The Glass Corridor - Issue 5

Issue 5: 28th March 2024

Editor: Shivani Jansari

Table of Contents

Events

Creative

Politics.............................................

History......................................................p12–p15

Book

STEM.............

Wellbeing................................................p21–p22

Sport.............

Music recommendations from the magazine team

BAND INTERVIEW

By Veronica Vincent

Me: “What have you been doing today?”

Oscar: “So, we’ve come to this school to do a little bit of performance, some speeches on mental health and issues we face.”

Me: “Could you please tell us a bit about your band?”

Freddie: “We’re a pop band. We’ve been writing loads of our own songs that will be released soon of which we performed – No Strings and Honey, I’m home. There’s also been a massive gap in the market for a new pop band, especially a boy band at the minute.”

Me: “How did you come up with the name of your band?”

Freddie: “It was Alex who came up with the idea of calling it Absnt mind. The whole concept is like getting a free space just to clear your mind of anything that’s weighing on your mind when you listen to our music.”

Me: “What made you want to make your band’s concept about mental health?”

Ashton: “I think with us being able to come back to school and performing, I wondered what I would say to myself if I could go back. And I think everything we talk about is something I would have loved to have known.”

Oscar: “There's so many things I would’ve wanted to have known when I was going through school. And a lot of the time, teachers are great at teaching but sometimes they don’t / can’t relate to the kids in a way that someone the same age as them can and hopefully if they see someone their same age doing what they want, they feel encouraged.”

Me: “Well, we’ve heard from people around is that the response has been great, especially because the message came from people closer to their age.”

This past term, after the flood damages from last term, we had a lot of changes at QEGS with the introduction of new timetables and the Portakabin classrooms.

But we’re finally back to our usual timetables and are mostly back to normal for the beginning of next term.

This term, our school was especially lucky because they got a new gen-z boy band to perform for the students. The boy band, Absnt mind, was touring around schools and came to our school on the 2nd of February this year, to perform for year groups 7-11. They performed covers of recent trending songs on social media platforms and a few of their own unreleased songs – No strings and Honey, I’m home.

Apart from the performance, they also came to talk to the students about mental health and wellbeing. They spoke of their own experiences in dealing with mental health and how, while fame and success may be something they hope for as a band, they would also like to use the resources they do have to spread awareness of mental health and wellbeing to their listeners through their band’s concept.

When interviewing them about this, they agreed that it was better for a young student to get advice from someone closer in age to them than a teacher, because they would relate to each other more easily and find the advice more useful and valuable, especially when coping with a problem the other has faced before.

One of the best things to do to relieve stress is to spend time with your close friends. And spending time with them is not only great at distracting you from your stress, but also makes you feel less pressured and happier and relaxed.

If you are lucky to have a few close friends, you could talk to them if they’re struggling with anything. If they’re struggling to cope with some things to, like exam stress, the burden feels lighter when you know you aren’t alone. If they’re stressed, make sure to lend an ear and be understanding. You could help each other feel better by talking about what you’re dealing with and help give solutions to each other for your problems, because they may see solution to your problems, if you yourself can’t and vice versa.

You could also organize meet ups with your friends outside if school, especially during the holidays. For year 11s, this could also mean meeting up at least once or twice during their Easter holiday while studying for their GCSE exams.

You could join a school club with your friend group, for example the school choir, which can be fun especially during school concerts. (Remember you don’t have to be an amazing singer, as long as you like singing songs and can be with your friends). Singing or playing music either in the choir or outside school can be a great way of relieving stress (and as an added bonus it could help you improve in your cognitive thinking skills).

If you don’t have a stable friend group, you could go to the No Stress Nest club in room 2 during lunchtimes. It is a safe space where students can relax and interact with others and make friends, while playing games.

If you prefer talking to someone older about and issues, you could ask for a Peer listener, who is usually someone from year 12. They will be able to give you advice and be a buddy for you.

If you’d rather, you could also talk to teachers you feel most comfortable with, or even Mrs Heseltine.

