omnibus december 2012 omnibus - wilson's school christmas 2012.pdf · what’s more, francesca...

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Omnibus December 2012

‘‘It’s all tittle-tattle’’Madness, I know....

Getting people organised, costumes, rehearsing: school plays just require that extra input. This year though, the school is emerging from the depths of Shakespeare and moving into a new light; ‘The Madness of King George III’.Written in 1991 by Alan Bennet, this play is fairly modern. However, we go back to the time of the King’s reign in the 1820s, meaning the characters have to adapt to different English, where par-li-a-ment is a four syllable word. That’s one more syllable than needed, so be grateful you’re not in the 18th century. They must’ve been so tired.The plot shows the King going through a kaleidoscope of emotions, somewhat crazily. Who would’ve guessed? But the play also throws an interesting light on the effect the king’s lunacy has on par-li-a-ment and his government. The Prince of Wales, the King’s nefarious son, also intervenes in the scheme of things – in the hope of getting his grubby paws on the crown. At the core of the play though, is a truly touching representation of a very human character – it is genuinely moving.Enough about the play now. Of course, plays don’t come out of nothing. So far we’ve spent many hours rehearsing for this spectacle, and there’s plenty of time when we’re not needed on stage to acquire some time for the ‘witty banter’. Rephrased for you: probably known best as mucking around.

We’re never unruly enough to disrupt rehearsals, mind you - unless we’re directed to, but that’s rare. Very rare. Although in one scene we are required to go to the side of the stage and bash stuff, and hit stuff, and smack stuff, and shout and scream... but you’ll have to come and see the play for that (14th and 15th of December, 7:30, only £8 and £6 for concessions).

Not the most subtle advert, but you get the idea!Mr. Kavanagh takes our rehearsals. I must say, he has a great idea for a king that’s turning mad. Between you and me, he must’ve had a lot of experience being driven mad from organising our rehearsals!As well as Mr Kavanagh, his expert help, sixth-former Jack Robertson, has been rehearsing us as assistant director because he really wants to direct

in the West End in future. And when Mr Shaw is free he comes along too - his speciality is speaking and pronunciation. I have to do a Scottish accent in the play. Trust me, ah cannae pronoonce words like ‘convivial’, ‘eloquent’ and ‘exasperated’ –it’s really difficult. I’d be mad to say any more – I don’t want to spoil it for you! Do come and see the play, because if you don’t my evil army of leprechauns and demented unicorns will fly down from heaven and steal your pot of gold.I told you it was madness.

By Kavana Crossley

OMNIBUSThe termly newspaper of Wilson’s School


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Roman round the countryOn Friday 26th of October, Year 8 had a trip to look forward to: Butser Ancient Farm and the grandeur of Fishbourne Palace.We arrived at Butser Ancient Farm at around 10:15. At first glance through the coach’s window, it did not seem like a farm at all. There were no sheep or cattle grazing in the fields, or any farm buildings within sight. There were, however, half a dozen or so wooden and straw roundhouses of various sizes – which we learnt were painstakingly recreated from archaeological evidence over many years.It was freezing, and a light drizzle of rain was falling. We rushed over to the biggest roundhouse and into the warmth of the fire in the middle. Sat on low benches around the side, the archaeologist revealed that the walls were made from mud and cow dung - lovely! Our group went inside an early roman villa. I found it amazing how different the villa was compared to the roundhouse. The villa had separate rooms and a small mezzanine section. It also had a very clever hypocaust which heated up one room. I’d rather live in there with all the mod-cons than a grubby old roundhouse.Next up was chalk carving. Since it was absolutely freezing, it was hard to carve with the flint and most people’s carving (including mine) had no resemblance to anything except for a piece of chalk! However, some of them were surprisingly good - one of my friends even managed to carve a dog’s head (I think…).Then onto the main attraction – the luxurious Fishbourne Palace itself.But imagine our surprise when the buildings did not look Roman at all! We later found out that this was because the

