The Senior Reptonian - Issue 21 - Repton School Dubai

Term 3, Issue 1Sunday 26th AprilRepton School DubaiWelcome back to Repton!ICC Global Cricket Academy coachesRod Marsh, Mudassar Nazar andDayle Hadlee visit Repton.Art Exhibition at Repton!We interview a stand up ComedianPhotos of the Music concertThe Geography field tripUp and coming Events…Girl’s House Basketball Thursday30th AprilArt Exhibition Sunday 3rd MayYear 7 Parents Evening 4thMayTable Tennis 14th MayThe Balloon Debate 20th MayGirls Swimming Gala 4th JuneBoys Swimming Gala 11thJuneWe certainly hit the ground running at the school last week. Saturday saw the firstRepton scholarship tests. There was a good turn-out of candidates, both from otherschools and Year 6 in the Junior School. The highlight for me was the interviews and Iwas impressed with the maturity, articulacy and knowledge of all those candidates Iinterviewed along with Mr Creber. The first scholarships should be awarded in the nextfortnight, but I can tell you now that it is not going to be an easy decision.Several of you have asked me about scholarships for existing students. Academicscholarships are currently available at the so-called watershed years, or going intoYears 7 and 12. However, for students in the other year groups we intend looking atthe end-of-term examinations and inviting any obvious candidates to apply for ascholarship in September 2009. There will be no financial award attached. For theSports and Music scholarships, the P.E./Games and Music departments will assessthe students and make recommendations to Mr Silk and myself within their respectiverealms of activities.Mr Firth has asked me to remind parents of students undertaking individualinstrumental tuition to arrange payment of the fee with the Accounts department atthe school, and not to send in payments with their children, as these can and do getlost. The Accounts office is on the ground floor of Block D, the main administrationbuilding.Finally, I would like to thank Mr Logan Murray, who has been visiting the school thisweek, and has regaled many classes with his views on a wide variety of topics, inaddition to displaying his unique brand of humour. Though the last word shouldprobably go to his erstwhile sidekick for the week, Mr Jacobi, who introduced Logan tothe Dubai press on Tuesday as the “Headmaster of Repton” and myself as the“famous comedian.” It was worth it just to see the bemused look on the faces of theassembled journalists!David CookInside this issue:School news 2-5Photos of the music concert 6-7Fixtures and the Fun page 8-9House news 10-11Repton Voices 12Interview with Logan Murray 14The Art Exhibition! 16We congratulate Elie Nasr who will be taking part in the prestigious Emirates EnvironmentalGroup Public Speaking Competition on April 27 th . The topic for Elie is: ‘Is this the Peak Oil Era?’Elie has been preparing assiduously and will be an excellent representative of Repton at this veryimportant event to be held at Knowledge Village. We wish him well.Chris CrowleyBoarding Tasters; May I just remind parents that there is still the opportunity this term to takeadvantage of the Taster Week for Boarding for just 500 dirhams. If any parent is interested,please do get in touch. My e-mail address is nigel.kew@reptondubai.org if anyone wishes tomake a ‘booking’ or would just like more information.Nigel Kew, Head of Boarding1

