awe-inspiring sights give glimpse of ancient world not dodging the infamous italian traffic,...
TRANSCRIPT
Upper Sixth classicist Martyn
Law writes, ‘The 2015
Classics and History trip to
Italy was nothing short of
outstanding. The sightseeing
tour of Sorrento and Rome
was wonderful and provided
such an incredible experience.
Starting on the west coast of
Italy, we visited Naples and,
when not dodging the
infamous Italian traffic,
explored the ancient Roman
settlements of Pompeii and
Herculaneum. The volcanically
preserved remains of these
sites gave an astounding
glimpse into the life and time
of the Romans - standing in
the centre of the large
amphitheatre, walking down
the long cobbled roads and
even seeing the preserved
remains of the last inhabitants
- they were truly amazing
spectacles to behold. We also
visited the Archaeological
Museum at Naples which
housed a fantastic collection
of sculpture from the Classical
period, from statues of
Hercules to mosaics of
Alexander the Great in battle.
From our hotel in Sorrento, we
were able to explore the town
and experience Italian life,
mainly in the form of their
pizzerias and gelataria.
We stopped en route to Rome
to visit Monte Cassino; the
Italian monastery on top of
this rocky hill was extensively
bombed in the Second World
War. Although the current site
is a reconstruction, it doesn’t
fail to create a serene,
peaceful atmosphere when
Awe-inspiring sights give glimpse of Ancient World
walking through the white
marble courtyard or observing
the wonderful views of the
valley below. The monastery is
very much worth a visit, even if
it does take you a while to get
to the summit.
Rome, ‘The Eternal City’, is an
incredible place. It holds some
of the most amazing Roman
constructs and ruins within
and outside its walls, not to
mention the non-Roman sights.
The Monument of Victor
Emmanuel II, known as the
Wedding Cake, is incredible to
witness in all its white marble
glory, as is St. Peter’s Basilica,
home of the Catholic Church,
in the centre of the Vatican
City. Although the latter was a
long walk from our hotel, it was
certainly worth it to see such
an important religious and
historical building. We also
visited the Pantheon, a domed
building and the best preserved
example of Roman architecture
in the world, which was
absolutely spectacular to
behold in all its glory, kept
today as a church. The
fantastic architecture of the
dome and the wide open,
empty space created an
atmosphere similar to that of
Monte Cassino – serene, calm,
and peaceful. The Colosseum
was another dominant
landmark of Rome, an awe-
inspiring sight if ever there was
one.
It was a sad moment when we
had to leave such a wondrous
city and lovely country behind,
but we all left it with happy
memories and fulfilled
experiences. I think I can speak
for everyone on the trip in
saying thank you to Mr Barnsley
for both leading and organising
such an amazing experience for
all of us. It is one we’ll certainly
never forget.’
headlinesheadlinesheadlines The newsletter for Bay House Sixth Form
Issue 31: April 2015
Inside this issue:
Auschwitz commemoration 2
Lord Stoneham Politics visit 2
Young engineers triumph 3
Bafta winner Daisy Jacobs 3
Psychology investigation 4
Geography Award winner 4
Diary Dates 4
The trip concluded with an open-
top bus tour of Rome (the
Colosseum is in the background)
“they were truly
amazing spectacles
to behold”
Page 2 headlines
Bay House Sixth Form recently
hosted a visit from a member of
the House of Lords to boost
students’ understanding of the
political and parliamentary
process.
Lord Stoneham met with Sixth
Form Politics students for an
hour to talk about the work and
role of the House of Lords. This
was followed by a question and
answer session – which
included such diverse topics as
the forthcoming election,
reforming the House of Lords,
university fees, the coalition
and Nick Clegg’s leadership, as
well as various aspects of the
parliamentary process and life
at Westminster generally.
Callum Morling commented,
‘Lord Stoneham didn’t shy away
from questions on his views, the
Lib Dems and his controversial
uncovering of Fred Goodwin’s
super injunction. I enjoyed what
he had to say, and as a man
who knew what it’s like, it was
fascinating to hear of life inside
the Lords, and the political world
in general. As someone who
wants to enter the political
world, it was great to hear from
someone who was part of it all.’
Michael Parker added, “Lord
Stoneham was very informative
and he spoke with reference to
his widespread experience.
Gaining his perspective on
issues that were important to us,
such as student loans and his
forecast for 2015 - which didn't
come entirely without a smidge
of respectful bias - helped us
to not only understand his
position and influence in the
House of Lords, but also to
aspire to connect with more
localised members of
parliament in our own
constituency.’
