The Quiet Times

October 2023 Edition

The Quiet Times

The trays are back! page 4

St James Opens its Doors

The busiest day on St James’ calendar was a roaring success

MEET OUR TEAM

Open Day is always an important fixture in the St James calendar. We give prospective students and parents a tour of our wonderful grounds and they also have the chance to speak to teachers and see our brilliant work in action.

On This day we present our school to parents and students who want to join our St James family.

Inside this issue, you will see the amazing treats that were on offer for our 2023 open day.

Page 4

Rohit is a keen artist and anime lover. He wants to pursue a career in architecture and is looking forward to share a variety of stories with the school community.

Rohit K

Visitors marvel at our stunning site on Open Day

Luke is an amateur chef and brilliant piano player and dreams of being a surgeon.

When he’s not binging Netflix, he’s drinking his favourite boba!

Luke M

World

iPhone 15 and Google Pixel 8 The Long awaited iPhone 15 is finally here and so is the Google pixel 8. Is the popular iPhone truly better than the under dog Pixel ? Let’s find out!

Both of these phones have been rumoured for quite a while now. Google, who has been renowned for their unique designs has surprisingly kept it the same as its predecessor.

Apple on the other hand, has changed their design slightly. Does this mean the Apple scam is finally over? The new iPhone 15 has dynamic island on ALL models now and is finally a USB-C phone now( no more lightning cables!) . The Pixel has an even better camera AND has got the new tensor G3 chip! Some will think this is a great deal but now here is the real question: are you team iPhone or Android?

Fifa World Cup 2026 and Alien activity in Mexico It has only been a year since the FIFA 22 World Cup in Qatar but the football fans are already getting hyped up for the one in 2026, but who is hosting it?

The USA , Mexico or Canada?

These three countries in North America all have their own sights and attractions but what do they have when it comes down to football? In the USA there are 83 million football fans and has major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. These things are already big contributors to the success of FIFA 26 but Canada also has a lot to offer. In Montreal , there is the Olympic stadium which can fit up to 56000 people. This is also in a great city where a lot of sports events happen.

Co-hosting the FIFA cup would also help its tourism and popularity. Moreover, Mexico has hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cups so it has experience. But is it time to pass the torch?

Speaking of Mexico ,you might have seen the "alien bodies" found in Mexico on TikTok, but are they real? Many scientists are saying that there is insufficient evidence to say that the bodies are aliens. TikTok and other social media apps will often mark credible sources with a verified tick and media experts suggest double checking any news from an unreliable source.

Apple vs Android

North America

Africa South America

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Affairs

Nagorno Karabakh is a small region in Azerbaijan that is populated and governed by Armenians. In the last few years, the tension has been increasing between these nations because allegedly Azerbaijan wants all Armenians out ( a process referred by some politicians as ‘ethnic cleansing’). In fact, you may remember a brief but fatal war a few years ago between these countries that ended with a stalemate. Now it appears to be happening again, reports say that Azerbaijani citizens are ethnically Armenian are leaving their country .

Rohit K talks about the world right now

Asia

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In 2011 , Japan’s nuclear plant in Fukushima was destroyed by a tsunami and an earthquake, after this there was a lot of water that mixed with the nuclear chemicals of the plant. Japan had no idea what to do with this water so they stored it.

Now Japan has run out of places to keep this water, therefore they have cleaned the water and poured it into the Yellow Sea. China however ,has had an issue with this , they have claimed that the water is not clean and will affect their seafood and drinking water. Japan has denied all allegations and both nations are trying to resolve this quickly in order to keep the oceans safe.

India might be changing their name to Bharat!

In many Indian languages like Hindi , Telugu and Tamil ,India as already called Bharat but in English we call it India. Indian PM Narendra Modi was referred to as “ President of Bharat “ at the G20 conference and was also sitting behind a sign that said “Bharat”.

