SHENSTON IAN 88 - Old Silhillians Association

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adaptations of the reserve such as ramps to lower wheelchairs into the water, touch posts and the six listening posts that constitute the "Springfield Listening Trail" suit this purpose admirably. In this way a day at Springfield more resembles an exciting investigation than a natural history lesson. The centre caters for children between the ages of four and eighteen and has ample facilities to accommodate the blind, deaf, immobile and those with severe learning dificulties. Activities vary according to the season and can range from freshwater studies to "minibeast hunts". From the school's point of view the community service scheme has provided a link between those in a very privileged environment and those who are not so fortunate. We were fortunate that Rosemary was able to find time to teach our team of four 'A' Level biologists how best to guide and communicate with the children in their studies. Each different type of handicap presents its, own special challenge in terms of the techniques needed for helping the pupils. From a more personal point of view, being accepted as these children's equal, gaining their confidence and learning to talk 'with' rather than 'at' someone has been extremely beneficial. I do not believe that an education is purely academic, and to work with people in a place like Springfield has certainly broadened my outlook and extended it beyond an otherwise sheltered enivironment. It is really satisfying to hear squeals of delight on lowering a wheelchair-bound deaf child into a stream for the first time — a stunning realisation for someone who has always taken sight, hearing, speech and movement for granted. So much for the "Benevolent Brigade". Springfield has shattered all my initial illusions and my false concept of Community Service has been redfined as "the education of those who believe they are educated". Mary O'Brian. IIIrd Form trip to Normandy. April 19<strong>88</strong> Regular readers of this column may recall how, three years ago, your roving reporter noted with mild amusement that Brittany , our destination that year, was closed when we arrived. History, nor, thankfully, geography does not repeat itself though and this year we were all delighted to find Normandy very much open for business. At the somewhat absurd hour of 4 a.m. our party of scholars (shome mishtake shurely!) left Solihull in search of peace and relaxation — an absurd notion worthy of Ionesco himself. However, after a calm and abdominally stable crossing, blazing Normandy sunshine greeted us and, thanks to the expert skills of Alan, our incomparable driver, we reached our coastal destination of St. Pair sur Mer (trans. St. Pair on Sea) in next to no time. what followed were several days of mainly fine weather, consistent good humour and occasionally nail-biting tabletennis. Our excursions took us through some of Normandy's finest scenery and on to many of its famous landmarks. Wednesday morning found us puzzling over the Bayeux tapestry, while the afternoon sunshine provided the perfect setting for us to gaze over the expanse of Omaha and Utah beaches. Le Mont-Saint-Michel was the highlight of Thursday's trips, though the Rance Dam ran it a close second. At the former of these two attractions, Jason "Bloodhound" Effman must not go unmentioned. But for his uncanny sense of direction, we should all still be incarcerated in the cellars of the abbey. The picturesque town of St.Malo was also on Thursday's itinerary — a certain Brittany Ferries vessel anchored in the harbour gave some of us an opportunity to relive the nightmares of three years ago, mentioned briefly at the start of this epic. Our accomudation was of an exceptional standard, as was the cuisine. At meal-times Mrs. Chacksfield \had the singular knack of turning wine into water, much to the amazement of all save her husband; but this did not stop even him wallowing in the true Normandy spirit. His colleagues may be interested to learn that, by his own admission, he is soon to retire from the Staff, in order to establish a Porta-Loo empire on Le Mont-Saint-Michel: "I'll triple my present salary in a few shakes", he observed. On behalf of the boys, may I extend hearty thanks to Messrs. Chacksfield Snr., Brooker, Goatham, Chacksfield Jnr. and Houston and to Mesdames Chacksfield and Keil for making our Easter break an unforgettable experience. Darren Gandley Upper School Ski Trip: February 19<strong>88</strong> Risoul is a purpose-built ski resort in the French Alps. The buildings have been designed to merge into the landscape and the general facilities are good. 32 students arrived after a tiring journey to discover the delights of apartment ,accommodation and the Club Leo Lagrange. The Club has extensive facilities — theatre and cinema, two restaurants, a discotheque and even a sauna. The outside terraces faced south and, with delightful sunshine everyday, it was a joy to choose the plentiful and varied salads on offer at lunchtime. The apartments were furnished although some were rather crowded. The skiing was good. There were . enjoyable nursery slopes for the beginners. These varied in length and degrees of difficulty to provide an excellent introduction. For the experienced skier the runs could be long and challenging. The more adventurous could try the 'barrel' — a steep-sided, narrow and quite long gulley — and the expert could attempt the 'wall', a formidable drop. There was ample skiing for a week's holiday. My thanks go to Mr and Mrs Flood, without whom the trip would not have been possible. I wish them success for their trip to Abetone next year. P.J .G . "Ms. 2001" With this speech Martyn Fisher won the Birmingham Final of the Lloyds Bank/ Junior Chamber Schools public speaking competition earlier this year. 2001, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000. . . 5000 B.C. Ms for miserable. This is persumably what the Ms. 2001 would like us to believe they have been all this time. There is no suggestion of nature not taking its course. We see men and women combined in wedlock, reproducing, which after all is the main reason why quite literally, we are here. Yet one could be forgiven for thinking the birth of the feminist movement in the 60's, was a result of a coupling with only one partner. "Yes we want to be equal with men, we are all equal!" Knickers! . . well perhaps that's not the right expression, but let us not kid ourselves, men are more physically able. Very few women, I venture to suggest, would be capable of lifting 1500 kg, in an Olympic strong man competition. Therefore there have to be accommodating differences, in many ways and many attitudes. Also vanity. A man, quite naturally, is as old as he feels, a woman, as any mirror will tell her, is as old as she looks. Men are more aggressive. When a challenge arrives, a man attacks it, he goes for the thrill of conquest. On the other hand, she wavers, she hesitates, in a word she is a woman. But what is woman? Only one of nature's arguably moire agreeable blunders. Women are fairly tricky creatures, to say the least. As men subdue their passions better than women, women dissemble their passions better than men. Let us be mental contortionists, stand on our heads, turn reason inside out,
