Reflections

Spring 2018

THE V ICE

“Our language is a reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact

reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.”

Cesar Chavez

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EDITORIAL

What’s inside?

Opinion Articles

Poems

Short Stories

Art-work

Photography

And much more!

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve had a wonderful spring term; I can’t believe it’s over already! I will be

taking over as editor of The Voice magazine from now on, so I’m using this editorial to

say a big hello to everyone and I hope you enjoy the newest issue.

My name is Chloe Foden, I’m in Year 12 (Studying English, History and RS) and my

aim with this project is to publish articles that interest you. The best way for me to do

that is have you guys submit them—write what you want to read!

This issue is packed full of wonderful poetry, interesting book reviews (of the young

adult and classic genres) and some incredible artwork. With the current focus on the

gender pay gap, we understandably have some well-informed opinion articles. How-

ever, we also have a review of the newest blockbuster to hit the big screen! We’re also

publishing pictures from World Book Day, and articles listing the books your friends

are reading. It’s not a politically heavy issue; I think we’ve all seen enough of Bojo and

May for a while!

But, we do have everything else. I hope that you continue to read the publication de-

spite editorship changing hands—it’s a new era for The Voice! There have been two

major changes in the media this year: a new screenwriter for Doctor Who and a new

editor for the school magazine… and I know which I’m more excited about!

Happy Reading!

Chloe Foden

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It wouldn’t be The Voice without you!

CONTRIBUTORS

Millie Carter

Katie Smith

Hannah Gillespie

Charlotte Shore

Kerys Moore

Eliza Virgo

Annabel Ginders

Megan Riley

Caitlin Jones

Shannon Morgan

Piper Hanlon-Bayley

Katie Townley

Ellie Kennerley

Daisy Soddy

Sydney Mickelright

Evie Salt Emily Barge

Natasha Uijen Lucy Sears

Lily Barratt

Esther Watson

Rowena Jones

Bethany Simpson

Nimra Shahzad

Ana Ghaffari

Harry Thomas

Katie James

Aoife Darbyshire

Editor

Chloe Foden

Contributors

If you fancy submitting work for

The Voice, then please come along

to H12 Tuesday lunchtimes —

or email 12fodenc

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WORLD BOOK DAY!

Sandbach High School

celebrated World Book

Day on Friday 2nd

March 2018. Have a

look at the wonderful

displays!

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See if you

can guess

who these

teachers

are!

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An anime is a Japanese term for an animation style / art. It can also be referred to as frame by frame animation using different stories. Most animes are developed by a

Japanese book called a Manga. Also some animes can be developed by games such as Dance with Devils and Uta no Prince Sama. But also keep in mind that it is Japa-nese so the majority of manga and games are mostly in a foreign language / Japa-

nese. Also an anime does require some actors / voice actors to voice the characters.

Here are some examples: Vic mignogna and Eric vale. They play characters such as Eric vale as America from Hetalia Axis Powers; and Vic as Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist! Some animes use special writing called Kanji (Japanese Let-

ters / Words) because of the anime originally being in Japanese they have to put subtitles for the Kanji so English viewers can read what Kanji means. Also like other

TV shows they all have different genres such as: Fantasy, Horror and Sci Fi etc. The more popular animes are usually adventure and action such as Fairy Tail and One

Piece.

1) Hetalia Axis Powers

2) Danganronpa the animation

3)Sword art Online

4) Fairy tail

5) One Piece

6) No Game No Life

7) Naruto

8) Fullmetal Alchemist

9) Uta No Prince Sama

10) The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya

Millie Carter

WHAT IS ANIME?

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The Summary:

Hetalia is about countries of the world as people (some are very stereotypi-

cal like America being full of himself), but in all fairness they are amazingly

funny and I would recommend this as: 5/5.

Danganronpa is a mystery anime and is also very interesting. It revolves

around a safety school and all the students are trapped inside and they have

class trails too I would recommend this as a 2nd anime so you can get used to

what happens in others. I would recommend this as : 5/5. Sword art online

also referred to as SAO. It’s about over 2’000 gamers having to survive and

live through a game for 2 years. Also refers around the main protagonist

called Kirito or Kazuto Kirygiya. He meets a girl named Asuna and they fell in

love over the game and they have to find a way to escape. I would recommend

this as a first anime because of the way the characters are portrayed. I rate

this as : 5/5

Fairy tail is anime about wizards that use magic (also referred to as magic cir-

cles) to defeat enemies. In the show it revolves around the 4 main characters

called Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfillia, Grey Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet. All

using different magic types as celestial and requip (meaning weapons and ar-

mour). Also overall I rate this anime: 4/5

One piece revolves around pirates and the history of pirates. Also revolves

around a pirate named Monkey D Luffy who plans to be the king of the pirates

and goes on a journey with his crew of 8 people including Luffy. The series

has been going on since 1999 so I do recommend to be ready (about now

there is about 700 episodes). Also I recommend this as: 5/5

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Katie Smith and Emily Barge

SEGREGATION AND INTEGRATION

Ethnical backgrounds tore them apart,

Danny and Joane were their names,

They were once two lovers with a star-crossed heart,

Segregation drove them insane.

Some say love has no labels,

But the KKK disagree,

They say love has to be stable

But Segregation is key.

They thought it’d be great if they met,

They thought it’d last forever,

But little did they know a plan was set,

To murder the only other.

Why did it matter the colour of their skin,

When they were destined to be together,

Why was it such an unholy sin,

To marry the other colour?

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Hannah Gillespie

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!

The Greatest Showman is an academy award winning spectacular directed by exciting new film maker,

Michael Gracey and written by Jenny Bicks. A marvellous musical miracle that celebrates the birth of

show business and tells of a genius who rose from destitution to create a spectacle that became a

worldwide sensation. The Greatest Showman celebrates the love of the circus in a spell bounding ar-

ray of colour, song and dance; inspired by the tale and imagination of the world renowned P.T Bar-

num.

An original musical set in the 19th century it follows the life of a penniless tailor who aspires to

prove his love to his beautiful wife in desperation to be accepted by her father. His powerful am-

bition leads him to open a wax work museum, yet his focus soon turns to the unique and peculiar

as he introduces an extraordinary live circus to the museum. The mesmerising circus soon cap-

tures the heart of the people and allows love to flourish, but will it all eventually come crashing

down?

With a star studded cast The Greatest Showman lives up to its expectation of delivering the

‘greatest show on earth.’ Starring the phenomenal Hugh Jackman as P.T Barnum and the likes of

Zac Effron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Fergerson and Zendaya. Who could possibly fault it? With

a run time of 105 minutes and a PG rating this musical spectacular is perfect for all the family,

with original songs and choreography. Starring the Golden Globe award winning song ‘This is me’

- which truly captivates any listener – creating a mesmerising eleven track soundtrack album

which is bound to get your toes tapping.

The Greatest Showman is sure to capture the heart of any audience, allowing the colour, atmosphere

and beauty of the circus fill their imagination.

