.

UPDATES- The largest private catering business in Britain who provide for the public services have stopped supplying frozen beef products due to the discovery of horse DNA in the tested samples.- Birds Eye also announced the withdrawal of three lines-Retailers have completed about 90% of tests; manufacturers, caterers and wholesalers designate they have completed around 80% of their tests. This includes all the major suppliers to schools, hospitals and other public institutions.By Aqsa Butt

Government unsuccessful attempt for the Welfare-to-work schemeThe governments multi billion pound work programme has failed. The scheme only helped 3.6% of people off benefi ts and only allowed them to be in secure employment for 14 months. The labour party have released a statement saying ‘worse than doing nothing’, this response was then followed up by the government who claim it is ‘early days’. This scheme is 11.9% below the target, as only 3.6% have gone from being on benefi ts to being employed between June 2011 and July 2012. After seeing the results the committee have reported that it’s also below the offi cial estimate of those claimants who would have found work even if the programme had never been opened.The programme was set up in June 2011 to help the long-term unemployed moved off benefi ts and into sustained employment. It is expected to cost between £3bn and £5bn over fi ve years. With all this money and schemes gone to waste who knows when the unemployed rate will decrease.

Government unsuccessful attempt for the Welfare-to-work scheme

Horsemeat Scandal

Thought Provoking Images

Compiled by Sophia Khan