With the baton passing hands from one editor to two new ones I await the first Senior Reptonian of the term with eageranticipation. It always makes an excellent read and I would be very surprised if there are many schools in the world whichproduce a better weekly publication. Importantly, it is the students who produce the vast majority of the Reptonian andthe Journalism Society is flourishing as ever.The term has got off to an excellent start and already the students have, in the main, got down to some hard work; ourfirst cohort of Year 11s simply has no choice but to do so. I have told them that I do not expect them to especially enjoythe next seven weeks but, if they should strain every nerve and sinew to do well, then the satisfaction and enjoyment willbe retrospective. Of course all year groups have examinations this term and students should be working towards ourexamination week in the second week of June. At the very least each individual should be taking personal pride in howthey do in the exams and, on a grander scale, the exams will both help determine which sets students will be placed innext year and dictate who we will appoint as honorary Repton scholars.This week we have been honoured by the presence of the comedian Logan Murray, who has been doing great work in theEnglish Department. We already had our first Inter-House event with the boys’ basketball being played last Thursdayafternoon. This week we not only have the Girls’ Inter-House Basketball, but we also welcome one of Dubai’s premier artgalleries- the Jam Jar- on a visit to the school, where they will be doing workshops with selected artists of talent.Importantly, having got through two inspections in quick succession and having kept going frantically just to stand still insetting up this grand project, we now seem to find ourselves on an even keel. As I said to Year 9 parents on the OptionsAfternoon last week, however, we will not rest on our laurels. We have great ambitions for this school and will continue toimprove and move with the times.Can I draw your attention to a letter that Mr Muntzer, the Director of Studies, is sending out this week? This is about theGrand Tour. A long-intended project of Mr Muntzer, this affords the students some outstanding opportunities to broadentheir horizons and develop as internationally-minded young people. In addition, I take this opportunity to alert all Year 7parents to the Year 7 parents meeting on 4 th May. This and other key events are in the calendar, which I hope you havereceived. All students were given two calendars by their housemaster/housemistress at the beginning of term- one tokeep for themselves, and one for their parents. I know that some boys and girls chose to leave both in their locker, so ifyou have not received one yet, you know who to speak to! Unfortunately, we cannot calendar all the sporting fixtures,because although Mr Pederick would be easily organized enough to do so, I am afraid the culture of fixtures arranged sixmonths in advance, has not yet been generated in Dubai as of yet! Also be aware that fixtures do get cancelled orpostponed; very rarely does this come from our end!It leaves me to wish all the pupils a highly productive term and for the parents to continue to enjoy their association withthe school. Continue to strive to learn, to seek knowledge about this remarkable, if somewhat flawed planet we live inand, most of all, ‘do your best’.Robin SilkHead of Senior School2

Singapore and Malaysia Fieldtrip 21 st -30 th March 2009The Geography Department, recently led Repton Senior School’s first overseasacademic trip. Myself, Miss Grieve and Mr Ogilvie, took 22 Year 10 and 11 studentson a fieldtrip to gain valuable field techniques in preparation for the IGCSEexams.We arrived early on the Sunday morning at Singapore’s Changi Airport, where wewere met by one of our accompanying marine biologists from Ecofieldtrips. TheSingaporean company would be overseeing all practical arrangements there andin Malaysia. We spent Sunday morning on a bus sightseeing tour with a guide,before having lunch at an indoor hawker centre, sampling some traditional food.Having checked into our YMCA rooms, the students had some free time to exploreOrchard Road’s sights and sounds, before together heading to Little Indiafor our evening meal.Monday at 6.30am we departed by coach with our luggage and crossed over intoMalaysia, to begin our four hour drive up the eastern Malaysian peninsular to theferry port at Mersing. By late morning we were aboard our ferry and heading toPulau Tioman, a small tropical volcanic island, where we would be based for thenext five days and nights.Arriving at lunch time at the small jetty at Genting, we met our second accompanyingbiologist from EFT, our bags were collected and we began the short walkalong the palm fringed beach to our base at the eco-resort at Melina Beach. Aftersettling into our rooms, we prepared for our first snorkeling trip on the housereef, in glorious warm, clear waters, abundant with life. After dinner we enjoyed apresentation on reef animals, before retiring to our beds. The next day, we sailedon small boats to a neighbouring island, Pulai Tulai, to snorkel in the coastalmangroves and an extended snorkel on the reefs of the Tioman Marine Park,examining the different species of corals and fish present. After dinner we had apresentation on the life in the rainforest and introduction to mangroves.Wednesday was a big day, with a trek up into the secondary and primary rainforestsof the island. Throughout the day we were introduced to a wide variety offlora and fauna by our highly experienced biologists and also undertook riversurveys at different sites along a river flowing through the forest. The students,working in groups, made various measurements of the river, logging the data forfuture analysis back at the base and at school. After a long, but highly interestingday, we finished with a discussion and presentation about marine conservation.The morning of day five was given over to group preparation and presentationof data collected during the freshwater river surveys and a talk aboutthe local turtle conservation project underway on the island. After lunch,we split into groups to undertake surveys of the beach, doing beach profilesand examining the flora and fauna, before returning to class andpresenting our findings.Day six, Friday, and we again took to our small boats and headed to thesouth of the island. We trekked through the forest to a famous waterfall atMukut, where we were able to swim and relax before having lunch. At thewaterfall, the students were given the task of finding a quiet spot to sitand write a letter to themselves. They were to reflect on the weeks experiencesand examine their feelings to what they had seen and done overthe previous week. The letter was for their eyes only, sealed in an envelopeand will be delivered back to them in a couple of weeks by me. Ourlast evening on Tioman was spent taking a night walk in the forest, quietlylistening and observing the creatures of the night, before heading back tothe beach for a bonfire and marshmallow roasting session, under the verybright and clear stars.Saturday morning and our departure from Tioman, back to the mainland and a coach journey back to Singapore. Checking back into the YMCA and afree evening to explore the city. Our final day was spent visiting Vivocity Mall and Orchard Road, where the students were tasked with carrying out questionnaires,collecting information from visiting tourists and doing environmental quality surveys at the two sites. At the end of the day, we checked out ofthe YMCA and returned to Changi Airport for our night time flight back to Dubai.The trip introduced the students to different extremes of environment, from the bustling, gleaming, efficient, vibrant, electric Singapore, to the depths ofthe tropical rainforests and clear warm waters, rich with colourful corals and fish. Students soaked up an enormous array of experiences, sights andsounds. Friends were made, team-building and problem solving achieved, and above all memories were forged that will remain with them for, hopefully,a lifetime.Mr HutchingsHead of Geography3

