The Stag, Issue 8

The Stag: Michaelmas Term 2, 2021

Contents

Tim’s Cafe…...………...……………………....……………...............................................…Page 3 Thanksgiving .…………………….……….…………………………………………...…......Page 4 Top Five Christmas Films……………………………………………………………....….....Page 5 Blackwater House Concert…….……………………………….…………….…….....…..…..Page 6 Art Wall of Fame…………...…………………………………………………………….…..Page 7 Interview: Huw Merriman……………...……………………………………………….……Page 8 House Hockey………...…………………………………………………………….……….Page 10 Book Review……………………….………..……………………………………...…….…Page 11 Nugent House Concert………………………………………………………………………Page 12 Paris Fashion Week…………………………………………………………………….……Page 13 Christmas Recipes……………………………………………………………………..…….Page 14 School House Concert………………………………………………………..…………..….Page 15 Dance News..………………………….……………………………………….….………...Page 16 Reeves and School House Dinner………………...……….………………………....……...Page 17 Watt and Powell House Dinner…………………………………………………..………….Page 18

Readers Read………………………………………………………………………………..Page 19 House Reports……………………………………………………………………………….Page 20 Personality Quiz……………………………………………………………………………..Page 25 Charity News………………………………………………………………………………...Page 26

Welcome to the Stag Team!

Contributors: Polly Symes, Jessie Tarrant, Freddie Buckingham, Lily Moore, Megan Moffat, Lily Curtis, Frankie Dussek, Maja Marten, Lily O’Brien, Father Daniel, Izehi Ebhohimen, Millie White Arts Editor: Kiri Marshall Sports Editors: Lily Moore and Aditya Kumar House Reporters: Tiggy Tutt, Aditya Jumar, Finn McKeown, Alejandro Maria Besora, Polly Symes, David Udegbe Photography Editor: Tiggy Tutt Design Team: Jessie Tarrant and Miss Curren Senior Editor: Miss Curren

FEATURE

The Success of Tim’s Café Since the opening of Tim’s Café at the start of the new year, it has proven to be a popular hub for socialising and studying whilst also providing an assortment of food and drinks. You go in and the first things you see are the new desks and the iridescent lights. As the ambiance of the café settles around you, you really feel like you are in a place where you can relax. People from all the year groups are going there and its evident popularity shows that it is here to stay!

Food sold in the café includes: croissants, muffins, pastries, paninis, and cold food such as sandwiches are sold separately. They have healthy options and also cater to those who are dairy free, showing that they try to cater to a wide range of people. Furthermore, you can get a wide range of cold drinks such as iced coffee, apple juice, sparkling water in addition to the array of hot drinks. What’s more, there is also a section for useful stationary and essentials too.

The friendly staff make it a welcoming place to go to Whether you are coming back from games or want a snack during break, the café is useful for popping in and finding what you need.

On the whole, students are pleased with the variety that the café offers and the friendly staff make it a welcoming place to go to.

Pop by Tim’s Café today!

Izehi Ebhohimen, Watt House,, Year 13

FEATURE

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving may be an unfamiliar term to some here in the U.K., but it is one of America’s most celebrated holidays.

With the holiday coming up on the 25th of November, here is a look into why Americans celebrate it. The history of this holiday goes all the way back to 1621, when the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast. After the Pilgrims first corn harvest was a success, Governor William Bradford organised a celebratory feast and invited a group of the colony’s Native American allies. The festival lasted for three days, and although there is no official record of what happened on that day in November, many historians believe that the dishes prepared for the feast were likely prepared using traditional Native American methods.

That is the history of the holiday, but how is it celebrated now? Each family celebrates in their own way, but you can certainly count on a large dinner being enjoyed. The main meal for dinner is turkey, with a variety of sides including turkey stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, and occasionally some homemade mac and cheese. There are many dessert options, including apple pie and pecan pie, but one of the most popular treats for the holiday is pumpkin pie.

This dessert is usually made with either roasted or pureed pumpkin, and combined with a blend of spices including nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves. As an American, I may be a little biased, but I think this dessert is definitely something everyone should try, so here is a recipe for a homemade pumpkin pie!

Pumpkin Pie Recipe: Ingredients: 

1 (15 ounce) can of pumpkin



1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk



2 large eggs



1 teaspoon ground cinnamon



1/2 teaspoon ground ginger



1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg



1/2 teaspoon salt



1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Method: 

Step 1: Preheat oven to 218 degrees C. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices, and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake for 15 minutes.



Step 2: Reduce oven temperature to 176 degrees C and continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired.

Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Frankie Dussek, School House,, Year 12

MEDIA

Top 5 Christmas Films Megan Moffat begins the countdown to Christmas by rating her top five Christmas films. Which films would make your list?

3) A Christmas Carol Released: Nov 20th, 2020 Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean, miserable, bitter old man with no friends. One cold Christmas Eve, three ghosts take him on a scary journey to show him the error of his nasty ways. By visiting his past, present and future, Scrooge learns to love Christmas and the people all around him.

1) How the Grinch stole Christmas!

Released:Nov 15th, 2000 The Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small, hates Who-ville's holiday celebrations, and plans to steal all the presents to prevent Christmas from coming. To his amazement, Christmas comes anyway, and the Grinch discovers the true meaning of the holiday.

4) The Polar Express Released: Dec 10th, 2004 A young boy, on Christmas Eve, sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and is invited aboard by its conductor. The boy joins several other children as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas.

2) Home Alone

Released: Nov 10th, 1990 An eight-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation. ...

