The Alleynian 708 2020

Alleynian the No.708 Summer 2020

OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Opinion, Interviews & Features, Creative Writing, Drama, Art, Music, Sport, Trips, Wellbeing, The College Community, CCF,The Union, Valete, Last Word

THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Staff editor Josephine Akrill

CONTENTS OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES 2–41 CREATIVEWRITING 42–63 DRAMA 64–75 ART 76–112 MUSIC 113–123 SPORT 124–147 TRIPS 148–171 WELLBEING 172–173 THE COLLEGE COMMUNITY 174–175 CCF 176–181 THE UNION 182–183 VALETE 184–197 LASTWORD 198–199

Assistant staff editor Charlotte Judet Student editor Luke Jensen-Jones Student team Abel Banfield Daniel Kamaluddin Francis McCabe

L ast year, as we celebrated our quatercentenary, the Alleynian took the opportunity not just to look back, but to think about the future. Notwithstanding the magazine’s focus on the often dispiriting issues of the day, from climate change to Brexit, the overriding attitude towards our next 100 years was one of optimism. It has not taken long for such optimism to dissipate. As we find ourselves dealing with one of the deadliest outbreaks of disease in modern history, along with renewed – and rightful - anger over police brutality and systemic racism, the heady days of 2019 seem a world away. In 2019 I did not imagine that this year’s edition of the Alleynian would be coming to you in digital form, nor that such a fact would be rendered relatively unremarkable when put into wider perspective. Neither did I imagine that so much of this year’s edition would take on a more sombre tone. Whether it be in the pages of our opinion section, or in the notable omission of so many of the things the College typically looks forward to in the Summer term, we are constantly reminded of the toll that this year has taken. That is not to say that this Alleynian does not contain its fair share of good humour. In fact, it is a credit to student and staff writers alike that they have been able to identify and celebrate the lighter and more humorous aspects of recent times, as well as chronicling the more serious issues which we are facing. There are times when what is happening in the world can feel overwhelming, and times when we can feel as though we are about to sink below the surface. We must do our best to look for those small pieces of comfort and humour, and keep them close to us, so that we can navigate through the dark and back out into the light. The optimism of a year ago might have diminished, but we cannot let it vanish completely.

Arjaan Miah Chris Paton Alexander Poli Leo Sterz

Staff section editors Art: Robert Mills Drama: Kathryn Norton-Smith

Music: John Carnelley Sport: Phil Greenaway

Photography The Alleynian features photographs by boys, staff and professional photographers. We would like to thank all those whose photographs appear in this edition. Drama photography by Maggie Jarman and Nobby Clark

Cover image by Paolo Ceccolini

Design and layout Nicholas Wood

Proofreader Frances Button

With warm thanks to Mary Jo Doherty for her invaluable work curating the artwork which accompanies both the opinion, interviews & features section, and the creative writing section. Thanks, too, to the Master, for all his support and encouragement. The editorial team would also like to thank all the contributors to this year’s magazine for their patience, and their willingness to meet tight deadlines. Finally, a big thank you must go to the College IT team, for the unstinting help they have given the team along the way.

That is more important now than ever before.

Luke Jensen-Jones Editor, the Alleynian 708

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AYEAR CUT SHORT OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

AT LEAST WE KNOW THAT THE TEACHERS IN CHARGE OF DETERMINING OUR GRADES CAN ASSESS US MORE ACCURATELY THAN A TWO- HOUR-LONG EXAM PAPER CAN

OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

The abrupt end to their school careers came as a shock to the Upper Sixth, says Leo Tidmarsh (Year 13)

GRADE EXPECTATIONS

E ven those blessed with 20/20 vision failed to spot what 2020 had in store for the class of 2020. Precariousness was the overwhelming sensation of the Lent term for my peers and me. Given that we had never imagined that this would be our last term, most of us in the Upper Sixth were more concerned with A-level revision than with trying to draw together our memories of our time at the school. Having been at the College since I entered DUCKS at the age of two, and having seen my two brothers progress through the school to Year 13, I have witnessed several previous year groups’ rites of passage, notably Leavers’ Day. A few ideas had already been exchanged about the occasion amongst members of our year group, and our minds were also starting to turn towards the various traditions awaiting us: prize giving, final assemblies, farewells and proms. In summary, the rest of the year was curving up towards the climax of exams – followed by the fireworks of relaxation and release after months of stress. Most of us were already about to burst. As it turned out, against the background of the much- discussed flattening and delaying of the curve of Covid-19, the curve of our final year was doomed to interruption. The Prime Minister, in slowing down the progress of the virus, drew our school year to an early close. However, for the sake of vulnerable people and our loved ones, I do not think there are many among us who disagreed with the closure of our schools. We in the Upper Sixth now find ourselves facing a final year devoid not only of exams but also of farewells. To call it an anti-climax would be an understatement. Writing this whilst isolating at home, I reflect that what I miss the most is simply the company of my friends, and, more broadly, the people I would, in the normal course of things, be seeing every day during my last year at Dulwich. At least we are looking forward to being able to attend some sort of prom or ‘final day’ next year. It’s just a shame that it won’t be in July 2020.

