The Hall Newspaper Winter 2022 No 21

Alexander Bailey Finlay Hutchings Freddie Stothers

Jack Bunn Nihal Gill Sebastian Hodges

YEAR 3

SELF-PORTRAITS

Year 3 created self-portraits inspired by the Turner winning artist Chris Ofili.
The painter Chris Ofili is well known for his references to his Nigerian heritage, his highly decorative style and his

playful exploration of black cultural identity.
As well as using paint in a more traditional way, the pupils also built it up in layer upon layer. They also used collage,

including cut-outs from family photographs and they enjoyed adding glitter to decorate the surface.

ART 51

Daniel Eisenberg George Henton
Oscar Thing
YEAR 4

FLOWERS AND SKULLS
Abbie Luck & Leonie Lachlan

Year 4 have been looking at the work of
Georgia O'Keeffe as a source of inspiration
this term. They painted flowers using water
colour and made tonal drawings of skulls.

Boys had a great deal of fun combining
these drawings together in an imaginative

composition painted onto silk.

Atticus Stowe Benedict Swift Sebastian Hansjee

52

Noah Lam James Fishman William Valentine

Bertie Constance Rafe Murray Primo Page

Adam Fenjaly Conrad Dyble YEAR 5

IMAGINATIVE CITYSCAPES
Abbie Luck & Leonie Lachlan

Boys in Year 5 have recently completed a unit of work
entitled ‘Imaginative Cityscapes’. They began by creating a
photomontage of an imaginary city which they then drew
from using various techniques in pen and wash. They then
looked at various representations of Gotham City throughout
the ages and studied the typical characteristics of Gothic
and Art Deco Architecture to aid them with designing their

own imaginative building. The project culminated in the
construction of a set design for the show ‘Batman Live’

including prints of their building designs.

ART 53

Ryan Becker Ali Abbas

Benjamin Chen

Ravi Chandarana Arjun Malde

Zico Malwani Matthew Valentin
Jonah McNamara
Neil Dhar
Daniel Valeev
54

Alessandro Penati Christian Lonberg Jack Bloom James Hassan

YEAR 6 Luca Payne
Lucas Chowrimootoo
SELF IDENTITY

For their first project of the academic year, Year 6
analysed the work of Basquiat. They very much enjoyed
brainstorming their own self-identities and creating a
visual representation of this for the front cover of their

sketchbooks. Boys then produced expressive self-
portraits using continuous line and wax resit.

They are currently working on large scale acrylic
paintings which we look forward to sharing with you

once completed.

Florian Jhamna

Zayn Gokal Noah Hutchings Naoki Ferguson

ART 55

YEAR 7

STREET ART

Nathan Joseph

We arrived at the Shoreditch tube station and was given a
tour by a lady who lead us around East London. We saw some
amazing art, which you will see in this article. She explained

to us the difference between street art and graffiti. While
we were looking at the graffiti, one boy said that he didn’t
understand what the graffiti said because it was so stylised
and therefore he felt that he wasn’t getting all of the

value out of it.
The tour guide told us that she once thought the
same thing, until she met up with some graffiti
artists and they told her that it was far less about
what it says, far more about what it looks like. It
was freezing cold and we were all shivering, but we
luckily managed to get a hot chocolate from a café

for all of us! It was amazing to see all
of this great art in person!

Photography by Aaron Newton-Seem, Carl Hofstrom, Jake Bailey and Yanda Xu

56

Theo Constance William Ma

Ishaan Nigam YEAR 8
Oscar Hakansson-Gill
PORTRAITURE AND WAR

The title of the extended Year 8 scheme of work this
year is 'Portraiture and War'. Boys first looked at the
portraits of Francis Bacon. They very much enjoyed

working with both photomontage, Photoshop
and chalk pastels to produce their own distorted
portraits. Boys were then able to choose to work
with either lino or dry point and produced their own
response to the theme 'War' having analysed the work

of various German Expressionist artists.
The results are fantastic!

