Queen Mary School Magazine 1984

QUEEN MARY SCHOOL MAGAZINE

EDITOR:KATE HILL

EDITORIAL

Who does the washing—up in your house?

I know it may not appear

to be one of the most glamorous of tasks but if you give it some thought, washing-up is an example of a job with a hierarchy. The

person who has opted to wash rather than dry has also opted for leadership.

Every job has its grades of authority; the ones who are in the foreground and who often take all the credit still rely on those in the background who do the mundane jobs.

School relies on many people for its smooth running and all contribute in some way: the governors, staff, sixth formers, office staff, caretakers and

cleaners.

We could not manage without any of these.

However, school is not just a matter of those who serve — there are also the customers — you.

The same can be said for organisations - there are those who are in the foreground but there are also those in the background without whom the organisation would not be possible.

There are numerous activities in school - how many have you joined and taken the benefits from? If there isn't one that you're interested in —

make your own; there's always room for one more! The idea behind all of them is to join, meet new people and above all, enjoy yourself.

Do not be put off because you are not immediately made a leader of the club; it does not mean that you are not of major importance. A club cannot function without its members - so join!

Even if you feel, given the chance, it would not suit you to be in the limelight, you can still join and be a valuable member of the

club,

working behind the scenes.

Just as with the washing-up,

there are always those background jobs for people to do.

Of course, a perfect example is the production of the school magazine.

Yes, we have the editor and the magazine committee but if we did not have the girls who gave in contributions, the school magazine could not exist.

At least once in your life, you are going to be asked about any clubs or organisations with which you have been involved.

important as membership reflects on your personality and shows where your interests and priorities lie. Don't leave it too late - join now, and enjoy yourself. Don't be left behind holding the soggy tea towel!

KATE HILL

SENIOR SCHOOL ACADEMIC RESULTS 1983-84

The percentage pass rate of subjects taken at Advanced Level was 80 of which 20 per cent were at grade A and 30 per cent at grade B. In a year when entry to higher education has proved difficult

with even higher entry grades demanded, it is encouraging to report that 40 of our 68 candidates have entered degree courses at University or Polytechnic.

Two girls have gained places at Oxford - Louise Setton at Jesus College to read Medicine and Mary Stocker at Magdalen to read Chemistry - and Rachel Taylor is reading Medicine at Gonville and Caius, Cambridge.

The Ordinary level pass rate was 84 per cent; 62 per cent of the candidates gained 7 or more passes and almost half the entry

gained 8 or more passes.

Our percentage of grade A passes was 26.

GIFTS TO SCHOOL - 1984

Mrs. M. Johnstone

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Mr. M. Blagden Mrs. P. Matthews Mr. M. Wren-Hilton Mrs. Stocker

Parents & Friends Geology Course Parents & Friends Dance Group

£50 for Geography Department Gift of book for Library Donation to Junior Library

Donation to Music Department Senior School prize award Donation to Senior Library Apparatus for Geography Dept.

Stereo unit for the Hall

LEAVING STAFF

Mrs. Smith

Mrs.

Smith

completed

her

joined degree

the

Geography

and

teacher

Department training

at

in

1981

having

Aberystwyth

and

Oxford respectively. She taught Geography to 'A' level and helped with the teaching of Geology in the sixth form.

She left in July 1984 to move to Berkshire with her husband.

Miss Tillotson

Miss Tillotson left Queen Mary School in July to take up a post nearer her home in the South of England.

The school will miss her

for many reasons: for her informed and scholarly teaching; for her fund of stories about life in America; for her eager interest in all that concerned the school and its pupils; and above all, for her typing skills.

Few people knew that for two years the school magazine was typed by Miss Tillotson, that the elegantlooking English examination papers were her work, or that her typing could be seen in various places about the school.

We wish her success and happiness in her new post.

Mrs o Roper

When the Classics Department welcomed Mrs. Roper as a part-time assistant they did not realise how soon she was to become a vital

part of it.

Fhom the first she was approachable, open and friendly.

Even more impressive than her academic qualifications were her warmth, sympathy and sense of humour. It can happen that

part-time teachers find themselves on the periphery of thingsthis was never so with Mrs.

Roper who in the staff-room and

classroom was always at the centre, contributing generously to every group of which she was a part. We shall miss her greatly, but her husband's parish in Northamptonshire will enjoy the qualities that we so valued.

Senior Christian Union Report, 1983-4

The senior Christian Union meets every Wednesday in the middle

school library at 1.10 p.m. and is open to all girls and boys from King Edward School from L5 - S6.

Over the last -two years, attendance at the meetings has increased by 300%. Whether this is due to a surge in religious commitment or the fact that the meetings are for K.E.S. as well, I would'rather not say!

The programme has once again been varied and interesting with speaker Mr. W. Shore setting the year off to a good start with a talk and slides of the Fellowship of Christian Athletics.

Visits were also made by Mrs. Dudgeon who showed slides on her missionary work in China, Mrs. Valerie Blundell and folk-singer, Gus Eyre.

Talks have also been given by Jane from the Samaritans, Dave from Alcoholics Anonymous and Rev. B. Kirkpatrick from Central Methodist Church, Blackpool, who spoke on Outreach in the town.

Apart from the weeks when speakers are invited to come and talk to the

Christian

Union,

videos

and

cartoons

are shown

discussions held on different topics.

Last year,

Cross

over

and

the

Switchblade'

was

shown

and group

the film 'The

a period

of three

lunchtimes.

We hope that next year's meeting will be as well attended.

Stephanie Hurras

MODERN LANGUAGES SOCIETY

Although the Modern Languages Society was not particularly thriving last year, the activities which did take place were well supported. Most well attended was the party held on October 8th; we must express our gratitude to Jenny Roberts and her parents for their generous hospitality in allowing us to hold the party at the house.

Pupils and

teachers gathered

and

enjoyed

an

informal

evening of games, followed by an inviting supper to which everyone contributed.

The evening was enjoyable as well as beneficial to

our fluency in both French and German.

A more formal event took place last spring term when the German A level students went to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Blackburn, where we listened to a most informative lecture, connected with our A level set books.

Susan Sparrow and

Penny Lofthouse

ARRAN

As Easter crept nearer so did the Lower Six field trip to Arran.

Everybody had heard so much about it; both awful and delightful.

"The guest house and the food are great, but the work? Well!" So

with

dread filling our minds fourteen Lower

Six set

off one

morning with two teachers and two mini—buses for our memorable trip to Arran.

After the ferry crossing, our first sight of habitation on Arran began at Brodick and led us on up the coast through Corrie and Lochranza, and then on to Catacol Bay and the superb guest house where we were to be 'imprisoned' for a week.

Work began in earnest the next day. Dressed, practically for the Arctic in woolies and cagoules, we trooped off down to the beach with clipboards, plastic bags for collecting pebbles, tape measures for measuring present and former beaches, and clinometers

to measure the height of cliffs.

After what seemed like a trek taking us completely round the island we stopped at our first site. Everything was dutifully recorded at the site; pebble size distances, tide.

heights,

Then off

vegetation,

we set

to do

wind direction and state of the the other five sites along our

stretch of coast.

After our first strenuous morning we ate well and then thought we'd finished for the day.

Not so.

We then set out to classify

and record the types of houses in the small, but scattered village of Corrie.

People must have thought it very odd when fourteen young geographers stopped, stared up at their house and then

proceeded to argue about its type:

traditional,

Victorian or

modern. ( No two plans were identical when plotted afterwards).

During our week in Arran we plotted houses and services in Brodick, questioned startled and disgruntled people getting on and

off the island's ferry crossing from the mainland, learning who used the service and why and toured the whole island plotting the services available at every village.

Then came 'Wellie Day' :

sure.

enjoyable or awful?

Nobody knew for

We all put on our walking boots and trooped out along the

river flowing beside the guest house.

wellies were brought forth.

A halt was called and the

In the river, pebbles were measured,

width recorded and river depth decided upon.

