Huge congratulations goes to Sophia (Year 11), Katrina (Year 11) and Rin (Year 12) for winning a Game Concept BAFTA for their innovative new idea, Tea & Tartlets. You can view the full story on our Wimbledon High website here.
Look out for more news about the RRS Sir David Attenborough, a new polar research vessel, which launched in July. Year 5 will be finding out much more about the RRS Sir David Attenborough and it’s R.O.V Boaty Mc Boatface in their Ice Worlds topic this term.
Many congratulations to the following students from Wimbledon High who won in their age categories and had the chance to have their ideas on display at Kingston University as part of the Primary Engineer and Secondary Engineer Leaders Award– London Public Exhibition:
Those chosen for display at Kingston University are in the top percentile and as such have achieved an astonishing result as the competition was tough this year over 1,934 entries in London alone and 37,000 nationwide!
Hope, Greta and Vivienne had the chance to attend the awards ceremony at Kingston University on 5th July which was a fantastic way for them to showcase their brilliant ideas and collect their well deserved awards. Congratulations to all involved.
Follow @STEAM_WHS on Twitter for all STEAM department and events updates.
https://events.theiet.org/photo-competition/index.cfm
Get your fabulous photos in by 28th September!
Miss Katie Butler, Performing Arts Assistant at WHS and professional composer, looks at the important role of being a composer in the 21st Century.
Introduction
The role of the composer in society has changed a great deal over the centuries. Before the invention of writing and printing, music would have been passed down through oral tradition since time immemorial, but the first musical notation systems can be traced back to Ancient Greece. From there, the ability to notate music made it easier to create longer-form, more complex works, and through the centuries the process developed, from plainsong and early polyphony to the more defined periods of Western art music that we learn about in GCSE and A Level music (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic, up to the present day).
From pen to screen: how has technology changed the composition process?
With the explosion of technology and readily accessible media that has happened in more recent decades, there are more ways to be a composer than ever before – meaning the competition is much greater, but at the same time, so are the opportunities available. Now that we have composing software like Cubase and Logic, and sample libraries (that is, plugins of pre-recorded instruments that allow you to recreate a realistic orchestral sound from your computer), composing is no longer exclusively for those with formal musical education and the ability to read music, or a big budget to record live musicians in studios, and the lines between composer, orchestrator, sound designer and producer are becoming increasingly blurred.
In an age where anyone with a laptop can be a composer, how does this affect the opportunities open to us, and how do we take the step from composing for ourselves to making a living from it?
A little history
Going back through the centuries, many of the great Classical composers were financially able to compose the volume of work they did because of aristocratic patronage. Rich families would appoint composers to write music for private performance in their homes, providing them with a regular income and guaranteed performance opportunities, in return for entertainment and improvement of their own social standing and influence. This Classic FM article will introduce you to some of the major patrons through history. The process was similar for performers and writers; actors and musicians would be affiliated to specific families, and without patronage, we would not have the majority of Shakespeare’s work. Musicians have been making a more sustainable living from composing ever since copyright was introduced (in its earliest form in the late 18th century, and in its present since the early 20th). With rights and royalties, the great composers of previous eras would be earning a great deal more today than they would have done when they were alive.
The power of the internet
Fast-forward five-hundred years or so, and it’s a concept that’s still present today. Now that music is so widely accessible, the modern day “patron” is just a customer that downloads an album, goes to a gig or concert or buys sheet music. Websites like Patreon and Kickstarter allow freelancers invite their followers and fans to fund their work, providing exclusive and personalised content for those that subscribe. The internet is also a brilliant platform for performers to advertise their talents, as we have seen with the explosion of the “Youtuber” and Vine artists – for example, Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Charlie Puth, who were all catapulted to stardom having been first spotted on their Youtube channels.
The same goes for composers. We can now market our work online with a website, and for all the Youtube videos, bloggers and adverts, there is music that get used in them, with many composers gaining a sizeable portion of their income from writing “library music”: individual tracks that could be used for all sorts of media, from adverts, corporate and educational videos to television and film. Library music companies will invite submissions from composers, where they will be professionally recorded and labelled for production companies to browse online, and composers are normally paid a one-off fee for the unlimited use of their music. One of the leading library music sites is Audio Network – take a look around the website to see the multitude of different styles that are available. Does it take the soul out of the process? Perhaps, but what it lacks in soul, it makes up for in flexibility, freedom and creative control, without the tight deadlines and clashing egos of film and television. Learn more from some composers who are making a living from library music here.