Roman palace had been destroyed by a fire, but thankfully the amazing mosaics and gardens had survived the blaze.The first part of the tour was in the West Wing where the mosaics were. They were amazing and in pristine condition. The best mosaic, I think, was the ‘Cupid on a Dolphin.’ After visiting the gardens, which were huge and full of many different types of flowers and plants, we went to the audio theatre. Here we learned lots of interesting facts about the palace such as who had owned it, when it had been re-

discovered and what it would have looked like.The museum we visited after this was also intriguing - there were Roman weapons, carvings of boats, tools and even a skeleton at the end. At the end of the trip we were let loose into the shop. There were people all over the place, trying to reach at gifts or getting their money out. In the end I got a small roman statue and a trigger torch.On the way home in the coach, everyone was tired after the long day. Overall I think that the trip was amazing. Year 8 not only enjoyed themselves, but also gained lots of information about the early Roman days in England, such as their houses and inventions like the hypocaust – all of which we take for granted now but were revolutionary when they were first introduced into Britain!

Deepesh Patel reports on the Year 8 trip to Butser Farm and Fishbourne

From the HeadI am often asked whether Wilson’s is a church school, and the short answer is no. We are not owned by the church; the pro-motion and nurture of religious belief is not one of our aims; there are no religious objectives in our Foundation and Trust documents. The school sees itself quite simply as a boys’ gram-mar school, focussed mainly on the achievement of academic excellence. We are, however, listed by the Department for Edu-cation as “a school with a religious character, namely Church of England”. Every five years or so we are inspected, as we were only two or three weeks ago, by the Anglican Southwark Di-ocesan Board of Education whose remit is to judge the extent to which the school demonstrates and promotes its “religious character”.

So, how did this apparent inconsistency between the way the

school sees itself and the way in which it is described in official listings arise? The answer is simply by an accident of his-tory. The Foundation of the school goes back to 1615, to the establishment of a free grammar school for boys in the parish of Camberwell by the Reverend Edward Wilson, a Church of England clergyman and Vicar of St Giles’s Church. This, of course, long pre-dates any notions of church schools or Dioc-esan Boards of Education, but it does form the basis of the school’s historical links with the Church of England. The for-mal link with the Diocesan Board of Education and thus the official designation of the school as “having a religious charac-ter” originated when, after the second world war, Wilson’s was asked to take over the assets of the Greencoat School, a charity school, which, unlike Wilson’s, had been established (in 1706) “To the glory of GOD, and the honour of the CHURCH OF

Mr Charnock reflects on the ‘religious character’ of the school and the recent inspection.

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Everyone’s a critic… I had been jumping up and down with excitement all the journey, and now I looked up at the imposing headquarters of The Guardian that stood before me.Entering the building through the turning doors, I was greeted by the buzz of chatter in a reception packed with guests. But I (shy as I am) found a corner with the whole collection of the shortlisted books that we were allowed to review and just dug in. After a while, one of the judges for the book review competition approached me and chatted about the different books that were available, and explained her job as a judge. Then she pointed out all the great figures in the room - a giant author named Philip Ardagh, writer of the Eddie Dickens series, was eating snacks and getting involved in a spirited conversation with rings of fans. I felt that it would be a tough job deciding which book to award the title of the winner of the Guardian’s Children Fiction Prize. Cressida Cowell (author of How to Train Your Dragon and competition judge) masterfully summarized each of the entries with amazing enthusiasm. The tension in the room was growing, and I couldn’t wait to explain to all of these people my favourite choice! ‘Will you now welcome Rishi Siddani who reviewed ‘The

Unforgotten Coat’ by Frank Cottrell Boyce, to the stage!” I blushed and stepped onto the stage- there was a round of applause as I, grinning from ear to ear, received my prize. Then, Julia Eccleshare declared that she was about to

announce the Guardian’s Children Fiction Prize. The moment we’d all been waiting for had arrived – we were about to find out who had won the Guardian’s prestigious Children’s Fiction Prize! The suspense mounted, and after a dramatic pause, Mrs Eccleshare pronounced with a flourish that “The Unforgotten Coat” had won! The very book I had reviewed on stage only

moments before!Bathed in light from all the cameras – the winners gathered on stage to cut an intricate, huge and specially made cake commemorating the brilliant evening.What’s more, Francesca Simon – the brilliant writer of the Horrid Henry series, congratulated me, and even gave me a sneak peek at the new story in the Horrid Henry saga!It had all gone by so quickly. As I stepped out from the party into the chilly bustle of a crisp London evening, I felt I could have stayed forever, basking in the warmth of imagination. By Rishi Siddani