Discovering that you won’t be sitting your GCSEs takes a little getting used to, says Chris Paton (Year 11)

I t is Monday 23 March 2020, but this is a Monday like no other, marking the beginning of the first week in which schools have closed. The streets are almost deserted, devoid of those bustling uniformed groups of schoolkids racing off to get to school before the first bell. So, I ask myself, how long will this last? When will I see my friends again? And, most importantly, is that English essay still due in today? Surely this is a time for celebration, though. After all, I am about to embark on possibly the longest ‘holiday’ that I’ll ever get. Finally, I can binge-watch all eight seasons of Game of Thrones without a single overdue assignment to stop me. And yet there’s one glaring problem that means I can’t seem to relax. As my towering pile of vomit-inducingly colourful flashcards and countless empty coffee cups will tell you, I’m a GCSE student. Or rather, I was until today. As the news rolls in that summer exams for both GCSE and A-level students are cancelled, I find myself wondering what comes next. Within a week, most of my burning questions have been answered, but I can’t help but feel lost, discarded, forgotten, as if a whole chapter of my life has abruptly drawn to a close. Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the futures of Year 11 and 13 students at the moment, one thing that is certain is the complete lack of closure. A key motivation to get GCSEs

over with was the promise of all the partying afterwards. Regardless of how well or how badly you do in the exams, all students can celebrate that they are out of the way; for many, this means rushing off to the Reading Festival or trashing their parents’ house in a once-in-a-lifetime ‘please mum, I’ll only be 16 once’ celebration. But I can assure you that no houses will be trashed, and no festivals attended this year. As Jedidiah Befekadu, one of my peers, says, he is ‘quite upset by the fact that the last two years of [his] education, all that hard work, has led to nothing’. And although we have been assured that we will be given the qualifications we’ve worked for, there’s still a lingering sense that something is not right. However, our situation pales in comparison with the plight of many others who are struggling with the devastating, even life-threatening, consequences of this global pandemic. And whilst we might not know what the future holds for any of us, at least we know that the teachers in charge of determining our grades can assess us more accurately than a two-hour- long exam paper can. Moreover, according to those who are more optimistic, maybe this will spell a change in the way that all future exams take place so that the whole performance of the student is taken into account rather than just their final exams. For now, there is no way of knowing what may happen. Looking on the bright side, though, at least I can look forward to being in the history textbooks 100 years from now.

OUR MINDS WERE ALSO STARTING TO TURN TOWARDS THE VARIOUS TRADITIONS AWAITING US: PRIZE GIVING, FINAL ASSEMBLIES, FAREWELLS AND PROMS

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OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

DESIGN FOR LIVING

Members of the DT Department have been producing face masks for use as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by doctors, nurses, pharmacists and carers across London, contributing to the fight against Covid-19. Arjaan Miah (Year 11) interviewed DT teachers Simon Inchley and Sion Roberts about the project

Arjaan Miah: Can you tell me how it all started?

to play around with the files on the Computer Aided Design (CAD) program, so they were easier to take apart. Simon Inchley: To add to that, we were using a version of the Prusa one, used by the Czech Republic’s government, but we needed the headband to fit an A4- sized screen as this was easier to source – this was one of the main reasons why we needed to change the file and settings ourselves and create a variant.

Sion Roberts: It began with an email from one of the governors to Mrs Angel, asking if our 3D printers could produce visors for the anaesthetists of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, using an online file. We test-printed various versions of the visor; to date we’ve probably tested between 15 and 20 different versions, many of which include our own modifications. We then added in additional key features, such as the elastic which keeps the mask on the face, and a clear plastic screen that needs punching twice with a regular hole punch so that it can clip onto the headband.

AM: Are you still changing the setup or is this the final version?

SR: I think we’re close to a final version. We’re trying to refine the CAD file, so that we can print as many as possible in the shortest time, maintaining a high quality. I’d say we’re a day away from the final file, but we’re having to adjust to client preferences.

AM: What are the visors used for?

SR: At the moment, they’re being distributed to a range of different places – hospitals, surgeries, pharmacies, and care homes as well. They give full face protection for anyone who’s working in those areas. AM: What were some of the unexpected hurdles in the process? I know that you prototyped lots of different visors, but what were the problems with the original design? SR: Well, it’s a pretty good example of ‘just in time’ production: each component for the assembly is dependent on another part of the production. In order to make the full mask you need the 3D-printed headband, but, if that print fails, then we can’t assemble it. Then we’ve had issues caused by the elastic or screens not being delivered on time, or being unavailable due to the Corona pandemic, and therefore assembly has had to be paused. For the printed headbands, we can stack them up, and get either 8 or 16 per 13- to 20-hour print, but it’s then hard to separate them. We had

AM: At what rate are you making them?

SR: The current output is 70 to 80 per day, but two printers are out of action. Once they are fixed, we should be printing over a hundred per day. [Editor’s note: After the interview, the College was lent 3D printers from JAGS, enabling the production and distribution of about 150 masks a day.]

AM: How long are you planning to continue the production?