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Charlotte Shore, Kerys Moore and Eliza Virgo

SCHIZOPHRENIA

We are here to talk to you about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder

characterised by abnormal social behaviour and failure to understand reality.

There are many symptoms of schizophrenia such as:

Poor hygiene

Hallucinations

Delusions

Unusual behaviour

Avoiding social activities

Emotional flatness

Disorganized speech

Oversleeping

Not everyone has these symptoms, everyone is different.

These are a few examples on how the community can help:

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, or rather CBT: Reduces severity, learns to identify

problems and symptoms and focuses on coping strategies.

Family-based services: focuses on educating family crisis intervention and emo-

tional support.

Assertive Community: High level of contact between them and health profession-

als. Decreases hospitalisations and homelessness.

School supports: Adaptations made by the school.

The community also supports and peer supports groups for teenagers.

It’s not uncommon for people to have more than one mental illness. Mental illnesses

that are linked with schizophrenia can be bipolar, depression, anxiety and ADHD.

One of the most common “cures” for schizophrenia is antipsychotic medications such

as:

Aripiprazole

Asenapine

Brexpiprazole

Cariprazine

Clozapine

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Iloperidone

Lurasidone,

Oloanzapine.

When we did a survey in the class we found out that only 37.5% of people actually

knew what schizophrenia is, that’s only just over a third! This is the reason we

chose this as a subject to talk about since it’s not really mentioned in lessons.

Early stages of development

They seem to have a different view of the world, and think much differently, having

a flat emotionless gaze. Extreme reactions to criticism and withdrawals in social ac-

tivities.

They can have episodes, which are known as ‘acute episodes’ and they can feel ei-

ther panic, depression or even anger. The first one maybe frightening.

Schizophrenia is often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 35, men and women

are affected equally but the age of onset is usually about 10 years later in women

than men. 1 percent of the general population suffers from schizophrenia.

A friend we know may suffer from schizophrenia but since she hasn’t being diag-

nosed we don’t know. The reason we think she suffers from schizophrenia is be-

cause she has experienced many of these symptoms and she has voices in her head.

They are called Michael, Veronica and Rachel, each with their own personalities.

He is very horrible ‘person’ who speaks to her telling her that she is worthless and

she should cut and kill herself and even make her say things to her friends or even

says to her boyfriend that they should break up and the will hurt her the most out

of everything

Veronica is very obsessive and crazy. She can say that our friend should kill or harm

people to be with someone or to have something. Sometimes causes her to laugh

randomly.

Rachel tries to be in charge which can cause her to be strict but still helps our friend

a lot. She does tend to talk a lot and argues with Michael sometimes.

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Annabel Ginders

HER SPECIAL SONG

7 stars were in the pattern of Orion,

The sky was the colour of cyan.

A mother cradled her baby,

And sang her special song.

The clock chimed 11 o’ clock,

As the mother did a gentle rock.

She started with the baby on her knee,

And sang her special song.

Before the baby was born,

It was in a peaceful morn.

The mother met with her friend,

And she sang her special song.

The mother then gave birth,

And the baby took her mother’s name of Firth.

She wrapped her in a blanket,

And sang her special song.

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The mother counted her fingers and toes,

And in her hair sat a rose.

The mother counted the petals also,

And sang her special song.

Then a couple of months went by,

And the mother sang in day and nigh’.

The baby did not ever cry,

As she sang her special song.

The stars were now centuries older,

As the baby had her baby and this was what she told ‘er.

When the stars are in the shape of Orion,

I’ll sing my special song.

7 stars are in the shape of Orion,

The sky was the colour of cyan.

A mother cradled her baby,

And sang the special song.

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Sandy waves breeze running through your

Hair the sunset coming down with air.

Megan Riley

INSPIRING IMAGES

A whirl pool happening in the universe.

Colours forming pinks and purples mixing

together forming bright light.

Dancing in the sunset singing at the moon

Looking through a spy glass with no

one at your side being alone is the worst thing I have tried finally free

now I’m dancing in the clouds without

The moon is coming for us at last

Breathe, so many things to do, more time I ask. For more time but time exists no

more.

Red roses watching love. Watching the

sunset with no love. Waiting and wait-

ing till the pestles fall now it’s the last

of them all.

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Murder in Midwinter by Fleur Hitchcock

Girl on a Plane by Miriam Moss

Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider) by Anthony Horowitz

Russian Roulette (Alex Rider) by Anthony Horowitz

Tom Gates Epic Adventure by Liz Pichon

Tom Gates Yes No Maybe by Liz Pichon

Dork Diaries Popstar by Rachel Rene e Russel

Dork Diaries Dear Dork by Rachel Rene e Russel

Holes by Lois Sachar

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3rd Wheel by Jeff Kinney

Icefire by Chris d’Lacey

The Longest Whale Song by Jaqueline Wilson

Awful Auntie by David Walliams

Ice Maiden by Sally Price

Blood Guard by Carter Ray

Dead and Buried by Anne Cassidy

Arsenic for Tea by Robin Stevens

A Boy with the Power of a Star

Magnus Chase and the Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Username Evie by Joe Sugg

Wonder by Raquel Jaramillo

Night World by L.J. Smith

Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood

Caitlin Jones

YEAR 7 READING WEEK!

Here are the novels

that Year 7 have

been tucking into

over reading week!

Maybe consider

some for your own

bookshelf!

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Nimra Shahzad

ARTWORK

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Piper: Today, Shannon and I will be explaining to you why adopting a pet can change an adorable

animal and why animal cruelty should be stopped.

Shannon: Approximately 340 RSPCA inspectors, 50 animal welfare officers and 88 animal collec-

tion officers are working to prevent cruelty right now and inspectors now investigate more than

149,000 complaints of cruelty and neglect every year.

Piper: There are many other trusts and funds helping and promoting adoption for pets. Only

about 44%of the UK’S population own a pet with dogs, cats and indoor fish the most popular.

Each year the pet population decreases by at least 7 million every year. And can you guess why? –

Do you own a pet? If so how much do you love your pet? I’m sure many people would say that

pets are part of their family, but for your pet you are their world, their world revolves around you

and their lives depend on you to feed them and to look after them. So why doesn’t everyone treat

these loving animals how they should be?

Shannon: Animal abuse is a growing issue and it needs to stop. You wouldn’t starve a child, so

why starve a dog? You wouldn’t hit your parents, so why would you hurt a cat? Most people say it

doesn’t matter because animals aren’t as intelligent as us, but that isn’t true at all. All animals

have hearts, brains and are able to think just like you and I. At circus’ animals are trained from

birth and told to put on these amazing performances but what goes on backstage is quite differ-

ent. Did you honestly think that lions, seals and monkeys can magically do tricks and stunts that

other animals born in the wild can’t do?

Piper: The animals work day and night training for something they don’t even want to do and if

they don’t listen they get even more abuse! -Have you ever seen a cute puppy before? Of course

you have. But have you ever wondered where it came from though? Puppy mills breed dogs to get

puppies and most puppy mills don’t even treat the puppies with care. The workers don’t care

about the puppies, they just care about the money they get out of it. The puppies are kept in small

cages with limited food and water. These puppy mills are just disgusting!