Ben Kooi

William Gentle Joseph Adler
Nikolaos Kotridis Mohamed El hadi Ababsa Rokeby Crichton-Brown

Josh Hammond

ART 57

Alexander Mardle Siddhartha Rathke Jake Bailey

Jake Bailey PhotoSgSraphy Siddhartha Rathke
CLUB Finlay Schelin
Aiden Bhaduri Jake Bailey Jake Bailey
Alexander Mardle
As a member of photography club, I felt influenced
58 to take my new found skills outside The Hall

school, in the photographing of works by Banksy,
David Speed and Invader along with many more

street artists.

The reason I wanted to pick up a camera and snap
pictures of famous artists was heavily influenced
by Photography Club. This gave me a passion for

taking photos and I really enjoyed how we got
to photograph both in and outside the school,
starting with default photo taking and ending
in photographing traffic trails, LED lights and
sparklers using the shutter speed setting. Overall, I
think that Photography Club is a great way for any

budding artist to extend their talents. 

Finlay Schelin Siddhartha Rathke

Music
Luisa Rosina

LIVE MUSIC RESUMES! MS & SS CLASS CONCERTS

With momentous joy and relief, the Music Department hit Our class concerts were held in November, and every boy
the ground running in September, with a full return to in the MS and SS was given the opportunity to perform.
lessons and ensembles.  I was thrilled to hear how boys had improved from their
  previous class concerts.
After such a long period of time without our 56 music groups
rehearsing, the busy music timetable came as a bit of a shock to When ensconced in a routine of regular practice and weekly
staff, students, and parents! Most instrumentalists are given the lessons, it can be difficult for the boys to measure their progress,
opportunity to rehearse in two music groups each week which but I was astonished at how far some of our young musicians had
greatly enhances musicianship in so many ways, as well as building come along in the past year. 
social skills and developing teamwork skills. 
  JS CLASS CONCERTS
It gives me a huge amount of pleasure to watch boys of different
ages and at different stages in their musical journeys working Year 2 and Year 3 classes performed instrumental solos in
selflessly together to create music.  live performances with great maturity and confidence over
  the course of the autumn term, all the more impressive
Over the autumn term, we held live concerts and it was wonderful following lockdowns and interruptions in lessons and since for
to invite parents into school to watch the boys perform. Informal many of the Year 2 boys, these performances were their first ever
Concerts have been hugely popular, and I was delighted to see the public recitals.
boys taking opportunities to perform pieces that they are learning
in their individual lessons.  Just as impressive was the variety of instruments being played by
the JS students: violins, pianos, double basses, cellos, oboes, even
SS CONCERT We held our French horns, and trumpets are being played with competence
Senior School and increasing maturity, revealing a definite broadening in the
Concert selection of instruments amongst our younger pupils. Thanks go
in November in the to Mr Richmond, as always, in putting together the concerts and to
Wathen Hall, and Mr O’ Leary for his frequent accompaniment.
to keep audience
numbers at a sensible THE HALL OUTSTANDING MUSICIAN
level where they could COMPETITION 2021
socially distance, we
performed the concert Ahandful of boys were selected to advance to the finals of The
twice in the same Hall Outstanding Musician Competition 2021, where they
evening. had the opportunity to perform to an external adjudicator.
Renowned concert pianist Samantha Ward adjudicated our
Some of the boys were a little reticent to perform two identical MS Final, and musician, author and educator, Paul Harris
concerts consecutively, but as soon as the first concert had adjudicated our SS Final. Both adjudicators were amazed by
finished, they remembered how electrifying live performance the standard of playing and had a very difficult job in deciding
can be and were very eager to perform all over again! I was so winners.
impressed with the high standard of ensemble playing - the
audience seemed to feel the same and showed their appreciation In the MS, the category winners were: 
by giving the boys a standing ovation at the end of the concert.  • Luca Buraschi (strings)
• Sebastian Hansjee (brass)