SR: We’re very happy to keep making them for as long as they’re needed. It could be that the government brings in proper PPE for frontline hospitals and surgeons, but there could still be a lack for care homes and pharmacies. If they’re needed, as long as we have the materials, we’ll keep sending them in.

IF THEY’RE NEEDED, AS LONG AS WE HAVE THE MATERIALS, WE’LL KEEP SENDING THEM IN

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The College is grateful to the Friends of Dulwich College, our parents’ association, for their funding of the production of face masks. The FDC Committee had asked the Master, as the Coronavirus pandemic set in, to alert them to any Covid-related project it could sponsor, using funds that would otherwise have supported trips and expeditions. Support for the DT Department’s production of face masks has been enthusiastically approved by the Friends. They are also covering the cost of the replacement of some 500 pairs of goggles and visors which have been donated to the NHS from the Science faculty.

AM: How are you handling the actual human involvement, given the lockdown and requirement for social distancing? SR: We’re keeping social distancing. Whenever we’re in the room, assembling them, we’re at that two-metre distance apart, wearing PPE, in a sterile environment, ensuring that the masks are assembled appropriately. If we’re working individually, fixing printers or changing the CAD file, we have an allocated workshop each to work in. Anything after the print is handled with gloves and masks, so it’s in an appropriate environment.

AM: You say ‘each of us’: how many of you are there?

SR: For a couple of weeks, it’s been the two of us: me and Mr Inchley. Behind the scenes, there’s our technician, Mr Towers, and Mr Humphreys, Head of Department, pitching in. Now, other members of staff are getting permission to come and help. Even members of other departments, like Mr Hallam from the Economics Department, have helped out. We’re trying to utilise as many people as possible, while keeping social distancing. From the middle of the holidays, we were pleased to be able to add two of our excellent Upper School DT students, Sam Williams (Year 13) and Zubayr Ghufoor (Year 12), to the production line.

AM: How does the actual transportation of visors work?

SR: In various ways. The Master, Dr Spence, has been distributing them to a range of different locations across London, from Moorfields Eye Hospital in East London to NHS surgeries in Hammersmith and pharmacies in Barnes, while people who are local or who have direct College connections are coming in and collecting them from the Site Officers’ Lodge, which is conveniently located next to the Design and Technology Department.

AM: What’s it like to be making a direct contribution to the fight against Covid-19?

SR: It’s all very surreal. We’re just trying to do our bit – we have the resources to do so, and it’s something that every DT department in the country is starting to get on the bandwagon of, which is brilliant. It also gives a bit of structure to our day, which is great.

At the time of writing (late April) over 2,000 face masks have been made and distributed. The DT Department is looking to develop an even better product, for which it has acquired BSI (British Standards Institution) accreditation. Requests are currently being received for between 50 and 100masks a day.

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OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

PRINT, COPY, REPEAT

Inspired by the work of the DT Department, Kemal and Ozan Okvuran (Year 11) sourced and serviced a 3D printer at home in Turkey, using it to produce PPE masks for the local community, as Ozan explains

A fter we arrived in Istanbul on 17 March, my brother and I sold some of our old electronic equipment to buy an Ender 3 pro 3D printer for roughly £200. We had decided that we would use the printer to produce face shields for medical personnel and frontline workers in our local community. Our budget meant an entry-level machine which would require a lot of mechanical and electronic work to assemble, maintain and fix. We had to replace certain critical parts such as the pneumatic connectors and the extruder gear. Given the nationwide curfew imposed on people under the age of 20, we had to find and order all parts online and rely on the online community of users for help with maintenance. We still managed to produce roughly 300 face shields. The clear acetate sheets used for the face shields were provided to us by a family friend. Between 30% and 40% of our production went to an organisation called 3BoyutluDestek (translation: 3-dimensional support), which helped all of the 3D printer owners in Turkey to distribute the equipment to hospitals and other places in need. The remaining masks were donated to the local community or to health professionals who requested face shields. We distributed the masks to guards and cleaners in our residential complex, local businesses, our municipality, a dental practice, a health clinic and some individuals, such as a doctor from Anatolia.

OUR BUDGET MEANT AN ENTRY-LEVEL MACHINE WHICH WOULD REQUIRE A LOT OF MECHANICAL AND ELECTRONIC WORK TO ASSEMBLE, MAINTAIN AND FIX

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OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

READING FROM THE TOP

I LIKE THE FACT THAT IT IS MADE BY THE BOYS, FOR THE BOYS, BUT WITH TEACHER SUPPORT

people are reflecting on their activities beyond the campus. Then I’ll look probably at those more serious topics that may need more attention – the debates on everything from climate change to what problems we are going to face in the next generation, and how we are going to answer them. I know that we are all inclined to read what we are most interested in. Do you have any ideas on how we can encourage ourselves to read more broadly within the publication? I might be kidding myself, but I think that’s why the 400 edition was such a success. I could imagine people coming upon things they didn’t know were going to interest them and suddenly stopping and realising that they did want to look at that, or read about that. It has a balance, and it doesn’t feel cliquey. What I love is that all of the College is covered, from Ducks to the Upper School, so that everyone can look through and find themselves, or a friend. It didn’t feel as if it was the work of one clique of Alleynians, who were only writing for themselves and their friends. You might come across a page that you hadn’t expected to find interesting, but because of the photographs, or something in the text, you actually paused, and took the time to read that page. I think that, even on non-commemorative years, we might try to do that again. We’ve had a view from someone who says that we should allow more space for the boys by reducing the number of teachers in the Valete section, or the size of the articles. Do you agree? That’s difficult. I mean the Valete section is very important. It’s a way of saying thank you to departing teachers. Every boy has their Yearbook and can say their goodbyes there, and I think, within the Alleynian , the Valete section doesn’t