For more information and ways to deal with stress, turn to page 21

OTHER EVENTS

• Back to old timetables

• Spring Concert

• QEGS Got Talent

WORLD BOOK DAY THIS YEAR

• Library quiz

• Stop, Drop, and Read

Creative Writing + Art

Telemachus

-Maaria Rajput

It is September again and now Ariv is in year 4. Ariv lives with his mother in a semi-detached house that overlooks a deserted quarry. Ariv's bedroom has a desk with a white lamp. He is able to bend the lamp over his work in whichever way he likes. Everyday when he gets back from school Ariv goes upstairs and bends the light and scrapes at a rock he found in the quarry, with the strong plastic tool from his palaeontology set. Light

leavens the calcitic dust, which swells pleasingly through his magnifying glass.

In the daytime, zombie-ish heat palms at the closed curtains and black bugs cord over the deserted quarry. Overnight, the Jurassic era rises about him like slabs of mudstone and layers of residual warmth collapse onto the house. Everyday he waits for a bud of bone to boon the rock, a primordial gift, a dry nostril. One day Ariv’s mother finds spots on his tummy so she takes Ariv to the doctor. Ariv can be the first palaeontologistwith a spotted tummy. Heat gurgles in the grates.

Peanut

-Lewis Lowman

Peanut, peanut how I wish, That you could be in my dish, Oh peanut wherever did you go, Your nutty goodness just won’t show, You’re the only one worth the time, Peanut, peanut you will be mine, And I’m making one thing absolutely clear, I won’t be eating you this year, I’m sorry that what I did was wrong, But you taste so good on my tongue, My friend, I’m sorry your death was near, When I ate you last september, Please peanut I’m begging and pleading, You will follow and I will be leading, It was always only me and you, Our friendship grew and grew, And as I ate that final tad, I remembered all the fun we had, And as you were growing with the peas, You can finally be truly free, You are the one that has always been, The one that mattered most to me, You did not fall out from a tree, No you are great why can’t you see, when we were only kids, I remember everything we did, Peanut peanut how i wish, That you could be in my dish.

Forest

Small steps, an escape of breath, wheedling and twisting in reaching spires towards the sky.

A plume of fog wrapped around the scurrying figure, the clean smell of pine soaked into the ground. There was little noise, the only company being speckled lights far in the distance, as irregular as throwing a handful of glitter and watching it drift aimlessly. Cloying fabric reached around him in the resemblance of a hug, eerily comforting, dragging down at those who clawed forwards.

You would think wearing a wrap was smart, a shield from the battering screams of wind or the crying rain of above.

Every foot forward took an age, fighting against the barricades of snow that piled against him.

Warmth was finally suffocated as the air burned crisp in cracking strings of white.

Here is a portrait I have recently created using soft pastel. This is a medium I have never used prior to this piece and so I wanted to experiment with technique. I wanted to really encapsulate the vividness of the blues and yellows to play with colour

-Eve Herbert

Created in colour pencils, this is a copy of Danny Quirks original artwork of a man ripping his chest open. This is an artist copy I completed as part of my A level sketchbook throughout which I explore the theme of mind and body. This piece was originally created by Quirk as part of his exploration of anatomy, with some of his pieces being used for educational gains furthering the general knowledge of anatomy. I made this copy because it captures both the intricacies of the internal and external body whilst also exploring the emotions the man is feeling.

-Grace Gosling

This is a coloured pencil piece I have created to develop the style of artist Debra Lott. Lott is renowned for her use of ribbons and ropes to act as a metaphor for the entrapment of women in society. Therefore, I focused on including a ribbon in the composition to reflect this. I am overall pleased with the result.

-Eve Herbert

Would it ever be possible for AI to replace the government?

By Daniel Bradbury

With the rising use of AI across every section of society, is the public conversation lacking in imagination or is it really a threat?

Certain world leaders are increasingly showing their fragile humanity, prone to wild acts of emotion in parliaments around the world and pushing their own personal agendas at the expense of the greater good - enough to make the idea of an AI-controlled government sound almost utopian. Whilst in its current state AIis in no position to replace our human leaders, machine learning and artificial intelligence are becoming an ever more attractive way to simplify and improve many aspects of our lives including the ways in which our world governments are run and our policies made.

Governments are already starting to realise the merits of AIin making public services more efficient and citizen-friendly as well as in the use of law enforcement, for example, you may have noticed the new speed cameras in and around Lincoln which use AIto detect whether drivers are wearing seatbelts or are on their phones whilst driving. However, these are still just the early days in figuring out how this technology can be useful in the creation of the legislature and in organising the nation in a way in which people are comfortable. Comfort being the key to the use of AI, and perhaps its limitation in so far as that it can only be used as much as the public are comfortable with it and so big decision making may perhaps never be transferred to AI politicians out of fear.

