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High School

The Waffle

Issue 7 - 13 June 2025 th

A Message from Mrs Jennings

Recently I made the decision to make a concerted effort to learn how to play chess Well relearn I used to play all the time with my siblings. Much to my utter frustration, they both were always so much better at it than I was. (It is important to note.. I am an INCREDIBLY competitive person. I like to be good at things and if you ask any member of staff, I get really into even the friendliest of competitions here at school!) So when I say that my little sister, five at the time of these particular memories, somehow managed to utterly destroy me every single time we would sit down in front of the board, it's a big deal! I would storm off in a rage of frustration, shouting how I never wanted to play again. Once, I even toppled the board in a fit of childish petulance! The two of them continued to play one another and so their tactics improved and they would sit for hours at a time out manoeuvring one another and developing new ways to outdo the other On a number of occasions I remember them offering to help me to get better. I saw this as something patronising, that they pitied me and were laughing at me because I was bad at a game they seemed to find so easy! And so, I fell further and further behind simply because I couldn’t put aside my ego to say ‘ yes ’ and accept their help But when I look back on this memory, I realise that what I lacked was in fact resilience

Given that this week KS3 and KS4 participated in ‘Resilience Day’ it felt apt to reflect on this but from the perspective of Sixth Form We live in a world that often prioritizes caution and certainty There is pressure coming from everywhere to avoid being ‘bad’ at something for fear of looking silly or feeling foolish But the truth is, nothing great happens in the land of certainty It’s when we push ourselves into the unknown, when we take that leap of faith, accept that we don’t know everything and can’t do it all alone, that we find the growth, the change, and the opportunities we didn’t even know we were looking for

Whether it’s taking on a leadership role, traveling to a new place, stepping into a new class or social circle or simply taking the offer of help to improve your chess game, each “ yes ” carries a lesson It teaches us about ourselves, about others, and about the world in ways that staying within our comfort zone never will When we say “ yes, ” we give ourselves permission to stretch beyond the boundaries of what we thought was possible So, as we move towards the end of this school year and beyond, I encourage you to start saying yes! Say yes to that wild idea, yes to that ridiculously tough challenge, yes to the opportunities that scare you a little bit or make you feel uncomfortable, yes to being really, really bad at something Take a chance and be resilient when it feels tough because you’ll never know where it will take you if you don’t try As I love to say to my classes when faced with a difficult task, it may be tough, but you are tougher! So, here’s to all the chances we haven’t taken yet and all the ones we will and all the games of chess that lay ahead!

Rowan’s Rows

What goes best with chips?

Let’s face it, eating chips without condiments should be a crime – but which is the best? Ketchup is obviously the safe option, ideally when mixed with mayonnaise (for some of us), you really can’t go wrong But gravy is also a fierce contender, especially on cold days. When you ’ re in the right mood, curry sauce is also an excellent option. However, cheese is definitely lower down the list – it overpowers the chips, goes rubbery fast and leaves you wishing that you had chosen something else

The verdict? They’re all good choices, but when in doubt, choose ketchup

Creative Writing Prompt

Shaun Tan is an illustrator and painter who works in Melbourne His art often features subversive elements of scale and symbolism, such as the illustration on the right containing a towering red rabbit, a frightening, ominous and volatile figure of authority

It seems unusual for a rabbit of all animals to be used in an aggressive light To me, it provokes complicated emotions of safety versus vigilance.

Write a story or a description about a subversion/corruption of something otherwise pure and harmless It could be a place, a person, an animal or an object, etc Take inspiration from the unsettling and counterintuitive metaphor of Shaun Tan’s illustration: ‘Never leave a red sock on the clothesline’

Prompt by Alma Finnegan, Y12

Evie’s Politics Roundup Ms Doucet’s Poem of the Moment

This week, North Tyneside Mayor Karen Clark has announced the expansion of the metro systems to Washington. This will allow greater access around the North East for all and could potentially help calm critics claiming Clark has taken minimal action since election On top of this, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has announced the area will receive at least £30 million from the new government fund for science research technology This will be announced on 11th June by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, and the hope is that it will grow the local economy

Furthermore, Reeves has also announced a huge u-turn in policy surrounding the winter fuel allowance When first elected, the labour government cut down massively on this pensioner allowance leading to upset and many older citizens losing a critical £300 a month Now, ¾ of pensioners will receive the benefit this winter, and they now become eligible if annual income is £35,000 or less The policy to cut down has perhaps contributed to poor local election results and the government no doubt hopes this turn will aid their popularity.