Some say that he thinks the name “India” is linked to colonial rule and others think that the name is getting old. Some critics argue, however, this may be another tactics in Modi’s Hindu nationalist takeover.

In Singpore , you have to buy a certificate that costs £88,800 to own a car ( not including price of car !)

This is because Singpore wants to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The SMRT ( Singapore mass rapid transit ) is one of the best and most affordable public transports in the world however and many commuters use this instead of cars.

School News What has happened to the trays?

We all loved the trays at lunchtime, and we are pleased to report that after their mysterious disappearance in September 2023, they are back.

Trays allow us to carry more food more efficiently, but we have to remember that with more trays, this means more work for our canteen staff.

It would therefore be prudent for us all to do our part and ensure all food is contained to the tray and not left on the tables.

We know how much you all wanted the trays back and if they’re taken away again, we’ll only have ourselves to blame.

Open Day Open Day is always an the school. Many parents have important fixture in the St said “ such a marvellous ethos”, James calendar. We give “the pupils were very prospective students and informative and helpful” and “ parents a tour of our the teachers seemed nice and wonderful grounds and they helpful”, these positive reviews also have the chance to is a testament of the effort and speak to teachers and see hard work our staff and pupils our brilliant work in action. have put into that day, to this I This year, our visitors were say well done! treated to a French bistro Another display that seemed to experience in the MFL intrigue the parents and children department. We especially was the CCF display. This enjoyed the ‘chocolat-chaud; interactive display portrayed along with whipped cream. exactly what it was like to be a Elsewhere around the Cadet, the cadet allowed the school, there were music children to hold guns and there performances and a chance was even a paint ball area where to take a selfie at the Media kids were allowed to shoot at a Studies photo booth. Our target. Overall, I would say that tour guides were brilliant our open day was a success, my hosts and did a great job of only concern is how we are going leading the parents around to top this next year!

The departments went all out to showcase their appeal

St James Under Inspection What did our students think about the inspection?

Niyam Patel thinks: "I hope they recognise how nice this school is to be in, and I hope they can help make it even better.''

Another Y10 students added “I think that overall the inspection is a good thing, although there is short-term disruption, our school will hopefully improve by putting in place the feedback given by the ISI”.

The inspector admires our enviable field and lake

Luke M reports on our three days of scrutiny.

This week our school is facing an inspection from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). You may be wondering who are these strange people who just have the right to wander around school judging all of us and why all of the teachers are so concerned. Well, they are appointed by the Department of Education, so they are responsible for overseeing independent schools for the government. At the end of the inspection, they will write a report about how the school is run, the teaching, safeguarding and more.

The report will also tell the Senior Leadership Team ways they can improve the school and areas in which the school is lacking. However, their main job is to make sure that schools reach the standards set by the government.

The inspectors are also interested in the safety and security of students in the school and how the school supports their emotional and intellectual growth.

The full inspection report will becoming in 3-4 weeks, so we will keep you update.

Hopefully the results are good.

Barbenheimer Oppenheimer is a chilling documentary film, which is directed by Errol Morris.

The film explores the life and legacy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was a physicist made famous for his role in developing the atomic bomb during World War II. The field opens up his complex personality, his contribution to science, and the many ethical and moral dilemmas that he faced.

The film uses interviews and footage from multiple archives to binge the man behind one of the most influential scientific achievements of the 20th century.

Barbie is an American fantasy comedy, directed by Greta Gerwig, who also wrote the film along with her partner Noah Baumbach. The film flips our patriarchal society on its head. This means that the ''Barbies'' run the world and the ''Kens'' just do "Beach", which consists of strolling around on the beach: this makes their world a matriarchy.

matriarchy.

The main character "Barbie" wakes up one day feeling sad, which never happens in Barbie World. She is told she has to go to the real world to find who is playing with her and make them happy again; to fix Barbie. On Barbie's journey to the real world, she finds out that 'her' Ken has snuck into her car. When they are in the real world, they find out that it is a patriarchy.