Some readers turn straight to the sports pages. Others linger over the art spread, enjoy the student opinion-pieces on politics, or plunge into the creative writing section. In trying to cater for the diverse interests and needs of its readership, how far does the Alleynian currently strike the right balance, and how might it change in the future? As part of a wider investigation into what the members of the Alleynian ’s readership think about the publication, Francis McCabe (Year 9) and Abel Banfield (Year 10) decided to ask the Master for his views

We have been interviewing people of the College about what they read in our school magazine, as well as what they don’t. We’d like to ask you what you read, as Master of the College. Well I read everything. I think it’s very important that I read everything. That goes for every Alleynian , but never more so than for ‘Celebrating 400’, the edition of the Alleynian which we brought out in 2019, reflecting on the whole calendar year. I think Jack Probert (student editor of the ‘Celebrating 400’ Alleynian ) and his team did a fantastic job. The Alleynian has always been a difficult balance between being a chronicle of the College and what must be reported, and being the boys’ magazine. I think there can be a tension between those two elements, but it can be a wonderful, creative tension. There are things that every Old Alleynian and non-Old Alleynian alike will want to look back at and see reflected on, for posterity, in a positive but relatively objective way, and then there are the moments of debate and dialogue and the boys’ own views about anything from the grave issues of the time in relation to climate change, to little Dulwich issues.

back; thinking forwards’, which contained pieces on the problems of our planet, and the books we’re reading, along with the article by Fedya, who found details of his great- grandfather’s role in defending the Soviet Union from Nazi aggression. It all reflected that sense of what we tend to do at Dulwich, which is to look in and look out. We can be proud of what we’re doing here, but never in a way that makes us simply over-engaged with navel-gazing! We like looking out from Dulwich at what the future might hold. So, in those ways, I thought the Alleynian captured our year very well.

seem too dominant. I have seen it dominate school magazines too much. In the Alleynian , it comes at the end; it doesn’t disturb the rest; it’s for you to look at the teachers you remember, you’d like to read about. You’ll probably find out something about them that you didn’t know, and I think that it is important to mark any teacher’s career in this way. It goes to Old Alleynians too, who will suddenly realise that such a teacher has left, another has retired or a third has gone on to that job that you’re so pleased to hear about. So, I think I’d agree with the reader who said let’s have more space for boys, and make the boys’ voices even stronger, but I’d say probably not at the expense of the Valete section.

Many of our other interviewees have told us what they are inclined to read first. Is there any section that you are fond of, or particularly attracted to?

Do you think that much more could be added, or is there anything that you think needs removing?

I would probably see if there are poems and stories. What I love is when the poems and stories are accompanied by artwork. So creative writing and creativity are the things that I’d often look at first. And I think this stands up very well. There are no doubt embryonic writers of the future, and artists of the future, whose first published work appears here. In years to come, we’ll be able to look back, as we do with people like PG Wodehouse, Graham Swift or Michael Ondaatje, and see their original works here. Then I’d look at the sport, music, drama, and art sections next. The Trips and Expeditions section offers a lovely way to catch up on how

Well, I’ll probably be embarrassed when I suddenly think about what’s not here, but as I say, what I love is our coverage of Dulwich. It seems to me, fair. We’re a school that wants to say that all elements of an education are equally valid, and I feel it captures that quite well. I wonder, on reflection, given how strong the House system is at the moment, about something more celebratory about the Houses – a little more space on House competitions, again as a way of involving and crediting boys who might not be big characters in the

So you see the magazine in some sort of way as a signature?

That’s a lovely way of putting it. I think that’s exactly what it is. It captures the balance and breadth of Dulwich education. I loved ideas in the quatercentenary edition such as ‘Looking

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come upon that their predecessors would never have had access to, but there will be much lost because of the change of formats, because of the introduction with such speed of new media that might actually be lost to the future. I wonder if things in the archives like reel-to-reel tapes and cassette recordings, which people thought were state- of-the-art and were going to be a fantastic record, might actually be less accessible now because of that great change of media. So I suppose that I would want to retain a print version, even if it’s only that we make one copy and keep one copy, to ensure that we don’t lose a part of our history.

If you could write a part of the magazine, what would you write?