Then came the fun

part, the velocity.

The flow meter was produced for use, with careful instructions on handling, and the oranges were pulled out of day-packs.

Thfe oranges were thrown into the river and their passage downstream timed, but then they had to be caught. Not an easy task for some.

Another day our troop set out to 'conquer a mountain'.

glaciation study on an upland area had begun.

The

The first part led

us along the flat valley floor where we drew cross-sections and field sketches at various points along our way.

Then came the

steeper climb, up to the steep valley sides to the corries and peaks at the top.

Near the top, snow was encountered and with much laughter the remaining troop of nine continued towards the

summit. (Seven had dropped back when the going got tough).

In the

end only six people actually reached the summit (and that included the two teachers).

From the top there was a magnificent view down the valley of the

glacial features which we had come to study: steep sides,

the flat valley with

the meandering river and the glacial moraines were

clearly visible.

Despite all our hard work recording beach, river, glacial, slope and town features and our compulsory hour of work each evening, a

thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all and most girls expressed a desire to return to Arran and the guest house.

CHESS CLUB

Last year, six members of the chess club represented the school in friendly matches against neighbouring schools.

These were the

results:

(Queen Mary result first) King Edward

3-3

St. Bedes

3-3

St. Annes High Warbreck High

1-5 1-5

This year we are hoping to be successful in the inter-school league which we have joined for the first time.

In the Shaw Tournament there were two sections — one for the

Seniors and one for the Juniors.

Janine Bamber of Upper two won

the Junior Section, and Stephanie Burras of Lower Six won the Senior Section. Stephanie also won the overall competition. The weekly Thursday league was won by Jo Ann Bamber of Lower 4M, This year Chess Club has fifty members all of whom are taking part in Junior and Senior Leagues.

All of'the members of last year's Chess Club would like to thank Mrs. Barr for her encouragement and support.

Gail Castick, Joanna Collison,

The Dance Production

Every two years the school sports depcirtment produces two evenings of creative dance and gymnastics.

Each form contributes to the production by choreographing one dance or gym sequence aided

the P.E.

staff,

by

and these are performed to music arranged by our

own electrical man, Mr. Palmer.

On

both

evenings

of

the

performance

the

same

programme

was

followed, commencing with dances from the Junior School: "Rhythms"

by Upper 2

and "Patterns and Pathways" by Lower 3,

the latter

performed to the "Land of Make Believe".

There then followed a wide variety of gymnastics ranging from the relatively simple to vaulting sequences requiring skill, accuracy and balance.

The theme this year was "Scenes from the Fylde Coast" and each Senior form depicted a different aspect of Fylde life.

Upper 4Q begin the programme with "By the seaside", a lively and entertaining number, which was followed, appropriately by The Sea and Shore" performed by Lower 4Q and M, with an imaginative and slightly abstract interpretation of the title; the two^ forms managed to convey the movement of waves and the feeling of seashore life.

Upper 3L chose Blackpool Circus as their topic and Lower 4S portrayed the "Streets of St. Annes" using military style formation marching.

"Blackpool F.C." by Upper 33 was undoubtedly one of the main highlights of the evening.

The form took a humorous approach and reconstructed a football game which they performed to the theme music of "Match of the Day"'.

It was a tremendous success and the audience was entertained throughout the whole dance.

"Illuminations"

was the

performed in darkness:

title of Upper 3Q's entertaining dance

luminous belts and torches were used to

illustrate the images of the illuminations.

Lower 5 chose a wide topic;

"Features of St.

Annes" and depicted

many themes including the golf course, the Old Links.

"Come to the Show" was rather similar to the circus in that it contained the same show business verve.

Lower 4Q showed the various rides and attractions of the Pleasure Beach and the evening ended with two dances by the Upper Fourth Forms, The first, by Upper 48, expressed the litter problems of a tourist resort.

The final dance performed by Upper 4Q was an

abstract view of the three seaside piers of Blackpool, with a large sheet of material used to portray the movements of the sand

and sea by billowing it over the floor as the wind blows the beach.

We would like to thank all the staff who helped in this venture especially Mr, Palmer whose efforts with sound were essential to the success of the evening.

Kate Stedman and Felicity Jones.

Lower 5Q

SIXTH FORM UNION

Last year,

sixth form union was well attended from both sides of

the sand dunes.

Whether the show of faces at the meetings really

was the result of an honest interest in the debates or the rare

novelty of the opposite sex, is a topic open to debate itself!

The year began with a coffee meeting in the boys' common room at

King Edward.

All in all it was a pleasant dinner hour,

although

the coffee itself was an interesting concoction which led to much

speculation amongst the scientists in our sixth form.

It was

unfortunate though, that the boys in blue did not have as much faith in our in our culinary skills, for the summer coffee meeting we held was very poorly attended.

This

was not the

case

when

we

were

lucky

enough to

have the

opportunity of leaving speakers on both sides of a very topical issue.

A representative from B.A.O,,

(The

Organisation) which is linked to N.A.T.O.,

British

Atlantic

spoke to us on the use

of nuclear weapons and -energy, a talk which uncovered some interesting points.

This view was balanced a few weeks later by speakers from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, who were

accompanied by a lady who had been to Greenham Common {although exactly whose side she was really on is still being discussed!)

Other points which we argued over, or perhaps I should say debated, were the role of women today, the question of whether God is dead and the famous Oxford Union debate, 'This house will fight for neither King nor Country'.

Possibly the high spot of the year, and certainly the coldest, were the football matches held early in the spring term.

Mixed sides battled against each other on the muddy pitch of King Edward School and the winning team was captained by Sandra Hayes.

Unfortunately, with the onset of summer examinations, enthusiasm began to dwindle but we hope that the new faces in the lower sixth forms will soon rectify this.

D. GUFFOGG

AN

EVENING

AND

OF CREATIVE DANCE

GYMNASTICS

Brathay Biology Field Trip

Brathay is a field study centre, District,

outside Ambleside in the Lake

attended by A level students for a we^k In the summer.

Brathay itself is a large estate with a house (where we stayed), a barn, an old hall and various laboratories.

Various activities and expeditions take place at the hall with different schemes for

the YTS amongst other things and so is not just a field study centre.

While we were in residence there

were altogether about sixty

students, some studying biology and others geography.

The girls go on their own and are 'supervised' by resident tutors so good fun is had by all.

The girls who went this year were split up and went into the two different groups.

All credit must be given to the tutors for their tolerance although they had to admit

at

the

end

of

the

week

we

were

fun

to

teach

and

entertaining, if a little rowdy.

Apart from shaving foam fights, water fights and 8-legged races across the estate at night, we" did actually do some work which, surprise! surprise! was both of good use academically and very enjoyable. The work was designed to cover the ecology part of the

biology syllabus and was to help us to discover various organisms and the different environments in which they live ie. we saw bugs,

bugs and lots more bugs. The study involved taking soil samples, counting distribution of plants, using quadrats, counting bugs, wading into the middle of ponds using the two left feet of size 10 waders, and then counting more bugs.

The work also involved going to various locations including two lakes, a four mile walk in a valley, a woodland and a peat bog, the latter being slightly re-arranged by the time the students departed, taking also a large amount on them as well as that in the sample bottles.

In order to keep us happy and out of mischief, various energetic activities were organised for us including an attempt at the assault course.

Most days there was an opportunity for swimming in the fresh water lake across the road and also in the tarns that

we visited if you were unlucky enough to be thrown in.

Victims

included everyone, not excluding tutors.

Although there is much enjoyment,

there is a lot of hard work

which starts at 9 o'clock in the morning and goes on until 6 o'clock followed by an evening session from 7.45 until 9.30.

Each day an aim was given for that day, equipment collected, and packed lunch (which the less said about the better, although main meals were excellent).

We would then set off for the destinations and collect samples which were brought back to the lab, analysed and results recorded.

In the evening session, a conclusion was reached and limiting factors discussed.

recreation until we decided to go to bed, to bed.