MUSIC 59

• Daniel Valeev (woodwind) MUSIC ADVENT CALENDAR
• Etienne Whitewood (piano)
• Conrad Dyble (voice) Our music advent calendar has once again been very popular
• Rafe Murray (contemporary) this year, and boys have been very enthusiastic to get
In the SS, category winners were:  involved.
• Zachary Lam (strings)
• Albert Sparks (brass) I have had so many entries
• William Gentle (woodwind) from classes, ensembles
• Ned Van Steenis (piano) and individuals playing
• Markus Feder (voice) festive songs and carols,
• Cassius Yechiel (contemporary) helping us to get into the
Zachary Lam was the overall winner, and Christmas spirit! Our
is the Hall Outstanding Musician 2021 music advent calendar
- congratulations, Zac!  can be viewed on our
Paul Harris reminded the boys that music competitions are Hall Music School Twitter
very much subjective, and on a different day, the winners of the page: @hallmusic1889
competition might be different. I very much liked Paul's advice to
enter a cabbage growing contest if the boys wanted to enter a fair MUSICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
competition! 
Ialso want to mention some
MUSIC AND HISTORY WORKSHOPS fantastic musical achievements last
term; William Ma (Year 8) and Zachary Lam
In December, all boys in Year 6 went to Wilf Slack for Music (Year 7) both passed their ABRSM Grade 8 violin
and History workshops. This was to complement their class exams with Distinction. Both boys are such
music lessons where they have been studying music from dedicated and passionate musicians, and their
around the world. hard work has certainly paid off. 
Boys learnt about the colourful history of steel bands, including
the making and tuning of steel pan drums. They then had a Additionally, three boys successfully auditioned for the National
chance to play them! Mr Soskic and Mr Gordon also delivered a Children's Orchestra of Great Britain: Albert Sparks, Rex
workshop on Britain's historical ties to the Caribbean, and looked Hodgkinson and Jonah McNamara. Auditions are held throughout
at photographs of the Windrush generation, discussing their the country and are very competitive, so huge congratulations to
diverse experience. them.
 
Another busy musical term lies ahead in the new year, including
our MS Concert, Gala Concert in Cadogan Hall and a Symphony
Orchestra tour to Jersey. As ever, there is much to look forward to! 

60

Chapel Choir recorded a service of Nine
AUTUMN 2021 Lessons and Carols at
St Mary’s Primrose Hill.
Chris O’Leary Chapel Choir Director  Whilst it was a shame that
this could not have an
In the autumn term, the Chapel Choir enjoyed several in-person audience as in
performance opportunities both in and out of school and previous years, the boys did
continued to maintain a very promising standard of music- a fantastic job of singing
making despite various changes and restrictions. a wide range of works by Tavener, Walton, Poston, Rutter. This
Following a very quick turnaround at the beginning of school year, service also gave them the opportunity to sing a selection of classic
they performed a service of evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral - one Christmas carols, and a special mention must go to Eskander Dean
of the country’s most prestigious venues for choral music – as for a beautiful rendition of the solo from Once in Royal David’s City.
the guest choir alongside a consort of professional singers. This Their hard work throughout the term in the lead up to this recording
was particularly special for me, as not only was it my first time and their focus on the day meant that pupils, parents, and staff were
directing the choir in a performance (and my first time in St Paul’s!) still able to enjoy a Christmas Concert from the school virtually
– my thanks to Martyn Kaine and Will Perry-Parks for recording
I HAVE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH HOW and photographing the service, and to all our readers for their very
QUICKLY THE BOYS HAVE ADAPTED TO MY eloquent renditions of the Nine Lessons to complete this special
DIRECTION SINCE I’VE JOINED THE SCHOOL, occasion. 
AND I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO THEIR Next term, the choir will be working towards a service of evensong
PARENTS AND SUPPORTERS FOR THEIR at Southwark Cathedral in February and are currently awaiting
CONTINUED DEDICATION AND ENTHUSIASM confirmation to sing as the guest choir at several other cathedrals
FOR THE WORK THAT THE CHOIR DOES. and chapels across England in future terms, including Oxford
and Cambridge colleges. Closer to home, they will additionally
but also the world premiere of both my new edition of Herbert begin preparing for the school’s Big Sing in the summer term (on
Brewer’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in F major and an original something slightly different from their usual repertoire!).  
composition I had written for them (Psalm 88), both of which they I have been very pleased with how quickly the boys have adapted
performed excellently alongside music by William Byrd and Charles to my direction since I’ve joined the school, and I am very grateful
Villiers Stanford.  to their parents and supporters for their continued dedication and
In November, they sang the ‘Pie Jesu’ from Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem  enthusiasm for the work that the choir does. There is no doubt in my
as part of the school’s Remembrance Service, and most recently mind that future terms will afford ample opportunity for the boys to
develop their musicianship and present it to their peers and families,
and I am very excited to continue to do so with them. Well done boys! 

