Aquila 2020-2021

EVO LU

N O I T Aquila 2020/21

2020-21 Aquila Editorial Committee Top image from left to right: E Graham, A Yates, E Lindsay, C Booker, Z Fairmann, L Barker, C Reid, G Johnson, E Reid Editorial Team from left to right: E Graham, Z Fairmann (Editor in Chief), A Yates (Creative Officer), L Barker (Deputy Editor) Design Team from left to right: E Reid, C Booker (Design Editor), C Reid, G Johnson (Deputy Design Editor), E Lindsay

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PERSONAL

SOCIETAL

4 - Editors’ Letter

20 - Early Christian Teachings L Barker & A Yates, Year 12

6 - Growing Up C Nicholas, School Counsellor 10 - Getting Back Up G White, Year 9 11 - Painting C Garnett, Year 9

24 - The Theory of Evolution I Fahey, Year 11

12 - Flora & Fauna E Reid, Year 12

26 - La EvoluciÓn de La MonarquÍa C Storey & H Lawrence, Year 13

14 - Poem for Mrs Harris C McBarnett, Year 8

30 - Society A Stadler, Year 9

16 - The Evolution of My Faith C Wood, Teacher of Dance 18 - The Evolution of Harmony H Faith, Director of Music 2

22 - Lost Letters C McBarnett, Year 8

32 - The Evolution of Ballet C Reid, Year 12 36 - Change M Ford, Year 9 38 - Top of the Mountain S Hargreaves, Year 13

CONTENTS

ENVIRONMENTAL 40 - Is it Only Me? P Williams, Environmentalist in Residence 42 - Metamorphosis E Graham, Year 12 45 - The Evolution of Fast Fashion C James, Year 10 48 - The Evolution of Women in Space E Lindsay, Year 12 52 - Valete

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the secret to a new beginning

EDITORS’ LETTER

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erman artist Karl Lagerfeld once said ‘Evolution is the secret to the next step”... But this magazine is the secret to a new beginning. As a team, we chose the theme of Evolution because it sparks a change in the world: in society, in the environment, and in the individual.

Therefore, we decided to divide this theme into aforementioned categories, so we could encompass a range of topics and explore the breadth of Evolution with justice, as a school. Evolution is all around us - just consider the Evolution within the Pipers community alone since beginning your journey here, whether it’s been one year or fourteen; change and growth are the seed that ignites a brighter future for us all.

In the January lockdown, we virtually congregated for the first time where we held our opening meeting over Zoom.

Remember Zoom?

These unlikely circumstances caused us to consider the evolutionary shift within all of our lives in the last year, born from the pandemic.

Whether it be our developing computer skills, or our increased appreciation for the environment and nature around us, we noticed that in almost every aspect of our lives, Evolution was at the centre of our lockdown experience. On a wider scale, we also looked to the societal Evolution sparked from the Black Lives Matter movement within this monumental time.

And, so while moving forward with resilience and optimism, we knew that this Evolution

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would be ever-current and impactful for people of all ages and cultures.

Thank you to everyone within our team - Grace Johnson, Cat Reid, Liz Reid, Anna Yates, Eloise Graham, Cleo Booker and Emma Lindsay - for your ongoing enthusiasm and collaborative efforts.

As a team, we have enjoyed each and every moment of producing a magazine with purpose and meaning. We would also like to especially thank all of those individuals who participated in the magazine by contributing articles as well expressing support. You have made this magazine possible and brought our vision to life, for which we are exceptionally grateful. And finally, our gratitude goes to Alicia Wright, former pupil and our Consultant Graphic Designer, who has helped us every step of the way, along with a group of staff, Mr Ranford, Ms Howard-Saunders and Mr Robinson, who have provided guidance and support throughout this inspiring journey.

And to whomever is embarking on this adventure with us, happy reading and happy evolving!

Z Fairmann, Editor L Barker, Deputy Editor Year 12

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E

very teenager knows that sometimes life can be challenging. Bad feelings happen - loneliness, worry, sadness, anger, shame. Bad things happen – parents fighting or divorcing, friends or family getting ill or dying, bullying, abuse, trauma, break-ups, pandemics, rejections or betrayal.

Language can’t always do justice to how bad things can feel.

And to add to all the bad feelings and the bad events, we have our minds telling us all sorts of other bad stuff. I hate myself…

I’ll never live that down…No-one else feels like this…I’m fat…Noone cares…Our minds are like massive thought-factories with huge production lines, churning out thought-after-thought-afterthought. Some of these thoughts are painful and self-critical, and these tend to be the ones we get hooked on. It can feel like if we could just cut these thoughts out of our brains, we’d be OK. It’s partly that other people set us up to fail. When we feel sad, they say ‘Cheer up’. When we feel worried, they tell us ‘Don’t worry about it’. When we feel angry, they say ‘Calm down’. It’s like having any emotions other than happiness is seen as a bad thing.

Our brains, which are so good at keeping us alive, haven’t actually moved on much since the Stone Age. At the smallest hint of danger, the guard dog in our brain is snapping away and telling us we need to fight or run!

But really, the main ‘danger’ of the 21st Century is being alone.

Research shows that the biggest threat to our physical and mental health is isolation – it’s why lockdown was so hard for so many people. We want to be part of the tribe. So when our brains

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feed us thoughts about not being clever/pretty/thin/ fun/hard-working/popular [insert your own adjective] enough, no wonder we panic – we’re terrified of being cast out by the tribe and left to survive alone.

It can feel like a full-time job trying not to think all the thoughts. Distraction can help for a bit, as can other positive coping mechanisms like good sleep, exercise and talking to others. But the thoughts and feelings tend to keep coming back. Have you noticed that the more you try not to have the thoughts and feelings, the more you tend to have them?

Here’s the thing. You can’t control your thoughts and feelings. They just happen.

But you can control how you act – you can choose to react or you can choose to respond. Reacting tends to be quick, it usually happens without us planning it, and it is often only a temporary solution. You might lash out in an argument and you feel better for a bit: you’ve released a bit of rage. Or you might procrastinate in getting on with work (don’t worry, we all do it – this article is already 10 days late) and you might enjoy the delay; you can do fun stuff instead.

But in the longer term, reacting is not often helpful.

Negative coping mechanisms such as self-harm or restrictive eating might work in the moment (for different reasons), but they cause long-term harm and difficulty. That lashing out in an argument causes hurt and upset. That procrastination gets you in trouble with a teacher. continued →

Accepting what you can’t change, and committing to what you can.

by C Nicholas School Counsellor

Personal Evolution

Growing Up

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What about if we could choose to respond differently?

Think about what you really care about. Think about the kind of person you want to be. At a calm moment, think about whether the way you are choosing to live your life is consistent with being that person.

If that feels hard, try this: Imagine your Future-Self (you in 10 years’ time) gets in a time machine and pays you a visit. Future You is kind and compassionate; she’s definitely on your side.

Future You starts telling Present You about the stuff that really matters; she might give you some (kind) advice; she might remind you about all the things you are and all the things you can be. When Future You leaves, she tells you one final thing before she goes: what is that final thing?

Whatever it was that Future You told Present You is where your values lie, what is the stuff that matters.

It could be being creative, being a good friend or daughter, being a good member of humankind.

Everyone has different values (usually lots of them) but your values are yours, they are freely chosen and they give you a direction to move in.

So start thinking about tiny steps you can take towards the direction you want to go in. These need to be really concrete and specific – not ‘I’m going to start being a better friend’, but ‘I’m going to message my friend later and arrange to meet up at the weekend in the Eden Centre’. Not ‘I’m going to be a famous film star’, but ‘I’m going to research that course at the National Film School tonight’.

These are the tiny choice points, the moments where we choose to respond, and move in a valued direction, using committed action. Tiny steps add up to growth and progress in the long run.

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And to help you, here are five tried and tested ideas to help keep yourself on track:

Personal Evolution

1. Practise noticing your thoughts as just thoughts, not true facts. Imagine you are the sky and the thoughts are the clouds, passing by and moving on. We don’t have to get on the cloud and go with the thought.

2. Practise noticing your feelings and accepting your right to feel them, not as good feelings or bad feelings. They’re just feelings, and we’re supposed to feel them all.

3. Practise feeling the feelings, but still living the full, value-led life that you are meant to live. Don’t let the feelings stop you, but let them come along with you. Take small steps to help you move forward.

4. Practise actively taking care of yourself – selfcare is an overused word, but most people don’t do enough of it. Do good things for your body and mind every day.

5. Practise grounding exercises to keep yourself strong and connected to the present moment – using your breath (square breathing, 7-4-8 breathing, hand breathing), grounding your feet, connecting with your environment using your senses, and so on. All of these will help you get into your ‘thinking brain’ and be more able to notice what is going on for you, and accept it.

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You knocked me down, You called me slurs and names And cornered me in the playground. You punched me, Blood ran down my face.

My tear stained face looked at you, You gave me no mercy.

You screamed my name, Your voice rasped and grainy.

You push and pull me, Bruises dot my back like a dalmatian.

You knocked me down, But I can’t rise.

Your laugh pierced my ears, And your glares melted me. Your words speared my heart, And your punches hurt.

The boys are like your bodyguards, The others are there for a laugh.