Tl^en it was time for

that is ...

if we went

This course is to be recommended for any future A level students since it was both constructive and highly enjoyable.

Andrea Fleming, Amanda Atkins and Kate Gabb

Seniqr 6

Duke ofEdinburgh Scheme 1983—4

Although girls failed to show any enthusiasm for a summer camp this year, many memberp have worked hard to achieve success at various levels within the scheme.

Two girls completed the Bronze section of their award in June, and

are now progressing towards their Gold award.

Also, a group of Upper Fourths successfully carried out their expedition, whilst several groups have finished their training and practice expeditions.

One of the scheme's stronger skills is canoeing; its popularity is due to many hours of dedication on the part of Mr. Hawkes who endlessly organises trips and camps.

Some of the canoeing

activities have included weekly sessions on the vast expanse of

Fairhaven Lake; on the Lune;

a trip to the Leven at Newby Bridge and to Halton

participation in the British Schools' Canoe Union

annual weekend, in which the two-girl QM team came 5th out of 6 schools.

At the present, a small group of Upper Fourths are meeting after school on Thursdays to try their luck at canoeing on Fairhaven Lake.

Some other activities which have been pursued this year are the Three Peaks sponsored walk; a First Aid Course; the following of a policeman's day; an overnight trip to Snowdon; a badminton course; a surveying course; and finally a course in photography.

The skills and activities offered at the scheme at school are wide

and varied.

Although the Games Hall is not a Youth Club,

still a source of fun and enjoyment to many.

As always,

it is

any new

members are most welcome, as are the present members of the scheme, totalling 500.

Meetings are on Tuesday evenings, from 7.30 p.m. to 9.45 p.m.

Sarah Walsh

tferne ' 84

Once again,

the -annual exchange to St.

took place.

A party set off from Queen Mary School at 6.00 a.m.

on April 6th to Dover,

Annes twin town,

where we caught the 4.00 p.m.

Werne,

ferry to

Calais, despite minor passport _complications.

On arriving at Calais, Plane acted

we had to wait for two hours while Mrs.

as interpreter

between the French officials

and

the

German coach-driver in an attempt to locate our so'mewhat elusive luggage.

We finally reached Werne at about 12.30 a.m. various partners.

and were met by our

Some meetings were introductions, others annual

reunions.

The official reception was held the following day in the town hall where we were informed of the programme of events, which included outings to various places such as Monster, Cologne, old castles and even a stud-farm!

Food presented no real problems for the majority although we were

glad to get back to the more familiar English fare. efforts

were

made

to

ensure

that

we

were

as

Tremendous

contented

and

comfortable as possible and nothing was too much trouble for our German hosts.

The day trips to Munster and Cologne proved to be the most popular, many people returning with souvenirs and mementoes of their visit.

Joanne Ineson and

Rebecca Whalley

HENRY V - STRATFORD UPON AVON

"Once more onto the bus, dear friends!"

The

school

Shakespeare

trip

to

Company's

Stratford-upon-Avon

production

of Henry

to

V

see

the

proved to

Royal

be more

eventful than anyone could have imagined,

A party of Lower accompanied by Mrs.

and Upper Fifths set off Meredith and Miss Tillotson.

on June 28th, The journey was

rather uneventful until just outside Birmingham and then the fun began!

A heavy goods vehicle, which was in front of our coach braked suddenly and unfortunately, our coach slid into the back of it,

which

resulted

in

a

smashed

windscreen

for

our

coach.

Fortunately, nobody was injured, but a great deal of panic ensued.

After

we

had

waited

for

an

interminable

two

hours

outside

Birmingham, another coach was brought to us.

However, this resulted in another problem as it was only a 48-seater coach and there were 52 of us! problem was - would

However,

Eventually we were on our way and the next we reach Stratford before the play began?

after much worrying on the part of the teachers we

arrived with fifteen minutes to spare before the curtain call.

We all soon discovered that Henry V was a very long play - three hours in all. The play was well acted, with a strong and powerful performance from the king and with marvellous special effects. As many of us had not read the play before, we found some of the scenes long and rather difficult to understand and the language was very complicated in some parts.

Perhaps it is true to say that for many,

the impact of the coach crash had more impact than

that of the play!

It was a pity that more time could not have been spent in the

beautiful town of Stratford,

but, we hope that there will be many

more opportunities in the future.

LESLEY MAITLAND

Q.

What do you get if you cross a watch with a parrot?

A.

Lower 6Y

Politicks!

The four forms housed in the Junior Block include Form I,

II,

Upper II and Lower III.

Lower

Zoe Salten has been appointed as the

Junior Captain for 1984-5.

During the Summer term, for these girls.

various educational trips were organized

On one occasion the

Lower Ill's

spent an

enjoyable day at Tatton Park roaming around the house, the farm and the huge estate. Outings were also made to York and Blackpool Zoo.

Form efforts have been arranged throughout the past year raising money for various charities and activities. Sponsored events were the most popular of these form efforts.

Lower Three raised over

four hundred pounds which they sent towards a Heart Monitor at the

Manchester Children's Hospital.

Form I held a sponsored silence and Lower II a sponsored spell.

Upper Two held a Mother's day fair and greatly enjoyed trying their hand as stall holders.

At the present, the Junior Department is undertaking a sponsored 'Fill the match-box', involving cramming as many items as possible into a matchbox.

This event is to raise money for a BBC micro

computer specially for the Junior Department.

During the five dinner hours each week,

many clubs are organised

for the girls.

The musical girls can join the junior choir and the recorder' group; a computer club is run and very well supported

by all forms; and a junior Christian Union thrives quietly once a week.

Once a week each form holds its own club run by the form prefects who organise many activities for the juniors. Girls have found themselves playing games, wrapping up warmly for nature walks and creating' art forms of various types.

The older girls have sometimes been taken into the gym and the Lower Ill's have

occasionally tried their hand (or their feet) at barn dancing.

The Junior Department has also found itself participating in play productions and in December presented 'Baboushka' a Russian fairy tale set to music.

The performance was colourful and lively and the girls sang and danced with great enthusiasm.

Many thanks are due to Mrs. Reeman and Miss Hornsley for training the girls and working so hard with the choir for this event.

THE HOUSE

Large eyes, twitching nose, Round ears and tiny feet.

Behind a long, long tail.

With a squeak he shows himself - a mouse!

Silently he creeps, From shadow to shadow.

Always alert, Always awake.

But by the door danger waits: The cat with glowing green eyes.

Seeing through the night,

Watching - waiting silently.

Then he pounces - but misses, The mouse squeaks and darts away, In his hole he rests,

Till danger has gone away.

RUTH DOOLEY

Lower Three

MYSTERIOUS MAGIC

The wicked witch laughed a pitiless laugh.

As she flew on her broom over fields and dales; With crooked nose and blood red eyes,

Her gruesome shape loomed out of the skies.

Toads and mice and bats and rats -

Thrown

in

the

cauldron

by

the

haggard

figures

in

pointed hats.

Beneath the stars in the velvety sky, A coven of witches brewed a spell; The eye of a beetle, the tooth of a dragon.

Their cackles of laughter rung in the mist.

Toads and mice and bats and rats —

Thrown in

the

cauldron by

the

haggard

pointed hats.

ALISON PEPLOW Lower Three

figures in

INSIDE KOPPELBURG HILL

based on the 'Pied

Piper of Hamlin'

A strange opening carved out of old, hard rock swung open as if to beckon us.

Tempted, my feet danced towards the enchanting

doorway.

It led to a beautiful passage fascinatingly lit with multi-coloured jewels. My bewildered feet touched a soft fluffy surface carpeted with flowers. I danced joyfully on through the lovely tunnel. Suddenly the tunnel came to an end and I floated onto a cloud like-land and flew up again. Delighted with this new

form of transport, my friends and I drifted along. Accidentally drifted too far and landed on a magnificent horse-like animal.