MUSIC 61

MuMsSicOiaUnTSCToAmNDpIeNtGition
FINALS

Luca Buraschi

Every year The Hall has a music competition for the Middle dived into my piece: “Polka” by Charles Dancla. I went back to my
and Senior Schools, kindly hosted by Miss Rosina. Every seat, and I felt I could smile again. I then enjoyed listening to my
child has the opportunity to participate with a piece of their friends performing. It quickly became apparent how much we had
choice. During our music lessons, we all played a piece in front of all improved during the process of preparing for the competition.
our classes. Miss Rosina and Dr Steyn helped by organising several rehearsals
for us. In every category, the standard was very high and there was
After a tense one-week wait, 3 boys in each instrumental category no obvious winner.
were chosen to play in the finals. The final took place the following  
week at 4 pm in the Cooper Hall. When I arrived to play in the final, Eventually, the time came for learning who the winners were.
I saw many parents had gathered at the entrance of the Senior I expected the judge simply to announce the results. Instead,
School, waiting to secure a seat. she discussed each and every one of our performances in great
details. She told us what she liked and how we could improve. She
I opened the programme and gulped! I realised that I was the paid special attention to our interpretations and how we can pay
first to play. Although I tried my best to show some confidence, attention to specific technical aspects to add to the expression in
my heart was thumping. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on our pieces.
everything I wanted to remember about my piece. The different   
dynamics, the feel, the phrasings, and storytelling. I was very lucky to win the string category; Daniel Valeev won the
woodwind section, Etienne Whitewood the piano section, Sebastian
After a short introduction, I heard Miss Rosina call my name: I Hansjee the brass section, Conrad Dyble the voice section, and
opened my eyes and stepped on stage. I took a deep breath and Rafe Murray the contemporary section.
 
I WAS VERY LUCKY TO WIN THE STRING I really enjoyed taking part in the competition. The process of
CATEGORY; DANIEL VALEEV WON THE preparing for the final taught me many different things, among
WOODWIND SECTION, ETIENNE WHITEWOOD which is how to develop a musical composition to a higher
THE PIANO SECTION, SEBASTIAN HANSJEE technical level by searching and developing the story which is
THE BRASS SECTION, CONRAD DYBLE THE inside the piece.
VOICE SECTION, AND RAFE MURRAY THE
CONTEMPORARY SECTION. It was an honour to participate in this competition so thank you
to Miss Rosina and Dr Steyn. 

62

Drama

Night's DreamA MIDSUMMER
John Padden

During the autumn term students in Year 7
were invited to attend a weekly Drama Club,
focusing on Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's
Dream'. Over the course of several weeks the group of
18 students engaged in a variety of exercises and games
aimed at building an ensemble. The company also learnt
about the characters and relationship in Shakespeare's
play and were introduced to the plot and short sections
of text.

The work culminated in a whole day workshop with
practitioners from Coram Shakespeare Schools
Foundation. In only one intense but hugely fun day the
students put together a performance of the play using a

DRAMA 63

combination of improvisation PuppetTCHEompany
and Shakespeare's
language. Lights and music In early January, The Puppet Company visited to give the Year
were used to enhance the 6s a full day workshop on puppet-making. It involved students
performance, which was learning about puppetry, making a simple puppet and
given to all of Year 7 and bringing it to life as well as devising some simple scenes to
members of staff.  perform. 

64 The professional puppeteers demonstrated a range of their
puppets and explained some theory behind the art. You can make

a puppet out of a sock, or a cut piece of paper, or a
mug, or you can use a delicate, complicated piece of
machinery that will look and move like anything you
want... but some basic rules apply in bringing a puppet
to life...