You knocked me down, But I can’t rise.

Your cronies are like a safe cage around you, Guarding you, protecting you, from nearby ears and prying eyes.

They are blinded, By you and your beauty.

The wool is pulled over their eyes, They don’t see what I see.

You knocked me down, But I can’t rise.

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GETTING BACK UP

by G White, Year 9

Personal Evolution

You bat your eyes, You pout your lips, You say ‘please’ like a baby, So no one will suspect you.

You knocked me down, But I can’t rise.

You have left me broken, caused me immense pain, you have no idea, how it feels.

You knocked me down, But I can’t rise.

You knocked me down, But I won’t take it anymore, So I rise.

I tell you What you’ve done.

I tell you How you made me feel.

I tell you How you have broken me.

And you listened. You listened.

You knocked me down, But I stood up.

And you listened.

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by E Reid, Year 12

FLORA & FAUNA W

hen I decided to write an article for the school magazine, I knew instantly that I had to focus on the topic of Personal Evolution and Growth. Not to play into cliché here, but I do believe that of all the journeys we can embark on in our lives, the journey of Personal Growth and Self-Discovery is, in my opinion, perhaps the greatest and most important of all.

I won’t pretend to preach and lecture you all on the art of personal growth as I am no expert, and I think it takes a lifetime to master being fully content in yourself. That being said, I would still like to share my own thoughts and feelings surrounding the subject. When deliberating over how I could possibly present the topic of Self Evolution I almost instantaneously began to draw parallels between Humans and Plants. In turn, I realised that the Flora surrounding us is not as dissimilar from us as we may think (figuratively speaking, of course!). To display this visually, I incorporated plants and flowers into a makeup look.

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Plants also demonstrate great resilience. They can survive even the most brutal of winters, and flourish again out of the harshest circumstances - the remarkable poppies that defiantly grew from the disturbed soil during the utter devastation of World War One are a

prime example of this. We, as people are resilient ourselves; we have to be to survive. Life sometimes throws us curve balls and yet we catch them (one handed of course!) and throw them right back. Even in what feels like the darkest of circumstances, we’ll always have the potential to be beautiful.

One thing is certain; we are all always moving forward in life because time never stands still, even when it feels as though it has. Cherish the good moments, and know that the bad ones won’t linger forever. And so I encourage you, whoever is reading this, to be proud of yourself and your journey, and to acknowledge that even those huge ‘catastrophic moments’, however large or small, will still result in growth and personal ‘Evolution’.

Personal Evolution

You, as the trees around you, have seen and experienced so many things; things that will have shaped you, no doubt, to be the person you are today.

Just as the trees have been: by birds and squirrels, wind and rain, sun and space. Sometimes, a tree will lose a branch, but that doesn’t make the tree any less beautiful - just different! Do you see? We are constantly changing and evolving ourselves, whether we are aware of it or not and I think it’s brilliant! As a painting slowly developing over time, layer by layer.

We are literal works of art.

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“Aladdin,” they cooed as I looked at the floor, A moon-face of dismay, emotions hard to ignore.

Mum smiled, squeezed my hand, we walked to the door I glanced back, they said, “We’ve never had a question like that before.”

“A story with someone like me,” was all I had asked, Was that really too hard a task?

The eyes of the Year Two teacher saw my frown “Why so sad?” her arms like a gown.

“Try Blackberry Blue, but wait a few years,” Her words built the dam for my awaiting tears.

“Give your local library a try, they might be of help.”

“That’s a good idea!” we chorused with a yelp.

“Holes, by Louis Sachar,” the assistant said.

But he kissed a white girl and they shot him dead.

Mum’s concern could have filled the rafters “Perhaps we want something with a happily ever after.”

Poem for Mrs Harris

by C McBarnett, Year 8 14

Entering the Pipers library, a beacon of light Honestly, I could have stayed all night!

Mrs Harris and Mrs Everitt, with smiles of a summer’s day, “A story with someone like me,” they hear me say.

The train of books left the station, They both showed me many an author’s creation “There’s Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi, Or Marjorie Blackman, and Sita Brahmachari” The titles were endless, The library fairies picked more, Until one day Mrs Harris did something tremendous, Patrice Lawrence was bought through the door.

The warmth of her soul will always live on, Each book dust-jacketed with her presence and light, Her help will be remembered, honoured, revered, Even though she is no longer here.

Personal Evolution

“I have someone that you might like to meet” The Orangeboy author said something to me, She smiled, and we both took a seat, “Write the stories you want others to see.”

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I

f we could draw an evolutionary line on a graph, it wouldn’t be a straight one. Evolution is development, growth, learning: a constant state of shift, and flux. So no, not a straight line, in fact a very wiggly one, and the evolution of my faith has been just that.

I came to faith aged 21, and goodness me, coming to that decision was an evolution in itself. I’d danced around the idea for most of my life. At times I was adamant the Christian faith wasn’t for me, at others I was convinced it was. Eventually I stepped out in faith and chose to be baptised four months later. For me, being baptised was a huge shift and an important declaration to myself, to the world and to God that this is a decision I was going to be sticking with. The fact that I’m writing this article nine years later is proof that I did!

Once you’ve taken the plunge (quite literally!) I was completely submerged in a swimming pool usually hidden under the stage at my church for my baptism) there seems to be a myth that a Christian life is one full of sparkles, and boasts a constant surety in our belief. Well, I can speak for myself, and for every single one of my Christian friends, when I say that this certainly isn’t the case.

Remember that shifting evolution line from before? Well, there are some big old dips in that line, and just like any of the important relationships in my life, I’m not always on good terms with God, and that’s not a new experience. In the bible there are countless experiences of men and

women of faith furious at God. Railing against him for feeling abandoned, for seemingly unanswered prayers, and for being made to face a seemingly insurmountable problem. One of the Psalms says this, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” (Psalm 22:1 NIV) - ouch! Thankfully, those “cries of anguish” are few and far between, and I like to think that God and I are on pretty great terms most of the time!

If you know me here at school, you know that I am a woman of many hats. At Pipers I am first and foremost a Dance Teacher but I also run the Arts Award Program, and founded the Christian Union too. It’s called ‘Open Spaces’ because of the bible verse that says, “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19 NIV) and serves as just that.

An open space where the members of Christian Union and I can chat about all things God, and share with each other all of our individual faith evolutions. I love having ‘Open Spaces’ as part of my life at Pipers. Running it alongside the various wonderful Sixth Form leaders for the last five years has been such a privilege, and something I have been humbled and inspired by.

So, the evolution of my faith? Well it’s still a shifting, changing and malleable thing, and I look forward to journeying along that wiggly line for many years to come!

Evolution of my Faith

by C Wood, Teacher of Dance

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Personal Evolution

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by H Faith, Director of Music

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o, evolution in popular music?

Speaking from a musical analysis point of view, I feel that modern popular music has been stripped bare of harmonic, textural, melodic and compositional depth. Of course, much is still performed with a lot of emotion and can affect you at a deep level, which is a vital role of music in our lives. However, I’m concerned that the richness of the palate of sounds that has existed and been known about for centuries is simply being forgotten, neglected, ignored, dismissed and just not heard any more.

The majority of songs in the charts are musically limited – three, four, five notes in the melody and four chords in the whole song if you’re lucky. Yes, that means that they are more accessible to be played by more people, but where does that leave our souls? Far less evolved, I fear. In fact, under-nourished, pining for rich half-diminished chords, diminished sevenths, the circle of fifths, melodic development, passing modulations prepared by secondary dominants, suspensions, pedal notes, chromatically moving bass lines that take us through a breathtakingly sublime series of inversions with the depth and subtlety that nourishes and stirs one deeply.

So, simply put, we need some musical devolution or re-volution in our aural awareness and passion in order to recapture the magic, depth, wonder and multi-dimensional sound-world of harmony. I leave you with the final line of one of the harmonically satisfying hymns sung so beautifully at the recent funeral of Prince Philip that contains some vital musical nutrients.

Personal Evolution

the sea on those in per - il to thee for cry hear us when we O

THE EVOLUTION OF HARMONY

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How have early Christian teachings on revenge evolved through time and become relevant in modern Western society?

by L Barker & A Yates, Year 12

I

t is no secret that the deepest values of contemporary secular society have their roots in Christianity.

However, it is also well-known that the bible is a highly contradictory collection of books from separate authors, and therefore is difficult to interpret. So, in light of recent protests, politics and rising terrorism in the Western World, it is important to consider whether society appeals to the Christian teaching of forgiveness or revenge.

The most notable biblical teaching on revenge is the famous - or rather infamous - principle of Lex Talionis, or “An eye for an eye” as promoted in the Old Testament. The basis of the ‘Law of Retaliation’, found in Leviticus, encourages revenge and advocates the ideology that in a given situation, both parties should receive equal injuries in order to create a fair balance. Therefore according to this principle, if someone injures you, you are morally permitted to injure them back in an equal quantity. However, Jesus’ opposing teachings of love and forgiveness in the New Testament, that birthed

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has created an entirely new meaning from the Old Testament’s infamous quote. There have been numerous accounts of revenge in the media lately.

For example, after Donald Trump’s defeat in this year’s US election we saw extremely shocking behaviour to this: an attack on the Capitol. This planned attack has been equated to an act of terrorism with Christian instincts.

