Friday 9 March 2018

BY SASHAOn Tuesday 26 February Gordon Corera, BBC Security Correspondent and author, gave a talk in a packed Fiennes Theatre. He spoke about how his role as a counter-terrorism reporter at the BBC has changed with time and that the threat from terrorism dipped around 2011 following the death of Osama bin Laden, and the London 2012 Olympics passed without incident. While there was some positive change as a result of the Arab Spring, it reignited the terrorism threat that has manifested itself in the rise of so called Islamic State, and the recent emergence of terrorism in the UK resulting in the Manchester, London Bridge and Westminster attacks. This

rise is linked to the development of new technology as ISIS has used this to promote their propaganda on social media sites, and the idea of a new generation of terrorists was explored during the talk. Linked to this idea is the fact that espionage is becoming increasingly data driven and physical spying is a dying art. Cyber attacks are becoming more and more prominent, such as on the NHS in the UK and the impact that Hillary Clinton’s leaked emails had on the 2016 Presidential Election. The discussion about the Secret Pigeon Service, part of Operation Columba that was used to gather information from people living under Nazi occupation, demonstrated that non-traditional

techniques can be successful. Mr Corera explained that Operation Columba involved more than 16,000 British pigeons being dropped into Europe during WW2 and they brought back questionnaires which had been used to gather information from people living under Nazi occupation. They were returned to a special unit of British Intelligence, MI14D, who decoded the messages. Despite this rise in technologically driven intelligence in the 21st century, the fact that China is training 10,000 homing pigeons to prepare itself in the event of a cyber attack demonstrates that non-conventional forms of espionage may still have their place in combating the threat from terrorism.

Gordon Corera talk

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Emanuel Twitter feedYou can now follow Emanuel on Twitter. Please visit @Emanuel_School to follow us for regular updates, announcements, results and news.

BY THOMASLast Thursday the final of the second annual house History debating competition took place in the Goddard Room. A sizable audience of Year 9 students, sixth formers and staff witnessed a high quality contest between Howe and Nelson. The centenary of the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918 provided the inspiration for the motion: “This house believes the Suffragettes damaged the cause of women’s suffrage”. Previous rounds had seen contestants debate the issue of Appeasement and the legacy of Napoleon. Credit should go to Jeremy and Guy of Nelson for stepping into the breach for the final and theirs was a strong defence of the motion. The central tenet of their argument was that the violence of the Suffragettes served to stiffen the resolve of the government and anti-suffrage movement particularly in light of the precedent it would set, and the wider implications for republicanism in Ireland and independence movements elsewhere in the empire. They contended that the transformative effect of the Great War and the peaceful campaigning of the Suffragist movement was ultimately more effective. Nelson were up against passionate, articulate and well-informed opponents in Esme and Stella of Howe, who maintained a persuasive and substantiated defence of the necessity for, and effectiveness of, militancy in the face of the deeply entrenched views of the establishment. Both sides admirably fended off robust questions from the floor. The quality of the event was enhanced by authoritative chairing by Pietro, joint previous winner of the competition last year with me, Thomas. However, there had to be a winner, and the judges decided that the victors were to be Howe, so Pietro and I handed over the debating cup, donated by His Royal Highness Prince Abdul-Hakeem (OE 86-90), to Esme and Stella to have their names engraved on it for ever.

BY SHAHAN Students Shahan, Rafael and Ben, plus a few others from our weekly Computer Club have been building a school supercomputer. It is "super" because it is six computers working in parallel. Even though it is not finished, work is progressing quickly. We have all the computers connect-ed on a trolley with power, networking, keyboard, mouse and a screen. At first we tried to use Linux Ubuntu but we have now switched to Windows Server 2012 because Ra-fael thinks it will be more useful when we get it working. We managed to get all the hardware and software from IT Services for free. It will eventually be used to run big computing jobs like finding prime numbers and by EPQ students doing related projects and even by staff.