After going off into small groups to make a large
puppets using paper to twist and join into a body
with limbs, the Year 6s then practised some simple
movements with them with the aim of making that

inanimate object attention to - and perhaps even what it is apparently ‘thinking’.
‘come alive’ The third principle that the Year 6s were encouraged to consider,
and bring is the idea of the puppet having weight and how weight shifts and
about genuine balances an animate body when in motion. They enjoyed practising
responses in the making their puppets swim, walk and run for example, all the while
audience. considering which muscles are at work and how each individual
In order to muscle comes into play when a physical being is in motion. Who
bring a puppet knew so much science was going to be involved in bringing an
to life, its inanimate puppet to life?
breathing needs
to be evident. A In the afternoon the students made smaller individual stick
puppeteer can puppets and after a short practice, performed some scenes for
convey this through making it appear that the puppet’s ‘ribcage’ their peers.
is moving in and out as its ‘lungs’ expand and empty. At the same
time, puppeteers vocalise the sound of breaths being taken in and Many thanks to Mr Padden for bringing about this opportunity
out, which can convey to the audience much about the ‘emotions’ for the students to learn about puppetry and have a go at some of
of the puppet; by changing the rhythm of breathing, or having the basic techniques themselves.
periods of ‘holding breath’, the puppeteer might convey that the
puppet is relaxed and at rest or distressed or alarmed. In other
words, we can begin to piece together in our understanding, a story
based on the puppet’s movements and the sound of its breathing.
In terms of the second principle, that of focus, the Year 6s found
it interesting to experiment with the angle of the puppet’s head
and thereby begin to have it focus through its ‘gaze’ upon objects
or people. By turning its head or changing the angle of its head
and by retaining a position for several seconds, the puppeteer can
convey to an audience where it is ‘looking’ and what it is paying

DRAMA 65

Sport SPORTS REPORT

AUTUMN 2021

Joe Callum and Aadi Patel

winning 7-1 in the first round of the ISFAs, although later being
knocked out to a strong Dulwich college side. We then went to
the IAPS U13s Sevens Tournament at Rokeby School with a strong
performance, sadly losing to a golden goal in the semi-final.

What a start to the school sport season it was back in the Moving on to after half term, we enjoyed our first tournament win
autumn term, with each team playing extremely well and in the Durston house 6- a side tournament, getting our revenge
being coached equally brilliantly! As we move on from on them for the 1-0 previous defeat. Mr Goldsmith’s 2nd team had
football to rugby in the spring term, we will highlight The Hall’s an excellent season with many wins and many goals. The team
many exciting times this autumn in football. is strong as is the coach, so unsurprisingly they haven't had any
trouble scoring many goals this term.
To start off the season, each team had a storming performance Mr Chapman’s third team enjoyed an array of great performances
against City of London, collecting some wins and a lot of after with lots of impressive wins! A late goal drama led to a win against
match tea. We then moved on in the season with many respectable Westminster and draw against Orley Farm. Matthew ‘the-through-
performances with the firsts just missing out on 1st place at the ball-king’ McSpadden has been the standout player, an integral
Arnold House School festival. Our season then took a leap after part to the team. As were the defensive unit. Huge well done!
Mr Isitt had a great season with his 4th team having a very
respectable season and enjoying many wins along the way. The
4th team even joined in the stellar performance to help the inter
Germany team seal the win against the North Bridge House second
team and there was a standout performance against our number
one rivals, Arnold House with stunning performances from Shiv
and Deniz. Mr Grant, Mr Lloyd and Mr Stringer’s interleague

66

enjoyed some respectable wins THE HALL
including some against North
Bridge House, causing many FOOTBALL
deadly chances with their FESTIVAL
midfield maestro Ben Kooi
who was awarded stand out Some wonderful football was on show in The Hall Football
player, although everyone was Festival in September, involving boys from Year 3 to Year 5.
outstanding.

Year 6 had a bumper season
of football last term, with
eleven ALL PLAY fixtures. After
practically an entire year without
competitive school sport, the
boys relished travelling to schools
such as Highgate and Lochinver
House, as well as hosting the likes
of Orley Farm and Beechwood at
Wilf Slack. The Year 6 As have had
a great performance collecting
more trophies than they could
possibly carry, starting off their
season with a win in the Arnold
House Festival and then going
on to impressively win the

Prep4Sport tournament in
St George Park, the England
training ground. The likes of
Harry Kane were showed up
by Arun Burman, and Phil
Foden by Ziyaan Hirji!

They then showed the
coaching brilliance of Mr
Perry-parks with their third consecutive trophy at St Thomas’s
tournament. They shone not only in tournaments but in matches.
They showed the First XI how to lift their first trophy after
they joined the Firsts in winning the Durston House 6-a side
tournament for a Hall school clean sweep!