However, this may be restricting the true power of AI, using it only for analytical purposes rather than decision making as using AI removes the bias from any decision being made, having no stakes itself in the outcome of the decision like human politicians do. This may change the face of politics, perhaps resulting in utilitarian policies which benefits the most number of people, however, critics would be quick to point out that, despite being adept with numbers, AI following this utilitarian ethos would prescribe legislation that benefits the majority to the detriment of the minorityeven when the split is 51% to 49%.

What is therefore far more likely - dare I say, inevitable - is that governments around the world will eventually find ways to utilise AI in smaller and smaller increments which will compound to form a political system that makes use of machines for the majorityof the ‘thinking work’, much in the same way that governmental systems became digitised in the 1990’s.

So whilst it may not currently be feasible, it is almost definite that, in some form, AI will play a role in national politics in the future.

‘One child, One teacher, One book, One pen can change the world.’ Malala Yousafzai.

Malala was born Swat Valley in Pakistan. Her dad was an active social activist and educator, who built a girls high school in her home town that she attended.

However, in 2007, the once peaceful town got invaded by the TTP. Also known as the Taliban, they imposed strict Islamic law and shut down girls schools and banning women from having and active role in society.

Malala got shot in the head by the Taliban but thankfully recovered. When she was back to full health, she started to campaign for women’s rights. After her traumatic start in life, she decided that something needs to change.

She has been very successful in her campaigning so far. She has won a noble peace prize, written multiple books, became the co-founder the Malala fund and is changing many girls’ lives as we speak.

Emma Watson:

Emma Watson graduated from Brown University in 2014 with a degree in English literature. In July 2014, Watson was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and helped launch the UN Women campaign HeForShe. In December, the Ms. Foundation for Women named Watson its Feminist Celebrity of 2014.

Emma Watson (born April 15, 1990, Paris, France) got famous from being a British actress and activist who was best known for playing the young wizard Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films. She also garnered attention as a spokesperson for women's equality.

Emma Watson became a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador in 2014 and she has championed the U.N. Women's HeForShe campaign.

Using this campaign, she encouraged everyone, whether male or female, to participate in change and action against negative labeling as stakeholders to achieve gender equality.

HISTORY

The History of Ukraine and Russia

by Aarushi Vinod

Why should we care?

History is often seen as a subject of the past, but in reality, it is more current than people often care to admit. This has hardly been the case more than in 2024. As major international conflicts rage across the globe, it is vital to turn to history in order to truly understand their intricacies. Two years on from Putin’s invasion, I would like to give a brief history of Ukraine and Russia, as a way of hopefully better understanding the complexities of the war.

Kievan Rus

The history of the two countries dates back over a thousand years, when the Vikings established the Riverine trading empire of Kievan Rus in 9th Century. All modern-day Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians trace their heritage to this first Slavic civilization, and from this stems fierce debate as to whether Ukraine was once part of Russia, or Russia part of Ukraine. In AD 988, Prince Volodymyr converted to Orthodox Christianity, a moment which, according to Putin, meant that “Russians and Ukrainians are one people, a single whole”. The strength of Ukrainian nationalism is in some ways born out of a reaction to this claim.

The Golden Horde and PolandLithuania Commonwealth

Kievan Rus did not last, however, as in 1240 the Mongols led by Batu Khan invaded and sacked Kyiv. This began the 123-year rule of the Golden Horde over much of present-day Ukraine and Russia, until it was defeated by Lithuanian forces in 1363. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed the Commonwealth which held dominance over all of present-day Ukraine. This dominance bore an even stronger sense of Ukrainian nationalism, leading to the 1648 Cossack rebellion which resulted in the formation of the autonomous Hetmanate, an emblem for all future Ukrainian nationalists.

The PereyeslavAgreement

As a favourable alternative to LithuanianPolish domination, the Ukrainian Cossacks turned to Russia. This led to one of the most divisive events in history, The Pereyeslav Agreement of 1654, in which the Cossacks were to swear an oath of allegiance to the Tsar in return for military protection. Whilst the Ukrainians did not see this as sacrificing their freedoms, Russia certainly did, and this is a view upheld by Putin even today. What followed was years of fighting between various armies (the Russians, Polish, Ottomans and Cossacks) for control over Ukraine, a period known as ‘The Ruin’. So for much of Ukrainian history, the nation was being tore apart by different groups- this perhaps explains why patriotism is so strong today in fighting back against the Kremlin.