Christian-right activists outside of the government claimed God told them to “let the church roar”. Interestingly, the attack on the Capitol opened with a prayer. Trump’s White House adviser, Paula White, called on God to “give holy boldness in this hour.” Trump claims that he had nothing to do with the It is apparent that in this day and age uprising yet, Trump antagonised the it is impossible to expect an entirely crowd to “fight like hell”. The attack on moral society. In Christianity, the the Capitol is only one political uprising majority of the Old Testament is about that has Christian ideals of revenge revenge, and it is obvious that this has rooted within it therefore from this we an effect on today’s ideals of morality. can infer that society is inclined to use Gandhi, the leader of the Indian revenge instead of forgiveness.

Nationalist movement, intertwines the quote ‘An eye for an eye’ with his own Perhaps, from this we can conclude words of wisdom: “An eye for an eye only that revenge is an innate ideal, truly ends up making the whole world blind”. ingrained into society, but even revenge Here, we can clearly see that Gandhi can be forgiven and reformed.

Societal Evolution

the commonly used phrase ‘turn the other cheek’, decisively contradict this.

Rather than seeking revenge, a more liberal christian approach would be to “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” as encouraged in the Gospel of Luke. Similarly, in ‘Epistle to the Romans’ it is said to “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all”. Jesus’ philosophy of doing what is ‘honourable’ promotes love and forgiveness in the face of evil, which clearly contradicts the Law of Retaliation, and accordingly poses the question: Which fundamental teaching do we most strongly appeal to in modern secular society?

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LOST LETTERS Building blocks of society that faded through time

by C McBarnett, Year 8

L

etters. Perhaps the most important part of any language, they form each and every word that we use today. They’re dependable and necessary for word forming, but what about the ones that don’t make an appearance in modern times?

Written communication first started 4,000 years ago when the Egyptians started to use logo-syllabaries (using pictures to represent words), which we would know as hieroglyphics. Over time, these pictures became symbols to represent sounds rather than entire words. As Christianity spread through Europe, the Latin alphabet took the place of the runic alphabet which had previously been used by the Anglo-Saxons in England and in many other Germanic countries.

If you were to try and read works from about 1,000 years ago, it would be near impossible to understand its meaning. For example, here is the Lord’s Prayer in Old English compared to in modern English: Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum; si þin nama gehalgod to becume þin rice gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.

Which translates to: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.

Some letters, such as Þ (thorn), ƿ (wynn), ȝ (yogh, not a three) and ð (eth) were made from old Runic letters but these did not survive into the alphabet of modern English.

The Latin alphabet, although replacing the runic one, read as: ABCDEFHIKLMNOPQRSTVXZ

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This meant that G, J, U, W and Y were missing. The letters wynn and yogh became the letters we know today as Y and G. However, the symbols thorn and eth are no longer used in Modern English, although they can be found in languages such as Swedish, Danish and Norwegian.

Reports disagree about the number of missing letters and it ranges anywhere between twelve and five.

It’s been an interesting project to research a few of these missing letters. I’d like to share three of my favourites with you: The first letter I have chosen is the thorn (Þ or þ), which stood for the unvoiced dental fricative of ‘th’ - such as in ‘with’. Italian and German typewriters, which did not have the symbol for a thorn, used ye to represent the thorn’s symbol, which led to the misconception that people said ‘ye old…’ but the ‘ye’ actually for ‘the’ therefore it would be said the same way as being written ‘the old…’. Sorry to burst your Old English bubble, but it’s true.

Lastly, eth (Ð or ð). Eth had the same meaning of a thorn, but yet a different kind of thorn. Eth was a symbol for using the voiced dental fricative, such as in ‘thud’, or the first symbol in feather. Like thorn, eth’s use declined steadily until it was no longer used.

I hope you too will agree that each letter has its own story to tell despite its loss of use in our modern alphabet and society.

Societal Evolution

Secondly, wynn (Ƿ or ƿ). Wynn was used by English scribes because, as I mentioned earlier, there was no ‘W’ in the Latin alphabet. The scribes found the ‘uu’ shape of a double-u too hard to write, and so the wynn was proposed. However, people stuck to using the original ‘uu’ format, and the ‘w’ we know today was formed.

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E

volution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.

According to scientists stretched across our globe, that is one of the definitions of Evolution. However, I don’t believe that everything can be wrapped up in a bow and given such a pretty label and perfect definition, because right now our society is representing Evolution.

Change.

as possible, until they are just another theory of evolution to be discovered by another Darwin. However, I also believe that we shouldn’t be focusing on all the negatives that happen.

For over a year now, we have been forced into one of the strangest forms of adaptability. But from this we learnt that being in the confinements of our homes can encourage us to open our minds. Humans are adaptable creatures and millions of us have embraced the tiny things we have learned from Evolution shouldn’t be something that this, whether that be a new hobby or a completely new way of happened millions of years life. From small to big, we ago. It can just be the little have learnt to adapt and things, like choosing a transpose for the better; coffee over tea one time, watching our carbon or something bigger like emissions decrease and changing the way organ our nurses become soldiers, donation works to give this year has been an people a better quality of inspiration, to us all, and life. the confirmation that even in the worst situations, we Or becoming the most see heroes arise and people accepting and adaptable adapt their lives, no matter generation in history. how uprooted, and work with what they have been This year has definitely given. changed my perspective on people’s ability to So to me, the theory of change. I think when a large evolution isn’t something occurrence happens, we are able to see how many small-minded we can label, to me evolution is all people are left behind, who refuse to around us, change happens everyday adapt and change and if I am being whether we experience it or not, honest a lot of people have made me microscopic things that impact our world and its path. With the smallest doubt the human ability to grow. things changing the course of our I know that some people will never lives and allowing us to feed into new change their opinions, there may perspectives. That to me is the theory of always be someone that believes that evolution. the colour of someone’s skin defines a person or who has an opinion on who people should love. My idea of change for them is that that group of smallminded people decreases as quickly 24

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Societal Evolution

by I Fahey, Year 11

The Theory of Evolution

La Evolución de La Monarquía: ¿Necesitamos Una Familia Real?

by C Storey & H Lawrence, Year 13

S

egún expertos, Harry y Meghan dieron comienzo al fin de la monarquía con sus acusaciones de racismo en la Familia Real. Entonces, ¿Es una maravilla que la gente se pregunte si la familia real es necesaria en esta época? ¿Podemos disculpar los temas polémicos del pasado? ¿Es simplemente algo tradicional que resulta un despilfarro innecesario de dinero? De estas cuestiones de la Familia Real Inglesa, debemos considerar las otras monarquías de Europa, por ejemplo, La Corona de España, y debatir si son irrelevantes o muy importantes en la sociedad actual.

A diferencia de Harry y Meghan, quienes hicieron una entrevista con Oprah Winfrey de sus experiencias problemáticas como parte de la familia real, La Corona de España ha sufrido muchas polémicas más. Primero, hubo el evento difícil de la abdicación de Juan Carlos I, y también la corrupción financiera de la Infanta Cristina y su marido Iñaki Urdangarin.

La Infanta Cristina, hermana de Felipe, está enfrentando cargas del fraude fiscal debido al blanqueo de dinero del €5.6

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millón entre su asociación con una obra benéfica, mostrándonos que, a pesar de tener mucha riqueza, la familia real todavía se involucra en la corrupción. Al Principio, Juan Carlos tenía mucha popularidad porque reintrodujo la democracia a España, luego perdió mucho apoyo porque estuvo enredado en varios escándalos financieros y personales. Lo que fue aún más polémico fue cuando Juan Carlos fue de vacaciones muy caras y lujosas a Botsuana durante la crisis financiera española.

Durante este viaje, el Rey fue de excursión a cazar elefantes y a muchas personas les fastidió que lo hiciera, especialmente porque, en el pasado, hizo mucho trabajo con la organización caritativa WWF; entonces, su viaje pareció muy hipócrita y cruel.

apoya al rey - 15% más que en el sondeo anterior. Lo que es más, Leonor - la hija del rey Felipe es muy popular, especialmente porque será la primera reina de España desde Isabella II, que murió en 1868. Recientemente, y con su hermana, Sofía, dio su primer discurso en Barcelona en español, árabe, catalán e inglés, y creó un video para levantar la moral en España durante la pandemia.

Societal Evolution

A pesar de los problemas con la monarquía, está claro que la Corona ha mantenido su reputación y popularidad con mucho apoyo del país. La revista, El Español, le dio Felipe una tasa de popularidad del 64% y muchos jóvenes bajo los 30 años - los 45% - cree que está haciendo un buen trabajo. En años recientes, Felipe Tras su abdicación, Juan Carlos le ha distanciado de su padre y ha dejó España. Desafortunadamente rechazado la herencia de su padre, para la familia real, la reputación simbolizando una nueva época, de Juan Carlos ha empañado su sin polémica, para la Corona. popularidad; no obstante, según una encuesta realizada en agosto 2020, 64% de la población española translation overleaf →

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Translation

A

ccording to experts, Harry and Meghan triggered the end of the monarchy with accusations of racism in the Royal Family. Therefore, is it a wonder that people question whether the royal family is necessary in society today? Can we excuse controversial past matters? Is it just a tradition which is an unnecessary waste of money? From these questions regarding the English Royal Family, we must also consider the other monarchies of Europe, for example, the Crown of Spain, and debate if they are irrelevant or very important in the current society.