ENGLAND”. It was, in other words, a proper church school. The transfer of the assets of the Greencoat School, whose buildings had been half destroyed during the war, was on the proviso that school should be subject to inspection by the Diocesan Inspector; and so began Wilson’s formally established links with the Church of England and our “religious designa-tion”.

For the avoidance of confusion the Governors and the Di-ocesan Board arrived some years ago at a memorandum of understanding which defined what “religious character” means in the context of Wilson’s School and it is against that memo-randum that we are inspected. Under that document the school undertakes to ensure that “The spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of each child will be based upon the following values and virtues: respect and tolerance for all; the pursuit of truth and justice; the challenge of service and duty; the experience of mutual trust and reconciliation and the pursuit of excellence.”

Our recent inspection, known as a Section 48 inspection to distinguish it from a normal Section 5 Ofsted inspection, went very well. These inspections are perhaps lower stakes than full Ofsted inspections but they provide a very useful insight into

the character of the school. They look not only at Religious Education and assemblies but also more broadly at the way pupils relate to one another and how the school promotes a sense of ethics, virtue and value. The inspector liked what he saw. He was struck, for instance, by the way in which a sixth former showed a small act of kindness to a year 7 boy when he stopped to help him after he had dropped his equipment. After his days in the school he concluded that “the school’s values, while not overtly Christian, are consistent with the Christian faith yet at the same time wholly inclusive. Such values include respect, justice, trust, service, reconciliation and reverence.” I particularly congratulate the RE and Philosophy department which did a wonderful job during the inspection and, as a result, was rightly judged to be outstanding. The sum-mary judgement for the school was that it is “an outstanding school. Excellence, ambition, respect, thoughtfulness, inclusive-ness, achievement, participation and fun are all very much in evidence. The atmosphere is happy, calm and highly productive. The school is a model of integration. True to its values, it is a place where all can celebrate their strengths and experience their worth. The school motto, ‘Non Sibi Sed Omnibus’ (‘Not for oneself, but for all’) is lived out in its daily life.” The full report is now on the website and I hope that you will read it.


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Year 7 visit Brecon Beacons Where should I start with 7B’s trip to the Brecon Beacons? The hours of fun activities and walking in the drizzle made Brecon an experience I’ll never forget. Ac-companied by Mr. Du Plooy, Mr. Beggs and our form tutor, Miss Tattersall we set off deep into the moun-tains for four days of fun!

Day 1

All aboard, the cramped coach to the middle of the Welsh Countryside! We were all acting like young lambs on a hot plate, too ex-cited to think of anything else but our wonderful trip as a form for the first time. 3 hours later… phones flat, arguing over the last work-ing console, people sleeping, laughing, crying, talking… Arrived! At last! We were getting a bit reckless, since Jordan’s PSP died on us. We were eager to start our adventure in the cold, wet, sheep filled, middle of no-where. Night hike! Nothing better than a stroll around the mountains in the dark, with pot-holes everywhere. It was kind of fun, since we could chat about what we wanted until Mr. Beggs, decided it was hard-core time!

Day 2

Alarm clock, groan, shower, full English breakfast, speech from teachers, warning from teachers, no free-time issued by teachers, mountain gear put on, walking, walking, walking, walking, more walking, stop, warning from teachers, us geographically embarrassed (lost), walking, groans, head over heels, speech from teach-ers about safety, EXTRA groans, climbing, climbing, stop, safety speech by teachers, climbing, stop, groans, whines, hands up, outrage, sandwich, tracker bar, apple,

Ted St Clair-Gray reports on the Year 7 trip to the Brecon Beaconswater, get up, walk down the mountain, coach, dead batteries… That was the climb to Pen Y Fan. As you could read, we didn’t get to finish the climb because some people didn’t want to do it. (Fair? Hardly.) But it paid off eventually when we went to the mining mu-seum and went down a proper mine! It was dark, smelly

and had an eerie feeling to it. The man who described the history explained it re-ally well. I thought the mine was pretty cool and the sta-bles were awesome.