Have you watched them all? Which one is your favourite?

5) elf

Released: Nov 14th, 2003 Raised as an over-sized elf, a human travels from the North Pole to NYC to meet his biological father who doesn't know he exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit. (This is by far and away the BEST Christmas film ever—Ed.)

Megan Moffatt, School House, Year 12

FEATURE

Blackwater House Concert On Saturday, the 6th of November, the girls from Blackwater put on a fantastic house revue for parents and pupils at the College. Flo Long and Elo Johnston were the comperes for the revue, dressing up as clowns and telling many funny jokes throughout the night. The revue consisted of dances, videos, singing, a piano performance, a guitar performance and a wonderful sketch from the Year 10’s.

One of the highlights of the revue was Megan Lee playing Piano Waltz in G flat by Chopin. Megan played the piece beautifully, and then shocked the audience when her performance turned into a hiphop dance with loads of dance moves and ending with a human pyramid. The Year 12’s performed an excellent dance to the Just Dance piece ‘Jump’, with wonderful choreography and costumes. Orla Boutler sang an incredible version of Adele’s ‘Easy on Me’ with Florence Assetto accompanying her beautifully on the piano. The Year 11’s created a music video to Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, which brought out many laughs among the audience. Nella Green performed one of her original songs, which was definitely a crowd favourite.

The year 9’s performed a dance to ‘YMCA’ which got the audience excited and had them cheering along to their performance. Mary Keast-Butler played a show stopping guitar solo of Eric Clapton’s ‘Uncomfortably Numb’. The Year 13 video was also one of the highlights of the evening, with their video re-creating ‘You’ve Been Framed’. The evening ended with the whole house coming together to sing their house song, ‘Shine’ by Take That.

Their song included impressive harmonies and sounded fantastic! The final event of the evening was a raffle for Blackwater’s charity of choice, Teenage Mental Health. Prizes were given out to the winners of the raffle, including bottles of wine and various sweets. Overall, the Blackwater revue was definitely one to remember this year, and we can’t wait to see what these girls put on next year!

Frankie Dussek, School House,, Year 12

ART

Art Wall of Fame

Charlotte Stanworth

Miguel Santos de Quevedo Cardiel

Evie Sleep

Abigail Coleman

Joseph Kettle

Above is a range of work from Year 13 A level students that are part of their final project.

If you are interested in seeing the work from the Art Scholars, check out their exhibition in the Birley Foyer. The exhibition is only available for the rest of this term.

Celina Liu

Check out the exhibition in the Birley Foyer Kiri Marshall, Year 12, Watt House

POLITICS

Interview with Huw Merriman MP Over half term, I had the opportunity to interview Huw Merriman, the Conservative MP for Bexhill & Battle about many issues including the role of young people in politics, the Afghanistan crisis and his plans for the future. Here’s what he had to say: I read that you had a very successful career in law before becoming a politician so can I start by asking what made you get into politics in the first place?

I decided I wanted to go into politics when I was 16. I’ve actually done everything I set out to do and I look back now and think that’s incredibly sad because life should be a bit more sporadic than that, but there are lots of similarities between the two, so I was interpreting legislation as a lawyer, now I’m writing and scrutinising it. You don’t need to be a lawyer to become an MP. In fact, there are far too many from that sector in politics. I also come from quite a political family – they’re all more on the left of politics and firmly believe that change needs to happen to look after the most vulnerable. You’re probably thinking ‘Well hang on, you’re a Conservative, where did it all go wrong?’ In my case, the ends (to look after the most vulnerable), I share very much with my parents but as for the means to get there, I strongly disagree. I believe that it’s better to give people the tools and empower them to create good for themselves and society.

Questions for half an hour on a Wednesday. Most of the time, the debates are thoughtful and collaborative; we all come together to discuss common causes. Whenever I walk across parliament, I always see MPs from different parties and have a good chat with them. This morning, we were actually discussing the local problem of sewage being discharged into the sea and waterways and what we can do to make the government see sense and make it better, so constituency matters are also discussed in parliament, not just the constituency office.

I understand that you've been the chair of the Transport Select Committee since July 2020, so what is a select committee and what powers does it give you as the chair?

Select committees follow government departments and scrutinise their performance. For Transport, we look at the Department for Transport, the Transport Ministers, So were there any political role models you had other the DVLA and other transport agencies. We make sure than your family who inspired you? they’re performing well and make recommendations for I actually regarded myself as a bit of a socialist growing change if they aren’t. We also push new transport innoup as you tend to follow your parents’ views at first, so I vations. At the moment, there is a commitment to roll out liked Tony Benn, a Labour MP who would always do more electric vehicles to reduce diesel and petrol engines what was right for his constituents, even if they favoured by 2030 but there aren’t enough electric charge points a different party and people really valued his independand there would be a fall in fuel duty tax revenue, so ence as a result. I always admired (and was lucky enough what would pay for our roads? The committee has come to sit alongside) Ken Clarke who was never afraid to say up with a report making recommendations for electric what he felt was right – he had a great sense of humour vehicles to be cheaper and more accessible. All of this too. I would also say John Major, who made it to PM helps towards our target of net zero which is important as despite never going to university and having worked his the transport sector is one of the biggest contributors. way up. He was a role model to show the country that Ultimately, select committees are a powerful means to you can reach the top, no matter how humble your begin- hold the government and Whitehall to account and to nings. deliver better policy.

The public don't always get to see what goes on in parlia- Do you think it's important that young people take an ment except for snippets on TV from the House of Com- interest in politics and how do you think they can get inmons, so what is life really like as an MP and what does volved? that involve?