Unlike Harry and Meghan, who did an interview with Oprah Winfrey about their problematic experiences as part of the royal family, the Crown has suffered many more controversies. First, there was the difficult event of the abdication of Juan Carlos I, and also the financial corruption of the Infant Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin. The Infant Cristina, sister to Felipe, is facing charges of tax fraud due to their money laundering of €5.6 million through their association with a charity, showing that despite having a lot of wealth, the royal family still involves itself in corruption. At the start, Juan Carlos had a lot of popularity because he reintroduced democracy to Spain, then lost a lot of support because he was tangled in various financial

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After his abdication, Juan Carlos left Spain.

Unfortunately for the royal family, Juan Carlos’ reputation has decreased the monarchy’s popularity; however, according to a survey carried out in August 2020, 64% of the Spanish population support the king - 15% more than in the last survey.

Furthermore, Leonor - the daughter of King Filipe is very popular, especially because she will be the

first Spanish queen since Isabella II, who died in 1868. Recently, with her sister Sofia, Leonor gave her first speech in Barcelona in Spanish, Catalan and English, and she created a video to raise morale in Spain during the pandemic.

Despite the problems with the monarchy, it is clear that the Crown has maintained its reputation and popularity with a lot of support from the country. The magazine, El Español, gave Felipe an approval rating of 64% and many young people under 30 years old - 45% - believe that he is doing a good job.

In recent years, Felipe has distanced himself from his father and rejected inheritance from his father, symbolising a new age, without controversy, for the Crown.

Societal Evolution

and personal scandals.

What was even more controversial was when Juan Carlos went on a very expensive and luxurious holiday to Botswana during the Spanish financial crisis. During this trip, the king went elephant hunting which angered many people, especially as in the past Juan Carlos had done a lot of work with the charity WWF; therefore, his trip seemed very hypocritical and cruel.

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SOCIETY

by A Stadler, Year 9

economic development. Social growth in turn should have positive effects on improving our health, environment, wellbeing, and equality.

Throughout history, the government and the general public have been instrumental in creating laws to create a better, fairer society, e.g.

Child Protection legislation law and the equality act. Because of our inherent nature, every generation tries to improve on that of the one before, ensuring every action is a good one.

Even within the past decade in the U.K, the 2010 Equality Act has come into place with its main purpose to legally We all blame society, however, it is we protect people from discrimination in people that make it. Moral behavior the workplace. This is just one example is what keeps society functioning. of many.

The reason why society has powered through so many centuries is that the Therefore, society can be defined as majority of us can identify what is right many different things. Though, it is and wrong. Even though society has the people that help make the society. been threatening us throughout history Societal growth is about the positive it is the fact that we have held together, actions that society makes, and we are stronger than ever. trying to make this world a better place.

Throughout evolution, society changes and evolves and grows. The social changes that occur are done so in an attempt to improve the living standards of society and by improving

Societal Evolution

S

ociety can not be placed under a definition, as the definition of it varies from person to person.

Though commonly, people believe that society is made up of people.

Whilst others believe that we are the population’s biggest group, containing people with all different religions, cultures, and places. However, we all live together, and although the world isn’t in complete harmony, every Black Lives Matter protest, every campaign to make the world a better place, every action we are doing to ensure that this world, our home is a more equal place is a success for society.

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Throughout the 16th and 17th Centuries, ballet grew in popularity, spreading its roots across Europe. The first ballet school was founded in Paris in 1661, and finally moved from court to stage in 1681. In France ballet was combined with Opera, and it remained that way until the mid-1700’s when Jean Georges Noverre a professional ballet master - began to view ballet as something that can be performed as a narrative story to convey emotions and relationships of characters in an expressive, more physical way.

Entering the 19th Century we begin to see the famous works that still appear on stages today, with the likes of ‘Giselle’ and ‘La Sylphide’ being created in the early Romantic period. These works are staples in every ballet company, even now over 200 years later, and focus on the world of spirits, myths and subliminal beings as well as the delicate and dainty portrayal of them. These romantic ballets were characterised by the long, calf length skirts known as the Romantic Tutu as well as the introduction of Pointe work.

Classical Ballet took off from Russia in the late 19th century, and pieces like ‘Swan Lake’ (choreographed by Julius Reisinger in 1877, Moscow, to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Choreographed by Leonid Lavrosky in 1840, Leningrad, to the music

by Sergei Prokofiev) and ‘La Bayadere’ (Choreographed by French choreographer Marius Petipa in 1877, St Petersburg, to the music of Ludwig Minkus) continued →

Societal Evolution

The Evolution of Ballet

by C Reid, Year 12

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e begin our story in 16th Century Renaissance Italy: a world of sculpture and art, literature and poetry and stunning feats of architecture. Catherine De Medici, an Italian noblewoman, married the French King Henry II and there stemmed the birth of ballet. The word ‘ballet’ comes from the Italian word ‘Ballare’ meaning ‘to dance’, and in the Italian courts, noblemen and women were taught to dance and perform. Catherine funded festivals of the arts, involving ballet de cour - a mix of song, music, costume, décor, poetry and dance. However, it was King Louis XIV that elevated ballet from being an amateur pastime to a skill requiring professional training a century later.

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began to crop up across Europe and into Great Britain. The Royal Ballet’s performances of pieces like The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, La Bayadère and Coppélia among many others are all still influenced through the work of Marius Petipa today.

Ballet became more experimental as it moved into the 20th century, with the neo-classical George Balanchine style arriving after he emigrated to America from Russia and began to explore more plotless pieces, focusing on the expression of music and human emotion. He founded New York City Ballet and is still considered by some to be the greatest innovator of ballet of all time. Another example of experimentation came in the form of ‘The Rite of Spring’ by Russian choreographers Sergei Diaghilev and Michel Fokine. The piece was so radical, focusing on human sacrifice and using completely new forms of movement and costuming that it caused the audience to riot.

we continue to set. That being said, old traditions still stand, seen in one of the most recognisable symbols of ballet: the pointe shoe. Originally in the form of a simple satin slipper, the pointe shoe has evolved substantially over the past two centuries. First in the form of a simple soft shoe with no sense of support, it has moved from there to the 19th century Italian pointe shoe made with newspaper, flour paste and pasteboard with leather reinforced cardboard insoles before finally progressing to the flat platform box and strong supportive shanks (the underside of the shoe) of today.

Some popular brands like Bloch, Freed, Grishko and Capezio keep to the more traditional styles, using cardboard and glue to create the stiffness of the shank and box, leaving dancers to ‘break in’ the shoes themselves. This involves first breaking the shanks of the shoes, then warming up the glue and softening it through the dancer’s continuous movement and wear until it no longer supports them safely and the shoes become ‘dead’. The cycle then repeats Today, ballet is just as respected if not itself with a new pair. Professional more so by audiences around the world, dancers in a company can go through with dancers pushing their bodies to one to two pairs of pointe shoes a the extremes to break the boundaries week, and approximately three pairs in

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one performance, with most dancers going through one-hundred to onehundred and twenty pairs in a single season. Every shoe is hand made. Other brands like Gaynor Minden create more innovative styles inspired by the shockabsorption technology seen in athletics shoes and unbreakable elastomeric material. These shoes tend to last much longer and come with more options for customisation in terms of shape, fit, and stiffness.

Societal Evolution

Throughout time, ballet has been a defining factor in the development of many other forms of dance and is often the basis for many styles. It continues to change and evolve, developing into new and innovative ideas, but still holding on to the classical pieces that make up its history. In this it is clear to see not only how far ballet as a form of dance has evolved over the centuries, but also how far it has to go into the future and onwards.

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In 1918 women first got the right On the 3 of April 2021, Arkansas to vote. became the first of 33 states to outlaw gender-affirming In 1941 President Rosevelt issued treatment to minors. the Executive Order 8802, opening up job opportunities to people of Although it can seem like we different races. still have so far to go, I believe that in the past year, society In 1969 the Stonewall riots has come together; although took place. 20 years later the we’ve been so far apart. We have Stonewall foundation was set up, evolved away from our outdated, petitioning for LGBTQ+ rights. discriminatory ideas, and united.

We’ve come together to fight for These are just a few notable change. events in history. Looking back can help us see how far we’ve On the 20 of April 2021 Derek come. It can help us learn from Chauvin was found guilty of our mistakes, and relive the great second degree murder, third triumphs of the past. However, it degree murder and manslaughter. can also make us see how far we still have to go.

The majority of Poles disagree with the anti-abortion law, and On the 25 of May 2020 George protests took place in Krakow Floyd, a black man, was killed and Warsaw immediatley after after Derek Chauvin, white police the law came into place. officer, knelt on his neck for 9 minutes.

There has been much outcry about the anti-trans laws On the 3 of February 2021 a Polish from governors, human rights anti-abortion law came into campaigners and more. enforcement.

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CHANGE

That is not to say that there is not still injustice in the world. There is. However, these are just a few examples of how our world is changing for the better. We are uniting as a society and we are making a difference. I am hopeful that we will continue as a society to strive for justice.