In County Durham following the Reform party landslide in councillor elections, Councillor John Bailey has announced his resignation due to ill health. Because of this, a by-election will be held on 3rd July The party gained 65 seats in their sweeping victory and will no doubt obtain a similar result. Do you feel the by-election will reflect the same result considering it will be held just over a month after the first one?

Considering the Snail

The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright path he makes, where rain has darkened the earth’s dark He moves in a wood of desire,

pale antlers barely stirring as he hunts. I cannot tell what power is at work, drenched there with purpose, knowing nothing What is a snail’s fury? All I think is that if later

I parted the blades above the tunnel and saw the thin trail of broken white across litter, I would never have imagined the slow passion to that deliberate progress

Thom Gunn

(thanks to Nicole for introducing me to it)

The Book Nook . . . with Ms Doucet

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens

If you had the misfortune to walk past me in the corridors in the past two months, I probably collared you into a conversation about how much I was enjoying Bleak House A special apology needs to go to Dr Barker, who I frankly bullied into buying it and to the Editorial Board of The Waffle, who I traumatised with a detailed rendition of Chapter 32 (no spoilers, you’ll have to read and gasp yourselves)

I know that an English teacher writing a book review about a Charles Dickens novel is a cliche. I know that very few of you are going to, on the strength of this article, pick up the 900 page door stop and give it a go But I can’t help myself So here it is

Bleak House is a sprawling saga that aims its disdain, anger and satire at the Courts of Chancery, which (Wikipedia tells me) is the arm of the English legal system that deals with inheritances and wills and disputes about them The case at the centre of this story is Jarndyce and Jarndyce – a dispute about which branch of the family will inherit its enormous fortune When the novel begins the dispute has been going on for decades Characters who were babies when it started are now old and there is no end in sight The case is a sort of contagion, pulling people in with a tantalising promise of future wealth until they are lost in the addiction to a toxic, delusional hope. The case, and the court that perpetuates it, function for Dickens as symbols of the consequences of a system that disregards the human beings it organises

The narrative switches between a third person, omniscient narrator who hates the world and everything in it and Esther Summerson, a young woman who becomes a ward of one of the Jarndyces. In this way, Dickens manages to tell this story both in broad panorama and in detailed character study Over the course of the novel we come to care about a sweeping cast of characters from Jo, the poor, young, homeless street sweeper always being told to ‘ move on ’ without ever being to told where to go, to Harold Skimpole–the infuriating man of leisure who doesn’t know what money means and so spends everyone ’ s with a smile We also spend some time with Inspector Bucket: one of the first fictional detective characters, because this is also a murder mystery!! It has everything

For me, with Victorian novels in general and with Charles Dickens in particular, it's the heart that gets me every time Bleak House is a bleak novel The system wins, the poor die, the bereft suffer and those in power don’t care. Dickens makes sure we see that. But it is also a novel full of people trying to care, to be better and to love each other. Their actions, occasionally effective, occasionally futile, combine to mount a powerful counterargument to a system that doesn’t care When people dismiss Victorian novels as sentimental, they perhaps aren’t pausing to consider just how powerful an opponent human sentiment can be to structures that insist we don’t matter

Ms E Doucet, Head of Year 11 and Sixth Form

Creative Writing Feature

Soft Steel / Solace Slipping

The ceaseless, serpentine wind slithers and snaps, a sculptor of snow and sorrow, as I study you. You’re a sliver of grey against the stark, silent white; still and ready at the nest’s precipice The nest, stitched from the softest moss and shadowed lichen, shrinks in my sight, now almost a silly souvenir It seems seconds since I sheltered you, those smooth, shimmering eggs, each a soft, silent song on the savage sweeping winds.

My sight settles on your stretching wings, testing the air, teasing. Each tiny tremor echoes with bashful efforts, clumsy crashes and coy calls that coloured the clear, crisp days I still see the slant of your small beak as I served shattered ice beetles, you snuggling and shivering on severe nights, a small sun against my soul Soon, that solace slips away, scattered across the severe, sprawling sheet of the glacier.

A sudden surge of sharp wind slices and stings, sending silent streams down your face. I strive to see the stark skyline, a serrated set of summits against a sombre sky It stirs something similar to the sight of your sire sending you soaring; the shocking slip into the strange, the sincere, the sorrowful sensation of that solo soar I see now the solid strength in your song–the lone despair shrouded in strong support.

You stop: a swift, shy stare, and suddenly, I see myself, a spark of my spirit within you I strain to scream, to save you from the sinister shades of the sharp icefalls, but sense I should set you sailing I send a soft sigh, a silent sacrament, a sure sign of sincere support. With a determined dive, you dance into the domain, a delicate dot devoured by the daunting distance. I stay still, silent, sure you’ll survive, swallowed by snow and sky, and speak a spell for your safety, your strength, your song, in the soul of the solid, still, snowy scene

Shoutouts . . .