Super Computer

House History and Politics Society Debating Final

EPA Parents' Seminar Monday 30 April 2018

Shirley Scott of The Thrive Programme will be giving a presentation entitled: Anxiety Free - Recognising it, understanding it and over-coming it. Drinks 6.30pm. Seminar 7-8pm. Please look out for the Eventbrite invite.

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Well done again, JosieGymnast Josie Winnick had an amazing trip to Florida with her Gemstones Club. Josie’s squad brought 12 competitors to the United States in three teams - bronze, silver and gold level. We are proud to report that Josie was in the top 10 gymnasts on all four apparatus, being placed eight in bars and beam, second in floor and first in vault to give her an overall individual third place in the gold category. Her teammates also did well and they were stunned and delighted to win the overall first place for gold team competition. Well done Josie.

Teatime concertsOn Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 February, a double-header of two team concerts in a row took place. A guitar concert followed the Woodwind event, and all the performers (about 20 in total) played very well as the enthusiastic audiences enjoyed tea and cake. The pupils played music ranging from Telemann to the Beatles. My thanks as always to the visiting music teachers who prepare the pupils so well, and of course to the performers who always courageously battle nerves and pressures to play beautifully. TWR

Careers ConventionThis year’s annual careers convention saw the Hampden Hall, regaled in blue and yellow, full to the rafters with in excess of 70 exhibitors and 200 students and their parents discussing potential future career pathways for our current cohort of Year 11 students. Our guests, made up of former pupils, supportive parents and established ‘friends of Emanuel’, ranged from broadcaster to band member, pilot to PR consultant, scientist to solicitor, and many more. The guests commented positively upon the perceptive questions put to them, the sensible and often well-informed curiosity and upon the high level of confidence and communicative skills displayed by our students. It was a busy and successful evening, and we would like to add our special thanks to all those guests who gave up their evening to venture to SW11 on a wet and wintry evening in support of our students. HJ

A full Hampden Hall witnessed a diverse and ambitious Orchestral and Choral concert last month. The concert started with Claudia ( music scholar) performing the Elgar Cello Concerto. To undertake such a piece is certainly challenging enough, but to perform it from memory is hugely impressive, and a standing ovation was precisely what Claudia deserved at the end of a very mature, flawless performance. The Emanuel School and parents’ choir stepped up next and performed Poulenc’s quirky yet beautiful Gloria, with Colette Boushell (singing teacher) the soloist. After the interval, the combined orchestras and choirs performed John Williams’s moving Hymn to the Fallen, from the film Saving Private Ryan. It was fantastic to see every person involved in the concert performing together and the pupils certainly enjoyed the opportunity to play and sing alongside professional musicians, many of which are part of our visiting music team. The final piece was John Rutter’s exciting Gloria which is written for choir, brass ensemble and organ. The first and last movements rattled along and were certainly exciting, whilst the middle movement allowed the choir to demonstrate its musical awareness with excellent dynamics, ably supported by Mr Gregory on the organ. Many parents have been in touch saying how great the concert was, and what a fabulous opportunity for the pupils to be a part of. It was certainly a privilege to be at the front listening to it all, and my thanks to the musicians and parents choir’ for supporting this high class event. TWR

Choral and Orchestral Concert success

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House Points Totals At 6 December

Junior Senior OverallClyde 148 Howe 170 318

Drake 163 Nelson 148 311

Lyons 180 Marlborough 150 330

Wellington 176 Rodney 151 327

Weekly House point totals

Emanuel cake winnersLast week’s Emanuel cake winners (left) were our Intermediate mathematics challenge contestants. The students won gold and silver certificates and have qualified for the next round. Well done and good luck. This week’s winners (right) is the U15 Rugby 7s squad, who won the Ibstock Place School tournament last week. See p6 for match report.

