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A New Leaf for the Looking Glass 2026/27

Dear all, Upon inheriting the Looking Glass from our predecessors, we identified a number of key issues. Firstly, there were simply not enough articles being published, due both to a lack of submissions from the school community and limited responsiveness from the previous Academic Team. Secondly, the Looking Glass had not been advertised or explained effectively enough to the wider school community. As a result, we plan to implement a more consistent and engaging stream of articles on the Looking Glass. As part of this initiative, we are looking to recruit a select group of keen writers from across the lower school who would be willing to produce one high-quality piece of writing, discussion, or media each month for publication on the Looking Glass. We believe this will be hugely beneficial both to the school community, which will gain access to a wider range of opinions and viewpoints, and to prospective writers, who will be able to reference their experience contributing to the Look...
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Technology: The superiority of mechanical keyboards

 Note: The following piece was written by Zolboot Tserendorj, 7B Introduction    Mechanical keyboards are widely known as the cream of the crop, but why do these seemingly normal keyboards have this seemingly endless amount of die-hard fans? To understand, we need to delve deep into the history of these keyboards. In the 1970s, membrane keyboards were the most common type because of their simpler and easier-to-produce design. However, in the 1990s, mechanical keyboards e me rged and were favoured for their durability, but they died out before a resurgence in the 2000s, whe n gamers prefer red their tactile feedback and precision.     Customisation    Another point is the fact that they are heavily custom izable , and they have sep a rate switche s that do different jobs . F or example , red switches are linear (a smooth press from the to p to the bottom) or brown , which is tactile (a small bump in the middle) . T hes e different types suit...

Classics: What is the role of nature in ancient art and architecture?

Note: The following essay is by Eevan Pennant-Shah L6B (20pennant-shahe@students.watfordboys.org)  In the contemporary era, art is enjoyed inside grand art galleries, often divorced from its original context and detached from its true meaning. However, in the ancient world the location was often seen as a canvas itself, a fundamental element which ancient artists incorporated, aspiring to evoke awe. The topography of the landscape was paramount as without modern tools these civilizations were forced to work with the existing geology. This had the effect of integrating the natural world into the art itself, whether it was through its location, method of production or its experience. Ultimately, the role of the natural landscape was not merely a passive setting, but an active part that dictated the material limits of art while amplifying its effects on the people who are appreciating it. Additionally, the image of natural landscapes itself could be used to try and push a political mo...

Winning poem: 'Elegy for the poet boy'

Note: The following poem written my Malek Owera L6 (20oweram@students.watfordboys.org) placed in the top 13 out of 1400+ entries in the Tower Poetry Competition, run by Christ Church, Oxford University. . Hama, Syria     From youth, he has a thunderous appetite for the classics: al-Mutanabbi, al-Ma’arri, Abu Nuwas, ibn Shaddad,  ‘We are a people who know no middle ground; for us, it is either the ultimate honour or the grave’ –  al-Hamdani’s truest words rain on him like a charm a plague of hail.  The boy absorbs the aural beauty of Friday’s athan – eventually remembering this compels him to go and pray.  He navigates fearful streets of expired concrete, Eternal Leader ’s smile beating down on every block, Scorns the masjid’s surveillant, armed to the teeth with pen and paper. The list of names looks longer than last week.  The child savours every utterance of every prayer, the pinnacle of this ancient language. Divine poetry. After, chatterings and r...

Highly Commended Essay: Should the UK Government Introduce a "Robot Tax" ?

Note: The following essay by Mehdi Ali L6 (20alim1@students.watfordboys.org) placed in the top 5% of entries in the Future Thought Leaders 2026 Essay Competition. If machines and artificial chatbots can now perform not only manual tasks but also cognitive reasoning once only attributed to humankind, who should reap the benefits of the postmodern technological revolution, and who should bear its costs? As artificial intelligence and robots receive record levels of investment, what happens when machines replace workers? From self-checkout tills to generative AI in professional services and predictive AI evolving in the stock market, the 21st century has seen a shift in the factors of production, with growing investment in capital substituting for labour. In response, some economists and policymakers have proposed a form of “robot tax”: an indirect form of taxation levied on firms that restructure and increasingly digitalise their factors of production and divest from the labour force. Pr...

EPQ: A* example 'To what extent do plastics affect human life and the endocrine system, and how can it be mitigated?'

Note: Below is a curtailed  version of an EPQ that achieved 45/50 in 2025/26 from Shubber Fatlawi (19FatlawiS@students.watfordboys.org) Introduction Every year, approximately 445 million tonnes of plastics are produced globally, a figure that reflects the material’s increasingly dominant role in modern society (1). Plastics have become deeply embedded in daily life, appearing in everything from medical devices and food packaging to construction materials and transportation systems. Their widespread use is not coincidental; rather, it stems from their unique physical and chemical properties, including durability, versatility, and low production cost (2). Plastics are synthesised polymer compounds characterised by high molecular mass and plasticity, while microplastics—particles between 1 and 1000 nanometres—arise from the degradation or production of larger plastics and display colloidal properties due to their extremely small size (3). These particles are now ubiquitous in the envi...