It’s more important for young people than anyone and It’s very different to how people perceive it which is a they should be more engaged in the political process as shame as most people think of parliament as rowing with the decisions the government make today will affect their each other across the chamber during Prime Minister’s future because they have more years implicated.

I’m really passionate about getting young people involved, to have your voices heard and to make us the agent of your change. In terms of how we do this, parliament needs to be more accessible and understandable so young people realise the ideas, the concerns, the challenges they have. A lot of people see me as disconnected because they see me behind the barrier that is the parliament building. How do we tear down those barriers and make my work more relevant to young people? I do this by using social media and visiting the schools and colleges in my constituency and explaining how they can get involved. We also offer work experience so they can see what we do in action.

want to share this information and they say the reason is to test for international covid variants of concern, when in actual fact, only 5% of those PCRs get tested for variants. It’s really frustrating when the government and agencies aren’t transparent and so I understand why people don’t trust them. This makes me more determined to do my job well, uncover the information and bring about change.

We all saw recently the terrible pictures coming out of Afghanistan . Do you think that the government dealt with the crisis well and what should the UK do now to help those Afghan people left behind?

I don’t think any government across the globe dealt with it well. The intelligence failed; we thought there would be some time before the Taliban took control but the auI’ve actually gone into schools and colleges to make this thorities made by the U.K., U.S.A. and other countries in point because I always encourage people to look at both Afghanistan crumbled incredibly quickly. We tried to get sides of debates and the voting age is a good example. I as many people out as we could, but I don’t think anyone believe that 16 year olds should have the right to vote could say it ended well. But we couldn’t stay there withbecause they’re then more likely to keep voting in the out American support, so we have to be a little more realfuture whereas by the time 18 year olds can vote, it istic when it comes to the capabilities of the UK. I doesn’t always become a habit and their interests have thought the Americans’ leadership on this was lamentamoved on. Staying engaged in the political process can ble and it was a huge failure by both Donald Trump and only be a good thing. I have to be careful how I put this his successor Joe Biden. We have a duty to get those peobut when people say 16 year olds don’t know their own ple out who are still stuck there, who have worked and opinions, let’s be honest, when I’m 90, I may have lost helped us over the years. The public’s focus has shifted all my faculties, but will still be able to vote and so why away from this now and so it’s important that people like is that the case? Young people also have a lot more infor- me still put pressure on the government to do something. mation and are taught a lot more about politics these days I’m really pleased that our local authorities have stepped and they are far more tuned in than I was when I was 18. up to house those coming here from Afghanistan as not all councils have. Our job is to make them feel welcome Moving on to more topical questions, I know you said in our community and integrate them into society. that you’re friends with a lot of MPs but in the wake of the tragic death of Sir David Ames, do you think there's We have a duty to get those people too much hate in British politics?

The ultimate question about young people in politics is do you think 16 year olds should have the right to vote?

Yes, but I don’t think politicians make it easy because the PMQs seem to suggest that it’s okay to chuck insults and rudeness across the divide. With social media, it’s also a lot easier to do it on an anonymous basis but I think reform needs to start from within. Almost all of the constituents are kind, respectful and encouraging so it’s just the minority who spoil it for the majority. Sir David Ames was actually a friend of mine and is a good example of how to put aside differences and work together. People who would never agree with him on Brexit worked very closely with him on reforming animal welfare and so in a way he was a role model for more constructive politics.

Another important thing that happened recently was the release of the Pandora Papers, so do you think things like this can lead to public mistrust and how can politicians make voters trust them?

More transparency and openness are needed and so I try to explain what I do, why I do it and give the public the information. As well as the Pandora Papers, my recent work on the Transport Select Committee has involved finding the evidence as to why the public have to do expensive PCR tests rather than cheaper lateral flow tests to go abroad. Agencies like Public Health England don’t

out who are still stuck in Afghanistan

Finishing on a slightly lighter note, I think if there were other journalists reading this they would all want me to ask you a killer question, so when do you think you'll be putting forward a leadership challenge to the Prime Minister?

Never! It’s not a job I’d ever want to do. I question now the type of person that would want to become Prime Minister because it’s either someone who would see it as a public service, has it running through their veins and is willing to take it, or it’s a complete egomaniac who just want it to all be about them and see it as a bit of a show.

Not only do I not think I’d be good enough but I don’t think I’d be crazy enough to do it! I’m very happy being a constituency MP and put all of my endeavours into that.

There you have it. A great insight into the life of an MP and his thoughts on a range of really important issues. I hope you found it as interesting as I did. Who knows, maybe we will see the voting age reduced to 16 after all!

Lily O’Brien, Year 12, Watt House

SPORT

House Hockey 2021 This year’s annual house hockey was played on the 6th of November was one of the best ones yet. All houses participated in either the junior or senior hockey with a mixture of year groups being in each team.

Every seven person team played each other in twelve minute matches one way. For the seniors the final was between Blackwater and Nugent and for the juniors it was between Nugent and Watt. Both matches were brilliant from a spectator’s point of view with some great goals and skills being shown.

In the juniors’ final, Watt took the victory over Nugent after playing some great hockey. For the seniors it was a very close contest which ended in a draw between Nugent and Blackwater, so to decide the champion they went on goal difference which meant that Nugent took the victory.

A big thank you and well done to all the girls who participated. The high standard of hockey played made it a great event and an encouraging one for oncoming matches.

Also a huge thank you to all staff who gave up their Saturdays to either come and umpire the matches or just to support and cheer on their houses. It was so lovely to have so many supports and the girls playing will have really appreciated it.