8MSH ‘Lit’

Champions!After a gruelling 900 questions the Lower School Literary Quiz reached its climax after 18 heats spread throughout Year 6, 7, 8, and finals week featuring the top five Forms 8MSH, 8KSA, 7LCC, 7HEB and 6CAL. In the end 8MSH were worthy winners, dominating the competition from start to finish, winning every heat they played in except for one. This event is one of the very few competitions in the school calendar which is not House based and gave an opportunity to the best read children to really shine. Everybody really enjoyed the event and it is perfect preparation for the next inter-school book quiz competition we host after Easter, called ‘The CWIZZ’ in which sixteen of the best junior quiz players will be involved. Although many teams rotated their players, the winning team 8MSH stuck with the same top four

of Molly, Freya, Lucy and Thea. It’s worth noting that the same form won the event last year when they were 7CLH, so they really are unbeatable! 7LCC, led by Oscar, were the winning 7 Seven Form and will probably be the team to beat next year, and 6CAL were also fantastic, considering they are two whole years younger than

the Year 8 teams and I’m sure will bounce back next year. The prestigious Neale Shield (which the girls are holding in the photo) will now be engraved with 8MSH. Well done to everyone for their incredible enthusiasm and energy. TRJ

Quiz Night updateDue to a cancellation, the Quiz Night team has one spare table available for purchase. If you have a team and would still like to at-tend on Friday 23 sMarch, please email Julia at haynesandgosling@btinternet.com. First come, first served.

World Thinking DayThe event on 22nd February was organised by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and has been celebrated since 1926. The Junior Philosophy Club launched a competition. The challenge was to write a philosophical question related to each lesson a pupil was going to on World Thinking Day 2018. eg. Biology. Is the phrase ‘before the Big Bang’ meaningless, since the Big Bang is the beginning of everything, including time? Congratulations to the winner, Tomoki.

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Next week - Monday 12 to Friday 16 March - is British Science Week, with the theme 'Exploration and Discovery'. There will be daily quizzes and competitions to take part in, and lots of fun activities taking place at lunchtimes in the science department, including solving the mystery of 'Who Killed the Headmaster?'. After school on Tuesday, there is a presentation competition "What if...had never been discovered?", where students will suggest how the world might have been different without particular scientific breakthroughs, and Nicky Dean, chief editor of Nature Energy, will be speaking on Thursday afternoon about his experiences in science journalism. There is something for every age group, and students are encouraged to attend whatever they can.

Come and enjoy a night of wine tasting, snacks and performances by Emanuel’s talented musicians in support of our partnership with schools in India. Wine experts from Bancroft Wines will guide you through a tasting of delicious spring wines, from light, aromatic

whites to cultured reds and you’ll take home a bottle of your choice (subject to availability) as a memento from this special evening. The event will be held on Tuesday 27 March, 7-9pm, in the Hampden Hall.Tickets cost £25 per person, and all

proceeds go to Emanuel’s partner schools in India, Sri Jayendra and GKV. We hope to see you all there. To book your place please follow the blow link: • https://www.emanuelalumni.org.uk/

alumni-events/wine-tasting-fundraiser/

An evening of wine tasting to enjoy!

British Science week 2018

BY HETTYLast month our Year 9 Classical Civilisation and Latin classes had an exciting trip to Bath. We arrived at school, loaded ourselves onto a coach and set off - all of us excited for what was to come. When we arrived at Bath, we were allowed to explore the town. We went past lots of beautiful shops selling all sorts of exciting things and explored the exquisite town where the Romans had once lived. Then it was time to go to the museum. Inside we enjoyed an atmospheric treat of hot water springs and spectacular ruins of the Roman baths; it made us all realise how sophisticated the bath and temple complex used to be. We even got to try some of the water from the spring. Most of us, however, spat it out owing to its weird flavour and warm temperature. After marvelling at the Roman curse tablets found in the sacred spring, we had a look around the gift shop, ate lunch in town and set off for home. It was a brilliant trip.