Film and television
Another strand of composing is for film and television, which has had a huge increase in popularity in recent years. It’s a career that relies almost entirely on building relationships with directors, writers and producers, and slowly working your way up. Film music has to fit a picture exactly, mirroring the movements onscreen, conveying emotion, and is very collaborative. It also involves working with directors who don’t necessarily know what they want, and requires such a broad knowledge and understanding of so many different genres of music that many people come to film composing later in their careers. While potentially hugely lucrative and undoubtedly one of the most exciting, rewarding composing careers, it is perhaps the most difficult one to break into.
Musical theatre
From the days of classical patronage to today, in order to earn a living as a composer our output is largely controlled by whoever is paying us – be this a patron, an advertising executive or a film director – but an area that allows more creative control than usual is musical theatre. Having monopolised the West End for decades, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s more recent original productions have been relative commercial flops (for example, the Phantom sequel Love Never Dies (2010), and the bizarre Stephen Ward (2013) that closed after three months), and he is now channelling his focus into helping the next generation of musical theatre writers and composers.
Love Never Dies – a musical failure? Or the catalyst for promoting young composers?
In 2017, he purchased the St James Theatre and renamed it The Other Palace, with the main purpose of bolstering new musicals, and they host regular open mic nights as well as workshops and showcases of new work. Off the back of this, composers can then earn money from licensing shows for amateur performance, or from a transfer of a show to a bigger theatre. Because the process from page to stage takes a great deal of time, other forms of income are still vital. Commercial song-writing allows this freedom to an extent, and there is a faster turnover of projects, but there is still the pressure from record labels to write hits that will sell and the competition is greater than for any other medium.
What can I do now?
As for where to get started while at school or university: GCSE and A Level Music courses will introduce you to the techniques used for composing and give you a chance to try it out, before specialising in university and postgraduate study, where you have the creative freedom to explore your own personal style without worrying about the mark schemes and hoop-jumping that comes with passing exams. You can also come along to our various composition clubs that take place during the week, where you have the freedom to work on your music. Early composition assignments can feel like creativity by numbers, but as they say, you have to learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist…
It’s harder to get started making an income composing than in a lot of careers, but once established, there is essentially no cap on how far it is possible to go. It’s about finding your niche and a way of making it work for you, and new music (particularly by female composers) is being championed more now than ever. Here are some links specific to young female musicians:
Glyndebourne: Balancing the Score
If you think composing might be your thing then immerse yourself in learning more about your craft – go to gigs and concerts, see films in the cinema with the high-quality speakers and surround sound, explore both the West End and Off-West End theatre scenes (many shows have cheaper ticket lotteries or day tickets, and seats at the back for as little as £20). Seeing how others do it is the best way to learn how to do it yourself, and as Wimbledon residents with central London practically on our doorsteps, there really is no excuse not to! Most importantly, be brave and put your music out there so that people can see what you can do.
Happy writing!
Maya (Year 11), discusses the uses of nanotechnology in medicine, thinking about how far it has come and helped doctors. She also considers the dangerous aspects of using such small technology and the future benefits it may bring.
Technology in medicine has come far and with it the introduction of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the action of manipulating structures and properties at an atomic and molecular level as the technology is so small; it being one-billionth of a metre. This technology has many uses such as electronics, energy production and medicine and is useful in its diverse application. Nanotechnology is useful in medicine because of its size and how it interacts with biological molecules of the same proportion or larger. It is a valuable new tool that is being used for research and for combatting various diseases.
In medicine, nanotechnology is already being used in a wide variety of areas, the principle area being cancer treatment. In 2006 a report issued by NanoBiotech Pharma stated that developments related to nanotechnology would mostly be focused on cancer treatments. Thus, drugs such as Doxil, used to treat ovarian cancer will use nanotechnology to evade and surpass the possible effects of the immune system enabling drugs to be delivered to the disease-specific areas of the body. Nanotechnology is also helping in neuroscience where European researchers are currently using the technology to carry out electrical activity across dead brain tissue left behind by strokes and illnesses. The initial research was carried out to get a more in-depth analysis of the brain and to create more bio-compatible grids (a piece of technology that surgeons place in the brain to find where a seizure has taken place). Thus, it is more sophisticated than previous technologies which, when implanted, will not cause as much damage to existing brain tissue.
Beyond help in combatting cancer and research, nanotechnology is used in many areas in medicine from appetite control to medical tools, bone replacement and even hormone therapy. Nanotechnology is advancing all areas of medicine with Nano-sized particles enhancing new bone growth and additionally, there are even wound dressings that contain Nano-particles that allow for powerful microbial resistance. It is with these new developments that we are revolutionising the field of medicine, and with more advancements, we will be able to treat diseases as soon as they are detected.
Scientists are hoping that in the future nanotechnology can be used even further to stop chemotherapy altogether; fighting cancer by using gold and silica particles combined with nanotechnology to bind with the mutated cells in the body and then use infra-red lasers to heat up the gold particles and kill the tumour cells. This application would be beneficial as it would reduce the risk of surrounding cells being damaged as the laser would not affect them as much as the chemotherapy would.