It was so lovely to see so many girls who weren't playing in the hockey come and support their houses in their free time on Saturday. A special shout out to School House for some great banners!

Lily Moore, School House, Year 12

MEDIA REVIEW

Beach Read—Emily Henry A rom-com just waiting to happen...

Emily Henry’s ‘Beach Read’ describes two writers: one who is stuck in a writer’s block and the other, who has completely given up on love.

January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she is the main character in an action movie.

Gus is a more literary, realistic guy who thinks ‘true love’ only exists in fairy tales. Neighbours for the summer, they decide to write in each others’ genre in the hope of writing a whole new piece.

The two writers have more in common than you would think…

“An exceptional read” About the author Emily Henry is a full-time writer who studied Creative Writing at Hope College. She also studied at the New York Center for Art and Media Studies. Henry is the #1 New York Times best selling author for her works, People W e Meet On V acation and Beach Read. She grew up in Northern Kentucky and now resides in Cincinnati. She wrote Beach Read during the pandemic and it was only released May 18, 2020.

Rating: 3.6 / 5

“Henry never fails to give the readers what they want” Reviews

Age rating: 17+

“Original, sparkling bright and layered with feeling” - Sally Thorne

Genres: Romance Contemporary Young Adult Fiction

“A gorgeous page-turner of a novel” - Laura Jane Williams “The witty, charming and swoony novel we all want.

I loved it.” - Julia Whelan “I cannot wait to read what Henry writes next” - Amy E. Reichert

Rom-com literature Megan Moffatt, School House, Year 12

FEATURE

Nugent House Concert The Nugent House revue took question with the answer to the place on Saturday, 2nd of Octo- question asked before. ber. As the audience was welNext up, the staff video amused comed into the concert, a heartall with a real-life Teams meetwarming slideshow of pictures of ing where the tutors sat in the the current Year 13s played at the common room together on their front of Big School, including the laptops. Lockdown classics were originals who have been in re-enacted like “you’re on mute” Nugent since Year 9 . An absoand “this only downloads on a lutely fantastic start to the house mac!” helping us all relive some concerts that will be taking place of the more amusing aspects of throughout the upcoming year the lockdown period. with many individual acts and also group acts and videos.

“Now also out now on The show began with the classic Upper Sixth Compere video to introduce the comperes for the night, including Sacha Hood dropping an ice cream cone on the seafront and the familiar feeling of not being able to pay for food in the café without having a lanyard.

Next, we had the Year 9 dance, brilliantly choreographed by Audrey, featuring all the Year 9s wearing matching red t-shirts and caps. Later in the show, we saw Audrey strike out some more moves as she impressed us with an upbeat an energetic solo dance.

Ella Parker’s new single “Favourite” was also performed in a gentle spotlight with lovely acoustics. The single is also out now on Apple Music and Spotify so the audience were lucky to see a live performance from Ella herself!

In true “Mastermind” Gameshow style, the Year 10 sketch consisted of Evie Ginbey answering each

Apple Music and Spotify” The Year 12s…or more easily recognised as the roadmen in their puffer jackets, trackies, sunglasses and stubbly beards, doing their year-group dance in an attempt to attract the attention of a girl...but the actual girls were completely unrecognisable.

Sasha Rozanov amazed us all with her soulful piano playing with her rendition of “Feeling Good.”

The audience is suddenly taken back to March 2019 as Miss Burford acts as a fortune teller “predicting” the events of the next year such as lockdown, iso-

lation, bubbles and algorithms...I wonder how she knew it was all going to happen. A note to Miss Burford would be to consider a career in fortune-telling…

We had another beautiful performance from Sav Winston and Willow Mcnulty, extremely impressive especially with the large audience in Big School.

The Year 11 video about keeping Nugent Covid free was also another very amusing act with a clip from the film “Downfall” dubbed over with subtitles after festival-goers from the summer spread the virus around the house...based on true events.

The last act was the Upper Sixth video consisting of jump-scares all around the school, even in the middle of the night telling them they’ve missed P1. Miss Lusty also got pranked by the girls putting actual leeks in the shower after being told there was a “leak in the shower.”

The show ended with the house song of “Wannabe” by the spice girls...overall an extremely impressive first concert and I’m sure all who took part thoroughly enjoyed it.

Freddie Buckingham, School House, Year 12

FASHION

Paris Fashion Week 2021 Paris Fashion week is an event held at multiple venues throughout the city filled with presentations from a series of designers.

This year it was held from Tuesday 28th September to Wednesday 6th October featuring well known designers such as Givenchy, Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Chanel and many more. Over a hundred different brands come together parading the capital with shows however Covid 19 has put strain on this.

Only a third of designers had in-person shows but it was high in participation in comparison to the completely digital program that was held last season.

Paris Fashion Week is one of the Big Four with London, Milan and New York Fashion Week all participating together to deliver fashion from across The Sorrowful Finale the world in a series of innovative shows.

Paris fashion week this year ended on an emotional note as many paid their respects to the late Alber Elbaz, the creative director of Lanvin, a highly internationally respected fashion house. He sadly passed earlier this year and was honoured by 45 of the worlds leading fashion houses paying tribute to the designer in the incredible closing show. After featuring a variety of looks that Elbaz’s factory design team had created the show eventually ended in Amber Valetta in the spotlight wearing Elbaz’s signature look.

Controversial content However, a part of fashion is expressionism, making bold statements through only the impression of the garment, but this does not go without controversy.