Without notice it brought out two elegantly decorated wings, coloured like a regal swan but larger than any bird.

It swoope

gracefully in the air giving me a breathtaking view of the fan asy land. It floated gently down and when I had safely dismounte disappeared like a dream,

there for a moment,

then

forgotten.

Many strange animals followed me and ^ away when I looked at them.

Happy and content I love inviting land and was quite willing to stay there for ever.

PHILIPPA LYON

Upper Two

i

AN AUTUMN DAY

In the forest the golden leaves are falling, making a soft rustling sound on the forest floor.

A squirrel appears from behind a tree,

gathering nuts for its winter store for when the

winter comes it will hibernate.

Then it quickly scampers away into the forest.

The swallows fly overhead as they migrate to a warmer country but they will fly back again in April.

A robin

hops along the branch of an oak whilst spinning Jennys fly through the air and soft downy dandelion parachutes float along.

Groups of red berries, blackberries and elderberries hang in bunches from the trees, weighing them down.

A pair of pheasants search the ground for food by pecking at it vigorously.

An owl hoots.

Then night falls upon the autumn forest.

DANIELLE HIPKINS

Lower Three

THE WITCH

Once upon a time there was a witch.

She was wicked but stupid.

Her name was Morbletternar.

Her eyes were purple. She had sharp teeth and wore a black cape with a dress and hat to match.

In her

cauldron pink water was bubbling. Her broomstick was lying beside her, and so was her cat called Sootakin.

On Hallowe'en night, Morbleterrnar had decided to make two special potions called 'Nasty Things' and the 'Electric Shock'.

She got on her broomstick and met someone unexpectedly. She gave him the 'Nasty Thing' spell and he turned into a monster, so she decided it was best to go.

She tried out her 'Electric Shock' spell on a man.

It worked perfectly.

When she was flying through the air, she forgot where she had put her spells.

She sat on the 'Electric Shock' spell and went fizzing up through space.

Perhaps she is still twinkling in the sky just like a star.

I wonder if you can see her on Hallowe'en night.

ANNA WALTER

Form One

OUR PUPPIES

One Sunday in September, we bought some spaniel puppies. One is brown and white and the other is black and white. They are called Tisa and Thamanya.

These are Arabic words which mean eight and

nine. They always lick your face and hands. We had only gone to look at them in the first place but we could not resist them. The puppies have to stay in the kitchen in .a box with two old towels and a hot water bottle at night. In the morning I can hear them squealing for breakfast.

They eat Weetabix for breakfast and supper.

They have meat for tea.

cheeky little face.

The black and white one has a

They tremble when you pick them up, but I

expect they will soon be used to us.

VICTORIA PARKER

Form One

THE WIND

With a stick in his hand he whips

the trees so that they sway in time to his rhythm.

In the summer he is a gentle breeze, but in winter he's the terror of the seas.

Never does this■ferocious creature who

seems to be so innocent at times stop this puffing and blowing till he's blown away the

sand.

Daring and strong the wind is never still for long.

The wind is the most powerful being in the land.

ZOE SALTER

Upper Two

>'vyv

QMS U16 XI 1984 Winners of the National Schools Championship

THE SCHOOL BUS

I heard round the corner a funny rumbling.

Was it a tree or a building crumbling?

Round the corner slow and groaning, Came the school bus full of moaning And wailing children all wishing, Monday of this week was missing.

The bus crept along at the usual pace;

The doors hissed open revealing a great space, Like an insect's mouth opening wide, To pack all the children somewhere inside.

The mouth shut tightly, the meal digested.

Off to school its gay mood arrested.

Victoria White

Lower 4S

A CRUMPET

A knob of butter was placed on the crumpet.

As it touched the surface, it floated around like somebody ice-skating.

Soon it had all melted away and was ready to eat; But I decided to study its round surface.

When I studied

it,

I found

that it looked like

punctured moon.

The butter gleamed out, and it looked delicious.

Then I got a silver spoon and poured syrup over it.

It looked like stardust covering my moon,

But I could not hold the suspense any longer, so I ATE IT!

Victoria Billington Lower 4S

Q.

What do you get if you cross a cow,

a sheep and

a baby goat?

A.

A milky baa kid!

Q»

What do you get if you cross a plum with an accident?

A.

A damson in distress!

ALL JOKES BY CHARLOTTE HOWCROFT UPPER 3S

a

THE SHORE

The waves came crashing, on the shore,

Shifting the pebbles with a _crash and a roar, White horses canter and

gallop across the sea To a land unknown by you or me.

The golden sands stretch far away, The shells and seaweed

sire here to stay.

As the brown rocks lie bare, The tide returns,

The waves, how they roar!

The rocks are all covered and the sand is no more

The horses return to the

white foamy sea^ Galloping away from you and me.

JANE CLAGUE Lower 4M

OH, BROTHER!

Brothers play loud music, Brothers pick their spots.

Brothers read car magazines, And wash their hair a lot.

Brothers never draw or paint.

Brothers never sing (touch wood), Brothers never clean their teeth, They know they always should.

Brothers eat their meals too fast, Brothers lose their key,

Brothers have different allergies, To this and that and ME!

CATHERINE BENSON Upper 3Q

Q,

What do you get if you cross a joker and British Rail?

A.

An inter-witty!

THE ART

ART EDITORiJOANNA WEBSTER

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HOW THE HYENA GOT ITS LAUGH

Many, many years ago, hyenas were famous all over the continent of

Africa for their savage growling, loud howling and fierce roaring, second only to the very savage growling,

extremely Icfud howling

and most fierce roaring of the king of all animals, the lion.

Now,

many, many years ago, Mother Hyena gave birth to a litter of

five cubs.

She would feed them, keep a watchful eye on them as they played and discipline them when they were naughty and was a

good mother to her offspring. But while they were all still young she noticed that the youngest cub was much quieter than the others, in fact he had never howled once. This made little Hyena, for that was what he had been nicknamed by the other animals, very sad, and he would often sit around and cry while his brothers and sisters played hide and seek or visited Auntie Leopard.

Mother Hyena began to observe her youngest son and his habits closely, until she finally decided that he could not go through life so miserably and wondering about his inability to howl, made an appointment to see the wise old elephant, who knew absolutely and utterly everything that there was to be known, and he lived in the outer Jumbolian Forest, on the border of the plain.

So, early one morning, the whole Hyena family started out on their

journey to the outer Jumbolian Forest, where chimps chatter, snakes slither, panthers pant and crocs crack, so they might find out what was the matter with little Hyena.

At midday, when the sun was high in the sky, scorching the dusty ground, and when Mother Hyena was ever so slightly regretting having started out, they passed a pride of lions lying in the shade of a cluster of leafy trees.

is proud,

Now, even the most humble lion but the head of this pride was the most proud, arrogant

lion that was to be found all over Africa and he also owned the

sharpest and rudest tongue.

On sighting the Hyena family,

he

swaggered up to them, stopping them in the middle of the track.

"And where might you be going?" he growled superiorly. "Don't you know that you are passing through my territory, the territory of the greatest lion in Africa?"

"We are going to the outer Jumbolian Forest,

to see the wise old

elephant" whispered Mother Hyena, quite aware of his reputation.

King lion, for that was what he had called himself, shook his

thick mane and grunted "And why would you want to see the wise old elephant? Don't you know that I am the king of all animals?

However,

I shall come with you to see why this wise old elephant

is so sought after."

So Mother Hyena,

little Hyena and his brothers and sisters now

having the company of King Lion, went on their way, until finally in the late afternoon, they came to the outer Jumbolian Forest where chimps chatter, snakes slither,. panthers pant and crocs crack.

Having met a chattering chimp,

a slithering snake,

a panting

panther and a cracking croc, the seven animals were guided to a muddy pool, where the wise old elephant always took a bath in the late afternoon. They were instructed by an equally old but rather more foolish hippopotamus not to disturb him, and so King Lion sat on the bank shouting obscenities to the bathing elephant, much to

the embarrassment of Mother Hyena, until he emerged from the pool earlier, the hippo had informed them, than normal.