The visit was arranged by
Politics teacher Mrs Cotton,
through the Lord Speaker’s
‘Peers in Schools’ programme.
70 years since the liberation of
Auschwitz-Birkenau, Religious
Studies student Molly Hudson
reflects on her experience
of witnessing the death camp
and the lessons learnt from
the Holocaust.
‘No one can
ever prepare
you for going
to a place
such as
Auschwitz. On
the outside,
the
concentration
camps look
fairly
harmless. The
red-bricked
buildings
looked
innocently
like barracks, designed for
soldiers; people. It was
certainly not a place where
hundreds of people would be
stuffed like badly-treated
animals on beds of straw. This
was surely not where actual
people worked until they died.
But what was I expecting? It’s
difficult to put into words what
they came out or not,
discovered the hard way what
terrible things the human race
is capable of. For a while the
victims of the Holocaust were
just numbers, but while I was
there I realised that each
individual had a life like yours
or mine. They all had a
personality, colour, interests;
something for the Nazis to
take from them.
We are told time and time not
to pick on people because
they’re different, so much so it
becomes meaningless. But
that day I truly learnt how
quickly dislike and
discrimination turn to down-
right hate and death. We were
urged during the weeks before
the visit, and while we were
actually there, to remember
the individuals who were
made to work and die in this
man-made hell. They were
people. By forgetting this
simple, yet imperative fact, by
forgetting the individuals and
remembering the numbers, we
have let the Nazis win, even
after all these years.’
one expects when they go to a
place of such suffering. There
were cells underground too,
where people were tortured or
‘experimented’ on because
the sadistic Nazi scientists
thought that their victims
weren’t human, and were
therefore
allowed to
do what
they
pleased.
Personally, I
wanted to
leave the
moment I
arrived. Just
like every
other visitor,
I didn’t want
to walk
beneath the
“arbeit macht frei” gate, and
walking into the gas chamber
was the last thing on earth any
of the visitors wanted to do. It
was, and still is, grotesque
that a sane human being,
again like you or me, was
actually planning and doing
this. Every individual that
walked through the gates, if
Religious Studies students visit Auschwitz for 70 year commemoration
Lord Stoneham visits Politics class
“I still believe, in spite of
everything, that people are
truly good at heart. I simply
can't build my hopes on a
foundation of confusion,
misery, and death. I hear the
approaching thunder that,
one day, will destroy us too; I
feel the suffering of millions.
And yet, when I look up at the
sky, I somehow feel that this
cruelty too shall end, and
that peace and tranquillity
will return once again.”
Anne Frank
Page 3 headlines
Former student Daisy Jacobs wins Bafta and Oscar nomination
Former student Daisy Jacobs
(pictured centre), who left Bay
House Sixth Form in 2006,
was delighted to win a Bafta
at this year’s award ceremony
and to receive a prestigious
Oscar nomination.
On her return from Los
Angeles, Daisy visited Bay
House to meet up with former
teachers and talk to students
about her experiences in the
world of animation and what
she had done since leaving
the Sixth Form. Following her
A Levels in Fine Art, English
Language & Literature,
German and Graphics, she
studied at Central Saint
Martin’s University where she
started her career in
animation.
She won her Bafta for the
Best Short Animation for The
Bigger Picture, which features
Daisy’s life-size drawings and
tells a darkly humorous story
of caring for an elderly
relative.
Daisy used a technique that
she learned while at the
National Film and Television
School, which has seen her
win other awards, including
the Fremantle Media UK New
Talent Award at the Women in
Film and Television Awards in
December.
In an interview with The
Guardian newspaper, Daisy
revealed that the eight-minute
film took her a year to make.
All the characters in the film
are painted onto a wall,
slightly larger-than-life, with
3D arms that project out and
large number of interested
parties from junior ratings to
admirals who were all
impressed with their
professional approach. The first
two runs of the vessel in the test
tanks were plagued with
technical problems. Despite this
the team unexpectedly reached
the final. After a very rushed
preparation both team and
A group of talented Lower Sixth
students beat off some tough
competition to win a Young
Engineers challenge at HMS
Sultan.
Daniel Ellis, David Saunders,
Benjamin Barry and Joseph
Mills (pictured left to right) have
spent the last few weeks
designing and constructing a
remote controlled vessel to
clear a simulated disaster zone
of debris.