Bath time

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Rugby 7s

U12A V HARRODIANFINAL SCORE: 1-0 (WON)BY MEGANThe game began with a great goal from our centre forward Francesca. As the game progressed, Harrodian began to fight back, however they were no match for our team spirit and performance. Fleur (player of the match), Lucy and left back Izzy were particularly impressive. Throughout the season our netball and hockey teams have played Harrodian many times and have gone unbeaten against them. We are happy to continue this great winning run.

HockeyU14A v NOTTING HILL AND EALINGFINAL SCORE: 2-3 (LOST)BY MAISIEIt was a very close match. Rose defended amazingly, working hard to get the ball out of their D. Bella also made some outstanding saves in goal. Victoria was strong throughout the match and moved the ball quickly from defence to attack. We tried everything to level the score but it wasn’t enough. We are improving all the time and we were unlucky to not get a draw.

U13 v STREATHAM AND CLAPHAM FINAL SCORE: 3-4 (LOST)BY EVAThe team worked well together to keep possession and we were able to score three goals by Bea, Gabby and an excellent effort by Sophie. Unfortunately, the opposition were a bit too strong for us, especially their strong defence. Congratulations to our goal keeper, Thea, who was voted player of the match.

U13 v NOTTING HILL AND EALINGFINAL SCORE: 5-3 (LOST)BY EVADespite our solid attack, we made some silly mistakes in defence. Nonetheless, everyone played well, especially our goalkeeper Thea who deservedly received player of the match for the second time in a row.

U15S: WINNERS OF THE IBSTOCK PLACE SCHOOL RUGBY 7S TOURNAMENTCongratulations go to the U15 7s squad who won the Ibstock Place School rugby 7s Tournament. In our group of five teams, we beat Rutlish 26-14, before drawing with City of London Freemen’s 7-7. Another win against Gunnersbury followed (19-0), but City of London Freemen’s had matched our record, scoring heavily against the same oppositions. This meant that we needed to beat Ibstock Place by a substantial margin to be group winners. We scored 43 points without reply against Ibstock, before a nervous trip to the control tent to discover whether we had amassed enough points. Fortunately, our efforts were not in vain as eight points separated Emanuel (+109) and City of London Freemen’s (+101), and we went through to the final as group winners. In a tense final, we beat a strong Isleworth team 21-14. Stand out performances were the tireless defensive work of captain, Will the relentless work rate of Nick and Monty and the try scoring of both Monty and Jay. Jay scored a vitally important five tries against Ibstock. However, 7s is very much the ultimate team game and credit goes to the whole squad (seen pictured). DCH

EMANUEL NETBALL AWARDSThe 2018 netball awards had record attendance and the evening didn’t fail to impress. All of the captains spoke extremely well and had produced highlights videos of excellent standard. The evening was a great celebration of all of the participation and successes of the year. I would like to thank all the coaches, parents and students for all of their hard work in the netball season. CY

U14A v RADNOR HOUSEFINAL SCORE: 2-0 (WON)BY MAISIEIt was a great result and everyone played well. Lola scored an early goal, getting us got off to a good start. It was a back and forth match in terms of defence and attack but we managed to win 11 short corners. Our goalie Bella, plus our sweeper Charlotte did a great job in defence. Lola scored her second goal to out us in the driving seat. Rosie was player of the match.

U13B v RADNOR HOUSEFINAL SCORE: 6-0 (WON)BY EVAWe scored a number of goals, the result of great passing play from Amber, Sophie and Eva. Our spacing and passing was great but our team defence and movement needs practise. Congratulations to Lucie who received player of the match for her excellent saves.

U13B v IBSTOCK PLACE FINAL SCORE: 4-3 (WON)BY BEATRICESophie’s awesome positioning at centre forward set up Rosie to score our first goal of the game. Emily then took on several players to give Sophie the ball to score the second Ahead on the score board, we came back to the pitch confident. Thea saved numerous shots while Anna, Gabby, Bea tackled well to pressure Ibstock. The opposition scored again but we bounced back to win the match. Impressively, Sophie scored all our goals. Player of the match was Amber, who dominated midfield and delivered many assists to Sophie.

SPORT

Netball