I’m always wary of the magazine that seems over-dominated by the headteacher or the senior teachers so I’d be quite circumspect in what I offered. I was delighted to do this interview, and I was delighted to give my reflections on the quatercentenary year to Jack, but I think maybe, once every couple of years, I should think of something that I’d like to write about for our community, and maybe you’ll think of what that might be. Rather than appearing to be co-editor and appearing to have an authoritative voice in this, I like the fact that it is made by the boys, for the boys, but with teacher support.

whole-school fixtures, but who play a really important role in the House Music competition, or House Croquet, or Little Sides football, or something like that. So maybe Houses are an element that we could think of, that you could think of developing further. But there’s nothing I’d take away. I like that balance between a proper chronicle, which uses due diligence to make sure everything is covered, and a magazine of boy opinion. I think it would be a really useful resource for historians of the future, looking into what young men in 2019 or 2020 thought about their school, their city, their country, their world. And if we’ve given a real sense of things being debated, not just passively reported, I think it’s a strong resource.

We’ve also had a recommendation to add video content in this digital age. Do you think that it would be a good idea to utilise different types of media?

I think that probably is the future. I think that the greatest decision in your time, unlike that of Jack Probert and Joe Atkinson and your predecessors, is going to be, do we publish a paper journal? Is it ecologically sound to do so? Is the future actually going to be a digital Alleynian for everyone? Perhaps we could consider just producing a few copies for people we know who are generationally less likely to find access to it digitally. If we go digital, the possibility of bringing alive the interviews that are reported here, by having them available at the click of the button to see on video, is very exciting. I think it’s very interesting though, how many newspapers still love the printing of an interview. And how when you print an interview, you can offer a commentary on it in a way that can be very necessary for delivering messages. So, I think there’s a place for the video interview, but it mustn’t take the place completely of the written-up interview.

Finally, can you sum up what the Alleynian is, for you?

We’ve had an opinion that we should incorporate an Agony Aunt/Wellbeing section into the publication.

That’s a nice question. As Francis said earlier, I think it is, at its best, the school’s signature. It gives a little record about where we are now, and how we live now, and what we care about now. And I think if it’s doing its job, subliminally and quietly, it probably says something about our values and what matters to us. I like the way people pick things up by osmosis, by just finding something instead of being told what to think. I’ve been a great supporter and defender of it over the years. For a couple of years, I edited it, which I think is pretty unusual for a headmaster. It was a staging post between different editors, and I wanted to make sure it took on a certain form. And in a way, the form it now has was made in those years, and now I properly give it back to the school, to the boys, to the teachers and supporters, to carry it forward.

I don’t know, I suppose I’m not a great reader of Agony Aunt columns or Agony Uncle columns, even when they appear in the national press. I suppose they feel so ephemeral. They might be more relevant if we had a weekly newsletter. And there are other ways in which we’d want to deal with people who have concerns. What I loved in the 400 edition actually, were the articles by our Head of Wellbeing, Miss Coppin (now Mrs Whittington), and by the Chaplain. And those are areas that particularly draw attention to pastoral care and where you can look for help and support if you’re feeling the pressure, the stress, the challenge of Dulwich life or of life beyond Dulwich. Maybe it’s not too fanciful to think I might read that and realise I could have visited the counsellor without having to tell my Form Tutor, or that the Chaplain has a room that is literally open for us to drop in on.

IT GIVES A LITTLE RECORD ABOUT WHERE WE ARE NOW, AND HOWWE LIVE NOW, AND WHAT WE CARE ABOUT NOW

We wondered whether you believe that a print version is a necessary record for the College and in particular for the archives.

Well, I think we have big decisions for the future. We know that future historians will be both blessed and cursed by the arrival of the digital age. There will be some things they’ll

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OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

THE PYJAMA GAME

M ost teachers, if they’re honest, will admit to having had repeated anxiety dreams before they taught their first ever lesson. What if the students don’t listen to a single word I say? What if I suddenly forget everything and clam up, jaw-locked and tongue-tied, unable to answer the simplest question about the Treaty of Versailles? What if I can’t find my classroom, where I’m sure Year 10 is supposed to be invigilating me while I take my university finals, despite the fact I’m two hours late, wearing only my pyjamas, haven’t revised and it’s the middle of the night and … aaagh . The prospect of transferring to remote learning initially reignited some of these old fears. I had heard horror stories (from other schools, of course) of teachers, as well as pupils, being muted and thrown out of the virtual classroom (imagine the real-life equivalent!). Add to this the pressures of teaching from a home I share with a working wife and three children under the age of five, it was difficult not to approach lockdown learning without some trepidation. And yet Dulwich boys have, of course, risen magnificently to the occasion. My Year 12 Politics set has still fizzed with the good-natured joshing of the socialist-leaning student editor of this magazine. At the other end of the political spectrum, Zeb Micic has continued to entertain Year 13 with his groaning bookshelves of Thatcher biographies, as well as his ‘Teams lesson bingo’ grid (‘Can everyone see my screen?’ and so on). Meanwhile, my form has enjoyed setting its own pub quiz, as well as meeting William Rome’s dog. And I was particularly tickled by the Year 11 boy who started the lesson with the Queen as his background picture – and ended it with a picture of Dr Spence perched on his shoulder.