Shannon: It is important for you to know who to call for your neighbourhood to be abuse free.

Many towns and cities have centres and you can also call the police as animal abuse is a crime.

There are millions of dogs and cats with no homes, they were abused, abandoned and left to dies

alone. Luckily there are companies that help rescue abandoned and abused animals. -This is

Cooper. (Shows picture) 6 months ago he was left in an abandoned mill with nothing, not even his

collar. When he was found he was barely able to walk and his leg was the same width of 3 of your

fingers together. Cooper is only 2 years old. After just one month of treatment Cooper has learnt

how to walk again and 5 months later Cooper has found a new family and this just shows what a

difference could make to a dog just by adopting. As you can see Cooper went from hungry to

healthy and I am sure that you would agree that is no one had found Cooper he would have sadly

died.

Piper: So after hearing this today I hope you can see animals from a different point of view.

Shannon Morgan and Piper Hanlon-Bayley

ANIMAL ABUSE SPEECH

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Katie Townley and Ellie Kennerley

CLIQUES

Ellie: Cliques in school. How do they affect us?

Katie: For those who don’t know, a clique is a small close-knit group of people who regularly al-

low others to join.

Ellie: In school, we have many different cliques, for example: Preps, jocks, popular groups, emos

and more.

Katie: Ranking is often used throughout school life by a friend group being judged on how they

act. This knocks people’s confidence and can also lead to bullying.

Ellie: Power and polarity is often within schools as it is the main competition. People discover

fake friends, as many people have spoken before that their best friend a year ago have suddenly

changed and gone higher up the hierarchy or have new friends.

Katie: We should not be judging other for how they look or how they act. Some groups can be in-

timidating. They walk around school like everyone is below them.

Ellie: People like them sometimes feel like they will be judged. They also feel there voice isn’t im-

portant as this comes from low self-esteem problems and the fear they can’t speak their mind.

Katie: I find that people tend to feel the need to change themselves to fit into different cliques, as

they feel like people would not accept them. You should not change for others. You should always

be yourself.

Ellie: If you feel like you have to change to fit in your wrong. You shouldn’t have to fit in and

please people. You should always be yourself with friends because you are who you are and that’s

ok. It’s good to be yourself.

Katie: You have the right to be heard, you have the right to be yourself.

Ellie: And you certainly have a right not to be judged.

Katie: Do what makes you happy.

Ellie: Don’t let people walk all over you. If someone upsets you by words or actions and they ei-

ther talk about you to your face or behind your back they are already below you.

Katie: They don’t control you!

Ellie: So we ask ourselves why do cliques exist? Why can’t we all just accept each other for who

they are because nobody is perfect? We all make mistakes big or small.

Katie: You should never let anyone put you down. Never be afraid to be yourself!

Ellie: Use your voice!

Katie: Because in the future when everyone has gone their separate ways, there will be no more

friendship hierarchies because people will learn it’s stupid.

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Ellie: Why do we need a title? Just for rep? Just because you have a boyfriend or girlfriend or you

beat someone up or you bullied someone to act tough doesn’t mean you’re cool? That shouldn’t

be the meaning

Katie: You should never be afraid to do what you love.

Ellie: We need to expect, we are all different and if we were the same the world would be boring.

Katie: It is frightening to think that all schools have hierarchies. People are too quick to judge.

Ellie: Just because your friends with most people or that clique doesn’t mean you have to stay in

that group because you don’t have many other friends, if you are not happy in that group and

they are pressuring g you to be someone you’re not just leave.

Katie: In my experience, I see it all the time. People changing themselves to fit in or trying to get

to the top of the “hierarchy” that we all have in our heads.

Ellie: Why do people feel like they have to walk all over people to feel secure?

Katie: Having everyone liking them makes them feel good about themselves when inside they are

very insecure, that is why they want everyone to like them

Ellie: It is frightening to think that some schools have to be set out like this for school life to work.

After research of cliques and how they effect a human, I came across a video. It was a boy who

was dealing with a clique and bullying. It was hurtful to see as the horrible people were hurting

him so much, they were making him suffer. Just because a group of people affected him with

words and actions. Bullying is not right. It is not ok to hurt someone because of their looks but the

groups aren’t the issue it’s when a person insults another.

Katie: In conclusion, it’s frightening to think that some people believe cliques are needed. To

think that people need to be put into groups of what they enjoy doing, that they can only be friends with people who have the same hobbies as you. That’s where you’re wrong. You can be

friends with whoever you like. With people from all different groups. If you weren’t aware before I hope you are now. Thanks for listening.

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Long flowing blonde hair, blue vibrant eyes, size 8 and popular. What does this make you think of?

It might be a celebrity? Possibly Reese Witherspoon? It might be a family member of a friend? Sure-

ly some of you have thought “I wish I had her hair” or “Her skin is so perfect” or “I’ll never be like

her” or even “I’ll never look that good”. Well movie studios such as 20th Century Fox, Universal,

Marvel and many more have been drilling into our heads that young girls and women have to look

a certain way to come across as ‘presentable’ or ‘acceptable’ in todays society. Raise your hand if

someone, anyone, has ever said to you to change your outfit. Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt self

conscious about what you’re wearing. Now raise your hand if you have ever felt pressured to fit in.

I know I have. On many occasions have I been told to change my outfit or that my hair looks weird

and I know for a fact that I have felt body conscious and I don’t know whether Daisy has ever felt

the same and I don’t know that if she has, if it was for the same reason as me but my reason for feel-

ing body conscious is because of people’s closed minds due to movie persona and advertising.

What was the most recent movie you watched? Ask yourself, was the main actress blonde? Was she

popular or pretty or both? Did she have blue eyes? Now ask yourself did you expect anything less

than what you got? If the main actress wasn’t any of those things I bet she was still pretty, some

may even say gorgeous. Am I right? I watched the movie Transformers the other night. If any of you

have ever watched Transformers you will know that Megan Fox, the actor of Mikaela Banes, will

always look outstanding no matter what she does. It’s the same for a lot of other movies. Like Ange-

lina Jolie from Mr and Mrs Smith, Kirsten Dunst from Spiderman, Alicia Silverstone from Clueless

and Lily James from Disney’s Cinderella.

Daisy Soddy and Sydney Mickelright — 1st Prize!

MOVIE PERSONA AND STEREOTYPES

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These women make looking beautiful easy 24/7 when its really not. Girls, teens and women are

watching these movies and are wanting to change themselves to look like the people they see.

Facts have proven that 58% of women spend on average 55 minutes a day applying makeup onto

their face to look like what they have seen in previously watched movies. Now we’re not saying

to get rid of these movies completely but I think the young girls of todays society could do with-

out having to feel self conscious about their appearance.

It’s not just young girls and women that are picking up on this. Its big marketing companies as

well. Have you seen the massive poster up on most of London’s subway walls saying “Are you

beach body ready”? On the poster it has a HUGE image of a model posing for the perfect picture.

