Congratulations to our Clarinet Quartet who have been invited to perform at the Regional Festival of Music for Youth (MFY). Anu Adeleye, Isaac Minto, Jay Keenan and Keir Msuya will perform at the CBSO Centre on Thursday 28th February. If successful, they are invited to perform at the National Festival later in the year. We wish them every success.

On the 20^th of December, 50 students – including myself – from the Sixth Form were fortunate to be selected to participate in a Reward Trip. The occasion was organised for us by Mr Bird, to whom I would like to thank for his time and effort, as recognition for our helping out during events such as open days and parent’s evenings. The trip included go-karting and laser tag, both of which were exhilarating experiences. The Reward Trips occur 3 times a year, and are great opportunities to experience new things, to unwind a little from the stresses of studying A-levels, and to create fun and lasting memories. They provide a small break from our schoolwork, and help to motivate us to continue to work hard and give back to our school. Today was the first time I had ever been go-karting, and definitely the first time I had ever driven so fast! I enjoyed the rumble of the go-kart as it accelerated and drifted when I cornered sharply. The speed of the air rushing past me and the closeness of the floor produces a unique feeling, and beats Mario Kart hands down! I also participated in two games of laser tag. The combination of darkness and the illuminating effect of laser light heightened the sense of excitement as we entered the other-worldly battlefield. We were given points for a successful hit on someone else, and points were deducted if you were hit yourself. I won’t tell you my score, but I was placed 10^th on my second try (out of 16, but no-one needs to know that). A big thank you to Mr Bird, Mr Jones, Ms Fiess and Mr Alishah for making this day possible.

Olivia McKnight, Year 13

In an interesting article in The Guardian the case is put forward for soft skills as well as hard skills for future graduates. Empathy, creativity as well as technical ability are needed in the workplace. Please click here to read the full article.

On Friday 7th December, I and another nine Year 9 students went on a trip to Cherry Orchard Primary School to deliver a Physics session about light and its different colours. Mr Jones was kind enough to drop us off and Mrs Saleem and Mr Alishah helped out with the practical experiments. As soon as we walked in, we remembered our old primary school days – the playground and the classrooms and hardly any homework! We taught two Year 6 classes, both of whom were very intelligent. The children were split into 3 groups and we showed them the practical which they were amazed by. I was nervous at the beginning but everyone chipped in and explained to the students what we were there to do. I soon found myself relaxing in to the role of a teacher for the students. If you were wondering what the practical was, it was a light practical where we mixed colour filters and they predicted what colour would come out. For example, blue and red mixed together makes purple. Whenever a new colour came out, they gasped and were very intrigued. The children were so excited, especially when we took out the convex and concave lenses. The concave and convex lenses diverged or converged the light that came out of the lamp and the Year 6s had to guess which was which. At the end of the trip, I was feeling quite worn out and I couldn’t wait for Mr Jones to arrive in the minibus. Although I was tired, the trip was marvellous and everyone enjoyed it. I would like to say a thank you to Mr Jones, Mrs Saleem and Mr Alishah for helping out.

Rohan Mahmood, 9 Henry

Amaan Jahangir is holding an Art Exhibition next week between the 15th an 21st December between 12pm and 5pm.