Luke M explores the new cinema phenomenon

Barbie then is found by Mattel (who make and control Barbies), who try to send her back to Barbie World, but Gloria (who is the adult woman that is playing with Barbie) saves her from their evil clutches.

Barbie proceeds to Barbie World where she finds that the Kens have brainwashed all the Barbies; turning society into a patriarchy. Barbie fights back turning their society back to normal, however the Kens now have roughly equal roles in our society to women. But the main Barbie decides she wants to be human, not plastic. The movie ends with Gloria and her family taking Barbie to her gynaecology appointment, which Barbie is elated about.

Oppenheimer, directed by Academy Award winning director Christopher Nolan, is an epic character study of one

of the most fascinating and enigmatic scientists to have ever lived. Cillian Murphy dazzles as the eponymous Oppenheimer and we see his rise to prominence, as well as his decline after he realises he may have become ‘the destroyer of worlds’. Oppenheimer is a ‘Who’s Who’ of Hollywood’s thespians including Robert Downey Jr., Ben Safdie and Emily Blunt. Nolan explores the true costs of war in a thinking person’s thriller.

Barbie and Oppenheimer are two very different movies, so comparing them is hard. Oppenheimer is mainly targeted at those who enjoy history and are more serious. Barbie is more bubbly and joyful, targeted at those who want to watch a movie that leaves you thinking but also filled with joy. Both have widespread social messages and all-star casts. This year’s Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor will no doubt be a toss up between Ryan Gosling’s horse-loving Ken or Robert Downey Jr’s genial rendition of Lewis Strauss.

In my personal opinion Barbie is my favourite, because it is just so happy, and pink. But don’t listen to me - which summer blockbuster was your favourite?

Robert Downey Jr (L) as Lewis Strauss and Ryan Gosling as Ken

Why ‘Barbenheimer’ saved cinema

by Mrs Khanna Samirova Head of Media Studies

It has been a long time since we have seen anything like this: two entirely original screenplays command such attention at the box office. For many years, the film industry has been dominated by remakes, sequels and endless Marvel instalments that feel like one cash grab after another. Nolan and Gerwig have proved something many of us thought was no longer possible - audiences can be mobilised by innovative stories. And, even better, they can generate income! To date, the joint efforts of Barbie and Oppenheimer have generated $1.174 billion in box office profits. The social media hype spoke for itself. It was a glimpse of the monoculture only those of us who attended the first showings of films like ‘Titanic’ and ‘Harry Potter’ will remember. Cinema is an event to be shared and the exclusivity and excitement of these films united audiences. Perhaps we are finally feeling the big studio franchise fatigue - audiences want something new, fresh and clever. Even if neither Barbie nor Oppenheimer were to your tastes, there is something to be grateful for.

Cinema is back!

St James

SP RT Rugby Victory Year 10 blazing victory!

Under 15-B played against Claremont Fan Court School and smashed them with an astonishing result of 29 St James and 10 Claremont.

The under 15-A team also played against Isleworth and Syon School with a jaw-dropping score of 59 nil. Another fantastic

Luke M report on our sporting success

result from the under 15A teams against St Gorges Weybridge with 21 to 7. '' Year 10 is the start year group'', Mr Hitchcock said. However, Year 7 shows promise although their year group is lacking in numbers.

On top of the world: smiles at Snowdon’s peak

Three Cheers for Three Peaks Over the first weekend in October, several teachers and students took on the immense task of climbing three of the country’s biggest peaks in just 24 hours. The troopers drove 10 hours and climbed 23 miles until they reached the top of Ben Nevis.

Though they may have been soaked to the bone and exhausted, the exhilaration of completing such an intense challenge and raising money for an amazing cause must have put that to the back of their minds. To find out more about Mr Wassel’s fundraising, scan the QR code:

Year 10 are the ones to watch!