But that exactly the problem. The picture isn’t perfect. Nothing about that poster is correct. Some

person with excellent computing skills has spent hours possibly even days editing, bending and

re-arranging this photo of the model to make the her look like the perfect being. This advert has

created an awful lot of stir within the woman world. Its making people feel bad about themselves

and self conscious because they don’t look like the un-realistic, photo shopped model on the post-

er. We understand that this would look appealing or that the advert could be eye catching so

that more people might buy their product. But their not telling the truth. Have you ever bought a

product because of what you have seen on the TV? Well if you have then you would know that it

doesn’t always work or look like it does on the advert. Another example could be if there was a

bikini advert which was shot at the beach in a bright and beautiful country it still wouldn’t look

the way it does in the released advertisement. The woman or man would have hair blowing in

their faces due to the wind, their skin would appear oily due to sunscreen and, if wearing any,

their make-up would probably be smudged.

A variety of different shops are not helping with the situation either, in fact they are just making it

worse. Instead of teaching young girls from the ages 6 and onwards, to go outside and not care

what others think about them, shops such as Claire's, Accessorize, Monsoon, Quiz, Argos and even

eBay are starting to sell child’s make-up/ beginners make-up with instructions on how to apply

certain products just for the sake of covering up their true and beautiful natural complexion.

When I was younger there wasn’t so much of it being sold but girls in my class always wanted to

look like the people they saw on the large posters on buses or on the TV. They would asks their

parents for pink and purple make-up for Christmas or their birthday. I was never one to care

about what other people thought of me. I just wanted to, and still do, live my life not worrying

about other people’s opinions of me. Everyone is born different. Just because you may not be

born with the perfect hair or perfect eyes or perfect skin or the perfect body doesn’t mean that

you have to change yourself to look like the un-realistic actresses you see on the big screen.

Look around we are all human, no matter how big small, tall or short. We were made this way for

a reason and we shouldn’t feel ashamed for being who we are or who we’re meant to be. Each

quality, each birthmark, each belief, even each signature is what makes us unique. Why should we

be judged on what we look like? What gives other people the right to tell us how to look and what

to wear? I live by this motto and we you should too.

We are not strange, we are not peculiar and we are most definitely not ashamed!

THE 2018 YEAR 9 PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION WINNING SPEECH

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Freedom watches gulls in flight,

That sweep and dive across the sea,

And smiles as rivers drift and flow,

To far and unknown destinies,

Freedom touches the lush grass,

That shiver and wiggle in the breeze,

And glances at the untamed animals living their

lives,

To far and unknown destinies,

Freedom brushes the maple syrup covered

leaves,

That wave and fly in the gust,

And beams at the children playing in them,

To far and unknown destinies.

Evie Salt

FREEDOM!

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Natasha Uijen

SANDRA

I bought this journal on the 19th of March 1984. My name is Maya and I am an only child. I am only going to

write down the important days in my life. There’s something else you should know— I believe everything

happens for a reason.

24th March

Sorry to be back so soon. I wasn’t expecting things to get this bad. They’re arguing all the time. They did it

when I bought you, it was different then though. They tried to hide it all. Mum tells Dad he doesn’t deserve

me , then he’ll respond with something childish, and so on. I hope they’ll make up soon. I hate it. I wake up

to shouting and fall asleep to shouting. Please.

2nd of April

Dads gone to live with Nana, I asked to go with him. I’ve never met her but I know lots about her. Ebony

my friend has a Grandma. She told me her Grandma was kind and funny and she always made her special

soup. Mum told me Nana’s and Grandma’s are just the same with a different name. So if my Nana’s called

Delia and her Grandma’s called Mary then they’ll be the same.

19th April

Today were going somewhere fancy. Mum told me to put on a nice dress. She told me there were going to

be lots of people there including Dad. Nana couldn’t make it; she’d been taken to the hospital in an ambu-

lance.

We’re back now; it was strange at the fancy place. There was a man wearing a white curly wig, shouting

order, order. Another man said to Mum and Dad that I didn’t need to come back again but they would still

have to come back tomorrow. I have decided not to go back again; I didn’t like it Mum and Dad were

shouting even more.

3rd May

I am going to say goodbye to Mummy and Daddy now. The nice lady says they’re both going somewhere

for naughty boys and girls and I won’t see them for a while. I might be a big girl next time I see them. I felt

sad because I love my Mummy and Daddy. The lady held my hand, she told me it was alright to cry, and

until there was someone to look after me I was going to stay with her. What about Nana?

11th May

Today we’re going to a church. Sandra (the nice lady) helped me put on a black dress. She explained to me

that my Nana had been in hospital. Nurses and doctors tried to help her but Nana wasn’t getting any bet-

ter. Nana had an illness that made her forget things; she had forgotten to take her medicine. Nana was

dead.

I had to live with Sandra and some other boys and girls for now. If I wanted other Mum and Dads could

come and take me to live with them. I wanted that very much. I wanted a real Mum and Dad. Didn’t I?

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A Shiver of Snow and Sky – Lisa L

Batman – Brus Waigh

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

The Couple Next Door – Shari Lapena

Dracula – Bram Stoker

Lemony Snicket’s Unfortunate Events – Daniel

Handler

Demon Road – Derek Landy

The Woolworth Girls – Elaine Everest

Playing with Fire – Katie Price

World War One – Jim Pipe

Skagboys – Irvine Welsh

Wonder – R.J. Palacio

The Hobbit – J.R.R.Tolkien

Caitlin Jones

YEAR 11 READING WEEK!

Here are the novels

that Year 11 have

been reading over

reading week.

You may have read

some yourself!

25

YEAR 9 FELT CORAL WORK

26

Esther Watson

‘ONLY EVER YOURS’ BY LOUISE O’NEIL

I originally got this book from the library but after reading it's brilliance, I decided to buy a copy of my own! It's utterly thought-provoking; O'Neill subtly highlights society's obsession with how women 'should look' and how they 'should behave'. The book is set in future, in a school which equips girls for their future life, the life that they have no choice in, the life that society has laid out for them... The book follows the friendship of Freida and Isobel, two girls in the school, and the challenges they face. The girls are about 15-16 and we follow them through their classes, social life, school life and the challenge to 'look and behave good'! Their world, which tests them to their limits, seems so different to ours yet their are many parallels! O'Neill gets you to think about the meaninglessness of 'image' and 'beauty' ideals. The book can be dark at times but it really gets you thinking! I would recommend this book to Year 9 and above, teachers and parents!

27

Evie Salt

REFLECTIONS

My name is Evie Salt and I have been in Sandbach High

School for 6 months and I am having a great time here as a

Year 7. I have got to know my teachers quite well and have

some friends which I appreciate every single day.

I am happy at this school and would like you to take a mi-

nute to appreciate what you have too. All of us here at

Sandbach are intelligent, kind and AMAZING people! We

may feel glum and moody some days but we need to take a

little time to look at ourselves and say: “I look good today!”

or “I am amazing.”

Have a great day and stay positive!

28

There they were,

Stuck on a silent isle,

Like it was some sort of curse,

They had been there for a long while,

STRANDED, STRANDED, STRANDED.