Thank you to Mr Macfarlane, and all the sports staff, for being
great coaches and thanks for all the work you have put in to be
make the sports term amazing for everyone!

SPORT 67

MS HOUSE MATCHES

Conrad Dyble

This term’s house football was full of exciting, close
matches in all year groups. The matches were split
into two round robin tournaments for an A team
and a B team that each of the four houses (Orange,
Blue, Purple and Green) selected. The point system
was ten points for a win, five points for a draw, three
points for a loss with a goal and zero points for a

loss with no goals scored.

68

The matches were tense and very close with some amazing goals, impressive
saves, great passages of play and some mind-blowing flicks and tricks from all
over the pitch. As expected at The Hall, the finals became particularly serious

affairs, and playground friendships and loyalties were put aside in the quest
for ‘bragging rights.’ In the Year Five A tournament final, Blue House slayed
Orange House 10-2, but then, in the B tournament Orange House took revenge
on Blue House by beating them 3-2 with a last-minute winner to steal the
victory. In the Year Four A tournament Orange
House cruised to a slick 7-1 win, but in true cup
tradition, Green House provided a big upset by
narrowly edging out Orange House, so proving

to be better on grass than on paper.

As ever, the sports staff put in a huge amount
of effort to organize and referee an incredibly
enjoyable and successful tournament. Many

thanks from all the boys in Middle School.

FOOTBALL TRAINING

Michael Asimacopoulos,
Ben Zimmern and Will Sinclair

Football has been amazing this term and has
included training, fixtures and house matches.

We have played many fixtures and have triumphed in most. Our kind coaches
have helped us to get much better at football throughout the months. We

have all liked football a lot and enjoyed playing at Wilf Slack football ground.
Training consisted of exercises such as high knees, passing exercises, jogging

and shooting. The House Matches were also very exciting to play in.

The JS boys have also made the most of the Wilf Slack playing fields for their
Friday afternoon training sessions.

SPORT 69

70

Christmas

YEAR 3 AND YEAR 2

Christmas Sing-a-longs

The term ended with a lovely Christmas singalong in the playground for
Year 2 and Year 3 and their families, with coffee, hot chocolate, and mince

pies to keep everybody warm. People in the street in stopped to have a
listen to the festive songs too!

Care HomesSINGING FOR SUPPORT AT CHRISTMAS FOR
ST JOHN’S HOSPICE, SEBBY’S
Our Year 2 and Year 3 boys sang their hearts CORNER AND CARIS HARINGEY
out on live Zooms for local care homes,
sharing a medley of Christmas carols to JS boys took part in the Christmas Bauble competition being run by St. John’s Hospice
bring festive cheer to the residents of and some of the boys made and sent cards to their residents.
Rathmore House and St John’s
Hospice, within our local The winners of the Competition were Max Fu in RE, Viyaan Jaiswal in 1C and Leon Laniado
community. in 2M. Well done, boys! We raised over £540 through our entries to the competition but
School Council have been rattling the collection boxes at some of our performances and
carol singing events so the total for the term is likely to be considerably more.

During the course of the Autumn term, Hall families were very generous in their donations
of Christmas presents to Sebbie's Corner for the stockings of Afghan Refugee children,
as well as the JS supporting CARIS Haringey with a massive collection of presents. CARIS

resumed the holding of their Christmas Party, in which each child received a present and
each family a hamper of new items.

THE HALL CHRISTMAS 71

Cards of Care

Students in the SS and MS took part in the Cards of Care project
again this year, making a lovely Christmas or Hannukah card for
250 specific residents in residential care homes either close to the

school or near to the Wilf Slack playing fields.
It was lovely for the boys to be able to take their time in devising a
thoughtful and meaningful message for each person, finding words
of warmth and good cheer at a time of year that many people find

difficult when unable to be with loved ones.

72

CREATIVE WRITING In the final days of the autumn term, as part of the 12 Days of
Christmas activities, SS and MS students had an opportunity to
write an original Christmas story to share with peers in form time. 