Day 3

Today was the main day of all the activities, such as the climbing and gorge walking. It was cold, muddy and if you like being waist deep in freezing cold water and shoving your head up a waterfall, then you should try this. I don’t think the weather helped either. It made the gorge walking below -20, or the muddy rock climb-ing wall, completely covering it in thin layers of mud, making the wall completely slippery and if you do fall victim to the stone wall’s trap, than half the skin on your knee will travel down the wall… with you still up there, hanging, with a very big wedgie.

Day 4

Today we left Wales to head down back to England. No change in weather, nor the dying batteries on the way back, but it felt good to be going home. We all were filming each other on the way home. Besides the entire trip, we were tired, and for once, seeing the school gates was pleasing for us all. But if you go to Wales, bring more kit than what it says on the list.

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Appley ever afterDo you know your Granny Smiths from your Pink La-dies? Can you tell apart a Cox Pippin from an Autumn Gold? What on earth are you talking about, you might ask – yet it was Apple day on Friday 19th across the country, and Wilson’s didn’t want to get left out on the fruity fun. For a small, unaware Year 7, Apple Day seemed slightly weird, not a usual school event at all. So I headed on down to the Science block to see what was going on!A crowd of Wilson’s boys from all different years were gathered around the apple-bobbing, as huge splashes of water flew everywhere. Heads plunged deep into the murky depths of the watery, apple-filled box as everyone else (who were quite alright watching from a distance) looked on. As more eager Wilsonians slobbered all over the apples, it struck me that each person had a technique of getting the apples. There was the ‘head butt them into submission’ approach, the ‘get

more water on yourself than in the box’ method and the ‘pick them up by the stalk’ way. Yet my favourite was simply ingenious; the contestant ate a good chunk of each apple before taking them out, so he didn’t need a school dinner!After this, I came indoors to find the longest apple peel competition was in full swing – Miss Clarke was carefully scraping away at her apple, but in the end she was pipped at the post by Mr Carew-Robinson with 98cm. The ‘pear’ were cheered on by a ‘core’ of supporters, whilst in the other corner of the room there was the tastiest apple-based food. Everything looked rather a’peel’ing, and my eyes darted from pie to cake as the judges decided on a score.Overall, Apple Day was splendidly fun, and would’ve made Sir Isaac Newton himself proud of this spectacular day!

Oscar Taperell takes part in this year’s Apple Day

The first day in school, I walked in as proud as I could be, strolling in through the electric doors in my wonderful new school uniform -spotless white shirt; immaculate black trousers; a too long tie; fluffy black socks; shiny black shoes; a soft warm jumper and a glistening red Brecon badge. I was thrilled with my brand new uniform.

It was fun meeting my form tutor again and not forget-ting all of my new friends in the class.Everything changes in the jump from primary school, and I soon became lost in a maze of corridors and hallways. We were given a map of the school and that helped (to an extent!), until we ended up asking year nines for help, then year tens and sixth formers. Thank goodness I’ll

be learning some geography!Then, strangely, the next day I knew where every-thing was in the school – so naturally I became a fount of cartographical knowledge for all of my friends. I became the main navigator of Brecon, herding everyone around the school; sometimes even boys from the other houses were following me!So much to get to grips with, so many new friends to make, but we are all getting there and we are all having fun together. Wilson’s is going to be great fun.

On my first day in Wilson’s I had mixed feelings – nervous, anxious, excited, and curious. When I felt scared I reassured myself that everyone else in Year 7 is new. When I saw the school curriculum and what lessons we would be doing, I felt very excited to learn subjects that I had never learnt before (Ger-man, Latin, etc...).On my first day, I instantly made friends with other boys in the form (Brecon) and some-times in other forms or years. I found out that Wilson’s is an extremely friendly environment where people of all ages can mingle. Also, the teachers are very knowledgeable, helpful and can help you out when you are stuck with a question or don’t understand a particular topic.Wilson’s provides a huge range of extracurricular activities such as debating, chess, badminton, music, the choir and sport. Additionally, if you have a last minute homework to hand in next lesson, you can go to the library and complete it there.Wilson’s is the place to realise your potential and fulfil your dreams. I feel very privileged to be a part of Wilson’s.