In which we shine some light on the achievements, kindnesses and general brilliance of our Y11-Y13 Community

Laurie Smith and Olivia McSherry for completing their Lifeguard training! Very impressive

Kenzie L for really digging deep in less than ideal circumstances in a GCSE Maths exam.

Isobel Dillon, Year 10, with thanks to Jane Weir.

Alma’s Nerd Alert - Game Review

The Last of Us Part II and Our Voluntary Blindness in Vengeance

NOSFERATU

I know that it hasn’t been too long since I reviewed ‘The Last of Us Part I’, but after finishing ‘The Last of Us Part II’ in the half term holidays, I knew that there was no way on earth that I couldn’t talk about it Yet again, another game has changed my life, and yet again, I want it to change yours.

‘The Last of Us Part II’ is a story like no other that I’ve ever experienced It is a story of empathy, vengeance, and the trenches of loss. It's a story with no relief, where grief maims and makes ugly, and the ending made me sob-cry harder than any other story in recent memory I am in awe of how on earth a game made me feel guilty for even laying my hands on the keyboard, made me deliberately fail levels and quick-reaction tasks just to feel morally disencumbered, and yet kept me painfully, mournfully understanding of every action that the characters took Cheery, right? No, it’s true, this is a heavy game and a heavy review While there are plenty of light moments in ‘The Last of Us Part II’, they are most often transient points of relief At the same time, the game wants for nothing. Its characters are driven in a way that feels authentic and fiercely passionate

To clarify, I have watched the HBO Series of ‘The Last of Us’, and the new second season which covers just under a half of this game (so therefore may imply ‘spoilers’ for what might happen in later seasons) For this review’s sake, I’d ask you to treat them as different stories, and if you ’ re interested, full playthroughs of the games are available on Youtube (you can find a compilation of all the cutscenes) Also, in order to at all break down this story, It is imperative that I mention some spoilers. The only major event spoiler I’ll give is from the earliest possible section of the game, and it’s a death (with a few situation details) The other ‘spoilers’ are informational, with elaborations on characters and their motives, and the tone and structure of the story at different points in the game. So if you ’ re wanting to experience the game blind, stop right here! Otherwise, I’ll continue:

For a little context, Ellie, the first main character of this game, is essentially the adopted daughter of Joel following the first game She is now 19 years old, and in recent days before the events of the game, the pair have fallen out. It seems that Ellie and Joel have not talked amicably in a while before the first catalytic event of the story occurs: After a tragically coincidental meeting, Joel meets a terrible death at the hands of Abby, which Ellie stumbles into and is unable to do anything but watch. Needless to say, I was seething towards Abby I would talk to my friends at length about this hatred as I went through this first section of the game (told from the perspective of the grieving, vengeful Ellie). However, when the second began, I was beyond frustrated You see, the second section of the game is told from the perspective of Abby, in the same frame of time that the first is played. At this point, I couldn’t care less to see the perspective of this character who had caused so much damage I didn’t want to hear it I didn’t want to be persuaded to understand

TLOU Part II

Age Rating: 17+ (Extreme violence, swearing, adult scenes, and its super duper sad)

Alma’s Rating: 15 / 10

Platforms: PS4, PS5, PC (Windows)

I felt angry to control her, to know her life. It disagreed with my perspective to see her as a person, to watch her have quiet moments with her friends, to see her struggle and feel fear, to play fetch with a dog. In flashback cutscenes, I’d see Abby and her father in the same kind of heartfelt recollections as I’ve seen between Joel and Ellie

Each time, I’d not feel affection, but a horrible moral dissonance. How can someone I hate be so agonisingly human? I’ve seen other players complain about this section of the game a lot

They complain that the writers and developers are attempting to force us to like Abby, but I don’t see that this is the case at all ‘Liking’ the character has nothing to do with this section of the game Rather, it is an exercise in the limits of empathy against the gnaw of heartache.