The Russian Empire and Russification

UN voting for the partition in 1947

1709 marked the beginning of Russia’s control over Ukraine, following the Russian victory in the Battle of Poltova during the Great Northern War. Such domination continued into the reign of Catherine the Great, when she annexed Crimea in 1783 and dissolved the Hetmanate into ‘Novo Rossia’, a name often used by Putin today. Once Poland was absorbed in the third partition of 1795, Ukrainian land was largely handed over to the Russians, completing the transition. The consequence of all of this was heavy Russification, the process of stamping out all Ukrainian national identity, by banning their language and suppressing the Uniate Church. There was in reaction an upsurge in Ukrainian nationalism, followed by Russian repression, a recurring pattern throughout the 19th century. Russification continues to exist in Putin’s Russia and its beginnings can be traced back to this period.

Ukraine under the Soviet Union

The turbulent period of the 1917 Russian Revolution saw hope for Ukrainians, as they were granted a short-lived independence the following year. However, this was quickly quashed when Ukraine became incorporated into the USSR in 1922, which according to Putin is evidence that the Bolsheviks ‘invented Ukraine’. The Ukrainians suffered greatly under Stalin, when he engineered a famine known as the ‘Holodomor’ to stamp out resistance, resulting in nearly 3.9 million deaths. So Ukraine’s history with Russia is a very fragile one, whose trauma is deeply ingrained into Ukrainian civic identity. Animosity towards Russia was so strong, that many Ukrainians even fought for Germany in Hitler’s SSPutin’s claims of fighting neo-Nazis are a reference to this and would therefore be plausible for many Russians!

The fall of the USSR and Ukrainian Independence

On the 26th of December 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved in an agreement between politicians- Yeltsin of Russia, Kravchuk of Ukraine and Shushkevich of Belarus. The moment is interpreted differently depending on who you ask- the West would see it as liberation, whereas Putin, who was in Yeltsin’s government at the time, saw it as ‘Russians’ becoming trapped in foreign countries. Even today, he justifies his invasion of Ukraine as a ‘battle for the great, historical Russia’, against those that betrayed it in 1991. No matter what, 1991 brought independence for Ukraine, voted for almost unanimously in the referendum, and ever since, Putin has been on a mission to get it back.

Ukrainian independence 1991

The importance of history today

Ukrainian and Russian history may span over 1000 years, but it remains more important than ever today. As I hope I’ve shown, so many aspects of the conflict are rooted in historyPutin’s justifications for invasion, the strength of Ukrainian nationalism, and its existence as a state independent of Russia. History lets us deconstruct some of what is happening and understand where it is all coming from. So, nobody can just forget about history, because it lives on, and is something that every single one of us should be aware of.

A Brief History of Film

Charlotte White

In the late 19th century, after the discovery that by exposing photosensitive chemicals to light in different mediums would capture still images, many inventors set out to create a way of sequencing these images to create an early form of film. At about 8 frames per second, the human brain is fooled into seeing movement and hence early sequences of photos known as chronophotography were invented.

• In 1878, two inventors Eadweard Muybridge and Leland Stanford had a bet on whether a galloping horse has all its hooves off the ground at any given moment. To show this, Muybridge took a number of photos by using wires that controlled the shutter of the camera at even intervals. This showed clearly for the first time an early motion picture, and with the invention of the Zoopraxiscopea year later the series of images could be showed in a way that movement was created for the first time.

• 11 years later, in 1889 Thomas Edison and his assistant William Dickson created the design for the first Kinetoscope- a box for a single person to view a loop of celluloid film around a minute long. By 1893 these peep boxes were all over the world, with short films produced and distributed by the Edison company. Most being filmed in the worlds' first production studio; the Black Maria was a dark wood building on a circular track with a retractable roof to capture as much light as possible to shoot the film for the

Because history is about a lot more than just kings and queens!

Because history is about a lot more than just kings and queens!

• In 1895, William Dickson helped design the Latham loop, a way of recording on film that allowed a longer continuous run time without the film jamming in the camera at higher speeds.