Before the spring break, French and Spanish students from Years 7, 8 & 9 were set atask to complete a cultural study on either a Francophone (French speaking) or Hispanic(Spanish speaking) country. The task was set as a competition and the work has beendisplayed on the C1 stairwell at the far end. Everyone in the MFL department was reallypleased with the high standard of the work produced and it was really tough to pick out 2winners. Herr Kew was given the difficult task and eventually picked out JamesMcKinlay’s piece on Algeria and Eva Stanistreet’s piece on El Salvador as the 2lucky winners Each winner will receive a merit and a bag of Cadbury’s minieggs and there will also be merits and certificates awarded to runners up. WellDone to everyone who completed the task and congratulations once again toJames McKinlay 7F and Eva Stanistreet 7S.Miss Minter“The new ICT and DT Labs are up and running!”D.T. Workshops vs. I.T. LabsRecently Repton Dubai opened it’s very own DT workshops and IT labs, containing high-tech equipment. The workshopscontain lots of equipment, designed for different uses. The workshops themselves also have space for two boards, workbenches and many desks. When first seeing the DT workshops, all ofus were amazed. They have laser cutters and electric saws plusmany more. Using the wonderful equipment and materials in theworkshop, we are making our very own Mp 3/Mobile holders.The IT labs aren’t far behind! With loads of computers, packedwith a variety of software, like Coral Draw X3, Scratch andGoogle Sketch Up! Recently students have been given theirown personal USB drive wristband.With all the equipment here we are certain thatRepton is the best school in the U.A.E.4Ankita Podichetty (7F) and Kavita Patel (8B)