But after all that hatred, somewhere around the six hour mark of playing as Abby, I found that I just couldn’t hate her anymore She was too flawed and too genuine. A lot of her side of the story showed her pained attempts at self-improvement, but also heart-breakingly demonstrated the ways in which she was still flawed and made poor decisions, as we all do. I came to understand that there doesn’t always have to be a guilty party, but that the hurt of accepting this is oftentimes too hard to bear In the first game, I came to accept loving Joel as a character while acknowledging that he had done terrible things Now, most frustratingly, I have been forced to reckon with the idea that loving Joel does not necessarily require despising his murderer. It's a tough line of thought to commit to, and in taking it up, the brunt of the moral weight fell on my own shoulders Not that I was to blame, but that I wanted so much to blame, and could find no adequate place to set it down It's an utter mess in the most human way possible

I worry that the need to blame is a necessary product of grief It must be a way we try to prevent recurrence of painful events Perhaps the largest focus of the game is on the inherent tragedy of vengeance, but I find that it never offers any satisfying solution to the desire itself It is captivatingly ambiguous I couldn’t possibly expect any of the characters to behave in any way other than how they did. As much as I can empathise with Abby now that I understand her story and her own struggles, I am also lost in the sorrow of Ellie’s story. She is overcome with the loss of Joel, petrified of being alone, and undeniably vulnerable. She has nowhere near the physical power nor extensive training of Abby She’s smaller, weaker, lonelier. It's unbearable. How could I expect her to do anything other than seek revenge against the odds?

As the player, we are privileged to have an insight into Abby’s story Enough of an insight that, for me, when confrontations inevitably occurred between Abby and Ellie, I felt so complicit, guilt-stricken and dismayed to the point that I just took my hands off the keyboard and mouse These two characters bear near identical struggles, and each possess a total, tantalising blindness to the others’ torment The position of the player in ‘TLOU PII’ discloses an understanding of both sides of opposing stories that is essentially impossible to gain in real scenario No wonder many players expressed a strong dislike for this game for forcing such an uncomfortable yet valuable reflection It invites us to understand how little of the world we really see in our lifetimes, and how complicated every ‘justified’ action really is.

What I took away from my experience with ‘The Last of Us Part II’ is a sore awareness of the lucidity in other people’s lives, especially those that I might argue with, or those who do terrible things It goes against everything to empathise with people who we despise, but I think that this is one of the only meaningful steps towards larger peace that an individual can take You need not like someone to understand them You need not forgive to empathise I’m sorry for such a miserable review today. You can probably tell I had a lot to get off my chest So if you ’ re able to play it, I couldn’t recommend this game more It has improved me Me and Grace have watched the new season of the ‘TLOU’ HBO series, and we have plenty of thoughts to share on it

As usual, I would highly recommend you give this game a go if you have the means especially if you ’ ve watched the show and are yearning for more It couldn’t be more worth it, no matter how morally implicating it can feel at times!

Alma Finnegan, Y12

Guess the Sixth Former - Y12

Name Bank:

Elena Thompson

Laurie Smith

Olivia McSherry

Sophie Oxley

Maisie Metcalfe

Kate Killey

Owen Husband

Lauren’s Puzzles:

CREATE Grace’s Film Reviews

‘The Last of Us’ - Season 2

A Dialogue between Grace and Alma

Picking up five years after the events of season 1, Season 2 follows Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) as their past begins to catch up with them and draws them into a world far more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.

Grace:

After the critical acclaim garnered by ‘The Last Of Us’ season 1, season 2 had a lot to live up to, however this continuation of the story fails to reach the expectations of fans of the game and TV viewers alike Season one followed smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) as he escorted the charmingly inquisitive Ellie across an America made treacherous by rival survivors and the bloodthirsty infected It is believed by the group The Fireflies that Ellie's blood could save all of humanity and create a cure to the fungal disease but Joel couldn’t go through with the sacrifice and spilt plenty of other people’s blood in the process of rescuing Ellie from her supposed destiny Season 2 starts with Joel and Ellie, five years later and now settled into their lives in Jackson, Wyoming However, Joel and Ellie’s relationship has now become strained post-Salt Lake City as Ellie now feels unable to trust Joel Now 19, Ellie is charged with defending the perimeter of Jackson city from potential threat and infected, as well as this, Ellie is romantically drawn to rebellious Dina (Isabela Merced) recently broken up from her boyfriend, Jesse (Young Mazino) Simultaneously, the Salt Lake Crew, lead by Abby Anderson, are headed to Jackson to find and kill Joel, as revenge for his role in the death of Abby’s father back in Salt Lake City Upon finding Joel in Jackson, Abby brutally murders him as Ellie is forced to watch, leaving Ellie hellbent on revenge and willing to do anything to get it

I found Season 2 in many ways insubstantial The season having only seven episodes did not help this as it made the narrative of the season feel too incomplete and unsatisfying as it is only telling part of the story from ‘The Last of Us’ part 2, whereas the nine-part first season covered the entire original game, the story is stretched too thin leading to the development of apparently crucial new characters like Dina, Jesse, Abby and her gang being minimal.

