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Showing posts from June, 2025

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...

Remembering the Holocaust: Why History Must Never Be Forgotten

  Remembering the Holocaust: Why History Must Never Be Forgotten LOUIS OCQUIDANT L6 "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This famous quote from Spanish philosopher George Santayana is one we have heard so many times that we ironically wish we could forget it. And yet we don’t in many academic circles: philosophy, theology, sociology, psychology, and history; we simply repeat it, fulfilling its prophecy. The event that is synonymous with this statement is the Holocaust, the mass industrialized eradication of 6 million Jewish men, women, and children at the hands of Nazi Germany and their collaborators. Pried from their homes. Kept as animals. Dying as people.  In March I had the privilege of participating in the Lessons From Auschwitz project, an educational experience organized by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET). As the name suggests, this project centred around the extermination and labour camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, modern-day Oświęcim, Po...

What is going on in IRAQ…IRAN?

  What is going on in IRAQ …IRAN? In the early hours of Sunday morning (BST), US President Donald Trump announced to the world on social media that a series of US bomber strikes (namely B-2 bombers with the capacity to drop ‘bunker buster’ bombs that are capable of penetrating the underground Uranium enrichment site of Fordow) had taken place on three ‘key’ sites in Iran.  This is perhaps the defining moment of Trump's turbulent yet still youthful premiership.  Iran is  currently under the regime commanded by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (aged 86). The regime that operates in Iran is unquestionably unpopular with the Iranian populus as indicated in polls which suggest that up to 80% of people would support the overthrow of the regime though these are hard to verify given the strictly regulated nature of journalism in Iran. The Revolutionary Guard (founded in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution of 1978) operate the oppressive regime that is notorious for its lack of rig...

Is the sun setting on NETFLIX? A pandemic vogue or here to linger

  Netflix:   A pandemic vogue or here to linger?  Over the past few years, most evidently during the pandemic when many of us bought subscriptions while at home, the streaming company Netflix has seen dramatic shifts in the nature of it's subscription services. However, after all these years of stratospheric increase, there are signs of a plateau in Netflix’s growth, as less people remain at home. A History of Netflix Although now a mega-streaming service, Netflix used to work with a different process in it's early days. Prior to their shift to streaming, the founders, Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings, ran the business by mailing up-and-coming DVDs of shows to their subscribers. It had the benefit over rival companies such as Blockbuster, as there were neither due dates, nor huge late fees, which made the prospect a more attractive one for people looking for a subscription. It came in at a cost of $19.95 a month, a hefty price, but one in which you could get access to unl...