As a single necklace featuring in Paris fashion week gave Givenchy titles such as ‘outrage marketing’ ‘glamorising suicide’ and much more due to a social media outbreak over a noose styled necklace produced by the luxury fashion brand.

2022 Trends – PFW 21 Maja Marten, School House, Year 12

RECIPES

Chocolate Roulade Forget the Christmas pudding or the Christmas cake. This is hands down one of the best features of Christmas dinner.

Even better, you can make one ahead of Christmas Day, so it’s one less thing to do on the day!

It’s gluten-free as well.

Ingredients: 175g dark chocolate 4 tablespoons water 6 eggs, separated 175g caster sugar 300ml whipped double cream The grated rind of 1 orange 1 tablespoon caster sugar for the final decoration

Method:

a dampened tea-towel. Leave for several hours until completely cold

1.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or Gas Mark 4 (bottom right-hand oven in a 4 door Aga)

11.

2.

Line a Swiss roll tin (25 x 20cm) with greaseproof paper

Put a fresh piece of baking paper on a table or work surface and cover with sieved icing sugar

12.

3.

Put the water and chocolate into a glass bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water

Remove the tea-towel from the roulade & gripping the short sides of the roulade paper turn it over onto the sugared paper (so the roulade is on it)

4.

In another bowl whisk the egg yolks & gradually add the caster sugar in, until thick and pale

13.

Carefully peel off the non-sugared paper (which is stuck to the roulade)

5.

Stir in the melted chocolate into the yolk and sugar mixture

14.

Whip the cream and flavour with grated orange rind

6.

In another bowl whisk the whites stiffly

15.

Cover the surface of the roulade with the cream

7.

Using a metal spoon fold them into the yolk and chocolate mixture

16.

Holding the baking paper roll the roulade over lengthways onto a flat plate. (It will probably crack but this doesn’t matter.)

8.

Pour this into the lined tin ensuring that it is thin and even into each corner

17.

Dust with icing sugar and eat! Or cover and freeze, let it thaw for about 3 hours before serving.

9.

Bake for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch

10.

Remove from the oven and cover the roulade with

Liv Reeves, School House, Year 12

FEATURE

School House Concert ing if they weren’t in school house?

Abi Perry - A beautiful rendition of Adele’s ‘Make you feel my love’. Speaking of Adele –who else is excited for her new album ‘30’?!

Year 11 Video - The girls larked about all over Eastbourne College.

“We couldn’t stop laughing” Lia Krueger - Lia played ’Comptine d’un autre ete’ by Yann Tiersen on the piano. We were enraptured!

On Saturday 9th October, I went to see the School House concert in Big School. Having personally been a little down what with the gloomy autumnal weather, I can definitely say that the concert lifted my spirits!

Staff Video - Ever wondered what would happen if Eastbourne College started housing dinosaurs? Not sure I have, but Ms Whiddett-Adams has apparently…

Running order: Year 9 Dance - A very entertaining mixture of Kung Fu and sword fighting?!

House Acapella - The Cup Song’ from the movie ‘Pitch Perfect’.

“A very fun evening” Midnight Game Show - A video compilation of some unlucky people getting woken up at midnight and getting asked questions such as ‘What’s seven times sixty?’

Year 10 Sketch - What would the gir ls would be do-

Polly Smith - Polly sang a soulful ‘Carry Me Home’ by Jorja Smith.

Year 12 Dance - To a mash-up of ‘Grease Lighting’, ‘Forget You’ and ‘Hoedown Throwdown’, the Year 12s gave us a good laugh whilst displaying some impressive choreography.

Lisa Shi - Lisa played the Waltz in A Minor by Chopin.

Year 13 Video - The Year 13s danced around the school campus, tagging staff along too!

Originals Video - Nostalgic as ever.

House Song - Once I was Seven Years Old, but belted!

Polly Symes, Year 12 Watt House

ARTS

Remembrance Through Dance This term in dance, we have welcomed a wealth of new students into extracurricular dance.

Scholars have been making use of all the classes that are available including ballet, tap, modern, technique, jazz and hip-hop. In the past few weeks, three new students have been made honorary dance scholars. Congratulations to:

Angelina Watson (Year 10) Lucia Ridley (Year 11) Katie Hillyer (Year 11) The Year 10 pupils are well underway with their GCSE course, looking at set material and learning terminology. They have completed two dance works, ‘Infra’ by Wayne McGregor and the Royal Ballet and ‘Artificial Things’ by Lucy Bennett and Stop Gap Dance Company. Year 11 pupils have filmed their set phrase “Breath’ and are nearly ready to film their duet/trio performance piece. This will be worth 30% of their actual GCSE. These videos will be sent off to the examiner to be moderated.

They have chosen a theme and have worked hard on portraying intention throughout their dance.

The Year 12 students have covered two of their main Rambert practitioners, Bruce and Alston, and are soon to be moving on to the work of Robert North. They have been taking extracurricular classes to prepare for their solo pieces too. The Year 13 pupil has filmed both of her A level solo pieces, which covers 25% of her final grade. She will now continue working on her group choreography, which will leave her with 50% of her exam already complete.

more trips for the dancers, especially after missing out within the past year.

Following on from the previous article about dance in The Stag, we are delighted to announce that our group dance entitled ‘A New Normal’ came 4th place in the national competition out of approximately fifty other schools. This is a great achievement for the school, with our other two groups coming in the top fifteen! Herbie Sleep, who won the overall National Solo Competition last year, has also been invited back to showcase his winning solo next year at the finals in the summer. We look forward to entering this competition again in the coming weeks.