It was during this time that early filmmakers across the world experimented with a way of projecting the film they were now able to create; with peep-boxes being the first step in capitalizing on this new art form as only a single person could view one at a time. Many inventors attempted it, but recognition of the projector's designer goes to the Lumière brothers in 1895.

Auguste and Louis gave the first 10 movie screening of their new Cinématographe on the 28th December 1895 in Paris. This was the first ever public film screening, which contained the iconic Workers leaving the Lumière factory sketch which is often mimicked and reused in cinema even now. The cinématographe was instantly successful all over the world, being a new art form focused on working and poorer communities which was quickly capitalized on in America by the likes of Edison.

• This invention quickly spurred on the early advancement in film production from start to finish, with more inventors now experimenting with preproduction narrative and plot by creating new genres. As well as physical special effects and shot types/movement added during filming, they also discovered editing where previous films had been completely linear. This process was supported by production companies, with the three main pioneering studios in France.

• Georges Méliès was a French stage director who was there at the original Lumière screening and saw the potential for narrative and fantasy in the world of film. The brothers refused to sell him a camera originally, but once Méliès bought one in early 1896 and experimented with the technology he developed the first special effects in film. By using ‘tricks’ such as double exposure, edits to change time, dissolves between cuts and colouring the film.

• Over his 17-year career, Méliès created over 500 short film form his studio Star Film Company. Due to his background in theatre, his films were often extravagant and based on the layout and rules of stage theatre. His most famous film Le Voyage dans la Lune (19020 was arguably the first science fiction film, using all the years of Lumière’s practice in film and theatre to make a narrative and visual spectacle.

• The first female film director, Alice GuyBlanché, created the first narrative film in 1896 The Fairy of the Cabbages. She then went on to work as head of production for the Gaumont Film Company, oneof the main studios in France and second to Pathé Frères at the time.

This then began a new era of film types and screenings, with inventors across the globe developing their own methods and machinery to show films. For example, in Brighton in the late 1890s photographers Williamson and Smith developed their own motion cameras and eventually developed the first film colouring technology. Whereas on the other side of the word, in America Edwin S. Porter joined the Edison Company and invented all different styles of editing (creating what is viewed as the continuous narrative film in 1903 in The Great Train Robbery.)

This led to a massive rise in the distribution of these new motion pictures. In the UK, due to the Social Health Acts more working-class people had disposable income, and so as the population attending the cinema increased, so did the different types of films shown.

• Eventually, multiple film studios popped up in Hollywood in the 1910s away from the patents of the East. They monopolized the film sector, owning the distribution and exhibition process and hiring filmmakers and actors on contract. This saw the start of integrated cinema, where the whole film process is owned by the studio.

• An industry standard for film was established also around 1909, with motion being filmed on 35mm and the frame rate being 24 a second.

• By 1915, Hollywood contained over 60% of Americas production companies with over 20,000 workers stationed there.

These developments continued steadily post- World War One, with key developments such as sound (The Jazz Singer, 1927,) three-strip technicolor (Becky Sharp, 1935) and changes to cinema and availability of film that lead us to the Netflix and IMAX of modern day.

William Dickinson, 1895

Film Reviews

Thelma and Louise

Thelma and Louise dir. Ridley Scott is a 1991 film that follows two friends (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis) who choose to leave their difficult and trivial lives in suburban Arkansas to take an all American road trip. However, on the way they stop in a country bar Thelma dances with a cowboy; who when Louise is in the bathroom takes Thelma out to the car park and tries to hurt her. Louise returns and threatens to shoot him, but after letting Thelma go he shows no remorse so she goes through with her threat. The two drive off totally devastated and plan to take money out of Louise’s bank and hope they don’t get caught; she refuses to go to the police as she believes they won’t believe Thelma.

The rest of the film follows two storylinessympathetic detective Hal with the FBI who tries to find the pair, and then Thelma and Louise who head west to get the money Louise’sboyfriend Jimmy has wired. On the way the pick up young drifter JD, and at the motel meet Jimmy who travelled personally to give them the money and speak to Louise for what he suspects is the last time. The next morning JD has stolen the money, and a panicked Louise and guilty Thelma continue driving with no funds. They stop at a garage and Thelma decidesto take a leaf out of JD’s book and robs the store at gunpoint.