Not being one to display discourtesy, the wise old elephant pretended he had never heard King Lion in the first place and ignored him in the most polite manner. Having introduced her five cubs to the wise old elephant, Mother Hyena explained about the

sad state of little hyena.

Thus began a rather lengthy

examination of little hyena by the wise old elephant, during which King Lion expressed his boredom at least ten times, so that everyone could hear, until at dusk the wise old elephant claimed, "I have the answer.

In my experience, before one can learn to howl, one must open one's mouth at the same time as allowing the vocal chords to yibrate in a certain way which makes the noise, in this case a howl. It is also my experience that one can learn to open one's mouth in the required manner by first learning how to smile.

And everyone knows that to make one smile, one must be amused."

Although they didn't in the least understand what the wise old

elephant had said, the rest of the Hyena family nodded and agreed heartily.

With that, the wise old elephant raised his trunk and

called to the animals. appeared.

As if by magic,

they all suddenly

The elephant explained that it was their job to make

little hyena smile.

So the chimps chattered jokes, the snakes slithered into and out of all kinds of funny positions, the

panting panthers performed acrobatic tricks, and the crocs sang nonsense songs by cracking ^their jaws up and down.

All the hyenas,

but naturally not King Lion,

who criticized

everything and everyone, thought it the most" hilarious comedy act they had ever seen and smiling and howling, and howling and smiling, asked for more. But then they heard a stifled sob, and turning round saw a big tear running down little hyena's face.

"It's not fair," he cried. "I haven't found it very funny, 'so I haven't smiled,

which means I haven't learnt how to howl,

everyone else can and I can't."

and

'

However, at that very moment, a coconut hanging directly above them in a coconut tree, loosened and fell with tremendous velocity from the branch.

King Lion was smirking,

basically because he

liked to see others miserable and so he didn't notice it coming until it fell on his head.

King Lion saw stars!

Little Hyena had watched the whole episode and having disliked King Lion intently from the very beginning couldn't help but find it amusing, and suddenly his mouth stretched into a broad beaming smile.

"Howl!" shouted the wise old elephant.

"Howl!" howled the hyenas in unison.

"Howl!" chattered the chimps, "Howl!" panted the panthers.

"Howl!" cracked the crocs.

^

But when little hyena tried,

the noise that came out could be

likened to a laugh, in fact it was distinctly a laugh, the most incredibly funny laugh that had ever been heard. Little Hyena was just lying flat on his back, laughing and laughing and laughing and because he looked so funny and sounded so funny, the rest of the Hyena family began to laugh too.

They laughed until it was dark and only when King Lion came to, were they able to control their laughter.

King Lion, rather embarrassed by the whole episode, let out a loud roar for good measure, but when the hyenas tried to howl or roar or growl, it came out as laughter.

After going back to his pride, King Lion never returned to the outer Jumbolian Forest, where chimps chatter, snakes slither, panthers pant and crocs crack.

As for the hyenas, they had their

own distinctive cry, what could be described most appropriately as a "howl of laughter".

FIONA ARMSTRONG

Upper 5S

THE TEXAS CONNECTION

It has been a cold

Winter.

We seem

to have had more

than our

share of bitter wind and grey skies and as I cross the yard I think of those climates where sun, not cold, is the hazard.

Sands

baking in the noon-day heat; shimmering rocks hot enough to fry an egg; miles of parched earth with no growing thing, except, perhaps a cactus - and that brings me back with a bump to cold reality and to room 38.

There it stands in the corner, planted in an old pot far too small for its size.

Where did it obtain the sustenance to grow to six feet plus?

"Upon what meat doth this, our Caesar feed That he is grown so great?"

Not out of the couple of pounds of miserable soil that its roots inhabit.

I think that Upper 5M feed it blood, human blood, and that is why it is so malignant.

Actually all those spines that stand in serried ranks along its channelled trunk are hypodermic;

if you should become impaled they will suck your blood. it!

So watch

I have watched it.

Before I retired the first time I watched it march from room to room down the back corridor keeping pace with the M form who thought they owned it.

Like them, it was smaller

then.

I can remember it leering at me from the window sill of

room 14 as I came in through the Bailey wing entrance every morning.

I used to congratulate myself that I had never had to teach alongside it, and then I was-recalled. Imagine it! I walk into room 38 that first morning - in September and there it was in a corner - triumphant.

A vegetable obelisk with prickles!

"Heavens", I thought, "it is taller than me!" And it was.

Certainly it is no lily of the field.

Ungracious, unlovely, uncompromising - these are its attributes and all of them, you notice, non-floral. It has scars, oh yes I it has had hard times in the past and it shows.

At one point there is a half-moon vacancy along its ribs where something bit a piece out of it. Was there then, some mythical Eeyore creature, nurtured on a diet of thistles that was tempted?

If so it never came back and I am not surprised.

The cactus wins, it was no contest. I was no contest

either when the form tutor tried to do away with it.

Really she did! She realised that "mighty things from small beginnings grow " and while the form were on the field and not looking, she took a

sharp knife and cut off the growing tip at the top. she decapitated it.

Brave lady!

You can see the withered scar to this day and

trace what followed. A great bud developed on the side and a more vigorous growth than ever burst through just below the severed

head and continued its upward climb at twice the former speed.

The form tutor left.

It was shortly after this that the cactus took precautions.

in

case anything of the sort should happen again it started a family.

Low down on the stem - not on the green, vulnerable, upper part but on the dried-up,

young ones:

granitic bit at the bottom it produced the

so that if anythi^ng lethal threatened again up above,

these numerous heads would be able to spring up hydra-like.

All this is by way of a warning.

The present owners. Upper 5 M are to be disbanded; this is the fate of all Upper Fives.

Some,

like Nick Bottom, the weaver, will be translated to the sixth form but others will be totally scattered.

Whatever their ultimate

destination they feel that the cactus cannot accompany them.

Mr. Birtwistle has refused it; Mr. Grundy says it's not artistic

enough; Miss Makepeace says that she's no room, so they are looking for some poor, unsuspecting junior form to whom they can give it - and it will start marching down the back corridor all over again.

But by that time I shall have retired again so it will not trouble me. As I approach 'the lean and slippered pantaloon' (but not too soon, I hope) I shall remember the time I was recalled, how kind everybody was; how cold the Geography Room could be, and how that mute, malignant, Texas cactus towered over me in room 38.

E. BACON •r

Nowhere to run,

Nowhere to hide - my life, A cold, empty, black room.

A bird, on the wall -

I reach out to touch, But cannot feel -

It is still - moving constantly,

always evading

my grasp.

I scream,

Silence fills my mouth, My brain,

My body.

I live but am dead,

I sleep but my eyes are open.

I hate, love, laugh, cry.

I am.

SARA HUNT

Senior 6M

NOTHING NEW

A shot echoes in the silence of the dawn -

A cold, grey, morning.

A man in a dirty mac scurries along the pavement; He stops when a shot is fired - shakes his head and carries on.

It's nothing new.

A group of kids congregate round the body A young girl Protestant.

It's nothing new.

Another cold drizzly morning: A man and a woman, dressed in black Stand in a tiny churchyard, Weeping.

It's nothing new.

The bells stop their sorrowful tolling Another shot echoes across the empty streets.

Here murders don't even make the front page any more,

After all, it's nothing new.

SARA HUNT Senior 6M

SATURDAYS!

Real, Genuine

Saturdays,

Lying in like a hamster hibernating, In front of the box,

'Saturday Show',

Into the Co-op - hectic village, A blur of colour (which I know to be people).

Dad's off to work,

Mum edging me on to music Beethoven, here I come.

Through the traffic, Pushing through the crowds, Back to my village, Into a tiled shape, red brick security.

Eyes fixed onto the screen.

Called down to tea.

Out in the night, flashing lights.