They lay there stranded,

No water to drink,

No food to swallow,

They couldn’t even think,

CLEARLY, CLEARLY, CLEARLY.

Then when night time fell,

When they could no longer see,

They wept,

Like the water in the sea,

WEEPERS, WEEPERS, WEEPERS.

When morning rised,

They looked for help,

They screamed and cried,

But no one could hear their welps,

SCREAMING, SCREAMING, SCREAMING.

Lucy Sears

STRANDED

29

They had given up with

hope,

They thought they would

die,

They were gonners,

They had no wings to fly,

HOPELESS, HOPELESS,

HOPELESS.

Until one day,

There was a shout,

A man was there,

Maybe he could help them

out?

SHOUTER, SHOUTER, SHOUTER.

He saw a fire,

Went to explore,

But he was too late,

On the sand lay something

he couldn’t ignore,

EXPLORER, EXPOLORER,

EXPLORER.

There they lay,

Dead for days,

It was too late,

They were gone,

GONNERS, GONNERS, GONNERS.

30

My existence is digitalised

defined by a series of numbers

defined by a series of bits and bytes

Everything is a process,

and my mind is the storage unit

What is its capacity?

What is its clock speed?

Will my system every tire,

over heat and malfunction?

Or will I just keep going round in cycles

inputting and outputting the information of life

With pixels of colour representing only the parts

which I want you to see.

Rowena Jones

UNTITLED

31

There was once a small frail little girl who lived in a tiny cottage with her father and

step mother. The girl loved her life so, she played almost every day, every day until her dad married her wicked stepmother. Her stepmother was the opposite of the girl’s real mother; she had very large stomach that jiggled when she walked, her

face was podgy with teeny eyes and pale grey hair hung down past her ears. The girl despised her stepmother; she had never hated someone like she hated her.

One day the step mother was looking after the girl while her father was out on his

boat.

“Step-mother?” called the girl.

“SHUT UP! I am busy,” screamed the stepmother.

“It will only take a minute,” replied the girl.

“No. You evil little child. All you do is whine and bother me. I don’t like you leave me

alone. Go find your real mum!”

“She’s dead…,” the girl whimpered.

“Well good for you then!”

The girl cowered and ran off into her bedroom. She lay on her bed crying into her

pillow wondering why her step mum was so wicked.

Later that night, when the girl was about to go to sleep, she heard a creek on the floorboards followed by a quiet pattering towards the cellar. The girl got up to in-vestigate and saw her stepmother standing at the top of the cellar stairs.

Slowly, the girl walked over to where her stepmom was standing, her feet moving by

themselves. After a few footsteps she was stood directly behind her stepmom.

CRASH! She had pushed her down the steep stairs.

Was she dead?

A decade later, the girl went for a walk in the woods but she wasn’t alone. A figure

dressed in black wandered up behind her and kidnapped her. The girl was taken to a

large tower and a curse was brought upon her.

“I was always really a witch,” snarled the figure.

The figure slowly removed her hood until the girl could see her face.

“Stepmother…!”

Lucy Sears

THE LADY OF SHALOTT

32

Bethany Simpson and Natasha Uigen

RORY AND DORY

There should be no segregation,

Only Integration.

Nobody to be left out,

Nobody to shout,

We need to stand out.

Black and White,

Unite.

Amidst the commotion,

Lovers stood by the ocean.

A black man named Rory,

A white woman named Dory.

Problem there was one,

Rory had GONE!

No groom for the bride,

No horses for her ride.

33

Their skin did not match,

So Rory was the one the police had to catch,

Love was equal to them,

But not to the police-men.

Where had they taken him,

Into a cell that was so, so grim.

Why was their marriage so, so wrong?

Couldn’t it be like a love song?

Oh, how did she scream?

His skin as cold as ice-cream.

Blood everywhere,

She exclaimed, “How could you dare?”

“Something needs to be changed,

You people are deranged!”

34

8A

ETCHINGS

35

MATHS PUZZLE

36

Nimra Shazhad

IS MARTIN LUTHER KING A SAINT?

A Saint is a person acknowledged of having an exceptional degree of being holy or virtuous and regarded in Christian faith as be-ing in heaven after death. The main criteria are these: Were they a martyr? Yes Did they life their lives to serve as superlative examples of Christian life? Yes/ No Did they change lives? Yes Did they perform miracles? Yes Did they have struggles? Yes

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights who had a great deal of influence on American society in the 1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. His strong belief in non-violent protest helped bring hope to black people about gaining their rightful human/civil/equal rights. He was a great speaker and became well known all over the world for his speeches. In 1963, his speech "I Have A Dream" was given in Washington, D.C. to more than 200,000 people who had come there to demand civil rights for every-one in America. His speeches and his work led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited segregation. He also received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. Even with all the hardships Martin was known for his persistent mind set for not back-ing down despite constant death threats and s on. King gave up his whole life trying to give black people their freedom as him himself had been suffering as well since a young age. When King went to school, the schools were segregated (where white and black people were separated). Most places in the southern states were segregated. On buses, black people had to sit in the back of the bus and give up their seats to white people. On December 1, 1955, a lady named

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. She was arrested. King called for a boycott of the buses. This

boycott lasted longer than a year and the bus companies were ordered to end segregation on their buses. Martin Luther King be-

came famous during this time.

The more known he became the more challenges he had to face but he never stopped. Martin Luther King changed the lives of

hundreds of thousands of people so that we all today can live an equal life towards each other. Doing so many good deeds through-

out his life why wasn’t he acknowledged after his assassination as a saint?

Martin Luther King not only changed lives but also changed the vision of the world especially after August 28, 1963 at Lin-coln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The highlight of the march, which attracted 250,000 people, was Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. This was where he spoke about HIS vision of a society in which race was not an issue in how people were treated or in how they were allowed to live their lives. And also during king’s fol-lowers peace protest parade walks many times they would be captured on camera and would be displayed on television for viewers to see that the protestors were being un harmful while government forces such as the police would be the ones hurting, beating and even killing sometimes with things like tear gas, fire hoses and dog attacks. Soon enough people began to realize that we are all equal and we need to learn that “loving our neighbour means loving everyone” – Jesus "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will pro-claim justice to the nations.” - Matthew 12:18 Martin took it upon himself to bring justice to all people and their rights so they have no restrictions and can live and love whoever they want to without being judged. After President Johnson signed and officially made race equality the law king then moved onto another concerning sub-ject and launched a another campaign called Poor People's Campaign in Memphis and the night before his assassination in April 1968, Martin Luther King told a group of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee: “We've got to give our-selves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis.” Unfortunately the campaign ended not even 3 months after his death. However this just goes to show how committed he was and if not for his assassination and him being only 39 we could have expected a lot more historical changes. King want-ed to unite us all by slowly eliminating all types of prejudice class, race, sexuality, slavery, gender, religion, age, disability and nationality. A martyr (for Christ) is usually identified as one who dies for the cause of Jesus Christ at the hands of those who are antago-nistic to Christianity. Does Martin Luther King fit this description? In my opinion Martin Luther king did die for his beliefs in Christianity. On April 4, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated by a sniper as he stood on the balcony of his hotel is room in Memphis. News of his death was greeted with an outpouring of grief and rage. Riots occurred all over the country, primarily in black urban areas. Martin not only fought and died for his followers and himself but also for his beliefs of equality and none violence. His teaching and morals for his speeches often linked to quotes from the bible and other well-known people. But even above his beliefs he died for a cause his God believes in;

Psalm 106:3 - Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.