Science in the News:“We will restore Science to its rightful place…”Having watched Barack Obama’s inaugural speech on YouTube last January, I was very excited to hear one of the promises the newly electedpresident made: “We will restore Science to its rightful place…”. Better still, he has since appointed Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist,as energy secretary, placed Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist, in charge of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association, andchosen John Holdren, a Harvard physicist, as head of the Office of Science and Technology. He is trusting scientists, rather than politicians, tofulfil these important roles.President Obama will now make far more funds available for scientists in the U.S., and will actively promote scientific research in a number offields. Such enthusiasm towards technological advances brings memories of John F. Kennedy’s ambitions to reach the Moon, fulfilled in 1969,less than a decade after the Apollo programme began.Not everyone agrees, however, that billions of dollars should be invested in space travel, when there are many people starving here on Earth.Others argue that the benefits of pure scientific research can never be predicted until years later, when new applications of scientific results aredeveloped. Some feel that humanity has a right to explore, and venturing into space today is equivalent to sailing across the Atlantic Ocean centuriesago. What do you think?What cannot be denied, though, is that science and technology affect the way we live, and the 20 th Century is great testament to this. Scientificdevelopments often appear in the media, and it is important to keep up with what is going on – whether stories describe controversial applicationsof current technology, or the development of innovative techniques or new discoveries.Year 9 Extension Science students have recently been doing just that – researching an aspect of “Science in the News” that has caught theirattention, and using PowerPoint presentations to share their findings with their peers. They have also been writing articles on their particulartopic especially for the Senior Reptonian this term. The first is on stem cell research, one of the fields of scientific investigation that BarackObama has recently made possible in the U.S….Mr. Pereira.Science in the news: Stem CellsLast term in extension science we started off by thinking about any topic related to sciencefound in the news. And then using the knowledge we have to start making a high quality,PowerPoint presentation about the chosen topic in my case it was the study of Stem Cells.I chose this topic as it sounded very interesting to me. The information that I was starting to getfrom this certain topic just stunned me …I mean the idea of stem cells being able to develop into many different cells in the body wascool. By that, I mean that they could turn into nerves, muscles, blood, bone and even skin;acting as a sort of repair system in the body. And I also learnt that stem cells cantheoretically keep dividing without limit.Hopefully stem cells technology will be able to cure diseases and improve medicaltreatments. Speaking of stem cells being able to cure diseases they might cure: Parkinson'sdisease, spinal cord injury (paralysis), Neuroblastoma (cancer of various nerve tissues oftenoccurring in children), childhood and adult Leukaemia, bone marrow failure, type 1 diabetes,burns, heart muscle loss following heart attack, liver disease including hepatitis, sportsinjuries and finally, bone injuries.More things I have learnt about stem cells…I found out using my own research that there are two types of stem cells. The first type of stemcell is the unlimited stem cells- these can develop into any kind of cell type or tissue in thebody. The second or other type of stem cell is the limited stem cells - these are rare cellsthat can be found in only some developed organs or tissues. Limited stem cells have beensuccessfully used for some time now in bone marrow transplants (either with bone marrowstem cells or umbilical cord blood stem cells), and skin and hair transplants. An example of astem cell type is a Pluripotent cell - these are cells that can form any (over 200) cell types.Stem cells should hopefully promise to help drug testing, and could therefore significantlylessen the need for drug testing in animals and humans. Although stem cells sound great tostart developing, there is one problem. The problem is that some countries are keen for it tostart but others aren’t. The countries that are keen to start the usage of stem cells areBelgium, Finland, France, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and, more recently, theUnited States of America. But the countries that are not so keen on this are Austria,Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. This is what I havelearned so far about Stem cells. I hope you learnt a bit about it.Shivani Chaudhry (9D)5

The Music ConcertOn Tuesday 31st March the Senior School Music Concert took place. After months of rehearsals the whole team wereready for a night of entertainment. At six thirty everyone showed up ready for a performance, it was a full house!Firstly the school choir sang The Rhythm of Life, which was a lively opening which I think everyone enjoyed. It was extremelynerve racking going on stage first but also exciting. Throughout the evening our parents saw a wide variety of differentmusical talents and also some different entertainment. Tolu Sawyer (7B) or should we say Michael Jackson gave usa real ‘thriller’ of talent, with his dancing. Lots of groups sang or played individual instruments which were lovely to see,as they put these together by themselves.Part way through the Chamber Choir sang You Raise Me Up, which was lovely to listen to, and be a part of. It was a wellrehearsed piece and came together beautifully. Later on in the show the Chamber Choir gave the audience a small tasteof Abba! This included, Mamma Mia and Super Trooper. This really got the parents singing along.The Jazz Band also played a key part that evening, with their solo pieces and also accompanying the School Choir toMemory and Can You feel the Love Tonight. Mr Becko and the Jazz Band worked very hard on their pieces all term andgave a smashing performance, so thank you!At the end of a tiring but exciting evening Mr Cook gave a touching speech about how a year ago none of this would havebeen possible. In fact most of us wouldn’t have even heard of Repton. But we did and that’s what made it even more specialfor all the students and teachers. Well done to everyone who took part in concert, much was achieved and enjoyed!Abigail Leone (7L)6