The Upper Sixth dancers are planning a trip to see the musical ‘Chicago’ next term. This is one of the works by Bob Fosse, a practitioner in their chosen area of study, American Jazz. We are hoping to plan Millie White, Watt House, Year 12

FEATURE

Reeves and School House Dinner On Saturday the 13th of November, all years from School and Reeves houses participated in their annual themed house dinners. This year the theme was seasons! Each year group and table was given a different theme and dressed up accordingly.

We enjoyed a lovely mocktail drink, and a delicious meal with S’mores for dessert. Throughout the meal, each table was challenged to a quiz, having to guess which movie each quote was from. At the end of the meal, Mr McVeigh challenged us all to a game of “left-hand, right-hand” which was also a general knowledge quiz and the last ones standing had to go On behalf of all the School House girls and Reeves up to the front.

House boys, we’d like to say a massive thank you to all the teachers who took the time to organise the event, especially Mrs Whiddett, Mr McVeigh and Miss Gordon. Also a big thank you to all the kitchen staff for our delicious meal. Overall, it was a great night and the perfect opportunity to mix with other year groups and houses.

Our eyes were blessed as we watched teachers and pupils with the best costumes strut down the middle of the dining room (aka the runway.) The winners were chosen by the loudest cheer, with Mr Cox, Zizi and Kia taking the win, all with standing ovations.

Lily Moore and Freddie Buckingham, School House, Year 12

FEATURE

Watt and Powell House Dinner On Saturday 20th November at 6.30pm, Watt and Powell House met in the school dining room for an evening of chatting, laughter, and great food. After much deliberation (and a few false starts), the theme chosen was ‘decades’.

Menu:

Best Outfits:

Special Thanks to:

Yr 9 (80s) - Poppy Campion

Lucy Mannion

Yr 10 (40s) - Tilly Chapman

Alice Wood

Yr 11 (60s) - Freya Deller

Ollie Wigman

Yr 12 (70s) - Francesco Bongiovanni

Charlie Carpenter

Yr 13 (90s) - Tom Pedley

Elliot Wilson

Fizzy drink of choice Burger and Chips Arctic Roll

Staff - Mr Mason Entertainment: Who can choose all the right answers:

Hands on your head if you think Charlie Carpenter (yr 12) got a 5 in English Language. Hands on your bum if you think he got a 6.

Stand up comedy with Ollie Wigman (yr 12): ‘I’ve got three apples in one hand, and five in the other… What do I have? Big hands!’

Guess the artist and decade of songs from across the 20th Century.

Polly Symes, Year 12, Watt House

LITERATURE

What are the English Department reading?

They are always telling us we should be reading more, but what do the English Department themselves actually read? Kiri Marshall ventured up to the top floor of the Nugee building to find out...

Miss Daniels has just finished ‘Women of Troy’ by Pat Barker. It is the sequel to ‘The Silence of the Girls’, which takes a feminist approach to the Trojan War. The Illiad is an epic poem dominated by male warriors but Barker writes from the perspective of Briseis who is a silent but key character in the myth. The book follows the story after the Trojan War when the Greeks have been victorious, and explores Briseis’ resilience and journey to avenge her family. I would recommend the book if you are interested in Greek mythology and have read books like ‘The Song of Achilles’, ‘Circe’ and ‘A Thousand Ships’. Historical Fiction, Mythology, Fantasy Mr Marlow has just finished ‘A Legacy of Spies’ by John Le Carre.

The novel moves between the Cold War and the present day. The novel is a final run out for Le Carre’s famous characters including George Smiley, senior officer at MI6. The author himself served in MI5 and MI6, and is a master of bringing the psychology of intelligence officers to life, and re-creating the fevered atmosphere of Stasirun East Berlin. If you enjoyed the recent James Bond film and ever wondered how MI6 officers tick, Le Carre is your man. You may also enjoy his earlier works ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’ and ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’. Thriller, Mystery, Espionage Mrs Bathard-Smith has r ecently r ead ‘The High House’ by Jessie Greengrass. “The gentlest dystopia you will ever read. Climate change is real and it’s affecting you; this novel is about how it is likely to affect your children, and almost certainly your children’s children.

It’s a sobering read, but tender, an alarming read, yet strangely comforting. And somehow it also manages to be one of the wisest contemplations of the maternal role you will ever fine. Read it: it will stay with you, in all the most important ways.” Dystopia, Speculative and Climate Change fiction Miss Garrett is r eading ‘The Choice’ by Edith Eger. Written almost as a memoir of the psychologist, Edith Eger, it tells the story of her early life in Hungary as she grew up as a ballerina. She was a teenager when she was taken to Aushwitz concentration camp.

There, she survived with her sister.

Years later, she married and became a psychologist, moving to America. The book itself is almost split into two parts: her time at Auschwitz and then her work as a psychologist trying to understand human nature. “I would recommend this as it is a true story of freedom, bravery and an analysis of humankind’s choices. I found it a sincere account of the Holocaust.

But it was equally a story of how her life continued and was affected.” Non-fiction, Memoir, History Miss Curren has just r ead ‘Shuggie Bain’ by Douglas Stuart.

“The novel won the Booker Prize last year and rightly so, I think; it is a deeply moving, often disturbing and highly visceral account of poverty in 1980s Glasgow, exploring the impact of alcoholism, prejudice and the devastating consequences of Thatcher’s policies on the British working class.” Historical fiction, Scotland, LGBTQ+

Kiri Marshall, Year 12, Watt House

HOUSE REPORTS

Pennell House As another new school year commences, eight new faces walk through the Pennell doors.