Music combing my ears.

Stomach feeling full.

'Hello's' said to boys here and there.

Falling into a heap of covers, Head down.

Eyes closed, deep down daze.

Saturday Gone,

SAMANTHA COTTAM Lower 4S

A SUMMER EXPERIENCE

As the sun beat down on the sandy shore,

And the people basked in the rays, I ventured towards the sea,

Where my wind-surf lay in wait.

Like a shark it looked with its fin uppermost, And the sail was on the sand, A sail of bright colours and many designs was what I found.

I dragged it to the water's edge, And thdn climbed onto the board.

I now prepared to sail, And waited for the wind.

Away I went like a bird when it soars through the sky My heart missed a beat as I went 6ver a wave.

It was so exhilarating,

I was alone with the wind and sea.

SALLY EVANS

Lower 4Q

ME, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Sometimes when I look at myself in the mirror, I wonder, is it me?

Who is that person Behind the mirror?

She is a different being. Nothing like me.

Where does she come from?

Does she exist?

Why does she continually stare, At me?

Every movement I make, She imitates.

When I move my right arm, She moves her left.

Does she live in a backward world

Over there out of my reach?

When I try to touch her, Her hand touches mine.

Yet I only feel glass.

Why is she looking at me like that?

Boring into my mind?

My only privacy from her Is thinking.

I wonder what she is thinking?

Does she think at all?

In her home

Behind the mirror?

Jacqueline Bowen Lower 5S

CHOOSING A FORM EFFORT FOR LOWER 4L

"Come on Lower 4L - THINK!" persisted Mrs.

Dooley,

first staring

round at the 'non-interested' people at the back of the room, who were doing anything but thinking and then resting her eyes on the more intelligent members of the form who were sighing and racking their brains for a good solution to the problem.

"Yes," piped up the persevering sixth formers,

"there must be

something you can do!"

It was all very well them telling us to think of a form effort,

but choosing a really good one that we had not already suggested, was not easy.

Five minutes went by - doodles were drawn in rough

books - thumbs were twiddled - whispering broke out, when suddenly, a small voice from 'nowhere' said, "What about a sponsored silence?"

An outcry of groans immediately went out leading on to remarks such as, "we'd never do it!" or "so and so can't even keep her mouth shut for a minute, let alone for a whole day!"

Even Mrs. Dooley could not help smiling at that! but we did it, and raised a large amount of money for the Tear Fund for Third World Countries.

LOUISE BALDWIN

Lower 4L

THE OLD WARRIOR

The proud old stag looked sadly back at his herd as they gathered round their new leader.

The stag had fought his last battle. He

turned his back on the herd

and wandered away into the autumn

mists.

He walked some way and at last found himself in a wood where the

ground was covered in red,

trees stretched to the sky. broke

into

a

graceful

golden and russet leaves.

Tall, noble

The stag suddenly felt happier and

gallop.

Then

he

found

himself

in

a

strangely familiar gladeTiring, the stag lay down, putting his head on a mossy bank.

He closed his eyes and remembered his mother.

Her soft, gentle eyes, the warm milk and the encouragement when he was trying to stand on tottering legs, looking at the world from big, brown eyes. It all seemed so vivid

to him.

He remembered his first fight. The charge, the struggle and the victory.

Then the herd gathered round him as they gathered round their new leader today.

He remembered his last

fight. The young stag was strong and had given him a deep gash in his side but was almost beaten when he fell but was up again in a trice and got the old stag on the ground.

Now the old stag was cast out.

The stag closed his eyes and slept. As he slept, his heart slowed down and finally went into a sleep from which he never awakened.

As the moon peeped into the glade, she saw a dead stag with a deep gash in his side, but, strangely enough, it seemed as if he were at peace.

RUTH DOOLEY Upper 3Q

"TRAINBOUND"

J*[^^?°shing, running, the world goes rushing by, 1 h the constant flick, flick of the churning engines, People cram themselves, squashing each other.

Short, tall, fat, small, trying to get a glimpse of someone else's newspaper —

Sardined inside. A musty smell circulates the carriage.

Damp overcoats and forlorn cigarette ends, Outside, darkness falls.

The world is recreated by a raid of bright lights.

Up in the sky the colours change, But the engines still continue their flick, flick, flick

Slower now.

Slower.., Flick....

Flick....

With a mauled groan and a strained tug, the train is drawn to a gradual stop.

SUZANNE LIVINGSTON

Upper 3S

the bridge party "One no trumps

""h sighed, gave cards a hardforward stare and closed them Fawcett-Jones up. "Have you heard?" sheher said leaning slightly.

"We have a new member,"

"Mmmm." Naomi Rosenberg peered over the top of her half-glasses at the wiry Beryl opposite. "Helen told me."

"Somebody Brown,isn't it? Barbara, I thikk "

"No, Amelia, you're wrong again," said Naiomi in the voice people use when correcting someone who is frequently wrong. "It's Betty, Betty Brown."

"Humph! Betty Brown.

I ask you!" From behind a hand of cards emerged a smartly dressed woman in her late forties.

"I mean,

what sort of people are they letting into our club

nowadays?"

"I told Helen that we simply can't let just anybody in," said Beryl, plainly enjoying the gossip. "And from what I hear, this Betty Brown person certainly isn't suitable."

The other three

leaned forward. Interested. "Apparently her husband won a lot of money."

"Did he now?" said Naomi, half sarcastically.

Beryl opened her

mouth to speak again, but it was Amelia who spoke.

"Yes, he did. He was a bricklayer or something."

"Well, how did he win it?" said the smartly dressed woman.

"I was just about to tell you, Clara," said Amelia crossly.

"It was the Football Pools." She nodded, satisfied that she had created a scandal.

"He didn't!" Clara leaned back, suitably shocked

"No, he didn't!" piped up Beryl, annoyed at Amelia gettine all the attention.

Naomi raised a auizziVaT ^ -k

getting ail the

1 ,.-r 1quizzical eyebrow over the top of her glasses.

"I heard^ that it was Newspaper Bingo'" "Never!"

® '

"Ugh!" "What's more!'

whispered Amelia -im

i,

let either of them join the Golf Club."^°^^"^ "they wouldn't "I'm not surprised," said Clar^a mtu* n n ^ anybody in. Not like here.''

"I did hear," mused Naomi, preparing to add her own piece of vital

information for the first time, "that the money was Lft to her in a will

Some say she was a housekeeper who worked for a very rich

old lady and he was the gardener."

"A gardener and a housekeeper!" exclaimed Clara. "Well, I never!"

"They might have won some money as well, mightn't they?" asked Beryl doubtfully. ^ Somehow inheriting money was not nearly as scandalous as winning it at Newspaper Bingo.

"Perhaps they stole it," said Amelia who, like Beryl, sensed the conversation was dying and wanted to revive it.

"No, I shouldn't think so. her sometime."

"Er

We must try and make a foursome with

Naomi was determined to end the conversation.

"

"Hmmmm.."

"Perhaps!"

"Two hearts."

JO GLYNN

Lower 5Q

A POINT OF VIEW

Filled with orange figures, Term after term,

Bobbing around, popping around, Screaming and shouting Sometimes sitting,_ Still.

With the oldest at my head.

And the youngest at my feet, Kicking me, punching me Bruising my old bones.

People rushing through my veins: My beating heart - the hall.

Everyone home for the holidays!

Lonely,

I stare through tired window — eyes At winter closing in.

Impatient hands pushing them open — Letting in the new term.

As spring beckons.

The swarming orange figures once again,

Who am I?

BY UPPER 4S

nightmares

The land of the living floats away, As my head touches the pillow.

Suddenly I am running down a long, white corridor, full of doors.

They are after me!

As I run, I try each door, But each one is locked!

Suddenly one creaks open!

I dash inside and lock "the door.

As I turn round they are there with me.

They push me into an open grave.

As I fall, hands are trying to grab me!

Thud I I hit the ground.