Now unable to convince the police of their innocence, the pair focus on getting to Mexico and disappearing(but refusing to go through Texas because of Louise’s past experience,) where they lock a police officer in the boot of his car and blow up a oil tanker because of the rude driver.

The film ends with a long car chase with the police, and Louise loses them at first but then almost drives into the Grand Canyon. Followed by a helicopter and detective Hal and the FBI behind, Thelma accepts the only way to keep their freedom (from prison and from their past lives) if they “keep going.” They kiss, grab hands and dive off the cliff.

This was my second viewing of this film, and I always prefer watching a film in the cinema as it is so much easier to spot details you would certainly miss on a small screen. It was also incredible to be able to see this in one of the oldest cinemas in the UK- The Kinema in the Woods. I feel this film has aged incredibly well and is still very much relevant today, particularly how it approached sensitive issues which in Louise’scase is never discussed in any more detail than she feels comfortable with; showing the harrowing effect on a person but also an incredible use of scriptwriting by not forcing a point that is more poignant unsaid (the film was written by Callie Khouri who won an Oscar for her screenplay.)

Visually the film is also stunning, using wide shots to show the strength of the mountains, plateaus and deserts of the south west as a stage for the story about the strength of the two protagonists. The character development arc Thelma and Louise go through is definitely reflected through the cinematography and the shots and landscape go visually from small and confined to large and free.

This is without a doubt one of the greatest road trip movies ever made, and is a brilliant and timeless representation of female friendship and freedom.

Charlotte White, L6F.

The Darjeeling Limited

Josh Houghton, L6A.

The theme of loss is one that’s been explored across all forms of media for decades. There’s a good reason for that though, since it’s an integral part of being a human. It’s something all of us have gone through, or will go through, at some point in our lives. The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson’s fifth feature film, gives a really comforting and interesting depiction of loss, how people deal with it, and how it brings us together.

The film largely centres around three brothers: Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrian Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman). In the year since their father passed away, the brother’s became emotionally distant, and so lost in their own lives that they never really got a chance to fully come to terms with the loss and bond over it. After a near death experience which left him bandaged up and using a stick, Francis suddenly realises the importance of rekindling the connection between him and his two brothers. He decides to book a journey which take them all across India on a train called The Darjeeling Limited.

The moment in the film which really sold it for me was a flashback around 2/3 in which showed the brothers on the way to their father’s funeral.

But they learn that they can’t because the car does’t work. The brothers become possessed by the idea that they need to bring this car to honour their father, and that really resonated with me for some reason. The feeling of being entirely compelled to do something that makes zero practical sense.

In recent years, Anderson has been criticised by some for his over-reliance on wacky colour grading, central framing, and strange direction which can sometimes come across as the actors being kind of disinterested.

For me though, The Darjeeling Limited strikes the perfect balance between being genuinely heart-felt and emotional, and having all of the Wes Anderson silliness. The shots are very purposefully framed, but never feel like he’s just putting everything in the middle for the sake of it. The sets are beautiful and symmetrical, but they feel alive still, lived in. And the colour grading is lovely and saturated, highlighting yellows and oranges, but never crossing the line into ugliness and being weird for the sake of it.

I recommend you give The Darjeeling limited a try. It’s an extremely comforting and hilarious exploration of something which is so tricky to talk about.

Book Reviews

‘To Kill A Mockingbird ’ by Harper Lee

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story following the Finch family during The Great Depression in Maycomb, Alabama. It follows the difficult and doomed defence case of the father (Atticus Finch) for a young black man named Tom Robinson.

I found this book an interesting read as it was cleverly told through the eyes of their young daughter (Scout Finch), despite the book dealing with - what we would deem - adult topics. This was especially clever as she didn't share many of the same views as many of those around her during that time. Especially, views that seemed to follow her father and as a result found their way to her and her brother. Lee wrote about these in a way that presented their childhood innocence to said views, perhaps suggesting these values were taught rather than 'by nature'. She added to this by showing their father's views being similar to his children's to reinforce this idea.

I loved this book as it was not only a gripping and evocative read, but also contained moments of playfulness due to the viewpoint being from a child. This created a very balanced story which varied dramatically in it's pace.

Since this book was released, another book by Harper Lee has been published called 'Go Set a Watchman' which follows the same characters but later in their lives. Additionally, there has been both a play (which was recently performed in London) and a film (released in 1962) based on To Kill a Mockingbird, both of which could be a way to follow up reading the book.