and look at the so-called thoughts of the feminists. Vocabulary for instance. They are feminists, we are male chauvinist pigs. Be on your guard all you right-handed meat-eating chaps, they're being sexist! Let's reverse the role, and see how they like it. We are maleists,they are female chauvinist sows. These extremists from the distaff side come out with such suggestions as "There should be equal representation in Parliament, and that men should, quite literally, share the burden of giving birth." Next they'll be wanting the same design of gentlemen's stand up conveniences. These women know what to talk about. They know how to make what, to any ordinary eyesight, would seem a fair situation, seem unfair. The other day I attended a meeting, presided over by someone, who, with all normal attachments, insisted on being called a chairperson. Only this morning wanting, I think it was not an unreasonable wish, a simple bit of bread, cheese and pickle in a pub — what was I given? A ploughperson's lunch. It would not surprise me if after this meeting, especially in view of what I've said, I were to plummet, the cover being carelessly removed, into the depths of a personhole. Would this ludicrous insistence on renaming be a - comfort for my injuries, would it be a balm for my bruises? Good grief! Are they being serious when so much of their energy is spent on such petty insistences? And what is their latest outcry? We don't want to be called Miss or Mrs, we want to be called Ms. Men don't complain about being about being called Mister or Master. These are merely indications as to the stations to which we are naturally called in life. Marriage, too, is an institution to which we are invited, nay compelled, by the basic principle of every culture under the sun. Most births occur within wedlock, and we are now seeing women going to work during the first two years of a baby's life. How can one accept the callous decision of a woman who carries and creates a baby for nine months, then dumps that baby in some nanny's arms, to go out to work at the laundrette, or as a mill girl, or as a nanny herself? There is a deeply important sense, although a metaphorical one, in which the umbilical cord, in spite of being cut, remains. A bond, ladies and gentlemen, a bond not to be taken lightly. If two people are in love then they should share. Share amongst other things a name. As in the vast majority of cases, the income earner in the family is the man, then that name, of course, should be the name of the man. Women, however you spell it, — a man of sense only plays with them, trifles with them, humours and flatters them, but he neither consults them about, nor trusts them with, serious matters. For women are merely children of a larger growth. They have an entertaining tattle and sometimes wit, but for solid reasoning or good sense, I never knew in my life one that had it, or who acted consequentially for four and twenty hours together! Ms! Mischievous Misled Misbehaved Mistaken Meself. . .I think it's all poppycock!! 2001? It'll always be poppycock! CHARITY WEEK Charity Week was organised early, as ever, this year with the committee being called and having their first meeting in September. We decided to choose the N.C.H. as a charity again this year as it meant children would be raising money for children and also because we could buy specific items for them (a light-talker and peripherals). We also decided to support the Birmingham Institute for Conductive Education by providing wooden furniture, as it was a local project and was providing a service not previously available in this country. We decided to have some new events this year, and these were generally successful. The Alternative Revue and the Magic Show (kindly performed by Mr. Shelley) both raised large sums. As well as this, of course, there were the traditional events during Charity Week itself including Blankety Blank, Blockbusters, the 1st XV Drag Contest and the Band (who rehearsed very hard). We were also very grateful to Jago for their production of Greasy and to the Girls for playing a LVI vs. LVI Rugby match and to the Royal Marines for their two excellent displays. The Car Wash and Fun Run took place on the Saturday and Sunday after Charity Week. The Car Wash proved successful again; this event seems to provide a real service to Solihull (it was even suggested that we should do it weekly). The Fun Run was not quite as popular this year and we think the enthusiasm may be dwindling, but both events raised about £500. This year's total was a record £14,300 and this was achieved mainly thanks to a tremendous effort by the pupils, parents and staff, particularly lower down the school. The Junior School raised £1,800 just on their walk and in their individual forms raised considerably more. IVbc also deserve praise for their tremendous effort in raising £900 and gaining a half day. Thanks must finally go to the Charity Week committee for all their efforts and especially to Mr. Williams for his help and advice. THE REVUE This year's down-to-earth revue was primarily targeted at the staff and this contributed greatly to its success: The opening sketch, where it was stated that no revue had been written, was a direct quote from the previous Sunday's rehearsal. The extra rehearsals in Charity Week were very useful. Phil Goodson's Cilla Black left much to be desired as did his legs. There was a very clever Mastermind sketch written by Paul 'Les' Newman, our resident PPE professor. Alison Marshall and Kate Hazlehurst added some spice to Martyn's teachers sketch. The whole school got their own back on Messrs. Thomas and Flood thanks to David Brown's and John Errington's rendition of 'We've got them on our list'. The band provided a fitting end to an exhausting revue. We would like to thank Mr. Melhuish and Mr. Holt for giving up their time to supervise the rehearsals. Thanks also must go to all the - actors and actresses who turned up to the rehearsals (except Eric Bristow). J.R. Smith M.B. Fisher ALTERNATIVE REVUE J.R. Smith M.B. Fisher John Freeman Errington The first Alternative Revue was a great success (honest !). Although we only had one rehearsal and a cast of a mere seven, we poked endless fun at members of the sixth form Community (and some still speak to us). The atmosphere of the Sixth Form Centre was just right and Mr. Willywoms and Mrs. Chell supervised.
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