In other areas, nanotechnology is further developing with diagnostics and medical data collection. This means that by using this technology, doctors would be able to look for the damaged genes that are associated with particular cancers and screen the tumour tissue faster and earlier than before. This process involves the Nano-scale devices being distributed through the body to detect chemical changes. There is also an external scan by use of quantum dots on the DNA of a patient which is then sequenced to check if they carry a particular debilitating genome, therefore providing a quicker and easier method for doctors to check in detail if a patient has contracted any illnesses or diseases. Furthermore, doctors will be able to gain a further in-depth analysis and understanding of the body by use of nanotechnology which surpasses the information found from x-rays and scans.
While this is a great start for nanotechnology, there is still little known about how some of the technology might affect the body. Insoluble nanotechnology for example, could have a high risk of building up in organs as they cannot diffuse into the bloodstream. Or as the nanoparticles are so small, there is no controlling where they could go, which might lead to Nano-particles entering cells and even their nuclei, which could be very dangerous for the patient. The science and technology committee from the House of Lords have reported concerns about nanotechnology on human health, stating that sufficient research has not been conducted on “understanding the behaviour and toxicology of nanomaterials” and it has not been given enough priority especially with the speed at which nanotechnology is being produced.
Nanotechnology is advancing medical treatment at a rapid rate, with new innovative technologies approved each year to help combat illnesses and diseases. Whilst more research needs to be conducted, the application of Nano-medicine will provide a platform of projected benefits that has potential to be valuable. Overall with the great burden that conditions like cancer, Alzheimer’s, HIV and cardiovascular diseases impose on the current healthcare systems, nano-technology will revolutionise healthcare with its advances techniques in the future as it progresses.
Richard Gale, teacher of Biology at WHS, looks at the value of critical thinking and how we can use this to help make logical and well-structured arguments.
At some point we all accept a fact or an opinion without challenging it, especially if we deem the person telling us the fact or opinion to be in a position of authority.
Challenging or questioning these people can seem daunting and rude, or at worst we could appear ignorant or stupid. However, if we never challenged or questioned ideas or perceived facts then the world would still be considered to be flat, and we would not have the theories of relativity or evolution.
This is what Einstein is getting at, that all ideas and preconceived facts should be questioned otherwise society will stagnate and no longer advance in any field of study. This process of constantly asking questions and challenging ideas is known as critical thinking.
It is said that someone who is a critical thinker will identify, analyse, evaluate and solve problems systematically rather than by intuition or instinct; almost a list of higher order thinking skills from Bloom’s taxonomy. The reason for placing critical thinking as a key higher order skill is because, as Paul and Elder (2007) noted “much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that of which we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought.”
In essence, critical thinking requires you to use your ability to reason. It is about being an active learner rather than a passive recipient of information by asking questions to understand the links that exist between different topics. It requires learners to weigh up and determine the importance and relevance of evidence and arguments, identifying arguments that are weak and those that are stronger; to build and appraise their own arguments, identify inconsistences and errors in arguments and reasoning, doing all of this in a systemic and consistent way. Then they should reflect on the justification of their own assumptions, beliefs and values. As Aristotle put it “it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. They will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture and are open to finding that they do not. In principle anyone stating a fact or an opinion, and I am definitely including myself here as a teacher, should be able to reason why they hold that fact or opinion when asked questions and should be able to convince a class or an individual that those ideas have merit. Equally, as I know my pupils would attest too, pupils should be able to reason why they hold their opinions or ideas when questioned. Whilst this may seem daunting and at times a bit cruel, being able to think critically has become a very important skill with the onset of the new A levels.
In Biology, under the reformed linear A level, there has been in increase in the percent of marks awarded for higher order thinking skills, termed A02 and A03. A02 is to ‘apply knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, processes, techniques and procedures’ whereas A03 is ‘analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information, ideas and evidence, including in relation to issues.’ This is weighted between 40-45% of marks for A02 and 25-30% for A03 skills of the overall percentage across the three papers. The pupils taking the exams are expected to critically interpret data and theories, as well as analysing and interpreting the information they have learnt in completely novel situations. The following quote from Carl Segan is now more significant as knowing facts is no longer enough for pupils to succeed: “knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used.”
Thankfully, we can develop and train ourselves – and others – to be critical thinkers. There are a plethora of guides and talks on how to we can develop our skills as critical thinkers, and choosing which one is most useful is tricky and to an extent futile as they all repeat the same basic principles but with different language and animations. I have tried to summarise these as follows:
We can practise these skills when we are in any lesson or lecture, as well as when we are reading, to help develop a deeper understanding of a text. Evaluating an argument requires us to think if the argument is supported by enough strong evidence.