Micah 6:8 - He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly

37

Zechariah 7:9 - "This is what the LORD Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one

another.

Deuteronomy 16:20 - Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and occupy the land the LORD your

God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 27:19 - Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow."

Proverbs 28:5 - Evil people don't understand justice, but those who follow the LORD understand completely.

Proverbs 29:7 - The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor, The wicked does not understand such concern.

Leviticus 19:15 - "Do not twist justice in legal matters by favouring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.

Isaiah 1:17 - learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

“ He who lives by the sword dies by the sword” – Jesus

Philippians 2:8 - “who humbled himself, obediently accepting death, death on a cross!” King’s life was a cry for justice. He was a preacher in words and deeds; his passion for human rights is historically rare Martin Luther king did have struggles as King faced many obstacles while on his mission for equality.. He was the object of sev-eral violent attacks, both to his person and his property. He received threatening phone calls, his home was bombed and set afire, and he was even stabbed. He was arrested over twenty times for protesting and breaking the laws. And as” those in power have god given authority’s” – bible. However St Agustice said you can “break unjust laws” and segregation in restrooms, buses, schools, swimming pools etc… are definitely unjust therefore king tried to encourage black people into more protests and doing small simple things like using any other type of transport without taking the buses. January 30, 1956, Martin Luther King Jr's Home Bombed In Montgomery, Alabama by segregationists in retaliation for the suc-cess of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. On Sept. 20, 1958, 29-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Blumstein’s Department Store in Harlem, signing copies of Stride Toward Freedom, his account of the 5999 Montgomery Bus Boycott which he spearheaded. Izola Curry, a well-dressed 42-year-old woman, approached the reverend and asked if it was really him. When he replied yes, she said, “I’ve been looking for you for five years,” and plunged a letter opener into his chest. When police arrived on the scene, they found the civil rights leader sitting in a chair with the letter opener’s ivory handle still protruding just below his collar. However Martin always “turned the other cheek” and was loving, non-violent and forgiving and carried on with his protest even after so much. However on the contrary, you could argue Martin was self-indulgent. His enemies relentlessly probed his affairs while he was alive and found that he had a weakness for the affection of women other than his wife. His life was as messy as most of ours. He was hardly an exemplar of the kind of virtue that endorses our religious institutions. Instead, he challenged attitudes bishops and laity had held for centuries. Martin Luther King didn’t perform miracles while he was alive and hasn’t performed any since his death. Yet millions of people re-member and honour him as a holy man. Martin, like all holy people, embraced his struggle, no matter how many times he may have fallen in his daily life. He spent years trying to bring racial segregation in the United States to an end by peaceful means. Each time he faced angry crowds, vicious police dogs, arrest and imprisonment, he risked his life in that struggle, until he was finally assassinated on April 4, 1968. To conclude I think Martin Luther King should be a saint as he died a martyr, changed millions of lives including ours and if people remember Martin with devotion, it is clearly a different kind of devotion than traditional saints have so often received. People do not honour him because he was perfect. They remember him with love, in spite of his messy life. They do not expect him to intervene in their lives to relieve their suffering. Rather, they look to his example for inspiration. Aware of his failings, they also recognize that his dedication to Christ’s gospel motivated all the major decisions in his life. That dedication led him ultimately to his death, a death he might have avoided if he had been willing to turn his back on the gospel of Jesus and its demands.

38

Nimra Shahzad

LIVE YOUR LIFE

Has anyone ever asked why you dress the way you do? Or why you don’t have certain things? Start picking on

the way you speak or laugh? If so, have you ever tried changing yourself? Because even unknowingly you are

being peer pressured and bullied. Whatever you do, don’t retaliate by changing yourself and becoming some-

one else’s description of the type of person you should be. And anyway, why would you want to become the

type of perfect person they’re telling you to be?

For instance someone tells you to stop playing football because you’re a girl or they laugh at you wearing pink

as a boy. Will you stop? Will you stop doing your favourite things due to someone’s narrow, sexist mind? If

you are thinking anything other than “NO”, then you are very wrong.

What is football? Few think it’s a sport played by boys. However football is a MULTIGENDER sport much like

any other. So if anyone is picking on you using sexism as an excuse, you can tell them that in the 21st century,

females and males are both equal. For instance, in the Premier Leagues for male and female football teams,

the top women’s teams for Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, have all outperformed their male

counterparts.

So what do you think know? Aren’t both genders equal now?

As far as sexism is concerned, it is old and is just an excuse to pick on someone; we are all unique and all look

different and have different likes and dislikes. Boys and girls can do whatever they want. The world is full of

people who constantly suffer from discrimination yet they are not changing themselves which is inspirational.

Take the case of P!nk , a famous American singer who made a heart-felt speech at the 2017 VMA’s aimed pri-

marily at her daughter. Willow – her daughter – was questioning her looks, so P!nk decided to make a power-

point showing all the famous most misunderstood musical artists. She showed how they didn’t change them-

selves. P!nk asked her daughter: ‘’Do you see me growing my hair?’’ her daughter replied, ‘’No mama’’; ‘‘Do

you see me changing my body?’’, ‘’ No mama’’; ‘‘Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the

world?’’, ‘’ No mama’’; ‘’ Do you see me selling out all over the world?’’, ‘’ Yes mama.’’

Just like this, we can all prove we don’t need to change to do great things. P!nk goes onto saying how we need

to stay the same and be ourselves to show and prove and change others’ mind-sets for the better.

We are all born different for the better? Why change it?

On the contrary, there are also people who care for you such as your parents, siblings and many others. So if

you care about the people’s opinions, make sure you listen to the right people. Those are the people who you

are closest to and who like you for being you. If these people ask you to stop something, you could take it into

consideration as they are probably saying it to benefit you.

You don’t have to like them, you don’t have to agree but you do have to respect them. Whatever choice you

make, others have to respect it and no one has the right to alter your life except you. So don’t give anyone the

right to change it for you.

You write your own story; everyone else just has an opinion.

39

Ana Ghaffari

THE LANGUAGE OF THE FEMALE

Even in the 21st century women are blanketed with stereotypes of being weaker in fields such as STEM to Law, but is this really because of the way we talk?

We all know it, women and men talk very differently.

So many studies have been carried out to explain the reason for this diversity, but no linguist has pinpointed the exact

scientific reason for this variation. It is no new fact that women through the ages have seen to be very much weaker than

the male sex, chained to the assumption of eventually becoming a stay at home house wife that can cook and clean. This

assertion is even prominent now, developing into the fact women’s language has now become a reflection of this sup-

posed “weakness” they inevitably have. But do women really talk the way they do because they’re inferior?