Andrew Leggett and Rishi Raval give an overview of their first day at Wilson’sThe first day


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TEDx at Wilson’s SchoolOn the evening of the 4th of October, Wilson’s hosted a TEDx event: an independently organized event following the TEDTalks format. The TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) organisation licences these events in accordance with its commitment to “ideas worth sharing”. Having been introduced to the TEDTalks videos on YouTube by enthusiastic teachers in a number of areas of the curriculum, I suggested that Wilson’s start our very own TEDx to allow everyone to share their expertise on topics not normally discussed in school!I set about finding speakers – not exactly a difficult task as there are reams of enthusiastic academics floating around the corridors here at Wilson’s. Two teachers, Mr Phillips and Mr Hudson, agreed to share their experience, and a number of sixth formers volunteered to speak on diverse themes. The programme was completed by screening two official TED videos, on “The Intelligence of Crows” and “The Mathematics of History”.Mr. Phillips, Head of Biology, opened proceedings with an exposition of the collective wisdom of bees and how this may model human endeavour. Jack Crowson, a lower sixth physicist, entertained the audience with terrific insight into the brave new world of quantum computing, and Josh Hayes, an upper sixth physicist, brought the first half of the evening to a close explaining the numbers behind

the possibility of life on other planets. Mr. Hudson spoke on the importance of literature to the establishment of a participant democracy, Karim Abu-Seer brought the event into the realm of ethics and philosophy with a discourse on the benefits of greed, and I closed the event with a discussion of the development of statistical analysis in baseball. Phew!True to the idea of TEDx, the speakers were asked plenty of really analytical questions on their ideas – we really got a lively debate going.The event was a resounding success; it brought together for one evening and in one place experts and enthusiasts from the diverse disciplines that are scattered across the school, to celebrate their passions in an open forum. Some of the speakers had been through the doors of the debating society and had developed a taste for oratory and some were people who had never done public speaking before.The topics discussed both intrigued and inspired members of the audience and the variation in subject matter helped to give the TEDxWilsonsSchool event its own twist. I am very proud to have brought TEDx to Wilson’s and I hope this event proves to be the first milestone in a journey of opportunity for many other students and staff.

George Driscoll reports on the TEDx event at Wilson’s

Do you judo? by Matthew Jeffery

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing someone beaten on the ground. The only way to do this in Wilson’s (without getting excluded!) is Judo. But in reality, far from being violent, Judo is a highly intel-lectual sport, testing your opponent for their weaknesses before you strike. It’s an art where the winner is the person who can analyse their opponent the quickest. The biggest fear in joining Judo is usually getting hurt, but that fear is unfounded. When you win a fight you feel triumph and glory - even a loss is fun and a great learning experience you can use in later bouts.Judo was created in 1882 by Kano Jigoro but styles of martial arts can be dated back to 1532. By the 1800s there were over 700 styles

of grappling martial arts similar to judo, but over the years they have died out leaving a handful of survivors in modern society – their king being Judo.The secret to Judo is in the technique, not power. A small person can easily stand up to a large lump. As someone that does a variety of martial arts I can say (without any bias at all…) that Judo is the best; its balance and style unparalleled in the world of fighting. All it takes is a quick glance at the Mixed Martial Arts line-ups and you will soon realise that this is the case. I’m really looking forward to continuing with this exciting new development at school!