Could 3D printing be the future of medicine?

By Madi Dawson 12A

Since the 1960s scientists have been toying with the idea of 3D printing for a multitude for applications. Eventually in 1986 the American scientist Charles Hull developed the first stereolithography 3D printerwhich further expanded its potential. This has created prototypes, models and patterns in a process called optical fabrication where lights cause chemicalmonomers to form crosslinks which forms useful polymers. It has since become widely accepted by the medical community as further advancements have improvedthe technology.

Uses in dentistry

3D printing has revolutionised the world of dentistry, from braces to aligners, from surgical guides to full dentures; it has had a notable impact. Intraoral scanning and 3D printing has made the uncomfortable process of biting down onto gooey clay which gradually hardens as it molds to the curves of your teeth has become quicker more accurate and most importantly, less squishy! However, intraoral scanners are very expensive and 3D printers require a unique skill set so this is much less widely available in smaller practices.

Prosthetics

3D printing has the unique ability to create highly customised prosthetics which is becoming increasingly available. These prosthetics are much more comfortable, cheaper and quicker to make.

Additionally, they are able to have specificfunction such as better grip strength for climber or increased flexibility for running and jumping, making sports and a huge variety of activities accessible once more.

The Open Bionics project has created the Hero Arm. It is an advanced, lightweight, 3D printed bionic arm. The Hero Arm has become more accessible in recent years and involves improved grip function and wrist mobility. They are available in all sorts of colours and patterns to match every personality!

This has had a monumental impact on 10-year-old Zak Dubin from the US. He is a huge sci-fi fan and by the end of April 2019 he was fitted with his Hero Arm with iron man covers just in time form the new avenger’s film: Endgame!

Organ Printing

In 2005 the Organ manufacture Centre led by Xiaohong Wang in China printed the first cells containing hydrogels into a large scale 3D tissue. Currently, the organ transplant waiting list has 103,223 people on it. 103,223 organs, but only 45,000 organ donations in a year. Despite the potential of living organ donors, this holds a huge risk to the donor as well as the recipient. 3D printing could provide a solution.

In 2006, Dr Anthony Atla and his colleagues were able to print a human bladder which saved the lives of 3 children in desperate need of transplants. This printing is incredible unique to the patient themselves which reduces risk of rejection as the process begins by a sample of the patients cells.

This sample grows and develops in a sterile incubator. This is then mixed with a bioink, which is essentially a printable mixture of living cells and water rich molecules (hydrogels) and growth factors so cells can continue to grow and differentiate.

The potential for the future is endless such as biomedical microbots for target therapies, customisable spinal chords or even heart valve replacements! The possibilities are endless. There are roughly 12 people who die every day whilst awaiting transplants- that’s over 4,000 every year! This is a devastating problem to so many families- but hope is in sight as this innovative procedure improves every single day!

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC8468820/

https://3dprint.com/305767/d-2024beyond-navigating-promising-frontiers-in3d-printed-medical-applications/

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/10/health/ 3d-printed-organs-bioprinting-life-itselfwellnessscn/index.html#:~:text=Organ%20bioprinti ng%20is%20the%20use%20of%203Dprinting%20technologies,their%20natural %20counterparts%2C%20according%20to %20a%202019%20study.

https://3dwithus.com/3d-printing-inmedicine#Dentistry

https://openbionics.com/bionic-heroes/

Wellbeing

How do sports affect your wellbeing?

Wellbeing is the state of being comfortable, happy and healthy. There are endless, extraneous variables to challenge this: one of these being physical practice. In 2023, over 60% of the UK’s population over the age of 16 engaged in regular physical activity within one or more competitive sport. Despite this number consistently rising, the percentage of mental health issues have also increased year on year – at a much more staggering rate. How does sports affect this percentage?

Research shows that different sports implicit different results on wellbeing. For example, swimming is one of the most popularly practiced sports with almost 50% of the world population above the age of 15 having the skills to swim – typically gaining them at a young age. Swimming is highly beneficial as it considered to be stressfree. Due to new technologies of insulated indoor pools, it is safe to carry out no matter the season. It also has many physical advantages as it improves lung capacity while burning calories and building up muscles.

The combination of mental and physical health benefits proves swimming to be a peak adversary to the increasing mental health issues.