Alma:

I completely agree I had waited with bated breath for this season, and waited each week for each episode to released While I’d adored the first season of the show, I found the second to be watered-down and weak While the show wants us to believe that Ellie is ravaged with fury and hunger for revenge, in reality we see that in a lot of her own story she is sidelined almost completely Frequently, she questions why she even travelled to Seattle in the first place, and at one point in particular, Dina has to convince Ellie not to give up on her revenge mission Its so disappointing to see the main character, the one who watched Joel be tortured and killed, be turned into this laughably incompetent and childish persona during a supposed hunt for revenge It’s easy to see how only a few more episodes could have given the characters so much more substance, and for such a high-budget show, I don’t think this would be an unreasonable ask

Writers: Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross

Starring: Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Kaitlyn Dever, Jefferey Wright, Catherine O’Hara, Tati Gabrielle, Spencer Lord, Ariela Barer

Genre: post-apocalyptic, drama, adventure, dystopian

Release: 2025

Rating: 15 (violence and strong language)

Episodes: 7

Runtime: 379 minutes (40-50 mins per ep)

Rating: 6 5/10

Spoilers

Grace:

For me, the highlight of the season came with Episode 6, where a flashback marked the return of Pedro Pascal's beloved character Joel Miller, as we watch the events of the five years following the end of season one The episode essentially gets us through all the intervening years between season one and two, going year by year showing each of Ellie’s birthdays as she gets older and her relationship with Joel changes However, this episode only further reminds viewers of how powerful Pedro Pascal is in the role and that after Joel's death in episode 2, the absence of Pascal’s presence in the show can definitely be felt, and not in a good way, With Pedro Pascal leading the first season flawlessly, guiding both the viewers and Ellie across this dystopian world of destruction, and infection, to lose such a major character so early on in the show and to be left with unfleshed out characters played by actors depending on bad writing, it's quite jarring

Alma:

I understand what you ’ re saying Joel’s death definitely signalled an upheaval in the direction of the story, and the tone overall On the other hand, I think that story-wise, the decision to kill off Joel is incredibly important Neil Druckmann, who also wrote the original story for the game, is prepared to take risks for the sake of a powerful story Joel’s death, however grim, is one of the few writing decisions in the second season that I agree with Unfortunately, even saying this, I found so many writing decisions within this scene incredibly poor, such as Abby’s incongruent line to Joel: “You actually are pretty handsome, congrats on that”, moments before torturing him to death for murdering her dad It just took me out of the moment and made me cringe so badly Abby’s weak writing is only one aspect of her character that I felt disappointed by In the game, Abby is a very tall and muscular woman This portrayal of Abby was fought hard for by the team who made the game, and is crucial to her character that she has spent the past four years training to be physically strong enough and prepared to exact her revenge on Joel, when previously she was too young and too weak to have done anything to save her dad (something which haunts her constantly and is arguably one of the main contributors to the extent of her wrath) On the other hand, Kaitlyn Dever is undeniably a brilliant actress and has already shown that she plays Abby very powerfully, but Abby’s muscular figure is a crucial point in her character and in breaching norms for women in media, and I think it is a shame for her to lose this valuable trait and have nothing replace that gap in her character As a production that has such immense budget for prosthetics (such as seen on the infected), it is easy to imagine that there could’ve been a way to keep this aspect. Anyways, what did you think of that ending?

Grace:

I felt that the finale was very abrupt and unsatisfying for fans It doesn't really feel like an ending, nor a cliff-hanger, just it just abruptly stops, and then cuts back in time but now from Abby’s perspective rather than Ellie’s This ending is further deplorable for fans of the show, who may not have played the game and now will have to wait several years and seasons (as season 3 will be from Abby’s perspective) to find out what happens next Season two of ‘The Last of Us’ is by no means necessarily bad television, but in comparison to season one, the show has plummeted in quality

Alma:

I absolutely agree with you there I watched the show with my mum, and the most frustrating thing to see was how much foreshadowing and how many references were made in the final episode purely for the gratification of viewers who had played the game (which of course, my mum hadn’t, and was very disoriented by) The final episode felt janky, poorly paced, and above anything else, utterly senseless for someone who doesn’t understand why the Seraphites or the Wolves had any part in this section of the story You don’t need to know any of these references, and their inclusion confuses the pivotal climax of the season to the point where, as you say, viewers hardly even noticed that what they’ve watched was an ending Regardless, I still enjoyed the show for the sake of having something to watch, but in a world where media is becoming so cheap, formulaic and digestible, it was upsetting to see a powerful story adapted so weakly, with such a fear of taking risks and a bias in its choice of preferred audience