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On the 23rd March 2012, Wilson’s School Army and RAF sections joined forces for their biennial inspection. Despite a 7am start, the cadets enthusiastically completed their final preparations and duties before forming up in a 100 cadet strong parade. As final adjustments were being made, a loud thumping noise issued from overhead. The school gazed on, open-mouthed, as a Lynx helicopter, the star attraction of this RAF-led inspection, hovered and touched down on the playing fields and the section’s guests were ushered out of the sun by smartly dressed cadets. When the day’s guest of honour arrived, she was greeted by the guard of hon-our team, who had spent weeks being rigorously drilled in weapon manoeuvres, displaying the strong commitment to the day felt by both sections. The remainder of the day was spent with guests taking cadet led tours around various stands (everything for weapon handling to the flight simula-tor) prepared and practised weeks before by the cadets. Having navigated all standings (including the chance to sit in the Lynx and talk to its pilots about being in the RAF, a stand of particular interest to guests and cadets alike), the guests returned to their seats for the much anticipated arena events.

The army began proceedings by demonstrating their ef-ficient casualty evacuation training (cue gaping ‘wounds’ and screams of ‘agony’). The RAF then impressed with their continuity drill, performing a long series of compli-cated manoeuvres without a single command, with twist-ing circles and Mexican Wave salutes galore. As the squad marched off, a rifle-dissembling race raised the tension within the arena, with a representative from the two sec-tions racing to take the rifles apart then re-assemble them. It was a very close competition, but the RAF section’s but the RAF section’s Cpl Anadakumar narrowly scraped a victory. The army equalised through a fierce tug-of-war ef-fort. Overall, the RAF was deemed victorious, though the Army section also received praise for their valiant efforts.A final presentation concluded the day, with cadets being awarded prizes by the guest of honour and the special recognition of Squadron Leader Gardner’s services to the section. The RAF guest of honour concluded the ceremony, addressing both the cadets and the officers and praising them for their commitment to the day and their respective sections. Many thanks and congratulations to both the cadets and the officers for all their efforts in making the day such a success, and good luck to both sec-tions in their future endeavours.

The benefits of debatingDebating is often only discussed in the academic sense, based on how well it looks on your UCAS forms, how much it impresses universities, and the rhetorical skills it brings. For these reasons, the fact that is actually really enjoyable is often overlooked.

In extremely simple terms, debating involves formulating a structured argument. It gives you a chance to air your views on current affairs and prominent issues; a chance to share your passion for a particular topic; and a chance to enjoy and develop your public speaking skills. It gives you the opportunity to travel across the country to compete at a top level and interact with other keen debaters, all the while developing important skills.

Another major benefit of debating is that it builds your confidence. I have never felt very comfortable speaking in front of others, but debating helps you plan what to say, and to develop a technique that suits you. It helps you to build arguments, and it also gives you the confidence to present them. Teamwork and co-operation are also vital, as you usually work with a partner, both in the reasoning behind the debate, and in putting forward aspects of your argument.

The flexible thinking required when rebutting others’

points is key in many other areas of life. Being able to think on your feet is useful in almost any situation. All the skills that you use in debating are transferable. Debating also gives you the opportunity to meet other people interested in the same things as you; many debating competitions have hundreds of competitors, of all ages from all areas of the UK.

Of course, on top of all of this is the benefit of helping you access top universities or employment, and this is true. Being involved in debating certainly develops all of the skills I’ve talked about so far, and these are all relevant in further education or in a working environment, so it is something people will be interested in. However, I believe this should not be the reason to enter debating, as you will not succeed if you see it merely as an asset for university, and I believe it’s important people realise that actually, it is enjoyable, educational, and confidence-building.

I hope this encourages you to try debating. If you wish to get involved, speak to Mrs Guy in the English department, or come along on a Friday lunchtime to room 16. By Max Cobain

“It is better to debate a question without settling it than settle a question without debating it.” Joseph Joubert

Wilson’s CCF biennial inspection by Henry Stanley


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Drama in the Mollison Drive DerbyWhen it was announced that the Year 12s would be taking the highly valued 4 XI team slot ahead of the year 13s, there was instant tension between the two teams. The controversial (but brave) decision was called by the Wilson’s PE staff, who must have seen some potential in the year 12s, supported by their impressive results throughout the junior school seasons. The year 13s were clearly not happy with being demoted to the 5th XI, and so when the two teams met in an inter school league game, it was always going to be a heated fixture.