Critical thinking skills can be practised at home and in everyday life by asking people to provide a reason for a statement. This can be done as they make it or by playing games, such as you have to swap three items you current have for three things you want, and then rationalising each choice. You can even engage in a bit of family desert island discs, taking it in turn to practise your Socratitic questioning (treat each answer with a follow up question).
There are a few pitfalls to consider when engaging with critical thinking; the first of these is ignorant certainty. This is the belief that there are definite correct answers to all questions. Remember that all current ideas and facts our just our best interpretation of the best information or data we currently have to hand and all of them are subject to re-evaluation and questioning. The next one is more relevant to critical thinking and is naïve relativism – the belief that all arguments are equal. While we should consider all arguments we cannot forget that some arguments are stronger than others and some are indeed wrong. Even Isaac Newton, genius that he was, believed that alchemy was a legitimate pursuit.
Critical thinking is not easy; you have to be prepared to let go of your own beliefs and accept new information. Doing so is uncomfortable, as we base ourselves on our beliefs but ultimately it is interesting and rewarding. As you explore your own beliefs and those of others through questioning, evaluating, researching and reviewing, know that this is enriching your ability to form arguments and enhancing your opinions and thoughts. You do not know what you will discover and where your adventure will take you, but it will take you nearer to the truth, whatever that might be. Whilst on your journey of lifelong learning remember to “think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too” (Voltaire).
Follow @STEAM_WHS and @Biology_WHS on Twitter.
Alex Farrer, one of our Scientists in Residence, looks at ways images can be used both inside and outside the classroom.
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation that supports scientists and researchers to work on challenges such as the development of Ebola vaccines and training health workers in ways to reduce the risk of infection
when working on the front line. What you might not realise about the Wellcome Trust is that they also invest over £5million each year in education research, professional development opportunities and resources and activities for teachers and students. A key part of their science education priority area is primary science and they have a commitment to improving the teaching of science in primary schools through compiling research and evidence for decision making, campaigning for policy change and making recommendations for teachers and governors. Their aim is to transform primary science through increasing teaching time, sharing expertise and high quality resources, and supporting professional development opportunities such as the National STEM Learning Centre.
One of the excellent resources that the Wellcome Trust provides is Explorify, a free digital resource, developed with help from teachers and partners such as BBC Learning and the Institution of Engineering and Technology that is “focused on inquiry and curiosity, designed to appeal to children but also ignite or reinvigorate teachers’ passion for science”.
The resource can be found here https://explorify.wellcome.ac.uk
It consists of fun and simple science activities that utilise teaching and learning techniques that give pupils and teachers rich opportunities to question, think, talk and explore STEAM subjects inside and outside the classroom. Confidence and passion is harnessed as links are made and pupils and teachers can see that STEAM knowledge and skills connect us all. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and Explorify uses images to great effect with videos, photographs and close ups, as well as hands on activities and what if discussion questions.
Explorify is an excellent tool to use in science lessons, especially in primary settings, but many outstanding lessons use different images in a variety of ways to promote talking and thinking in all subject areas, with all age groups. When images are used higher order questioning can be developed and there are also many opportunities to
Common examples of questions to ask when using images might include
All of which involve reflection and asking pupils to justify their answers and persuade others using evidence and examples.
Some less usual examples for you to ponder on include the following:
What is this?
Come up with a question that can only be answered yes or no to help work out what it is. Once 8 questions have been answered it is time to decide your answer using the evidence you have gathered. Which question was most useful in finding out the answer?
What is this?
Be specific! Are you sure of your answer? Come up with a 5 convincing bullet points to persuade everyone you are correct. Do you change your mind when you hear the ideas of others?
This is the answer:
What is the question? What do you already know about what is happening here?
Scientific words?
Which 5 keys words would you choose inspired by this image? Have you chosen the same words as others have? Where was this photograph taken?
What should the title be for this lesson?
Return at the end of the lesson to your title. Was it the correct title? Do you now need to alter it?
Are polar bears good swimmers?
Are polar bears good enough swimmers for 2018? What time of year was this photograph taken?
As well as in lessons images and questions can be used around the school to promote talking and thinking with all members of the school community.
How many metres per minute does a fly move?
Is it possible to check your estimate?
For more details and examples please see a copy of the presentation entitled Using images to inspire and engage our future scientists that I delivered at the Primary Science Teaching Trust Conference in Belfast.
https://pstt.org.uk/what-we-do/international-primary-science-conference
We are now working on exciting new resource for PSTT utilising images to inspire and engage pupils in conjunction with schools in SW London and with Paul Tyler @glazgow and schools in Scotland. If you have any inspiring images and questions please do send them in!
We look forward to continuing to inspire and engage the scientists of the future as our STEAM journey at Wimbledon High continues.
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