For change. And for Evolution.

Societal Evolution

by M Ford, Year 9

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T

enzing Norgay (1915-1986) born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. At 1130 hours. on May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Percival Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, became the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. However, whilst both New Zealander Hillary and the expedition’s British leader John Hunt were knighted, Norgay only received an honorary medal.

Many know Mount Everest or the Tibetan Chomolungma as “Mother Goddess of the World” - for its hectic climbing seasons overrun by Western daredevils, but after research, I now associate the mountain with the work and ethos of those who help others get to the summit: the Sherpas.

What is a Sherpa? When I have asked students, family or friends, the most common response I received was ‘I’m not sure’, ‘who’s that?’ or ‘no clue’. Where despite our common knowledge of the Everest mountain climbers as a society, we fail to recognise the backbone. By definition, a sherpa is a member of a Himalayan people living on the borders of Nepal and Tibet, they are skilled climbers and are often employed to help foreign climbers by navigating the mountain as well as carrying the supplies needed along the way. Sherpas ensure the safety of those who partake in the expedition, yet the grave problem is that their safety is often the last consideration.

Man conquered the sublime - but at what cost? One third - if not more - of the estimated 225 people who have died whilst trying to conquer Mount Everest were Sherpas, yet the community fundamentally disagree in conquering the mountain - it’s a gift from the Gods, not man’s playground. Mount Everest’s traffic jams and plethora of dead body signposts aren’t the only thing to have

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led Tenzing Norgay’s son, a fellow Sherpa, Jamling Tenzing Norgay to describe how Everest has become ‘a bucket list for CEOs’. Alongside the 1970 Mount Everest Disaster which killed six Sherpas. There was also the notorious Khumbu Icefall avalanche on 18 April 2014, that killed sixteen Sherpas and caused the most deadly recorded climbing accident in Everest history. Mass disasters skimmed over by the thrill, attraction and reputation of the climb.

At the time, Pasang Sherpa, said: “Sixteen people have died on this mountain on the first day of our climb. How can we step on it now?”.

Protests began surrounding the working conditions and pay that led to the Sherpa 2014 strike, which closed the climbing season. Foreign climbers pay between $30,000 (£21,250) and as much as $160,000 (£113,260) to reach the summit whilst Sherpas bring home between $5,000 (£3,960) to $8,000 (£6,330) in a single season.

Yet the cost of the climb still cannot amount to the cost of life. The belowpar medical and life insurance for Sherpas cannot sanction nor excuse the analysis of the death rate. On Mount Everest, between 1980 and 2002, it was found it had not changed over the years, with about one death for every 10 successful ascents. As advocated by Jennifer Peedom’s 2015 Netflix Documentary “Sherpa” that unexpectedly covered the avalanche and the strike, Peedom describes how ‘the dynamic has shifted on Everest’ and exposes the deep ethical issues that exist far beyond just the base of the mountain.

As though it were a pre-disposition to the recognition of Hillary and not of Norgay, Chomolungma became Mount Everest. Named after the British geographer, the 19th Century Surveyor General of India, George Everest. With the Sherpas as its

Proletariat and the West as its Bourgeoisie, every feature of the mountain - whether that be the Hornbein Couloir, the Geneva Spur or the Hillary Step - bears a Western label that whitewashes the Sherpa cultural heritage.

Similar to how the Indigenous Australian sandstone monolith Uluru became Ayers Rock in 1873 - when non-Aboriginal explorer William Gosse dedicated it to the Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. But, the Australian social reformism through the reclamation of Ayers Rock to be Uluru/Ayers Rock in 2002, alongside the permanent closure of climbing in 2019, transcends the Western passive acceptance of Everest’s name.

Whilst the Aboriginal Anangu people have been respected, there is still much to be done.

The exploitation of Sherpas and lack of respect for Chomolungma is a dire issue that needs to be addressed.

Top of the Mountain Evolution of mindset

by S Hargreaves, Year 13

Societal Evolution

Though we have seen the evolution of time on the mountain, from 1953 to the opening of the mountain’s climbing season in May 2021, we are yet to see the evolution of mindset. We are yet to distinguish between Everest and Chomolungma. And we are yet to recognise those around us who help us to reach the summit. For Everest, it is the Sherpas. For dayto-day life, it is those around us who support us, who we overlook.

The hidden figures of society that should be at the forefront.

The issue of the exploitation of Sherpas is but a microcosm of our disregard as a society to appreciate one’s actions. Where we must evolve to recognise those who help us to reach the peak of our own lives.

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IS IT ONLY ME?

by P Williams, Environmentalist in Residence

F

or years people have spoken about the consequences of not addressing the climate crisis, for not addressing deforestation or the use of single use plastics the UK running out of landfill or pollution of our seas and oceans and while we talk about these most important issues with little or no action it gets worse especially considering what we are creating for future generations. We have spoken enough and now before it is too late we need to act. It’s not too late just as long as we realise the importance of action now.

need to RESPECT the environment and ALL People. Nobody owns the world, we just travel through it during our lives.

North American Indians teach their young people: “Mother nature provides everything we need to sustain life. Nothing can be more important than protecting her for those who come after us.”

Juan Kunchikuy, who is one of the Amazon Rainforest’s most famous guides during a visit to the UK said: “In the rainforest we coexist with nature as we Please never think that you Humans are part of nature. What cannot make a difference. Edwin we do not understand is that you Everett Hale once wrote: (us) in your world put humans on one side and the rest of nature on “I am only one person the other side. You have separated But I still am one them and that will never work.

I cannot do everything We humans need what the rest of But still can do something”. nature provides. The Rainforest is our hardware store, our If we all take one step in the supermarket, our pharmacy. Is it same direction then together it not the same for you?” becomes a major step in creating a sustainable future. We are At Pipers we have embedded good people but often do not sustainability and environmental realise how our daily actions at awareness into the fabric, the home or at work impact on the ethos of the school through environment and the world. We different activities and a very

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strong and active HOPE (Helping Others Protect The Environment) Eco group. but we will never reach our full potential if all of us do not make sustainability part of our lives at work at home and at school.

Environmental Evolution

Whether watching the Red Kites glide and swoop over the playing fields or watching dolphins crest the waters off the coast of Wales.

Whether it’s seeing scientists on TV discover new medicinal properties from rainforest plants or looking up at the clear skies due to less planes flying and to see so many stars like we have never seen before.

You realise just how wonderful and important this beautiful planet is; how lucky we are to experience it and that it is only right and respectful to take care of it so that future generations can also enjoy this special place Planet Earth, our home.

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by E Graham, Year 12

METAMORPHOSIS 42

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he process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form enables the lowly caterpillar to turn into a creature famed for its majesty, the butterfly, and a grey pond larva into a noble, electric ultramarine dragonfly. And with that I welcome you to the fantastical world of metamorphosis.

Almost all species undergo metamorphosis. If we, humans did not metamorphosise we would all look like overgrown babies. The most famous and best example of metamorphosis is none other than that of the butterfly. A butterfly will begin its life as an egg. They then grow into larva. The larva has yet to develop reproductive organs; in order to do this they must undergo a transformation like no other.

The caterpillar forms a shell to cage itself in called a pupa (a chrysalis for butterflies). In this stage of development the insect produces a hormone called the prothoracicotropic hormone; this simulates the insect to grow elaborate wings independent of the body. The pieces of the body are formed before attaching to the body like the putting together of a jigsaw puzzle; a leg made at the head of the insect can attach to the end of the insect’s body. The insect’s ability to do this enables the pupa stage to be shortened.

Finally, at the end of the metamorphosis, adults emerge by breaking down the shell that has caged them for so long. They burst from their confinement with breathtaking passion and beat their colourful, scaled wings for the first time. Then they will fly daintily over the flowers of summer and drink their sweet nectar and will then be admired by a wandering human, its

fluttering wings a pastel yellow, the colour of freshly churned butter, and so the human will name this creature a butterfly.

The Greek God of Love, Eros, is often depicted with many butterflies; this is understandable as his love and wife is called Psyche, the greek word for butterfly. Eros is portrayed as a beautiful youth with a bow and a quiver and in this quiver lies a gold-tipped arrow that he shoots and the person it hits will become infatuated with the next being they see.

Environmental Evolution

On one occasion Aphrodite, his mother, fuelled by envy of her many suitors, orders Eros to make the mortal girl fall in love with a hideous creature. Eros flies down to earth to shoot the mortal but he pricks himself with an arrow and falls head over heels in love with Psyche. Eros oranises secret meetings with Psyche in an isolated sacred grove in the privacy of total darkness. But one night she lights a candle at their meeting and discovers Eros’ identity. Eros, feeling betrayed and enraged, flees. The heartbroken Psyche begs the gods to gain back the love of her darling Eros. In the end, after performing a series of all but impossible tasks imposed on her by Aphrodite, she wins back both the goddess’ and Eros’ trust. Eros and his butterfly are united again.

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Fast Fashion: it is characterised as a highly-profitable business model, based on replicating ‘catwalk’ trends and highfashion designs, and mass-producing them at a low cost. And it’s been ripping through Europe’s streets uncontrollably – criminally, but discreetly. This is nothing new: Fast Fashion in the UK has its origins deep-rooted in the mid-19th century, gaining speed exponentially after the Industrial Revolution, and introducing new, industrial textile machines, and bulk-clothing.