My eyes flick open; I'm back in the land of the living.

LOUISE JACKSON Upper 3Q

FEAR

"But I don't want to stay in uncle's haunted,

old mansion!"

interrupted Stacy angrily.

"Well, I'm sorry, dear, but you will just have to put up with it," replied her mother. "It's very kind of your uncle to let you stay the night anyway." But she agreed to go in the end, and that is how Stacy came to be wishing her uncle good night as she left the study on her way to bed.

The hall was cold and unwelcoming. corners,

Cobwebs hung in secluded

and icy draughts swept past her feet.

A shiver ran down

her spine.

Stacy mounted the stairs with trepidation, working her way slowly upwards, and looking from side to side for hidden intruders.

Half way up the stairs her foot happened to tread on a particular step which creaked alarmingly. She rushed up the remaining steps with amazing speed, and paused on the landing to catch her breath.

A couple of minutes later she was ready to edge her way cautiously down the corridor.

"One, two, three," she counted to herself. "Ah, fourth on the right." And Stacy pushed open a large studded oak door.

She stepped inside and the door slammed menacingly behind her.

Stacy surveyed the room anxiously,

noting that it was full of

heavy. d^k furniture. Her candle flickered suddenly, causing a hundred shadows to leap up from the corners of the room By now she was really frightened, and jumped into the four-poster bed as quickly as possible,

her toes sinking down inho

Stacy hurriedly drew the durtains end flung the bedoTothes "'e; her head.

She soon fell into an uneasy sleep filled wi-i-h

whistling wind, and odd bumps and groans.

x- .u..

sound of the

Stacy was awakened in the early hours of the morning by a sudden creak outside the door. Next, she heard the door being inched open and eerie footsteps coming closer and closer to the bed.

Curtains were flung open and Stacy screamed piercingly.

"Oh! I'm sorry, my dear. Did I startle you? I've just come to tell you that breakfast is ready." Stacy heaved a sigh of relief as her uncle s figure shuffled out of the room.

Louise Richcirds Lower 4L

CAN I REALLY BE IN UPPER FIVE ALREADY?

Recently it has been brought to my attention that various foreign bodies are infiltrating our corridors; lately I have noticed thousands of tiny brown and orange clad beings tumbling out of classrooms dragging their orange games bags behind them, tearing away at a rate of knots, their pigtails flying in the breeze.

Not only is the majority of the junior school seeming younger and shorter, but also much brighter. The other lunchtime, I wandered back up to the classroom and was most surprised to find every desk taken up with pairs of form one members playing chess,

a

game

which has always been intellectually above me.

I am sure that when I was their age my vocabulary was mainly mono

syllabic, but the discussions I heard taking place between them were the sort of things one would expect to hear from a United Nations Conference!

Not being at all prejudiced against the younger generations at school, I stopped to speak to a pair of particularly articulate young chess players, who were asking me a question about the rules of checkmate, the answer to which I obviously did not know. When I tried to convince them that I was a famous popstar.

posing as a school girl to avoid the press,

Boy George

I was

given a

withering look and told to 'Grow up!'

This sort of thing does not do very much for one's ego.

It certainly makes me feel very old as I plod wearily along behind them in the corridors, complaining about the weather and the price of

cheese.

I

also

have

a burning

compulsion

to

borrow

my

Grandma's straw hat and wear support stockings and I have noticed that the police force is beginning to look a lot younger I JOSEPHINE LIPTROTT

Upper 5Q

THE SLUG

It slithered across the slimy soil, All plump, black and shiny.

Leaving behind a slime on the ground.

Making no sound.

It eats the young plants.

Leaving them holed and withered.

Then it moves underground, Still making no sound,

But leaving behind for all to view, A trail of destruction, slime, misery SARA LEATHERBARROW

Lower 4S

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Holly Rowe

-

Lancashire Under l8 Hockey Captain

T.orraine Ifartley

-

T.ancashire Under

16 Hockey Captain

ATHLETICS HEPOItT yxHrexicsi KGMLirX

ATHLETICS REPORT 1984

The first event of the athletics year was the Fylde Coast Cross Country Championships in which the Upper 15 team came an excellent

first in

their event

with Lisa

Cowgill giving

an

outstanding

performance.

Throughout the Summer,

the Upper 13,

Upper 14 and Upper 15 teams

have competed in inter-school athletics matches held at Q.M.S.

Saturday mornings.

on

All these matches were won by convincing

margins.

In the Fylde Coast Track and Field Championships the three Queen

Mary teams, Upper 14, Upper 15 and Upper 17, held their own, successfully winning all three team events and, incidentally, gaining first place in all the field events entered.

Three new

best performances were established by Katy Hickey in the Upper 15 discus and shot and also by the Upper 15 relay team.

The

highlight of the athletics season

was the

coveted National

Schools Track and Field Cup competition.

Both the Upper 14 and Upper 16 teams qualified for the final at Derby after preliminary rounds at Q.M.S. and Stretford.

With strong opposition, the two teams competed hard and were rewarded with excellent results.

The

Upper 16 team were first overall and the Upper 14 team beaten narrowly into the second position by Gillbrook School, Cleveland.

Once again the school hosted the Fylde Coast Multi-Event Competition in which ten schools took part.

Competitors had to participate in a sprint, a middle distance run, a jump and a throw and were awarded points according to their performances.

In the Upper 14 section, the first position was awarded to Kelly Platt.

The Upper 15 section was won by Katey Hickey.

Q.M.S. girls took 2nd and 3rd places in both sections.

Several athletes represented the Fylde in the Lancashire Schools

Track and Field Championships at Skelmersdale. team,

The junior girls'

all Queen Mary pupils, were most successful in their events

finishing in first position at the end of the day.

Tracey Tebbut in the high jump, Katey Hickey in the discus and Vicky Platt in the javelin all established new Championship best performances and were selected to compete in the English Schools' Championships at Thurrock.

Vicky and Katey did particularly well to come 4th and

5th respectively in their events.

VICKY PLATT and LEIGH EVERETT

GAMES REPORT

Last year's hockey season proved to be extremely busy and very satisfying for over 100 girls who represented the school in the various teams.

The innovation of Under 13 seven-a-side games has given over 30 Lower 4's an opportunity to sample inter-school matches, which have been marked by enthusiasm rather than abundant skill.

The more established school teams have followed their traditional

pattern with the Under 14 XI and Under 16 XI emerging as the most successful sides, both maintaining 100% records, with the other teams not far behind.

Although the U18 XI maintained an unbeaten

record in the country final of the national schools' championship they were disappointed to finish as runners up to Ormskirk Grammar

School, Their inability to score despite having all the play, cost them a place in the next round.

However, the Under 16 XI proved to be very convincing winners of their section and went on to

win the national final.

Last year, fourteen girls were selected to play for the Lancashire School teams.

Holly Rowe and Lorraine Hartley were appointed captains of the first Under 18 and Under 16 teams respectively.

This year twenty-one Queen Mary girls overall have gained places in the Lancashire teams.

We hope to continue the success of the

three girls, Holly Rowe, Julie Pearson and Andrea Fleming who gained positions in the North team and of Holly who was selected as captain of the England U18 XI.

The Blackpool and District Indoor Hockey League was completed last year with both the Under 16 A and B teams maintaining 100% records to win their respective league titles.

The senior team retained

the Lancashire Schools' Championship for the seventh year in succession but failed narrowly in the North of England Championship to qualify for the national final which the school has won for the last two years.

The Under 16 and Under 15 netball teams both produced a rather mixed set of results in the Blackpool and District schools' league. The Under 16 team completed their .fixtures and finished in 3rd place whilst the Under 15 and Under 14 teams continued to

work hard to improve their standard. Meanwhile, friendly matches, ably organised by Julie Pearson, were arranged for the Under 18 team.

It is hoped that all girls will continue to play with as much enthusiasm as the Under 18 team when they reach the sixth form.

The senior badminton team enjoyed another fairly successful term,

winning all their matches except one.