A YEAR 11 BOY STARTED THE LESSON WITH THE QUEEN AS HIS BACKGROUND PICTURE – AND ENDED IT WITH A PICTURE OF DR SPENCE PERCHED ON HIS SHOULDER

The classroom has been replaced by the video link, meaning that teachers and pupils have had to adjust to different routines. Iain Hollingshead and two of his Year 12 students, Eddie Humphries and Jake Reisser-Weston , reflect on remote teaching and learning

We’ve even done some work. In fact, I’ve found most students more eager than ever to engage with their studies, particularly those in Years 11 and 13 who are stretching themselves beyond their usual curriculum. I’ve come away from many of those lessons energised – and even genuinely moved – by the students’ resilience and intellectual curiosity. That’s not to say, of course, that plenty of things haven’t gone wrong. Our middle child has twice ‘done a Prof Robert Kelly’, gatecrashing an online lesson and earning a friendly wave from the screen. I miss the physical classroom hugely, especially during Period 1 when students have been reluctant to turn on their cameras, leaving me addressing black boxes of initials. I even miss all those South Block stairs en route to the History Office. On the other hand, the commute is great, I haven’t ironed a shirt in months, my classroom has never been more fragrant, and I can unload the dishwasher and change a nappy in the five minutes between lessons.

Not the stuff of dreams, perhaps – but no nightmares either.

Iain Hollingshead

THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY

they all understood that the study of Psychology does not (unfortunately) bestow upon students the ability to read minds, I found that they still had very different opinions regarding the content of this A level. Is Psychology about studying ‘people’s moods’ and ‘behaviour patterns’, as Louis Morais-Jones posited? Or might it be about ‘how your brain works and how you think’, as Jacob De Giorgio speculates? Well, in its simplest form, Psychology A level is, according to Dr Cue, ‘an amalgamation of sciences and arts’. The students who choose Psychology will, he says, find that it provides a nice balance between the study of scientific methodology and the extended writing more usually associated with the humanities. Due to this, Dr Cue is adamant that in choosing to study Psychology, Dulwich boys will learn how to design an effective experiment, to develop their mathematical skills and to sharpen their essay-writing capabilities. As valuable as these skills are though, I’m sure that the more enticing part of Psychology is that it is, as Dr Cue points out, ‘intrinsically interesting’, allowing boys to examine the power of social influence (peer pressure), investigate the concept of attachment (the emotional bond between a parent and their young), understand different conditions such as schizophrenia, and – much to my delight – discover how both long- and short-term memory work. On paper these topics sound fascinating, but how do the boys currently studying Psychology at Dulwich feel? As Will Flowers of Year 12 explained to me, in Psychology ‘you learn the facts but also the background of the subject’. This means that, although you do have to study certain psychological experiments carried out in the past, the core of the subject is more focused on developing your understanding, rather than on the age-old regurgitation of textbook information. When I asked how the boys felt about doing fewer practical experiments in Psychology than in other sciences at the College, Ed Brilliant (Year 12) certainly felt that this was a positive aspect. I’m sure many boys at the College can vividly remember the first time they dropped a beaker during one of their Chemistry experiments – the inevitability of such an event makes it an embarrassing rite of passage of sorts for students. Without these experiments, which some may see as a burden, Ed says that Psychology offers ‘the interesting aspects of sciences without the extra baggage’. So, now, as befits every adept psychologist, I must conclude my study and state my findings. In researching this subject, I discovered plenty about what it is, and even what it is not, as an A level. I believe that if students are prepared openly to discuss an array of issues present in their own and others’ lives and are infinitely inquisitive, they will no doubt discover that Psychology is the subject for them. And for those of you who still may not be convinced: don’t do it!

F or those people who live as far out as Beckenham, Bromley and beyond, remote learning must be a relief. I know of students who wake up at 8:30, sprint downstairs to grab the caffeinated drink of their choice and make it to their laptop for 8:35 registration. There are also horror stories of boys tuning in to their class over 20 minutes late due to ‘oversleeping my alarm’. Perhaps the biggest upside for me is that you can turn off the camera. This has two advantages: the first is that you could do the school day in your pyjamas and no one would know. The second is that, due to barbershops being shut, my hair, and surely that of many others, has grown into an uncontrollable mess. I trust no one in my family to go near it with scissors, so if it is looking particularly bad, I can just put a hat on and teachers will think it’s a silly fashion choice. Alternatively, I can turn the camera off and no one will see the bird’s nest resting upon my head. Of course, the lessons themselves are greatly different from the norm, but I think remote learning has in some cases enhanced them. For me there is something enjoyable about the chaos of a Politics lesson. As soon as something controversial is said, and given that putting your hand up does nothing as the teacher can only see a few students at a time, there’s a tsunami, blending personal attacks with genuine points. Mainly, though, it’s the same argument we had two days before, but at a higher volume. Having seen all these changes, I ask myself, will Dulwich go back to how it was?