But the game-changer? First introduced in 1846 to decrease manual sewing labour in factories, it’s a given these days. The sewing machine catalysed a dramatic fall in the price of clothing, and an increase in the sale of manufactured clothing… merely a foreshadow of the ongoing environmental catastrophe almost 200 years later. Even the term “sweatshop” has ancient ancestry, used to refer to a group of lowly-paid employees in small workshops, to whom certain aspects of production were outsourced in the 19th century, called “sweaters.”

This novel practice continued in the early 20th century, but only marginally – by today’s standards anyway. Many affluent, middle-class citizens employed a dressmaker, whilst poorer, lower class women still made many garments themselves, hence much of the sewing work was completed at home, or in small workshops, until the approach of World War II. continued →

Environmental Evolution

The Evolution of Fast Fashion

by C James, Year 10

P

icture yourself as a five-yearold child, in a primitive squatter settlement, in Nekemte Town, Eastern Ethiopia. Barren vachellia abyssinica bark comprises a bedroom wall, mahogany dust, fine grey pebbles, and a frayed “biridi libisi,” for a bed.

Torturous, sixteen-hour shifts are standard, for as little as 3p per hour, to feed your four siblings: Yonas, 3, Amadi, 4, and Kofi, 7 who come to work with you. It’s a scorching 38C. Your “habesha kemis” wrings with sweat and the stench of toxic chemicals, dyes and bodily fluids never subsides. You’re lucky to return home without a bruise. But this remains the only option. For 3p an hour, so Yonas will get his portion of Shiro de Kibbe.

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And we’ve not turned back.

World War II brought fabric restrictions and more functional clothing styles, that, rather out of necessity than choice, forced an increase in standardised production of all clothing, which the middleclass market became accustomed to, continuing to purchase cheaper, mass-produced clothing even after the war, that essentially planted the exponential growth of this trend in the 1960s. It’s no surprise that retailers had to immediately source a method of response to the sheer demand for affordable, fashionable produce, as old trends faded. In other words, when the “Made in China” label became customary, when dozens of European and American fashion businesses, namely Primark, H&M, Zara and the Arcadia group - saved millions by opening textile mills around the world: China, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam…

Nekemte Town, where today, collectively over 250 million children walk in Yonas’ broken sandals, in the same “habesha kemis” for 0.0174 Ethiopian Birr an hour.

It’s a term dreaded by most fashiongiant CEOs, as demonstrated by Phil Knight, Nike CEO and founder, whose refusal to unpick atrocious allegations of child labour in Third World countries sparked criticism of the brand. Considering for every £1 profit Nike generates, approximately only 0.5p will fall into Yonas’ hands – if that. So, it’s a wonder how convincing a one-liner really is at the bottom of Nike’s website about ethicality.

Here’s why we cannot pause the evolution of fashion here: The Fast Fashion industry generates a staggering 80 billion cheap, poor quality, mass-produced garments per year - a 400% increase than a mere 20 46

years ago – averaging at 10 garments per person per year. And, according to the clothes waste charity “TRAID,” each garment is only worn an average of 10 times. This continual cycle of disposal is fuelled by the knowledge of a new trend rapidly replacing the one the previous year, hence, there is a lack of incentive to take care of these older clothes. And you can guess where they end up. Most garments end up in landfill sites, or are incinerated – taking 200 years to decompose.

There are other issues too. Among energy consumption, and toxic waste water – the latter of which is currently threatening 1 in 3 people’s access to safe water worldwide, as well as the abhorrent human rights issues lying behind each loose thread. But the point of this article is to suggest an alternative, by looking at a path already walked, and a path that is having appalling consequences.

There are ways out.

Fair Trade Fashion, for instance, is an option. Of course, the hefty cost is an immediate let-down and contradicts the cheap, appealing lure of Fast Fashion. The question, ultimately, is not why is this good, but why is it better? And here comes the power of a few extra pounds: structure, policy, livelihood.

Yes, it is expensive, but yes, the superior quality and longevity of sustainably-sourced, low-impact fabric is a major advantage, coupled with a guaranteed wage that suitably reflects a manageable workload, completed in safe, harassment-free conditions, without the use of forced-labour or miners. And to answer the question, it should be emphasised the value of the human being, whose existence and well-being are at the core of these organisations’ ethics and objectives, not the dollar sign on the ripped white label.

Environmental Evolution

Consequently, this article has demonstrated that it is largely – but not all – a matter of evolution – of the economy, of style, of production, and of ease, speed and convenience. And this cannot stop here, for the sake of tomorrow’s generations who work to satisfy today’s demands, behind stiff closed doors. The question is, will we be able to evolve, as a society, to appreciate the social, economic and environmental damage that an insatiable craving for more is doing? Or will we evolve, to continue to forget, or take advantage of what other’s risk their lives doing, for our own pleasure?

Evolution is a process, evolution is continuous, but firstly – for how long are we prepared to sit on what we know, and secondly, what are we or you – going to do to evolve our habits and who for? For the environment’s sake, for the quality or the dollar sign? Or for human life, for the three-year-old, so his portion of Shiro de Kibbe won’t run low tonight.

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M

y interest in space has been a long-standing affair, however, after not being blessed with the science-brains, independent research has been my main source of inspiration. Upon my much extensive research, on space in general, theories of space, and so on…I have realised that gender equality within the space industry is something kept relatively under wraps. So why write about gender inequalities in space, something seeming so small? Although it may seem small, the general concept of it lies deeper within our society. If a woman cannot secure an equal place within the space industry, then what else is she not able to do?

“It’s a man’s world”: A term that unfortunately conforms to the neglected world of women in space.

The evolution, or lack thereof, of women in space, still has extensive room for improvement; this article aims to show you the highlights, disappointments, and reasoning behind women’s journey in space throughout time.

With technology constantly evolving one would think that gender equality within space programmes would be the norm, however out of the 566 people who have been to space only 65 of them have been women. So where did these roots of inequality originate from?

When NASA first opened in 1950, astronauts were selected from the military pool due to wanting pilots with engineering backgrounds which does make relative sense. However at this time women were not permitted to be pilots, and consequently were not even considered as an option: an automatic disadvantage which isn’t half-surprising. The first man to go to space was Yuri Gagarin in June 1961, and it was three years later in 1963 the first woman Valentina Tereshkova also spent 70 hours orbiting the earth in space. After that it took a further 10 years for the first American women ``Sally Ride” to make it off the ground.

Although the time span between men and women first making it to space was relatively equal, the events and

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been updated since 1978- were only designed for men, and the smallest size was discontinued in 1990. This design flaw unsurprisingly affected women’s ability to go to space; in 2019 Anne McClain planned to perform the firstever all-female spacewalk to install new batteries on the international space station. The limited options with spacesuit sizing meant she was forced to wear a size medium, and although she assumed it was suitable in training however when she reached space she realised that a size small would’ve been better suited for her. Consequently, Anne never stepped foot outside onto the International Space Station, and her place was taken by Nick Hague. Not only were the uniforms designed for men, but the spaceships themselves were also. The toilet’s design was suited to a man’s physiology, and the mechanical functioning of it is inconsiderate of woman’s menstruation; the water is filtered from clean urine however if any other material is detected it will not be filtered hence why women’s periods would be a problem, thus why multiple women who go to space chose to go on the contraceptive pill as a method of prevention; essentially suppressing their womanhood for a design flaw. It’s almost laughable to think a process as The lack of evolution of women in space simple as going to the toilet even holds has been exposed to an immediate prejudice. disadvantage from the get-go; the male-oriented world has been built and Not only are there these mechanical shaped upon masculine foundations, issues with female space travel, but therefore there has been little to no there are also systematic issues that are available adaptation for women. For not often addressed. The NASA board continued → starters, the suits- which have not is run by predominantly

by E Lindsay, Year 12

THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN IN SPACE

Environmental Evolution

evolution of women’s place within space has been pretty much a downhill road since. In other countries which usually have more rigid social standards such as China the statistics are even lower, out of the nine who have been to space only two of them have been women, and it is a concern that inequality stretches so wide around the world that is has become essentially a universal trend for women to just be ignored. For some even more upsetting figures, statistics from the international society of women airline pilots state that only a mere 5% of pilots are women and an even more minute 1.42% of women are captains.

To answer the most obvious questions most people probably assume when they read those figures: “there must be a reason for this”. No, there is not. In “1944 women were deemed able to fly equally well as men”. These words were spoken

by Henry Arnold who at the time was a commanding general of the U.S Military.

These words were spoken after women have been ferrying and testing military aircrafts. Unfortunately, even Arnold’s words did not carry enough weight, and women were still not allowed to be pilots. Flash forwards to today and there is no surprise that there is such a gap of inequality.

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males, and throughout time there have been strings of sexist comments and a lack of understanding of women. Margret Weitekamp, Chair of Space and History department at Smithsonian National Space Station, stated that women’s data had been ignored and deemed as “too complicated and irrelevant”.