Don’t be so silly.

The other day my friends and I were sat in the common room all talking about relationships. As I knew I was going to be

exploring this idea of “female inferiority” in my most recent article, I thought this would be the perfect time to really fo-

cus on how women speak when in mixed sex conversations. I immediately noticed that rising intonations were promi-

nent in females, especially in phrases like “I can’t BELieve you DATED her?” and “Are you MAD?” Clearly the females in

the conversation were most certainly not impressed with Joe’s ex-girlfriend. Because of this, they even used tag questions

(a phrase turning a statement into a question) like “You weren’t drunk, were you?” or “She’s going to tell her best friend

now, isn’t she?” to really only get one thing about his ex-relationship: the juicy gossip. Even when Joe tried to defend him-

self, the women tried to soften their responses, claiming he “could have possibly broke it off sooner” or that now he

“maybe should think about what he is letting himself into next time” so his next girlfriend “doesn’t kind of smash your car

in a sort of angry kind of way.”

From this not only did I learn what female language consists of but also that Joe did not learn his lesson.

I found that those three techniques: rising intonations, tag questions and hedges were the main elements in our language.

So I had a sit down and thought about why this could be. There were many possible reasons that I came up with that

made the most sense in my head. First of all I came up with the reason that women are being polite. In my case, the ladies

in the conversation did not want to come across as too harsh to Joe so used hedges to try and avoid any confrontation or

discomfort within the conversation. Also, the tag questions in reflection was a way of carrying on the conversation; mak-

ing sure that all the relevant information was given (which is not so surprising considering the circumstances). The topic

of conversation, you would agree, is quite extreme so the rising intonation was vital to ensure emotion was displayed

when talking. The higher the pitch the more in shock we would be. In my opinion, these factors combined together meant

that arguably the women were more involved in the conversation and therefore gave more of an effort participating.

And I’m certainly not wrong. Famous gender linguists like Pamela Fishman and Robin Lakoff do agree that women use

features such as tag questions, hedges and rising intonations in a conversation a lot more than males do. This is where

your interpretation is necessary, as each linguist takes this interpretation of techniques in a very different way. Lakoff

suggests that this is because women’s language is inferior. She presents the “deficit model” which states that women use

these factors as they are unable to be sure in what they say and often pull back on statements as we are not strong

enough to hold the floor. In contrast, Pamela Fishman says that women use these techniques not because we are inferior

but rather because we like to continue the conversation out of interest, and continue with dialogue at that moment in

time to gain conversational power.

As a strong empowered female, I know whose conclusion I believe. But the question is really up to you: do the use of tech-

niques such as the ones previously mentioned make women’s language inferior?

40

Harry Thomas

LITERATURE’S MOST BELOVED MAD-AXE-MURDERER: A REVIEW OF FYDOR DOSTOEVSKY’S

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Crime and Punishment is one of the great works of Russian (and indeed world) literature, first published in the literary journal 'The Russian Messenger' in twelve monthly instalments in the year of 1866 and written from the genius of Fyodor Dostoevsky. The novel details the experience Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a St Petersburg university student, as he meditates on new and revolutionary thought, that has only recently been brought the attention of the Rus-sian people, so recent that Raskolnikov's fellow student, and the closest he has to a friend, Razumihin has taken to translating German and French works with the intention of establishing his own publishing house. The culture of revolutionary ideas in philosophy, literature, secret circles and popular thought amongst the educated younger generation in late 19th Century Russia are key to understanding the premise of the novel. We are introduced to our antagonist Raskolnikov when he has recently stopped attending the university and teaching lessons, which was his means to earning a living. His mother and sister Dounia have not been send-ing money to aid him for some time and he goes days at a time never leaving his apartment or eating any-thing, except for when his landlady and housekeeper bring him odd meals and tea. He goes to a wicked and contemptible old pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna to cash in on heirlooms for some money to tide him over a while and is sickened by his interaction with her, later hearing nothing but bad things about her when he overhears talk in a tavern; even that she keeps her mentally-challenged and frail sister Lizaveta as a slave. Raskolnikov overhears that Lizaveta will be away from Alyona for a while in the near future and brooding and deliberating in his lonesome apartment, he manages to bring himself, much in line with what he hails as enlightenment principles, to resolve to murder the old lady and steal from her in order to get himself through the university and become a great man: who can no doubt do more good for mankind by the murder of Alyona Ivanovna. He rejects the moralistic perception that Alyona is human and therefore making her life too precious to be taken away in cold blood, he acts in line with the philosophy of the Russian-nihilists by transgressing traditional moral perceptions to what Dostoevsky saw as the logical conclusion of nihilistic thought. Dostoevsky himself was a conservative and a Russian Orthodox Christian who had a distaste for certain reac-tionaries in Russia, disliking their atheism and lack of moral grounding, despite this he did enter a socialist circle in his youth, later rejecting them and relinquishing membership. For this they were all sentenced to death but saved at the last minute at a mock execution due to a pardoning from the tsar, instead condemning Dostoevsky to four years hard labour in Siberia. After carrying out the murder of Alyona Ivanovna, Raskolnikov struggles with his conscience for the remain-der of the novel, as his thoughts are probed by Dostoevsky's stream of consciousness writing method. The book is exemplary of a truly great psychological novel and asks meaningful questions about why people do terrible things and why those same people desire punishment to atone for their sins. Crime and Punishment makes for an enthralling, captivating and intensely challenging read and I would cer-

tainly recommend it to anyone interested in investing their time in reading a great classic of Russian liter-

ature.

41

Katie James

IT’S TIME TO PUT AN END TO THE GENDER PAY GAP

I despise the gender pay gap. It serves no other purpose than to minimise potential and encourage discrimina-

tion. Imagine yourself as a little girl on your first day of school, already being told what you can and cannot do;

what you can and cannot achieve and essentially who you are and who you are not. The reason for this small

child’s limitations? The fact that women are paid less than men in the workplace.

Research from the Trades Union Congress shows that even though the gap fell from 9.4% in April to 9.1% ,

based on median hourly earnings, the current rate of progress means we are “decades away” from equal pay

for men and women. When data was first collected in 1997 the difference in earnings was at 17.4%.

But Frances O’ Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said that even though since 1997 the gap has nearly

halved, progress was too slow and urged the government to “to crank up the pressure on employers.” She also

stressed that “Companies shouldn’t just be made to publish their gender pay gaps. They should be forced to

explain how they’ll close them. And those bosses who flout the law should be fined.” There is yet no indication

however that it will be made the law for companies to explain how they’ll close their pay gaps.

As a young woman who is soon to venture beyond the safety net of school and enter the world of work and

money, I find it rather disheartening that I am already at a disadvantage. Purely because of my gender. All

around me are facts such as “The average female graduate can be expected to earn £350,000 less than the av-

erage male graduate over her working life.” Or “For every pound a man earns, a women can be expected to

earn 85p, that’s about 2 months working for free each year.”