THE INITIAL HILARITY OF SCHOOL AT HOME HAS WORN OFF, YET THE ABSURDITY OF THE SITUATION REMAINS

OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

MIND OVER MATTER

T he initial hilarity of school at home has worn off, yet the absurdity of the situation remains. From waking at 8:32 so that you can just about make registration and maximise sleep, to muting certain classmates – they know who they are – school at home is certainly an experience. There are, of course, positives and negatives. One can follow lessons in pyjamas, lunch before the ludicrously late time of 1:15 and enjoy free periods that are substantially ‘freer’. However, the issue remains – what does one do with the free time? A few friends have admitted to me that they are bored of FIFA, but that hasn’t stopped them from continuing to play it. A few more tell me about the nostalgic enjoyment they are finding in musical instruments, and even books. Personally, I find the experience of school from home rather drab. I find that lessons lack the pleasure of banter with classmates; games lessons on Wednesdays come and go without the excitement of the cricket season; mornings are completed without the pleasure of a rousing assembly. However, in all seriousness, I believe the majority have been taught a lesson in what they like about the College – even if these are things we’d never have thought we would miss.

Psychology has been introduced onto the College’s A-level curriculum for the first time. Chris Paton (Year 11) delves into this multifaceted discipline H ow does memory work? No, really, how does it work? If you’re anything like me, you’ll no doubt have asked yourself this question – and many more – whilst gazing pensively towards the horizon. When I heard that Dulwich had added Psychology to its A-level options, I was eager to find out more about this intriguing academic subject. And so, armed with the most psychologically testing questions, I set out to interview Dr Cue, head of the department here at the College. Thirty minutes and two cups of tea later, I had a better insight into the brains of the subject and maybe even the inner workings of my own brain. For boys in the Middle School who must painstakingly self-analyse to determine which A levels are suited to them, choosing a subject which has never been studied here before may feel somewhat daunting. During a brief discussion I had with a few Year 8 pupils, several different ideas arose as to what the subject actually involves. Although

Eddie Humphries

Jake Reisser-Weston

Oh, and by the way, that’s what we call reverse psychology.

THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Image: William Brooke (Year 11)

OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

THE BURNING ISSUE OF OUR TIMES

Daniel Kamaluddin (Year 9) recalls a trip to Australia during the worst bush fires in living memory

I t is mid-December 2019. I am walking with my family down Oxford Street, passing the glittering shops which illuminate the London dusk. We have just finished our Christmas shopping. My dad stops to look at something on his phone: it’s the webcam for Sydney Harbour Bridge. I stop to look over his shoulder. All I can see is tainted smog veiling the city. In a few days’ time, we will be flying out to spend Christmas and New Year with friends and family in Sydney. We have heard the news reports about the burning forests and the toxic fumes covering the city. The week before we are due to travel has been one of the worst weeks of all. We have already had to cancel our trip to the Blue Mountains National Park, which has been surrounded by two huge fires. We know we must be prepared to leave Sydney sooner than planned. A few days later, flying in over New South Wales, we see huge towers of orange smoke bellowing up from beneath us. Minutes later, we can smell it in the cabin. This is our first experience of the bush fires but will not be the last. Walking out of the airport, it’s surprisingly cold. We take a taxi to the house where we will be staying. As we drive, we realise we have been lucky: the prevailing wind changed direction as we were flying, and the fire has died down. Although we are tired, after settling in we head down to the beach to meet some friends. As we are jumping off the jetty, I talk to my friend about the bush fires. ‘Some days you get back into your house and you can’t breathe,’ he tells me. ‘It’s been much worse than this. There have been a few nice days like today, but it always comes back.’ He is right. When I wake early in the morning and go out on the balcony to watch the sun rise, I feel my throat burning.

During the so-called ‘Black Summer’ of 2019 to 2020, Australia experienced its most dangerous bush fire season on record. Thick, toxic smoke hung over the skies of New South Wales from July to late January, resulting in untold damage to the health of its residents. 16 million acres of land were destroyed, together with 5,900 buildings, including 2,779 homes. 34 people died as a direct result of the fires. One billion animals were killed, and many vulnerable species driven to near extinction. The fires led to the emission of 306 million tonnes of CO 2 into the environment. The damage to the Australian economy was substantial, with over $1 billion lost in tourism alone. The fires were the result of a three-year drought which left much of the east coast parched. When lightning storms came in June and July, Australia was lit like a match box. There is significant evidence to suggest that the drought was caused by changes in the environment resulting from man-made climate change. This is a controversial topic in Australia, which has a huge coal lobby. The moderate and Labour-backed newspapers argued that the fires were caused by climate change. However, the more powerful Liberal- backed newspapers like Rupert Murdoch’s The Australian and The Daily Telegraph tried to play down the significance of the fires, denying that they were caused by man-made climate change. The swift escalation of the situation can be attributed in part to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s failure to realise the true impact of the fires and to mobilise in time. His controversial decision to go on holiday to Hawaii, while the fire-fighters fought uncontrollable flames, disgusted many Australians. One good thing that may come out of this event is that climate change denial is much less widespread in Australia than it was before the bush fires.