The sexist comments don’t stop there, Weitekamp also admitted that it had been saying for a woman to go to space would be “frivolous and if a woman were injured or killed it would be enough to pull a plug on the whole programme”. A rather pessimistic way of looking at things, but how is the worth of a man’s life any less than a woman’s?

It is not surprising that a mostly male-dominated organisation is lacking in understanding of the apparently “incomprehensible” nature of females. STEM is currently 26% female and 74% men, so I dread to think how much bigger that gap would have been when STEM first began. Certain amusing factors stand out like astronaut Sally Ride being given 100 tampons for a 1 week trip to space. I don’t think that one needs much explaining. Other smaller trivial assumptions like automatically assuming Ride would want to wear makeup in space, and I think you can imagine the type of ideas that would have been proposed in a room full of male physicists in 1983.

So why is it that women are put at such a disadvantage? After deciding to get some more local responses to see what the general stigma is thought to be around the 50

subject, the most common response was “I’d rather not be surrounded by only men for such a long period” or “there are more men in STEM” or even that “it sounds very physically demanding”. The general response has been an eyeopener to the fact that the unconscious attitude towards inequalities between genders does not only run within men but also within women too. These expectations and stereotypes have been so strongly forced upon society that even women themselves can’t escape this sexist mindset of men being somehow superior in a job just because it is physically and mentally demanding.

While of course, a woman does have some disadvantages when going to space such as being more likely to contract a urinary tract infection, or being more susceptible to radiation however men also have disadvantages in areas where women actually have the upper hand: men’s eyes are more at risk of fluid build-up behind the eye as well as hearing decline being a lot faster in men than women. The physicality of the average woman is also usually more favorable due to women being typically smaller, and require less food, all of which require less fuel and oxygen for travel. In 1960 Dr. William Randolph Lovelace a NASA contractor announced that female astronaut Jerrie Cobb had passed all of the physical tests to make it onto the space program, and as well as that 12/19 of the other initial female candidates passed all 87 physical tests. Of course in any profession there will be advantages and disadvantages for both genders, however, the main

Although there have been promises and words of reassurance for the future of women in space, such as NASA’s announcement that £1.26 billion is to be spent on getting the first women on the moon by 2024, which sounds seemingly promising for the evolution of women in space yet it is hard for one to assume the legitimacy of these statements.

“It’s a good one and the obvious next step,” said Addeen Denton, a planetary scientist at Brown University. “However, within context, I think the phrasing of their current plans, depriving the likely intent behind them, is much more tokenising than it is uplifting”.

The obvious sexist theme of Denton’s opinions makes it hard to believe that the future for women on the moon is

nothing more than a “one-hit wonder” type event, and is only taking place to fill the gender inequality gap within the organisation and to avoid further public scrutiny.

My parting thoughts lie within the idea that if women can have a completely equal part of space, the highest point of the universe, then there is an equal place in all parts of our society. We must do better!

Environmental Evolution

point here is that there is generally equal ground for both men and women so why is it women should be put at such a disadvantage?

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VALETE

Katia Grobecker | Nurse Since joining Pipers in 2019 Katia has shown exceptional commitment to her role as one of the two School nurses.

Katia has been a highly valued member of the pastoral team and many of us have learnt from her wealth of experience as well as benefitted from her support and friendship. Katia has been a rock to many pupils. Her calm, consistent care and endless patience and support will be sorely missed. Katia has liaised well with parents and when necessary outside agencies, tirelessly chasing them to get the support the student needed. For Katia it is always about the students and her empathy for and focus on them has enriched many lives. Katia has loved working at Pipers she says but sadly the commute to New Zealand where she will return with her family just won’t work.

Karen Ingrams | Teacher of Physics Karen joined Pipers Corner in 1999, initially as an assistant science technician and was promoted to senior technician in 2001. She was inspired to train as a teacher in 2007 and Pipers were delighted to welcome her back as a qualified physics teacher in 2010. Karen is a highly committed, considerate and organised teacher with a meticulous attention to detail. Her dedication and commitment to the students and the school is second to none and this was particularly evident when she stepped up as acting head of Physics. Karen has taught students from Years 6 to 13 and has led the STEM Crest awards at school for many years, encouraging students to think independently and get ‘hands on’ with STEM projects. She has inspired many students and has a wonderful rapport with all age groups. Karen has also played a wider role in the school community accompanying many students on ski trips, twice to Italy and once to America.

Karen is a keen gardener, and we hope retirement will allow her time to indulge her passion whilst spending more time with her grandchildren. Karen will be hugely missed by everyone in the school.

Alison Field | Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages Alison Field joined Pipers almost 20 years ago! In her early days, life was so different for this new German teacher.

There was a different Head Teacher. There were Boarders.

There were no Interactive White Boards and reports were not written on ISAMS! She has championed the virtues of German almost single-handed and promoted the students’ appreciation of the Germanic culture with her regular Osnabrück Exchange trip organised each year in collaboration with the RGS. In the face of diminishing numbers nationally taking up GCSE and A Level German, Alison continued to fly the flag for the subject in spite of its minority status. She rose to the challenges of the digital world and continued to move the German 52

Department forward embracing the many and varied changes at GCSE and A Level. She inspired the girls and proudly developed a niche and special group of students. She has weathered the storms of change and leaves a very different school than the one she joined with the recent relief as we all emerge from a life-changing Covid experience. She leaves Pipers for pastures anew in the next chapter of her life and we wish her well in her retirement with her husband Joe and her two grown up children; a new chapter which holds the excitement of becoming a Grandmother for the first time.

Jake Dewar | Teacher of Biology and Assistant Head of Lower School Jake joined the school after travelling around much of Asia and he is now once again leaving for pastures new, albeit this time maybe a little less far afield. With his youthful appearance he lowered the average age of the Science Department significantly and throughout his time here he has approached the challenges of teaching Biology and Science with his customary energy and enthusiasm.

He has always incorporated this into his lessons, which have regularly benefited from his innovative ideas and originality. Highlights which many of us will remember have been his custard powder fireball and his demonstration of osmosis using Haribo, now a staple of Open Morning demonstrations.

Throughout his time at the school Jake has always been greatly supportive of the students that he teaches, being prepared to spend extra time with them outside lessons in order to help them with their understanding of the topics. He has continued this commitment to wanting the best for his pupils into his role of Assistant Head of Year for Years 7 and 8 and I am sure that these students in particular will miss him, as will the Science Department. We all wish him the very continued → best.

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Neil McKain | Head of Religious Studies Neil McKain joined Pipers Corner as Head of Religious Studies six years ago. Known for his sharp suits, love of all things Hamilton (the musical) and great sense of humour, Neil has led his department through successful inspections, taken countless trips in the UK and Rome and inspired many students to question the unexamined life. As an active Twitter fan (@ neilmackain), we will continue to follow Neil’s various tweets about Natre (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education), SACREs (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education), epic one liners from Line of Duty, going viral in his Year 12 lesson or sharing how proud he is of his students and their academic achievements. His Sixth Form will miss his regular ‘Spec Check’ along with McKain’s Iconic Quotes and his GCSE classes will miss his emotional stories and deep and meaningful discussions. We all wish Neil the very best as he moves to his new school and know that he has made so many of his students think deeply about life, the world and beyond. A true advocate of Socratic dialogue, Neil has inspired many to question the question.

Danielle Edwards | Assistant Director of Drama Danielle leaves the Drama department after five unforgettable years, which have seen her move from Drama Assistant, through the QTS programme, to fully qualified teacher of Drama, to Head of House, to Assistant Director of Drama. This is in no small part due to her immense skill as a teacher, the empathetic way she communicates with young people and the drive she has to make a difference in the world of education.

No matter the ridiculousness of the task, Danielle took it on with her trademark deadpan sense of humour; whether that be figuring out how to gut a photocopier or choreographing a 54

kick line for sixty nuns, there was nothing that phased Danielle. As a Head of House Danielle’s sense of competitiveness drove Mandeville to victory on more occasions than is probably healthy and filled her wardrobe with shades of green that she will probably never wear again.

We will miss Danielle’s humour, kindness, positivity, sporadic food intolerances and her ability to achieve the seemingly impossible. Danielle may be leaving Pipers, but she leaves a legacy for always as a part of the Drama department.

Andy Robinson | Teacher of English What many people do not know is that well before students arrive, Mr Robinson can be seen running through the fields and woods to school, bags of marking on his back, and back again in the evenings: dark, rain, shine, wind, snow …. If not quite the Shire, the English hallways saw Mr Robinson dressed as a hobbit for Founder’s Day. In his trademark calm reflection and emphasis on inclusion in the classrooms and Department, he was perhaps more Gandalf. Mr Robinson has encouraged the voice in all, in all ages across the Senior School, in his Forms, up to preparing A Level coursework at the highest academic levels. Mr Robinson was about to launch Pipers TV, an area of personal expertise, when he decided to leave to allow his wife time to develop her career. For three years, and especially while acting as Second in the Department, even during the most challenging treks through the Land of Zoom, even unto Mordor, Andy has been a trusted, positive, empathetic, caring colleague and team player. It will be a fortunate class, Form, Department and school to have our colleague and friend.