Another popular sport, commonly treated as regular daily practice, is running. Runners have fewer bone and muscle problems than non-runners, proving the stark physical health benefits. Running also releases endorphins which is pivotal for reducing pain and discomfort, as well as stress, depression and anxiety. This boosts selfesteem and may support a healthier immune system. Studies show that it can also increase memory and other cognitive functions that are essential for day-to-day activities.

Most people argue that running can be stressful and too challenging to do consistently and effectively and instead turn to a ‘healthier and easier alternative’: walking. Walking is one of the most popular sports, most practiced in the USA, but heavily encouraged globally due to its simplicity and easily accessible nature. However, specialist physiologists consider this to be minimal. Alyssa Olenick, an exercise physiologist and postdoctoral research fellow in the energy metabolism lab at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, says that “once your body becomes accustomed to walking, you should pick up the pace”. She strongly advocates for people to transition from walking to running along with many other respected physiologists within the same campus.

Federal health guidelines recommend 150300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, or half as much for vigorous activity like running or swimming. Duck-chul Lee, professor of physical activity epidemiology at Iowa State University, states that “high intensity workouts such as running are significantly more efficient.” This is not only due to the increased speed but beyond lifting one foot at a time, running tests a series of bounds that require more force, energy and power than running. This increases lung and heart rate, which provides for a healthier system in the future with increased breathing depth and a more flexible circulatory system.

So how does yoga, a sport that is associated with wellbeing, compare to these higher intensity workouts? Yoga lacks the physical challenge and adrenaline rush of running. Conversely, it supports stress management, quality sleep, weight loss and an improved digestive system. This encourages mindfulness and wellbeing. These mental advantages are more exaggerated in yoga than in any high intensity physical practice.

Ultimately, the decision is up to you. All sports have different benefits, both physical and mental, and these can be maximised with more hours of the activity. When deciding a sport, it is most important to rely on your personal preference, fitness goals and any specific considerations you may have. As Khloe Kardashian says, “fitness is not about being better than someone else but instead about being better than you used to be.”

Written by Kaeya Gandecha

Podium place for the year 10 girls football team!

Charlie Courtney

The year 10 girls football team were able to finish on a podium position in the 6 a side football team at the astro following a tough semifinal game and eventually defeating Louth academy in the third place play off. The tournament featured 8 teams in two groups with a round robin system with the top two of each group progressing to a semifinal. The girls' first game was against JSTC and ended in a 0-0 draw after an end-to-end game with chances for both teams but no breakthrough coming. Coming away with a point in the opening game mean that they were still in the running.

It would be the familiar story of a draw in the second game as a long range goal in a competitive game would result in a 1-1 draw in something of a rivalry game against neighbouring Banovallum which would leave the girls with 2 points after two games but still in the running for the semi-finals if they could get a result against Louth academy who had won both of their games so far without conceding a goal.

It would be a fast start for QEGS as they would win possession off Louth from kick off and run through for a goal after only 10 or so seconds, giving Louth their first goal conceded of the entire day and put QEGS in the driving seat. Minutes later from another quick attack QEGS would score another and double their advantage and with the 10-minute-long games, and their staunch defence meant that with a comeback looking unlikely it would be a place in the final four, already a fantastic achievement.

After a disagreement in the corner and hardnosed defending, they would be able to hold on for a 2-0 victory which would take them through to the semi-finals as the runners up of group 1 on 5 points and still unbeaten with only the one goal conceded.

The semi-final would be against the winners of group 2 in Humberstone who won their group with 7 points and no goals conceded up to this point and had been playing some good football. After a valiant effort from the girls, Humberstone's quality would ultimately shine through with good passing moves giving them the victory and the place in the final but QEGS had scored the first goal

Humberstone conceded on the day and gave them their hardest match by far until the final in which Humberstone would eventually win against Skegness Grammar via a penalty shootout. This would then mean a rematch in the 3rd place playoff with Louth academy who were defeated by Skegness Grammar and over the gaps between games and the aforementioned disagreement it had become something of a grudge match but ultimately the girls would be able to come out victorious in a tight match which meant that they had secured a third place finish which given the context of the team being pulled together late and having limited experience of playing with each other was a great achievement and they very much were able to go toe to toe with all the schools that competed which was an overachievement from what they expected prior.

The event overall was a massive success with some good football played in a good spirit.