The fires eventually ended in late January with a spate of heavy rain. The news had been full of stories about the fires on Kangaroo Island, a haven for endangered animals. We had been to Kangaroo Island just two years before, and it was probably the most beautiful place I had ever been. My mum got in touch with our old guide, and he said that he had been forced to evacuate his home. The fires, he said, could spread over kilometres in one night; they could come upon you while you were sleeping, and you would never know. We watch the Sydney fireworks on the TV, unable to forget the horrible reality as we view the pyrotechnics. The fires are now sweeping through Melbourne and the rest of Victoria. People are huddled on boats, unable to see ahead or behind them. Families are finding themselves trapped on beaches, not knowing when, or if, they will see their homes again.

FAMILIES ARE FINDING THEMSELVES TRAPPED ON BEACHES, NOT KNOWING WHEN, OR IF, THEY WILL SEE THEIR HOMES AGAIN

We return to Sydney for our last few days. On a boat trip with some family members, we look across the shimmering orange water at the smothered city. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for my friends, who have been in the midst of it all for almost half a year. I cannot truly comprehend how it has affected them, either physically or emotionally. I think back to the deep blue skies I have seen here before, whilst looking up at the dirty, brown sky. It is a devastating reminder to me that climate change is not something that can be ignored. Although I have had an amazing time, I wonder: am I part of the problem?

THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Image: James He (Year 10)

THE BLACKBIRD’S VIBRANCY IS BETTER HEARD THAN SEEN, FOR WHEN ITS MEAGRE BEAK OPENS, THE MELODY LET OUT IS LIQUID, LIKE THE MUSIC OF A GLASS CHIME, A RIVER’S SONG – THE MUSIC OF LIFE ITSELF

OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

INPRAISEOF AVIAN LIFE

Alexander Poli (Year 9) explains why birds are a source of wonder and delight

to diminish their glory, but only complements their beauty and wondrousness. Kingfishers are immaculately conducted birds, as one may observe from their table manners – they cleanly pierce the daintiest and choicest of fishes and flick them, with one graceful motion, into their bejewelled gullets. Not all birds can be as decorated as the kingfisher, and so we move on to the lowly pigeon. I hold these birds in the greatest respect due to their capability (as with the magpie) to adapt to any situation, unlike the beautiful kingfisher, which would perish away from its precious rivers. Both the pigeon and the magpie retain some decoration: an iridescent sheen on black feathers or grey throat. Pigeons are masters of survival, and remain indestructible, as only a man of the street can be. While all of the birds I have spoken of so far have had some sheen on their feathers, the only colour on the blackbird’s countenance is the bright yellow of its eyes and beak. The blackbird’s vibrancy is better heard than seen, for when its meagre beak opens, the melody let out is liquid, like the music of a glass chime, a river’s song – the music of life itself. The sunlight Prometheus stole from the gods is dull as burnished copper compared to the incandescence of this exquisite song. Without it, the world would be a tuneless wasteland. Avian society includes a certain circle of noblemen known as the birds of prey. The eyes of these seraphs of death, usually amber, pierce the hearts of the unfortunate souls upon whom they deign to cast their glare. These deadly

gentlemen take their work seriously – for them, killing is an art form. The kestrel has perfected the art of hovering perfectly still in the most tempestuous of gales, unfazed by the world around it, solely focused on its kill. Birds of prey have an almost supernatural air to them, as can be seen in the fleeting beauty of a barn owl swooping over a cornfield, ghostly in the silver moonlight. Another clan of birds is the gulls: loud, crass and crude, they flaunt their size and voice over smaller birds, taking as they please and causing disruption everywhere they go. They are the gangs who hang out in back alleys, mugging honest folk, like the waders, of their meagre supplies, and never once contributing to society. Still, many of them have a certain magnificence in their vast size. Unlike the birds of prey, they take no pride in their killing and bullying, simply doing it to appease their appetites. They are menacing yobs, the scourge of the skies. Last, but not least, are the waders. Simple folk, they take great pleasure and pride in their work, skimming the mud and water for food. While it is by no means a luxurious life, or an easy one, it suits them, and their lives are built around it. They wear coats of many different colours, from the speckled brown of the dunlin, which echoes the mud it thrives in, to the beautiful white and black of the avocet, striking against the grey water. While they are humble, they are not without dignity.

A s Londoners, we may take avian life for granted, having become accustomed to seeing the same birds every day. But what about the members of the avian world with which we are not familiar – from birds of paradise and kingfishers to gulls and waders? I shall start with a species of bird too often discriminated against, driven away with corn-stuffed abominations, and frequently thought of as evil or raucous. These are the ravens. Truly ravens are of another era, when old gods ruled and the heady scent of burnt magic filled the air. These birds are the reminders of those gods, set in flawless jet. They are

the crème de la crème of bird society, flaunting their regal stature. A bird more befitting of the description of raucous is the magpie. The distinction between these two birds is the manner. Where ravens are regal and carry themselves with power, magpies are tricksters, thieves, clothed with flamboyance that mirrors the trinkets they covet. They are crass-mouthed but dashing members of avian society. While both of these birds are stunning in their own right, surely the lord of the countryside is the iridescent kingfisher. Winged noblemen of the riverbank, they shine with the radiance of a thousand gemstones, and their small stature does nothing

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