As we get ever closer to the much-anticipated exeat, the memory of our second place finish in this year’s house singing competition does not diminish. As Murray and Bertie continue to help the year 9’s with their spin on the Three Little Pigs for the house drama competition, our confidence in Pennellian’s ability to act has gone through the roof as we hope for another podium finish in an inter house competition. Our confidence in Pennell’s rugby ability has, however, gone out of the window alongside the Year 10’s ability to hand their phones in.

As well as new Year 9s joining, Pennell welcomes a new resident tutor, Mr Kyle. His enthusiasm has reflected across the house as well as being successful with his U15A rugby side who recently won in the 2nd round of the national vase. Mr Spiers leaving was sad for the whole of Pennell but we wish him well in Wargrave. Overall, Pennell is getting through the year well with morale rising as Christmas is slowly approaching with Mr Jourdain excited to join the boys with the festive singing.

School House School House has been so busy again since halfterm and we still have three weeks until we can collapse around the Christmas tree!

Reeves House. Each year group had a different theme: Winter, Summer, Autumn, and Spring. It was a fantastic evening that everyone really enThe house singing competition just before half term joyed. The costumes were great and it was nice to was a success as we came second in the girls’ com- see the effort put in, especially by the boys! The petition singing Seven Y ears by Lucas Graham. All evening ended with a disco, which was slightly awkward, but everyone bravely embraced their inof the stress and practising paid off! ner dancer!

The week after half term, we had our dinner with

Tiggy Tutt, School House, Year 10

HOUSE REPORTS

Wargrave House Wargrave have had an increasingly successful half term in the lead up to Christmas with house events in full swing being competed well by all Wargravians. This includes the steeple chase in which the Wargrave lads impressively came first in the Inter Boys A and Inter Boys B but overall came 2nd. However, it was a fabulous effort by everyone who participated.

Next up, the Inter House Rowing proved another strong suit for the Wargrave household but we narrowly missed out on claiming the top podium spot by 690 metres! Yet again, we ended up in second place although it was great to see the effort all boys and teachers invested into this! Furthermore, house rugby was recently played with Wargrave’s Year 9, 10 and 11 obtaining spots in the final with the Year 11s very strong winning house rugby in their year which is a feat they should be incredibly proud of.

The Year 11s should hold next year’s sixth form Wargrave team in good stead which might prevent them from coming fourth again and ultimately costing Wargrave the house rugby cup leaving us in second for the third time in the second half of Michaelmas.

Furthermore, the days are becoming colder and daylight hours are getting shorter much like the time until the Wargrave Pool Competition Cup and Bowl Final which is due to be played at the Christmas dinner. This poses a fairly exciting feat as the rounds are becoming ever more competitive as more boys and teachers are knocked out as the weeks pass.

Aditya Kumar, Year 12, Wargrave House

HOUSE REPORTS

Craig House It’s been a strong half term for Craig House in the inter house sports competitions, particularly in the house rugby festival where the Year 10 and senior Will (left) and Bryn teams won their respective competitions with the (right) at the Act of Year 9s coming 3rd and the Year 11s in 2nd. OverRemembrance all, Craig claimed their spot in first but perhaps more impressive was the tremendous house spirit on show through what were unpleasant conditions.

With every team running through a tunnel of their fellow Cronkites before playing their final matches.

House song ‘Good 4 U’ by Olivia Rodrigo was also sang out by the boys on the touch line.

The annual house table tennis competition is already underway, with some shock exits for experienced players in the Lower Sixth in the opening round, including an 11-1 humbling for Henry Sutherland (Year 12) at the hands of Sam Bordass (Year 10).

Craig boys sharing a moment under the posts after being declared house rugby champions.

Congratulations must also go to Nate Cahill in Year 9 who was selected for the England development swim squad. Theo Marsden in Year 13 was also named as the squash captain, Will Fellow U6th, Will Chambers being named the 1st XV vice captain for the 2021/22 season. Ben Clark in Year 10 was selected for the regional sailing team and Ollie Kirtley, Freddie Russell (both Year 9) and Gryff Watkins (Year 10) were all selected for the Sussex Cricket Pathway.

In other news, Freddie Bobbin and Ethan Page (both Year 13) completed gruelling Cambridge entrance exams, recently earning them a joint Cronkite of the Week Award and Bryn Watkins and Will Chambers both carried flags at the recent Remembrance Day service on College Field.

Year 9s getting some practice in before opening round matches against the Upper Sixth in the house table tennis tournament

The Year 9 house drama competition also recently took place in the Le Brocq Theatre and the boys are eagerly awaiting the results, which are to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Rehearsals taking place for House Drama, where the boys will perform their rendition of Three Little Pigs

David Udegbe, Year 12, Craig House

HOUSE REPORTS

Gonville House Another delightful few weeks for Gonville, during the second week Gonville participated in the house rowing event, where many students took part in the competition. Result were very tight where only 600 meters separated us from Wargrave which came in second place. Another win for the house, lead by our desire to win coming from each individual of the house.

Gonville played well although we did not manage to take the win, as Reeves scored a late try putting them into the lead. Our second game was against Powell, after having lost the first game Gonville needed to come back strong with a victory.

Powell having half the team filled with first team players, this gave the boys a greater drive to come on top. With a strong determination and a tightly The week before half term, another house event contested game, Gonville managed to win! The fitook place, younger years had to run 3.6 km. Daniel nal score was 6 - 5 Gonville.

Lee, came 3 in the year 9 race and stood proudly in 3rd place for Gonville.