Forty-two other teams were
involved with UTCs from across
the UK as well as Navy teams
and BAE Systems. During the
day they had to give a
presentation to a panel of
judges as well as answer
questions on their vessel.
Their vessel attracted a great
deal of interest due to the fact
that the students had designed
and constructed it all
themselves and not just
purchased commercial
resources as some teams had.
During the day they spoke to a
vessel performed amazingly well
to clinch a well-deserved victory.
By the end of the day the
students had won the Best
Design and Construction
Award swiftly followed by the
Overall Winners Award!! (and
£400!)
This resulted in them becoming
stars for the day with a queue of
people wanting to interview
them, ranging from admirals
to the BBC. Once again the
students were very
professional and a credit to
their Sixth Form and to
organising teacher Mr Last.
The trophies and vessel are
currently available to view in
the Technology Block.
Young Engineers beat over forty other teams to secure trophy at HMS Sultan
interact with the set. Every
movement, however subtle,
required a complete repaint.
Daisy’s visit to Bay House was
very well-received by sixth
formers who gained a
fascinating insight into her work
and what has motivated her to
succeed.
Friday 22 May
Upper Sixth Leavers’
Assembly and Celebration
Thursday 25 and Friday 26
June
Sixth Form Taster Days
(provisional enrolment on
Friday 26 June)
Wednesday 8 July
Donate-a-Day
Friday 17 July
Last day of term
Thursday 13 August
A Level results day
Wednesday 2 September
Lower Sixth collect
timetables
Thursday 3 September
Upper Sixth collect
timetables
………........headlines was written, produced and designed ‘in house’ with help from students and staff of Bay House Sixth Form………….…..
..dates for the diary..
Daniel wins prestigious Geographical Association Award
Congratulations to Daniel
Sparshott on winning a
nationally recognised award
presented by the Geographical
Association.
Daniel, who is also studying
Biology, English Literature, and
English Language, wrote a
wonderful piece that challenged
the stereotypical images of
poverty in Africa. He examined
the poverty of some of the
white ethnic groups within
South African society, reflecting
that poverty extends
unexpectedly beyond racial
groups. Winning the
competition provided Daniel
with a notable cash prize. ‘This
was the best paid hour of my
life,’ he beamed.
Amy Jackson, who studies
Biology, Chemistry and
Mathematics along with
Geography, was also awarded
‘highly commended’ for her
researched work. She reflects:
‘It will help with my university
applications and CV and give
me a talking point in my
interviews’.
AS Level students have been
learning about one of the most
iconic social psychology
experiments of all time: Stanley
Milgram’s electric shock ruse,
writes Psychology teacher Mrs
Cheriton.
Influenced by the trial of Nazi
war criminal Eichmann, and his
infamous defence line ‘I was
only following orders’, Milgram
hypothesised that the German
people must be ‘wired’
differently to obey authority at
the expense of their own moral
values. It came as a huge
shock when the pilot study
revealed that the American
participants were all willing to
administer potentially lethal
electric shocks of 300 volts.
Milgram’s hypothesis was
clearly incorrect and revealed
the sobering truth: that we are
all capable of betraying
ourselves in deference to
authority. Numerous
psychological studies illustrate
why we are obedient and the
factors that are crucial to
secure obedience; think of
Derren Brown and you’ll be
along the right lines. Students’
reactions to the research and
the associated implications
have been varied and whilst
some accept that they may be
especially susceptible to
authority, others are adamant
that they would disobey an
authority figure when the
commands required them to
act in ways that breached their
personal values and moral
codes. Lower Sixth student
Jordan Clark said, ‘It’s really
made me think about how
society demands obedience
and I wish that I could say that
I’m not obedient anymore!’.
Emily Sparshott added, ‘I’ve
realised how everyone is
capable of being obedient to a
level that they couldn’t even
begin to imagine’.
Could we ever truly know how
we would react unless we were
immersed in such a scenario -
what are your thoughts?
The social psychology unit
heralds a new section of
learning on psychopathology
which involves students
researching mental illness
along with how it is defined,
explained and treated by a
variety of psychological
approaches. A favourite area of
study with students every year
is the psychodynamic approach
and to celebrate this
enthusiasm and curiosity
students have been to London
to visit the Psychology
exhibition at the Science
Museum, as well as the Freud
Museum where they explored
Freud’s home and his rather
unique collection of
‘unusual’ (some might even
say bizarre…) statues and
curiosities that are still laid out
for all to see.
Psychology students consider their susceptibility to the power of authority