Week Date Team Opposition Type Venue / Result12Sun 19thAprWeds 22ndAprWeds 22ndAprThurs 23rdAprSat 25thAprSat 25thAprU14 Rounders JC, JESS LeagueU12 Rounders JC, EIS Jumeirah LeagueU13 Rounders CIS, JC LeagueU13 Tape BallCricketU15 Tape BallCricketInter House Basketball BoysECECLeagueLeagueJESS3.30pmJESS3.30pmJESS3.30pmHome8.00amHome10.00amLost 5-7, Won9-53Sun 26thAprTues 28thAprThurs 30thAprU13 RoundersU15 Tape BallCricketTournamentEIS JumeirahInter House Basketball GirlsLatifa4.00pmHome4.00pmThe 5 th Dubai International Peace Music FestivalEvery year, the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra (EYSO) holds the Dubai International Peace Music Festival for YoungVirtuosos. The objective of these festivals is not only to enrich the musical culture of Dubai, but to raise awareness ofworld events and to bring together different cultures through music. This year, the 5 th Dubai International Peace MusicFestival, is the second festival in which I performed. The money raised from the festival was donated to the Children inNeed appeal, to help children in Gaza. The orchestra is under the honorary patronage of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein,wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, ruler of Dubai.During the half term, there was a week of very prestigious concerts across the U.A.E. The highly respected orchestra ofthe Premier Music College in Prague flew to Dubai for this event which comprised joint performances of the EYSO and thePrague orchestra. As members of the EYSO, Lucia Cafoor-Camps (Year 4 Brook), Reem Kar (8F) and I took part in thesuccession of concerts playing in the various violin sections of the orchestra. We were well prepared due to the intenseorchestra rehearsals beforehand, and it was a new and exciting experience to be playing alongside the serious, youngmusicians from the Czech Republic.The opening ceremony and initial concerts were hosted in a wonderful new auditorium where we played a very excitingprogramme of orchestral works. It was wonderful to see that we had a full house, with many VIP’s, and the concert washeightened by a visiting opera singer from the Jordanian Academy who sung Zahrat Al-Madaen by Fayruz a modern Arabicsong.After the success of the first few concerts we anticipated the performance in the American University of Sharjah, whichhad a beautiful, large auditorium (hopefully Repton’s auditorium will compare favourably upon completion!). Theacoustics complemented the floating melody of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor and many other major workswhich we performed.The closing ceremony was spectacular as we played at the Monarch Hotel in the Al Massa Ballroom, which was a splendidroom with large chandeliers and with fantastic decorative features. As well as performing a large repertoire, I played mysolo with the orchestra, which was Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A minor. I had been waiting for an opportunity like this toarise for a long time and found that the experience was extremely exciting, as with the power of the orchestra behind medoubled by my solo part, it sounded sensational. I received many congratulations and I had a huge round of applause atthe end after I was presented with a bouquet of flowers.I really enjoyed the festival as I not only had a chance to meet new musicians but was also able to fulfil some of mymusical aspirations.Sophia Cafoor-Camps (10B)8

If you think you can guess wherein Repton this photo was takene-mail:charlotte.phillips@reptondubai.orgWhat do youcall a camel withno humps?HumphreyQuote of the week: (Entries to Miss Phillips orMiss Wilson)Can you guess.. who went for a dip in the Hattapools with their passport in their pocket?Change of CareerTwo people from the AA join the BBC.Given that each of A, B and C stand consistentlyfor the same digit, can you solve forA, B and C.Cats, Kittens and Legs?!Answers tomatthew.wilson@reptondubai.orgThere are 7 girls on a bus. Every girl has 7 bags each.In each bag there are 7 cats and each cat has 7 kittens.AAIn total how many legs are there on the bus?Solution7 girls with 7 bags = 49 bags+ A A49 x 7 = 343 cats343 x 7 = 2401 kittens343 cats x 4 = 1372 legs2401 kittens x 4 = 9604 legsB B C7 girls x 2 = 14 legs9

Dear Latham House Parents,Is it really the start of the last term in this current academic year? The end of year exams will be upon us before we knowit, not forgetting the IGCSE's that will be starting very soon for our year 11's. I wish everyone all the best, particularly theLatham Year 11's: Nabla, Jonathan, Mickdad and Jessica. If nothing else it shows that time seems to pass very quickly,even if this is not apparent for most students! It will not be long before our present Year 10's will be in the same situationwhich highlights the need for them to keep on top of their work now. Congratulations to Amenah, Marcus and Ismail whogained the highest number of Merits for their year group in Latham House. Keep it going!Hopefully, you will all have received the new summer calendar. This has in it, amongst many other things, the up andcoming Inter-House events. Although they are all scheduled to start at 2.30, they are subject to change so please keep aneye on the Reptonian for any updates. All of them promise to demonstrate great competition between our students, hopefullywith some overall wins from our Latham teams. If you can, please come and show your support.Boys Basketball, April 23rdGirls Basketball, April 30thTable Tennis, May 14thBalloon Debate, May 20thGirls Swimming Gala, 4th JuneBoys Swimming Gala, 11th JuneYr7/9 Boys and Girls football (Monday) 29th JuneYr10/11 Boys and Girls Football 30th JuneI would also like to bring your attention to the Latham Coffee get-together. All parents are welcome to come and join in fora relaxed chat. This has been set at a different time from the previous one to give any parent who cannot make the morningsessions a chance to come along. It is scheduled for 3.30 on Wednesday 29th April. If there are any specific questionsthat you feel may affect other Latham pupils then the best way to get these addressed is to email our parent repsand they can collate these beforehand.Just to remind you, the Latham Parent Reps are: Lorraine Mann - lorainemann24@googlemail.com,Sahar Roeske - bekhieta@emirates.net.ae, Fatma Shah - afhasan@eim.aeOne last item which is just a gentle reminder. Please could you check thoroughly through, then sign prep-planners atleast once a week, preferably on Wednesday. This is a very quick and easy way to see how and what your child is doing intheir lessons. It is also a very useful way for staff and parents to communicate any small potential problems which, bydoing so, can hopefully be quickly sorted. As always, please keep me in the loop with any communications to do with yourchild and their school life. I do hope to see many of you at the coffee afternoon.Gary ParmleyHousemaster of Latham10