I’m thankful however to the increasing number of women who are brave enough to challenge the situation-

and not just differences in pay but the much wider network of issues which surround the treatment of women.

Women such as Oprah, Cara Delavigne and Meghan Markle who use their platforms to speak out and raise

awareness of issues we must no longer ignore, such as the “Times up” movement which is beginning to be

heard and respected globally.

But the main question that I can’t seem to shake off is why this is being allowed to happen. How, as a devel-

oped society, are we letting outright discrimination (this being just one of the main reasons for the Gender Pay

Gap) affect the lives of the millions of women who work in 2018? Yet the fact remains that there is still not one

country in the world where women earn the same as men.

I think to make more progress to minimise the pay gap and ensure gender equality we should make it the law

for companies to explain why they have a pay gap and how they plan to close it, though some companies do

this it is not standard procedure – something which I think this needs to be.

Another reason used to justify explain the pay gap is the fact that the top 10 highest paying jobs are male dom-inated, with women making up only 9% of architectural and engineering managers and just 7% of aircraft pi-lots and flight engineers, while the top 10 lowest paying jobs are almost completely female dominated, for ex-ample women make up 84% of maids and housekeeping cleaners and 96% of childcare workers! We should

encourage women to break stereotypes and aim for higher paying jobs which have been male dominated for so long, more schemes like the “Women in Engineering” should be put in place to encourage young women to consider STEM and business as a possible career path, from as young as secondary schools.

I think that with hard work we will be able to achieve equal wages for all. Now is the time to join those who are finally speaking up for the rights of women across the globe.

42

Aoife Darbyshire and Lily Barratt

PREJUDICE IN RECENT YEARS (2016– 2017)

In this piece, we will be reflecting on the constant increase of discrimination specifically by looking at

hate crimes towards different ethnicities, religions and sexes. Though we are told that (as a society)

we are making great strides, is this really true? Do we have further to go?

Every day the number of hate crimes escalates and we will take a look at some particularly shocking sta-

tistics.

During 2016-2017, there was a harsh increase in all areas of hate crime.

· 62,685 (78%) were race hate crimes;

· 9,157 (11%) were sexual orientation hate crimes;

· 5,949 (7%) were religious hate crimes;

· 5,558 (7%) were disability hate crimes; and

· 1,248 (2%) were transgender hate crimes.

It is possible for a hate crime offence to have more than one motivating factor which is why the above

numbers add up to more than 80,393 and 100 per cent.

Online hate crime has also dramatically increased with over a thousand offences from 2016/17. 96% of

these were harassment (with 4% being racially aggravated or religiously aggravated harassment), 2%

were stalking or death threats while the last 2% was split evenly between violence with and without

injury.

There were increases in offences recorded for all five of the monitored hate crime strands between

2015/16 and 2016/17, and 2017/18 is also expected to have risen even further. Hate crime rose by 29% in

these years and if the 2017/18 statistics follow the pattern they are expected to when released then the

numbers will be catastrophic. However, when the reports come out these events will already be in the

past and so as a society we must look to the future. The near future: by seeing spikes, such as the huge

one during and after the EU referendum campaign in 2016, in the numbers of attacks after major political

events, to prevent this pattern. Further into the future: in teaching children from a young age to accept all

people.

In looking to the future, we must realise that we can all make a difference no matter how small our contri-

bution is. Through this year (2018) there will be people facing prejudice, there will be hate crime, but we

should each individually try our best to not be a bystander, to not simply believe that the world is unjust

but instead to try and shape a brighter future. While it may be good to reflect on the past, one must be

careful not to get stuck there and instead to keep moving forwards. Whether this year you join a march

(the 17th March against racism was a huge success and so more are already being planned), call out

offensive language or actions, get involved in a local community project (£900,000 has been made available for them this year), or simply spread awareness of issues you feel strongly about (many people now use social media to do this), try to do your bit and whatever we do as a society, we must keep moving forwards.

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Annabel Ginders

THE IVORY TRADE

44

Nancy Fletcher and Thea Lee

The Importance of Creative Arts

Today we are going to talk to you about why the creative arts are equally as important as STEM

subjects.

Recently, the arts have been discouraged in schools as they as seen as inferior to STEM subjects. We

believe that, contrary to popular belief, the arts and STEM subjects are in fact compatible and that

the arts are just as important as STEM. Schools should in fact be showing what they can do together

rather than the differences between them.

One of the many reasons that the arts are seen as less important is because people believe that the

industry doesn’t make much money. However, it makes approximately £92 billion for the UK econo-

my. It is also the fastest growing industry. Not only this, bust have studies have shown that the arts

improve confidence, self-fulfilment and improve children’s core academic results, in maths science

and languages. This would suggest that the arts and STEM subjects often go hand in hand and that

pupils that are high achievers in STEM, wouldn’t so as well without the arts.

You’ll hear a lot of people talk about how you wouldn’t have your phone without an engineer, how-

ever, you wouldn’t buy a phone if it didn’t look good. What makes a brand recognisable? The logo.

You don’t buy a t-shirt because it has a certain amount of fibres- you buy it because it looks good

and it was a designer than actually was responsible for it, not, for say, a mathematician.

We’re not saying that the arts are less important than STEM. Instead we’re saying we’re saying that

they should be considered equal and both deserve equal academic representation.

A world without creative subjects and industries would be incredibly bland. No phones, TV, film,

fashion, writing, books, music, dance, colour, no Netflix. The government has been under fire re-

cently about the way it’s treating arts in schools, especially the Ebacc award which seemingly priori-

tises every subject other than art, music, dance, drama and design.

Obviously both STEM and the arts are important, however we believe that pupils should find some

subjects enjoyable. According to a survey we did within the class 17 people find the arts more en-

joyable than STEM and only 1 person thought the opposite. However 11 out of 18 think that is STEM

is more important.

Studies often show that music, art and drama are beneficial for a child’s mental health. As our sur-

vey shows, the arts are seen as more fun and relaxing, as they are more practical and no pressure to

get high results. Although STEM subjects are important for skills such as problem solving, the big

pressures from schools and the government to get good grades is known to be damaging to a child’s

mental health. The government recognises the creative industries as important however fails to rec-

ognise its importance in schools. As someone who surrounds themselves in the arts, it hurts when

you see adult after adult dismissing what you love.

Thank you for listening.

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Evie Salt

MAGAZINE CLUB!

Every Tuesday in H12 you can write a page for our mag-

azine. It can be about virtually anything! You are al-

lowed to bring your lunch with you but you must organ-

ise when you are getting lunch if you are buying from

the canteen.

We have a ‘theme’ for the magazine, so you can have

some inspiration for your creations or you can write

whatever you want (within reason.) It is NOT a place to

just sit and chat with your friends rather than being in

the Sports Hall. You must be writing something for the

magazine.

There are plenty of computers for everyone so don’t

worry about there not being enough. There will normal-

ly be a teacher in the classroom like Miss Misra or Mrs

Williams.

If you are interested in this club, then come along to:

H12 on Tuesday lunchtimes to work on our fabulous

magazine!

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Nimra Shahzad

ARTWORK