Students were invited to pick out a ‘mystery item’ from a selection
provided and given a choice of one of four ‘settings’ for their story;

a bookshop, a park, a toy shop or a castle. A story could have up
to 3 characters, be written in the 1st or 3rd person, be set in the past,
present or future but be no longer than 200 words and needed to

be written within 20 minutes! Ghosts were allowed!

As you will see in the following pages, students’ imaginations were
really fired up by this challenge and some interesting and colourful

stories were the result, shared in form time with classmates.

The Case of The Case of

THE MISSING BAUBLE  THE MISSING
CHRISTMAS JUMPER
Cassius Yechiel N  ed Van Steenis

The burning fingers of the ice clutched on to me in the bone chilling winds. The world was It was a crisp, frosty evening in
darkening all around me, dimming slowly like the final sunset of summer. In a final act of despair, the park. Hans walked solemnly
I saw it, nestled in the snow like a chick in the comforting arms of its mother. The bauble. It through, his face was indifferent
glowed in its Sapphire mystery, illuminating the barren paleness of the cascading snow. and had a very light pallor. No
one else was there - they were
I limped towards it, enchanted by its radiant shimmer. It was a shade of blue that graced the all inside enjoying Christmas
nerves of the human eye, bringing warmth to the body. The colour of a starry night, the wet skin dinner with their loved ones - he
of a poisonous dart frog, the colour of the twilight zone. It had a delicate lining of golden foil, abandoned, was left to walk, a nomad, exiled
as if to be a flame licking and crackling into the midnight sky. I strained a frosted arm to it. Pain from his own soul.
jolted through my body like a high voltage shock with every movement I made. My fingers made
contact. I felt a powerful surge plummet through my veins. It soothed me. The world around me A fine wind gusted past him. In one instant, his
was irrelevant now, all the pain, all the cold. It was finally in my hands.  cloak was blown away, then his jumper. When
the breath of warmth stopped, he was left,
Oscar Auerbach shivering. He could hear the distant shutters
creaking and slamming. He rushed with a frenzy
Twas the night before Christmas, and all the toys had fallen asleep. Apart from one… Well, not into his book shop.
really a toy, but a decoration. The bauble was so excited that he couldn’t sleep. Christmas was
his favourite time of the year. Most of the shelves in the shop were stripped bare. Suddenly, an The frowsty atmosphere calmed his nerves and
earthquake hit. The ground shuddered, the remaining toys crunched, clanged, and smashed all he sat down in his ragged armchair. He pulled
over the floor. The Christmas tree swayed as if there were a blizzard outside and the baubles something along with his knitting and there - it
flung off and smashed into tiny little pieces.  was his Christmas jumper! Slightly bewildered,
he quickly put it back on. He relaxed to slumber,
Finally, the earthquake came to a halt. The swaying stopped, and the toys stopped rolling then a quiet, low voice next to his ear said,
across the floor.  However, the toys were so distraught by what had happened to the shop, that 'Hello'. Hans bolted up and turned around. His
they couldn’t start to repair it. Except for one little bauble. This bauble was still so troubled, that face paled, and he dropped through the floor.
he decided to take charge. All the toys agreed, and so they made sure that the shop was tip top
and in shape for Christmas. … He woke up, his heart pounding, and found
himself walking. It was a crisp, frosty evening
A few hours later, the Christmas bells rang and all the children in the whole town received their in the park. Hans walked solemnly through, his
toys. Children piled into their living rooms and the toy shop, and grabbed all the toys, apart face indifferent and with a very light pallor. No
from the one little bauble. He was so upset. However, a shadow emerged in the doorway, one else was there ... Hans bolted and turned
with a long hat with a pompom on it. The person ripped the pompom off, grabbed the around. His face paled and he dropped through
bauble, then sewed it on his hat when he got home. The bauble made out the figure and the floor. He woke up ... It was a crisp, frosty
realised that the figure was Santa!!!  evening ... It was a crisp...