Nicki Hartley | Director of Sport Nicki Hartley joined us in September 2019 as Director of Sport. She very quickly stepped up to the role and ensured developments started to happen in both curricular and extra-curricular PE. Lockdown One brought many changes to the department and the busy sports

hall and astro-turf soon lay silent, but Nicki made sure that PE could still be delivered to all students and so started a series of activities and challenges that could be completed in either very small spaces or with limited equipment. On our return to school in September 2020, sport was hindered in many ways with restrictions being placed on spaces, changing and equipment to name a few, but Nicki continued to push for separate training sessions and InterHouse matches to keep our students engaged. She continued to ask, ‘Can we start fixtures yet...?’ at every opportunity and when given the go ahead in June 2021 they returned with gusto. In such uncertain times, Nicki has always led with enthusiasm and a passion for sport.

She leaves Pipers to take up her new post as Director of Sport at Sir William Borlase.

Carys Thompson | Teacher of Engish One of the first things we learned about Carys was her playing Goneril in King Lear. This says much to her acting ability; I cannot imagine anyone less alike to those nightmarish daughters.

Carys is the epitome of gentle kindness in the classroom. Far from those two who cast people out, Carys would include, encourage, warm, enthuse. I saw Carys light up as her classes discovered the book: any teacher-student boundaries would disappear, and those wonderful moments one wishes for of shared adventure were a common feature of her classes. Carys’ love of reading, books, literature animated the Department’s Radio Podcasts on whatever theme. For her students to see beyond the covers of a book, to see the themes and setting integrated into our own experiences was her gift to hundreds of students through her five years at Pipers Corner. Though more honestly like Cordelia, there was perhaps a trademark wicked delight in playing Lear’s daughter, the vicious ‘ungrateful child’. The Department is losing a close colleague, fellow bibliophile continued → and friend.

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Nicola Rogers | Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages

Colin Horlick | Reprographics Manager

Nicola Rogers joined Pipers in 2018 as another member of staff who had happily defected from John Hampden Grammar School (like her Head of Department!).

Nicola brought with her the experience of her time spent at WHS and JHGS to principally promote Spanish across all three Key Stages. She always approached her teaching with a calm and gentle demeanour backed with a solid subject knowledge and attention for detail. She was a team player and always showed warmth and kindness for her students and department colleagues. She has helped raise the profile of Spanish in the Senior School and was also involved in the delivery of French in the Prep Department. We wish her well in her new venture as Head of Department at the Royal Masonic School.

It would be wrong to say that Mr Horlick has been part of the furniture at Pipers even though this is true, because the magnitude of his character, and the impact he has had, makes him so much more. He is, in fact, part of our shared heritage and exemplifies in so many ways our enduring community values.

Andy Setchell | Network Manager Andy worked at Pipers for over 10 years and was responsible for the management of the school network for the majority of this time. He once joked that he was probably responsible for most things in the school that had a plug on them, including kettles. Whilst that is not strictly true, it transpires that he was not far off.

Over the last 10 years he (and his team) have been responsible for setting up every single PC, laptop, chromebook, iPad and even telephone handset; installing all the network switches, fibre optic cables and the wireless access points that connect them all together and the vast majority of the software and online services that we run on all this technology every day.

In fact nearly every device in the school today has been purchased, configured and installed by Mr Setchell and his team.

Mr Setchell has left Pipers to serve his ambition to set up a guided mountainwalking company in Wales having recently qualified as a Mountain Leader.

Mr Setchell has therefore moved on to another IT job based in Wales, enabling him and his fiancée to start their mountain guiding adventures where there are some actual mountains!

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Mr Horlick retired this year having been the only member of staff on record to have celebrated his 90th birthday whilst on team. As Reprographics Manager he had seen technology change so much over the years. This last role masks the fact that he once been an IT engineer before the advent of the Windows operating system and even served as an RAF pilot after the Second World War. A man full of stories and with an enduring sense of humour he would often regale staff with these whilst humbly ensuring his department continued to serve the school well, and the stapler was returned when borrowed!

His kingdom in school was a stationery shop, a reprographics room and the keeper of paper supplies. His impact on the students and staff has been so much more. It is fitting that a student in Art chose to make him a focus of a large-scale art portrait and that every student in the school managed to share in his 90th birthday cake. Whilst he left the school team during a period of national restrictions it was lovely that the Headmistress’ goodbye to a man who has seen so much was broadcast to so many people within our school community via the new-fangled wonder of Zoom. We wish him continued good health as he now has more time to spend with his family.

Louise Frost | Teacher of Science Louise Frost joined the Science Department in January 2020 bringing with her a wealth of knowledge and teaching experience. She has taught across all the year groups in the senior school delivering biology, chemistry and physics lessons. Louise rose to the

challenge of teaching in Lockdown, with good humour and a smile on her face. When Louise joined the school, she would never have guessed she would be embracing such a novel way of teaching from home!

Her beloved dog, who was a regular special guest in most of her lessons has enjoyed her Zoom lesson nearly as much as the students. Louise’s warm approach to her students has made her a very popular member of the science teaching team and she will be missed next year. We wish Louise all the very best in her future endeavours.

Emily Harris | Assistant Registrar Emily fulfilled a new role for us at Pipers, and from the moment she interviewed for the role, her warmth and engaging personality shone through. We managed to steal her from Wycombe Abbey, where she once worked as a finance assistant.

She transitioned to Admissions there before joining us at Pipers. We were sad that she only stayed for about 18 months, but excitingly for her and her husband, Emily left us to head West for a new life. We wish her every happiness in Devon.

Jo Selleck | Marketing and Admissions Assistant Jo joined the School in 2014, during which time she fulfilled a number of roles within the department.

Most recently supporting the marketing department, but there can be no doubt that she was most at home answering admissionsrelated questions from prospective parents lower down the School. Jo is a naturally warm, caring and thoughtful person, who after loyally serving the School for a number of years, found the lure of returning to the recruitment industry too appealing. We haven’t lost Jo, as she has taken on the role of Front of House supervisor, but we wish Jo all the very best with the next stage of her career. continued → 57

Sue Neale | Reprographics Sue Neale has served the staff of the school for over 10 years in the school Reprographics department and now starts a new chapter working in the family business. She has smiled almost constantly as she has prepared 1000’s of teaching resources for Heads of Subject and has always been on hand to support staff in preparing worksheets, fixing photocopiers and even displaying work for students.

As an ex-teacher herself she has also worked with our youngest students regularly supporting the Pre-Prep department in caring for their children after school in the creche.

Mrs Neale remains heroically calm through the turbulent periods of the school year (for example preparing for summer examinations) and she has been a continuous source of positivity in the school. We wish her well as she starts this new phase of life and are warmth and kindness will be missed

Catherine Tebb | Head of Textiles Catherine was a valued member of the Textiles Department at Pipers for nearly 19 years and has certainly created an impressive legacy to leave behind. Her leadership skills have been hugely valued by the teaching and supporting staff working with her as well as the students who have benefitted greatly. Catherine’s ability to always give you her time and attention to support and guide, will be sorely missed. She has not only been a valued colleague and mentor but also a good friend to many over the years.

Catherine’s vast subject knowledge has meant that students have been able to realise their most ambitious creations under her expert guidance.

She taught Design Technology textiles for many years, with highly successful outcomes. More recently deciding to change the GCSE course to Art and Design Textiles, in line with the A Level course. Catherine’s lifelong thirst for learning and 58

knowledge means that she has thrown herself into this new direction and embraced the challenges it brought. The staff and students have been inspired by her own attitude to discovering new ideas and techniques, as she strived to always move the department forward and keep it current.

Catherine’s high expectations for both behaviour and quality of work, have meant that the practical outcomes are of the highest quality. The students can compete at university level, many skipping the Art Foundation stage before heading into higher education courses.

Catherine’s dedication over the years has meant she was involved in making costumes and set designs for past school productions, entered and won many competitions and took countless school trips, both residential and for the day.

Her impact was not just felt in the Art and Design Department, she also served as Head of House and a tutor as well

Sue Stanbury | Librarian Sue joined Pipers as our Librarian in October 2019. From the very beginning she had a hugely positive impact on the Library function and staff. In the year that she has been with us, Sue has brought many new professional methodologies to our Library, to enhance the School’s offering.

Sue has facilitated a series of lessons to establish a ‘habit of reading’ in our Years 7 and 8. She has masterminded a complete overhaul of the Library’s extended research resources, both online and in hard copy. She leaves us with a program to help our students develop research, referencing and citation skills, building up through all year groups to eventually prepare them for university and life after Pipers. Sue is regarded with huge respect and great affection by her colleagues and although we will miss her, we wish her all the very best with next chapter in Devon.

Catherine did not seem to ever turn off, often finding resources and inspiration for students in unusual places. Her astonishing ability to know each of her students individually almost instantly, will remain inspirational. Catherine will be hugely missed by both her colleagues and students. We wish her a very happy and healthy retirement and best wishes for any of her future projects

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Eruptions of Volcanoes from the dawn of time have Only Led Us to The I Of Now?

by N McKain, Head of Religious Studies

www.aliciawright.london | 06/2021

Pipers Lane, Great Kingshill, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP15 6LP theschool@piperscorner.co.uk 01494 718255 www.piperscorner.co.uk www.facebook.com/PipersCornerSchool @PipersCornerSch