Several of their matches were mixed ones when a joint Queen Mary and King Edward side played against co-educational schools.

The spring term began in a very active way for the 300 girls who took part in a sponsored run for the British Amateur Athletic Board's Olympic Appeal fund. excellent £2,370,

The final amount raised

was an

During the Spring Term,

both our 1st and 2nd XI's reached the

final of the Lancashire Under 18 tournament where the first team

emerged as winners by three goals to one. achieve similar success.

This year we hope to

The hockey season concluded

last term

with a successful invitation tournament which included

sides from

as far apart as Belfast and Croydon.

From start to finish, it was an action-packed summer term and a completely uninterrupted programme of tennis and athletics was afforded by the continuous spell of warm, dry weather. The first tennis team did not get off to the best of starts,

with an early

exit from the Aberdare Cup Competition but they were unfortunate to meet a very strong Merchant Taylors side in the first round.

The

Under

Schools'

15

team,

Tennis

however,

easily

Championship

and

competition.

This

retained

only year

the

Lancashire

conceded with

hard

two

sets

work

and

throughout

the

practice,

we hope the rest of the Queen Mary teams will improve

upon our standard.

The school tournaments this year all took place during evenings.

There was an excellent response and several closely contested matches.

The

outstanding winner

proved to

be Dana

Lewis

who

finally won both the under 18 doubles and singles trophies.

The overall strength of the Queen Mary School teams has produced

excellent results over the past year.

This has been made possible

by the hard work and dedication of the. games staff and we hope the success and enthusiasm of last year will be repeated.

Jane Fletcher and Julie Pearson

400 Girls on Run for Charity

Four hundred girls from Queen Mary School took part in a sponsored run to raise money for the Olympic appeal.

The run was launched

by top sprinter Sonia Lannaman.

Recent snowfalls nearly caused

the run to be cancelled, but that morning the P.E. staff gave the go-ahead after conditions improved overnight.

The run took place at school; girls from 8 to 16 ran round the school playing field.

The grand total raised was £2,369.87.

Over all,

the run was a

great success.

Nicola Dale and Loma Duckworth

L

Torch Run

Six girls from Queen Mary School braved some of the worst weather

for their Olympic Torch Run.

The girls were chosen to take part

by being the first six home in a special race held at the School.

There was a lot of excitement about the run and great competition to take part.

The fourteen-year-olds were forced by high winds and stinging sands on to Clifton Drive rather than the Promenade for their run

from Arnold School, Blackpool, to their own school.

A group of twelve girls and boys from Scarisbrook Hall School, Ormskirk then picked up the torch and carried if for thirty miles to their own school.

In this way,

the torch journeyed round

Britain, ending in London, from where the Olympic athletes left for the games in Los Angeles.

'

A

LEAVERS 1984

Punita Aga

English and Government Annes College

Pamela Ainsworth

College of Higher Education 1985

Fiona Allan

Medical Secretarial

Kathryn Ashley

French,

German

and

'A' Levels

Economic

—

St.

Studies

-

Newcastle Polytechnic Clare Barrett

Physics - Manchester University Pharmacology - University of Sheffield

Victoria Bernie

Foundation Art

Karen Barker

Katherine Billington

Urban

Estates

Management

—

Liverpool

Polytechnic Alison Blackburn

Industrial Energy Costs, St. Annes

Samara Bland

Optics - UMIST

Carolyn Davidson

Bilingual Secretary - Preston Polytechnic

Gillian Davies

Applied Civil Service

Sarah Downey

Medicine - University of Nottingham

Pamela Dugdale Jacqueline Feeney

Secretarial Course

Catherine Flatley Penelope Gabb

History of Art - University of Nottingham B.Ed - Ripon

Civil Engineering - Imperial College, London

Hilary Gaskell

Nursing - St. James, Leeds

Julie Gratton

Nursing - Manchester Royal Infirmary

Sarah Greaves

German - University of Leeds

Patricia Hardwick

B. Ed. - Bretton Hall

Diana Harrison

Nursing - Blackpool

Erica Hassan

Accountancy, Salford University Medicine - University of Birmingham

Elizabeth Havekin

Working

Barbara Heyes

Studies - University of Bradford Pharmacy - University of Manohester

Berenice Hart

Gillian Hicks

Fiona Hindley Deborah Howell Rachel Hunt

Susan Ireland Kate Johnstone

Heather Kendall Lisa Kember

Nicola Knier

French/German - University of Liverpool 'A' levels - W.R. Tuson

Law - University of Newcastle

Chemistry - University of St. Andrews Computing - G.R.E.

Law and Drama Applications for 1985 French/Spanish - Central ^ u • London Polytechnic, TEC Higher Diploma - Blackpool

Philippa Nelson Heather Norris Anne Parkinson

Chemistry - University of Hull

Sally Philpott

Foundation Art

Gillian Procter

Chemistry with Mathematicc; college, London

Janet Quin Carol Redman Suzanne Rees

n ~

Year off for Voluntary Service of Nottingham Bilingual Secretary - Preston Polytechnic

Nadia Roberts

Foundation Art

Julia Robinson

Speech Therapy - Leeds Polytechnic

Beverley Ross

European Studies - University of Kent

Holly Rowe

Sports - Loughborough,

Louise Setton

Jacqueline Stolz Sandra Stamp

Mary Stocker Julie Street

Medicine - Jesus College, Oxford European Studies - University of Hull Nursing Application

Chemistry - Magdalen College, Oxford Fashion - Jacob Kramer College, Leeds

Rachel Taylor

Medicine - Caius, Cambridge

Virginia Tebay

Mathematics - University of York

Ysanne Todd

Sarah Topping

Pharmacy - Sunderland Polytechnic Modern Languages - University of Durham

Jacqueline Vaughan

Chemistry and Educational Studies - Exeter

Paula Wade

English - University of Manchester Town and Country Planning - Bristol

University Candace Wainwright

Polytechnic Karen Warcup Charlotte Whittle

German/Spanish - Birmingham Polytechnic Pharmacy - University of Manchester

Amanda Williams

Foundation Art

Jacqueline Woodhouse

Politics - University of Leicester 1985

Adele Wright

Working in a Bank

Clare Woodcock

'At levels - Bispham College

Jane Gittins

Nursing

Sandra Schofield

Foundation

Art

-

Blackpool

College Elaine de Wynter

Bank Application

Holly Rowe receiving the Marjorie Harrison trophy from the Chairman of the Blackpool and

District Schools Sports Council.

and

Fylde

QUEEN MARY SCHOOL

-

OLD GIRLS' ASSOCIATION

24th October 1984

6 North Houses Lane, St. Annes.

I can hardly believe that a year has passed since I was last asked to write to you about the Old Girls' Association, but nevertheless am delighted to again be given the opportunity.

Every girl leaving School on Summer 1985 will be eligible to join, and I make to secret of the fact that I hope a great number of you will.

No doubt more exciting things than joining the Old Girls' Association will be foremost in your minds next Summer — but please do try to spare us a thought.

All associations need new

members and we are no exception.

Indeed without them, we could not continue.

New members bring new life and new ideas, and we are always receptive to these.

At present three or four social events are arranged each year.

1984 these included a hot—pot supper,

and reunion dinner.

In

a treasure hunt and the AGM

We also hold a special event for girls about

to leave school and we hope to repeat this around June 1985.

A magazine, containing articles from Old Girls, is also published annually and sent to members. This, and the notices, are a good way of keeping in touch if you are unable to attend meetings. So please do not be put off by the fact that you are moving away - we have members all round the y/orld. We do hold a number of regional meetings which have proved popular with those members who cannot travel back.

Application forms will be sent to School in the Summer.

Alternatively, application can be made through the Staff Representative, currently Miss J. Rowlands, or the School Office can direct you to me.

I hope to see you at our gathering in the Summer, With Best Wishes,

Ann Hearne

Secretary, Q.M.S.O.G.A.