It was a windy, overcast day at Mollison Drive and when the two teams got underway, you could see the weather would make it a hard job for the defence of both teams. The start of the game was scrappy with both teams struggling to keep the ball, but the 5th XI took a lead midway through the half after a defensive miscommunication from a corner. The rest of the half was fairly equal with the 4ths having several chances to equalise but squandering them all. The 5ths went into half time feeling happy with their one goal advantage, and a certain arrogance. Attacking changes by the 4th XI were made and before long the second half was begun. The 4’s looked like a changed team from the start of the second half but that goal they needed was

proving to be rather elusive. Their efforts, however, eventually paid off when their central midfielder Kiwoong Park scrambled the ball into the back of the net. From then on the 4s totally dominated, but not without a fight from the 5’s, who to their credit played until the final whistle. Unfortunately, the game had a dampener put on it. A dubious tackle from Sam Fairhurst (5th XI centre mid) came in on Will Stanley, catching his ankle and resulting in him having to be helped off the pitch, later being taken to the medical room where it was found he had sprained his ankle. Despite this, his team pushed on and scored three more, with strikes from Richard Rose, Lucky Niraj and the latest addition to the team, Nick Gikas.

Overall, it was clear the 4th XI were the better team and deserved their 4-1 victory. They had consolidated their place in the higher ranks of the Wilson’s football hierarchy.

The 5ths will be hungry for revenge later in the season, and we can count on there being more high quality, competitive, thrilling and dramatic football to come from these two teams.

By Richard Rose

Is this our year?To say that Wilson’s Grammar School is solely an academic institution would be an inaccurate statement and one which would offend those associated with the school. Even though the school continues to produce grades which not only rival, but often top other state and private schools, it still manages to integrate sport successfully into the daily learning of its students. One of the mainstream sports which has been suc-cessful alongside the school’s academic achievements is football.The 1st XI Football team has begun the season ex-tremely well, boasting an overall win percentage of 82%; with our only defeat so far this season com-ing from our encounter with the Old Wilsonians 1st XI. With convincing wins throughout every cup and league which the team participates in, there is a belief that perhaps this year we can challenge for the national cup, a cup which this season has been entered by 578 schools around the country. Although this target is

still a fair distance in the future, with the guidance of both Mr Simmons and Mr Parkinson it is a target which is by no means unrealistic. Together with a de-fence and goalkeeper who have only conceded 9 goals in 10 games against other schools, a midfield which has performed well under the supervision of the captain Jack Elliot, and a strike force which has scored 39 out of our total 55 goals this year, it is safe to say that we can achieve great triumphs this season. Whilst we attempt to accomplish our goal, it would be much appreciated by both the 1st XI players and manage-rial team if there were more support at matches from other members of the school, as together we will be able to represent Wilson’s not only on the field, but off the field as well.

By Alexander Osborn

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Creative cornerThis term’s theme is ‘Light and Darkness’

By Kenta Watson By Spencer Rynsaard 10HDarkness

The gemThe little speckSitting there in the black that surrounds it

The inhabitantsThe humansTrying to find what’s in the area around it

Their creations scrape the skyThey have rockets, flying highBut they find nothing in the darkness

Looking up into the blackThere may be a being staring backBut they cannot find it

Discovery may come one dayBut their curiosity fades awayTheir lives continue

Way up there, deep in spaceOn another planet, another raceSearches the darkness for others

So the gem, all aloneHas got friends to share its homeIn the darkness

Amal Patel

Electricity: The buzz in my life

As night fell upon us,The darkness swept me up.This wasn’t darkness,It was something else,No traffic lights,No traffic,No lights coming through bedroom windows,The human eye was absolutely useless.

Time was lost, long gone,12pm or 3pm?I wouldn’t know.The clock on the wall,The hands were motionless,Stuck in time.

I sat by the fire,Wrapped in my blanket,My biscuits were stale,My hot chocolate was as cold as ice.I stared at the fire,At the dancing shapes, Dancing in their own world of happiness.

This is a world without a buzz,A world without electricity,A world draped in darkness,A world without technology.

This is a world without happiness.

A world without happiness,Is a world without life.

By Vishal Shah


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