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ENGLISH / ECONOMICS 9
Guardian’s
Young Critic Award
Amala Sangha, RW
On Thursday 17 November I
attended
The Guardian’s
Young
Critic Award Ceremony at
The
Guardian’s
headquarters in
London, thanks to my review of
one of the eight long-listed books
for
The Guardian’s
Fiction Prize.
My English teacher Mr Gallagher
sent a link to enter this national
competition, open to 10 – 18 year
olds, to the Thirds and Removes.
I reviewed
The Marvels
by Brian
Selznick, a story within a story
set in both 1766 and present
day London, which defies the
stereotype that illustrations in
books are only for young children.
I was hesitant to apply for this
competition as I did not expect to
hear back from
The Guardian
, but
to my amazement they e-mailed
back with good news!
Attending the ceremony, I met other
likeminded young people who have a thirst for
knowledge as big my own! It was amazing to
meet the judges and authors of the long-listed
books who inspired and encouraged me to
carry on writing and reading because one day
perhaps I too could achieve wonderful things
with my own writing. I was even given a
tour by one of
The Guardian’s
editors around
the building just before they were about to
publish the next day’s newspaper, which was
very interesting and I am grateful for the
experience. After the prize giving, the room
filled with anticipation as everyone waited
eagerly to find out which of the authors
had won
The Guardian’s
Fiction Prize - a
prestigious writing award. The winner was
Alex Wheatle, who became the fiftieth winner
of the award with his novel
Crongton Knights
.
Judging by the other young critics’ reviews
of his book, he deservedly won his award!
The night was wonderful, and has fuelled
my passion for reading and writing even
more! I encourage everyone to read the eight
long listed books that can be found on
The
Guardian’s
website as these are the faces of
teen literature today, and will provoke, inspire,
and change the way young people think –
making them better-rounded, developed
people on the whole.
Cambridge Economics Trip
Will Kumar, L6S
After a seemingly interminable coach journey up
to Cambridge, we eventually arrived at Fitzwilliam
College. Upon arrival, we were greeted by some Old
Bancroftians who now study at the College, and our
large group of forty seven, formed a tripartite into
smaller groups to be toured round.
After having seen key aspects of the College, namely the library,
chapel and dining hall, we were transported to the University’s
Faculty of Economics. Here, we attended a lecture demonstrating and
explaining the construction and function of the monetary national
income analogue computer (MONIAC), also known as the Phillips
hydraulic computer. This was created in 1949 by the New Zealand
economist Bill Phillips. The computer was created to model the national
economic processes of the United Kingdom, which occupied Phillips’
mind while he studied at the London School of Economics. The wildly
talented engineer, Allan McRobie, who works in the soil mechanics
and structures division and who painstakingly put the machine back
together, gave the lecture, which lasted approximately an hour. As Mr
McRobie is not an economist himself, with the help of Mrs Anthony,
Mr Mikdadi and Mr Maloney, we were able to see the causes and
impacts of various hypothetical and real economic situations, modelled
in front of us. The lecture was interactive and interesting, but more
than anything being able to see economic theories, which we had
studied and learned, become visually accessible, largely helped
our understanding. As a group, we were privileged to have such an
opportunity (this is one of only two working machines in the world),
and the day was very beneficial.