 

THE HALL CHRISTMAS 73

THESE ARE THE NIGHTS The Case of THE MISSING MINCE PIES
CHRISTMAS REMIX
Jonathan Shiu
Shiv and Adhritt
 Christmas Eve was come. The children of the world all in deep slumber. All but one.
Once upon a Christmas Day,
When all our presents had appeared, Deep in the mountains of Siberia in a castle-like orphanage lay a young orphan. Little
The toys inside, did come out to play. Cassie Doge lay awake and bored. There wasn’t much to do.
Went face to face with all our food, She decided to steal a mince pie from the fridge downstairs, just for the thrills. There
Learned our lessons through the dude, was no one about the fridge. Everyone was asleep and so Cassie opened the fridge
Made memories we knew would never fade. only to find that the mince pies were gone! Someone had beaten her there. A trail
of crumbs led up to the second dorm and she crept up the staircase, masking her
One day my father, he told me breathing. Candle shadows leapt from the dark, but she did not fear this. She slipped
"Son, don't let this slip away" into the second dorm and immediately heard the faint sound of crunching coming
He took me in his arms, I heard him say from under a blanket. She crept up to the munching blanket and thumped the blanket
"When you get older over the head. She threw off the blanket to see a dazed boy and the missing mince
You should, savour Christmas Day pies! After hitting the boy again, she grabbed the mince pies and bolted, the cries of
Think of me if ever you're afraid" the boy echoing behind her. She seized one and returned the rest of the mince pies to
the fridge before returning to bed…
He said: "One day you'll leave this world behind
So, make this Christmas one you’ll remember" The Case of
My father told me when I was just a child
"Christmas, the day that never dies" THE MISSING CHRISTMAS TREE
My father told me  Niran Radia

The Case of One night, on Christmas Eve, a park keeper was closing Regent’s
Park when he noticed something strange. There was no Christmas
THE MISSING Tree! He ran over to where the Christmas Tree had been set up
CHRISTMAS COOKIES earlier this month - but it had since disappeared. He was sure he
had seen it yesterday. He could not let people know that there
Misha Prosyankin, George Henton & Rajvir Kumar  was no Christmas tree. He immediately started searching ….
He searched the fountains, he searched the fields, and he even
One stormy night, in a castle, Mrs. Claus made some cookies. searched the ponds, but he just could not find the Christmas Tree!
The cookies had delicious frosty icing on top. They looked so Where could it be? He decided he needed help.
delicious that unfortunately someone stole them. It was the He called in all the park keepers to help him search for the Christmas Tree because
night before Christmas Eve and Mrs. Claus needed them to this was an emergency. They all helped to search and eventually, after many hours,
feed Santa before his long journey around the world. With one of the park keepers saw a light, glistening deep amidst the trees. He moved
the cookies missing, Santa would be hungry! forward, pushing the branches out of his path. As he finally came to a clearing, he
Mrs. Claus started by using her magic to find the thief, the saw the Christmas Tree looking as though nothing had ever happened. Christmas had
elves came so she knew the cookies were in the castle. She been saved!
looked in all the nooks and crannies, but she found nothing
until 11:20 when she came across a trail of crumbs! She Rayaan J, Zain J, Jack S/U
followed the mysterious trail of crumbs and then finding a
tray with footprints on it, Mrs. Claus followed this unusual Once upon a time, there lived a man called Ethan, who owned a magnificent toy shop.
trail. She then found another trail, this time consisting of Ethan was getting the shop ready for Christmas, working hard to make it elegant
icing. Then she knew the thief was clumsy. She followed the so people would come inside. He had ordered an exotic Christmas tree to entice
trail and found Frizzle Fizz she punished Frizzle! people in to stare at its beauty. The shop was swarming with people and buzzing with
Mrs. Claus was angry about what Frizzle had done but then laughter, and it was crystal clear that the festive decorations had worked.
she called Santa and gave him the cookies. After that, Santa Until one day, the perfect tree disappeared with no trace of evidence. Ethan and his
flew around the world and delivered the presents and ate his son Jacob immediately called the police to report this tragedy. It seemed that the
cookies that Mrs. Claus had made just for him. only piece of evidence was what looked like a glove fingerprint on the door. Ethan
wondered who could have done this unnoticed and evading the high tech cameras.
Jacob was bawling with tears. After calming him down, Ethan called upon his
neighbours and family to help him find the tree.
After a week, Ethan thought there was no hope, but then he got a call. It was the
police! They had caught the robber and he could pick up his tree at the station! Ethan
gladly picked it up, Jacob was so happy! And to top it off, the shop was doing better
than ever before.

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THE HALL CHRISTMAS 75

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