Inter House Balloon DebateComing soonMay 20 thIImagine if you will a hot air balloon full of distinguished people crashing to earth...and the only way to save most ofthe people is to jettison some of dead weight thereby saving the majority. This scenario is the setting for our first everInter House Balloon Debate born out of the spirit of Oxford and Cambridge University debating chambers into thesparkling new environment of Repton, Dubai.Mark this date in your diary. Parents most welcome; dress in a way that supports your house and add to the atmosphereof what promises to be a great day of serious and humorous debate.C.J.CrowleyFOREMARKE NEWSFirst, I wish to thank all the Foremarke parents who attended the musical evening in the final week of last term, in which our studentssang the song which had won the competition earlier in the year. I also wish to thank Mrs Becko and Mr Crowley for their key parts inre-visiting the song and running rehearsals again. It is not always a good idea to repeat a previous success but on the night it went verywell and received a huge and lasting round of applause. Was this, I wonder, partly down to the audience consisting of 75% Foremarkeparents? It’s possible.The third term is only just over eleven weeks long but it is packed with a wide range of house activities, including basketball for boys onThursday April 23rd and for girls on April 30 th . Later in the term we have inter-house table tennis, a staff and student balloon debate,swimming galas, a quiz and football for both boys and girls. (I’m tired already.) Please see the recently issued calendar booklets fordetails.There are other school events scheduled this term in addition to the inter-house competitions, and we also have some school examinationsessions, with Year 11 students sitting their IGCSE examinations very soon and Years 7-10 students in early June.The next Foremarke coffee morning will be in the afternoon! I realize that first thing in the morning is not convenient for all, thereforewe are going to meet in the Foremarke office on Tuesday May 19 th from about 3.45 until 4.45pm. I look forward to seeing Foremarkeparents then. There is no set agenda, it is mainly an opportunity for parents to get to know each other better.Finally, I wish to thank the parents of Ankita Podichetty, in Year 7, who raised over 300 dirhams and have donated it to the Foremarkecharity funds. Very many thanks.Tim Creber (timothy.creber@reptondubai.org)Senior Master and Housemaster of Foremarke11

Repton students have been very busy over the holidays with sporting, musical and cultural experiencesand a couple of them share their thoughts here…Molly Griffin (7L) was fortunate enough along with a numberof other Reptonians, to take part in ‘Annie’ which wasput on at the Madinat Theatre over the holidays.Well done to everyone that performed in ‘Annie’, the recentproduction at the Madinat Theatre. It was an amazingatmosphere and had some fabulous audiences. All of thelocal reviews I have read have been positive! I am going toreally miss all the friends I made and the enjoyment of beingon the stage. I thought that the best part of the showwas when Annie arrived in Warbucks house. My part wasto be an orphan, and I was to wear dirty, scruffy, rippedcloths! Trust me, I’m glad I’m not an orphan!! My favouritecharter was Miss Hanigian, played by Amanda Minihanwho acted a mean, horrible, selfish and unkind womenthat loves her self to much to care about the poor orphans,and makes them scrub the floors till the shine like the top of the Chrysler Building. Anotherhuge well done to everyone who took part, you were amazing!Molly Griffin (7L)Becky Cook (7D) tells us about her exciting day at the Red Bull Air Race which tookplace in Abu Dhabi last weekend.The Red Bull Air Race is a spectacular stunt-flyingcompetition, where fearless pilots raced at speeds ofup to 400 kph through low-level inflatable ‘air gates’.The event was held between the 17 th and 18th Apriland the show was just as good as everybody said itwould be. It attracted the best aerobatic pilots in theworld and the competition was fierce.There were a few changes from previous competitions,such as having ten instead of eight races and fourteenrather than eleven pilots. There was also a new eliminationformat, introduced to make the races evenmore exciting for the spectators. Anyone who went willknow how thrilling, amazing and LOUD the show wasand, when the Air Race next comes to the UAE, I canhighly recommend it.Becky Cook (7D)12