Lastly, as the boys were lethargic and had given there all, Pennell out played us, and managed to win comfortably by 4 - 0 Pennell.

As Gonville walked down to Memorial, everyone knowing Gonville are the underdogs as we were expected to play the two biggest teams. Gonville started their campaign against Reeves, tensions were high as Reeves tapped the ball to start the beginning of play.

After having an unfortunate day, Gonville headed back to house for the next major event, the GONVILLE HOUSE CONERT !

Finn McKeown and Alejandro Maria Besora, Year 12, Gonville House

HOUSE REPORTS

Watt House Emily May, Sapphyre Mills Kennelly and Ellie Robins (Year 13) passed their Gold DofE expedition during the half term break despite the terrible and borderline traumatic weather!

Watt ended the first half term on a major high, having won the House Singing competition with Bastille’s ‘Pompei’; our first win since 2018 with ABBA’s ‘Angel Eyes’. Amelia Baldock and Lucy Mannion (Year 12) were key players in rehearsals, with Head of House Emily May taking the conducting reigns during the final performance. Everyone was so happy that the competition could still go ahead despite covid. Lucy even described our win as “easy peasy”. Hopefully, we can replicate that approach for house acapella!

Steeplechase was a similar success, with Poppy Campion (Year 9), Sophie Fellows (Year 10), Kayla Ginger (Year 11) and Lottie Crathern (Year 13) all finding themselves on the podium! Poppy described the competition as “a fun and uniting event with a fantastic atmosphere”, adding that “Everyone was so supportive of each other”.

“Everyone was so supportive of each other”

“terrible and borderline traumatic weather!”

Sophia Hawkins (Year 10) won the ballet section of her age group for a Sussex dance competition, and then was awarded the highest mark out of five competitors in the ‘Sussex Young Dancer of the Year’ competition . On the subject of dance, Millie White (Year 13) was a finalist in the ‘TDCI World Performer Finals’ in Blackpool. Check out her dancing on Instagram @millierose.white Darcey Gibson (Year 12) has been selected for the South East Regional Swimming Championships. She is the only girl from the area to be selected for this.

Finally, in our Children in Need cake sale last week, we managed to raise a staggering £703.

Polly Symes, Year 12, Watt House

PERSONALITY QUIZ

Which Reindeer Are You? What are your Saturday plans?

Describe yourself in one word:

A)

You are going to support your friends at their house revue

A)

Happy

B)

Amazing

B)

Going to a party with all your friends

C)

Smart and stressed

C)

You have so many school commitments and no free time

D)

Unique

D)

You have no idea; you will just see what happens

A)

Everywhere

B)

New York

You’re flying over Tokyo. Do you …?

A)

B) C) D)

Which city would you love to see?

Spend a short amount of time meeting the peo- C) Rome ple and experiencing the culture but you reD) Los Angeles member to keep focused on your job Answers You spot a festival and you immediately join in

If you mainly picked A then you are Rudolf

Eyes forward—you keep going on your mission

If you mainly picked B then you are Dancer

Stay for a week’s holiday. The others can hand out the rest of the presents

If you mainly picked D then you are Blitzen

What is your favourite food?

A)

Pasta

B)

Burger and chips

C)

Anything with chicken in it

D)

Salad and fruit

What is your favourite type of sport?

A)

Lol, none

B)

Hockey and/or Rugby

C)

Running

D)

Anything as long as a ball is involved

If you mainly picked C then you are Prancer Rudolf - You are a little shy but you love helping others and you are a natural born leader who loves to travel.

Dancer - You are always down to party and celebrate with your friends since you have a massive heart.

Prancer - You ar e ver y smar t and or ganised and have a great memory but you love adventures and spontaneity.

Blitzen - You are sporty and full of energy.

You are also a thrill seeker.

Who are you in your friendship group?

A)

The “mom”

B)

The “fun one”

C)

The “smart one”

D)

The “cool one” Kiri Marshall, Year 12, Watt House

CHARITY NEWS

Charity Update As always, Eastbourne College have been generous in our support of charities this half term. Father Daniel sums up our charitable successes.

Children in Need Watt House held a Cake Sale on 15 November for Children in Need, and managed to raise a staggering £703!

Well done to all.

Matthew 25 Mission At the Gonville House Concert £292 was raised for this worthwhile charity. Later matron and two sixth formers delivered the money and saw the good work Matthew 25 does. This charity provides a listening ear, sympathetic pastoral care with information and advice as well as provision of food, clothing and basic necessities.

Volunteers support those who are trying to rebuild broken lives, especially those with life-threatening addictions, loneliness, bereavement, unemployment, homelessness, offending and more. The charity receives no funding from government or local authorities, yet they manage to feed and help hundreds of people and families every day. So thank you, all who supported.

Charity Busking On 24 and 25 November pupils (including an outstanding performance by Mr Chan!) serenaded us at lunch, raising money for the two Chapel Charities for the year. Although not finalised, over £450 was donated, so thank you to everyone for your generosity. Also thanks to Sasha Rozanov and her team for organising the event.

Harvest Appeal Update Eastbourne Foodbank have informed us that we provided enough quality meals to feed 300 people in need in the town. Thank you for everyone who contributed to our annual appeal.

Cupcake Bake Sale On 8 November Lisa Shi of School House prepared and sold cupcakes at break time to raise money for ‘Beat eating disorders’. She raised £100. Well done Lisa, a super effort!

If you would like to join the Stag team or contribute a piece to our next issue, get in touch by emailing us at: thestag@eastbourne-college.co.uk