Send us your best photos! E-mail them toKathryn.wilson@reptondubai.orgWe need your photographs!In the mean time here are somephotos from the Hatta trip as a littletaster of what’s to come in Issue # 2.The person doing the back flip was atrained professional(don’t try this at home!).Well here it is… the first issue of the Senior Reptonian from the new editorial team. We hope you have enjoyed it. As we aresure that you will agree, we have had some pretty large boots to fill in taking up the helm from Mr MacPherson. We would bothlike to take this opportunity to thank him for all that he has done in setting up this very high standard publication which hopefullykeeps you all informed. We have both endured a number of sleepless nights over the recent holidays due to the high expectationof this publication. In fact, this edition was partly edited while both editors were camping with the D of E Expeditionin the Hatta Mountains...If you have any questions or queries about this publication please feel free to get in touch with the editors:Miss Wilson—Kathryn.wilson@reptondubai.orgMiss Phillips—charlotte.phillips@reptondubai.orgCCP and KWThanks goes to our fantastic team of students who helped to put this issue together:Photo-Journalism: Alice Collins, Kieran Connoly, Miraal Moazzam, Abigail Simmonds, Matteo Ferrarese, Nirav Chande, Sandra Rico,Juaymah Villanueva and Afzal Roked.Journalism Society: Molly Griffin, Abigail Leone, Seema Malas, Becky Cook, Ankita Podichetty, Eva Stanistreet, Aysha Allana, Noora alKamali, Bilal Aziz, Samir Roked, Amy Edwards, Thanya Muntzer, Kavita Patel, Nirav Chande and Maryam Allana.13

This week we were surprised by a visit from Logan Murray, a great comedian! He hasworked with many famous actors and very kindly offered to teach Repton students. Notonly that but he has agreed to be our interviewee for this week’s Senior Reptonian.What has made you become so interested in comedy? The idea of not having a proper job appealedto me: not getting up early in the morning; travelling all over the place and getting paid for having alaugh with a bunch of strangers. More realistically, there is something very liberating about playingwith ideas (as a performer and an audience member)...which is also very addictive.What’s your favourite funny face? Unfortunately, there is nothing inherently funny about my face.Just scary and very, very old…Were you a joker in class when you were at school? Strangely, no. I took myself far too seriously atschool. All politics and animal rights. But I got to Uni and decided to let myself off the hook.Have you ever made a fool of yourself on stage? Constantly. It’s what I am paid to do. But if youmean—have I had a terrible time on stage—then YES! Loads! Everyone dies on stage once in a while,usually because they’re not listening enough to their audience—strangely, the more ‘foolish’ I am asa comic—the less likely I am to have a bad time…Rumour has it that you look like Mr. Fantom, one of our music teachers here at Repton School. Whatis your opinion on this? I like to think that Mr.Fantom looks like ME. But I’m prettier…Do you always say ‘yes and…’ to everything? Yes. It gets me into no end of trouble…Would you recommend comedy to students at Repton School? Yes I would! Not just as a career butas a way of life. We all like funny people, and you all have proved you can make people laugh.14

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Repton School Dubai presents an exhibition of sculptures, drawings and paintings by Subodh Kerkar.You are invited to the opening of Anchored Oceanin the presence of the artist on Sunday 3 May from 6.30pm onwards.Please RSVP to Alice Capati on 04 4269329Galleria, Third Floor, D-BlockRepton School Dubai, Nad Al Sheba, DubaiThe exhibition will be open for public viewing from Sunday—Thursday from 8am-6pmwww.reptondubai.org / +9714 426 9393 / info@reptondubai.orgIn association with the jam jarPhotographs by Subodh Kerkar will be exhibited at thejamjar from 30 April-6 June 2009‘Join us for an evening of art, good food andgreat company!’To come in next week’s issue: a review of the Inter-house Basketball Competition, and the Duke of Edinburgh trip to Hatta…16