Two U6 boys, Tom Magennis and Ethan Clark, have just completed the presentation stage of their respective EPQs on the Japanese shoguns and The UK Labour Market.
Both delivered hugely impressive talks and now the presentation mark and written report will be forwarded to AQA, the awarding body.
The EPQ is worth half an A level and Tom is fortunate in that his offer for Newcastle University includes successful completion of the project.
The U10 football team went to St Bede’s to take part in the annual AJIS U10 tournament. We started with a 1-1 draw against Cheadle Hulme with a goal from Flanagan. In the second game we lost to Kings Macclesfield but created good chances throughout the game.
We then progressed to the plate semi final against Bolton and with a few tactical tweaks Wareing won us the game with two goals. We started to play some good stuff and looks solid in defence and lively up front.
We then played Oldham Hulme in the plate final and took an early lead through Flanagan. Despite some late pressure from the other team we snatched a second goal through a delighted Kennedy.
Thank you to the boys for their attitude and effort throughout the morning. A team effort from everybody. Thank you also to the parents for their support.
Team: Whawell, Whitehurst, McGowan, Wareing, Fell, Flanagan, Kennedy and Cousins.
Old Crosbeian, Glyn Humphreys, distinguished neuropsychologist and Head of the Department of Psychology at Oxford University died suddenly in January this year, just weeks after celebrating his 61st birthday. A world expert in visual cognition, Glyn’s life’s work has had a major impact not only on our understanding of perception and cognition but also on the rehabilitation of stroke patients. He received many accolades for his ground-breaking research, including the Spearman medal in 1986 and a lifetime achievement award last year from the British Psychology Society as well as election to the fellowship of the British Academy in 2009.
I first met Glyn in 1966 when we both became pupils at Merchant Taylors’. My name came immediately after his in the alphabetical class list and the school being very traditional in those days, this meant that we sat next to each other pretty much every day for the next seven years. Although this seating arrangement was initially enforced, we soon became friends – and not only did we share most of our lessons and take the same bus (the Ribble number 381) home each afternoon, we also played in the school rugby team together.
Glyn was an early developer and had probably already reached 6ft by the time we entered the 4th form. Not surprisingly, he played prop forward but he was also fleet of foot and I always found myself finishing in his wake when we ran the 400 meters (or more accurately, the 440 yards) together for the school athletics team. Despite his athletic prowess and impressive frame, Glyn’s compassionate personality shone through and was respected by all of us: he often acted as peacemaker between his more bellicose class mates – even the toughest of them would back down when Glyn stepped in!
In our later teenage years, we became aspiring rock stars for a while and played in “progressive rock” concerts at local church halls in Waterloo. But then we became more studious and focused on our Maths, Physics and Chemistry A level courses. At the beginning of our final year I well remember discussing University course choices in class. I told Glyn of my plans to read Maths and Psychology and he said that sounded interesting and asked me to tell him more. As it turned out, it was Glyn who went on to study Psychology, at Bristol University, whilst I eventually read Genetics at Cambridge.
Having lost touch on leaving school it was a great pleasure to renew our acquaintance only a couple of years ago through a mutual colleague. Last summer Glyn joined my wife and me for dinner at our home in Singapore and we spent a happy evening reminiscing about our teenage years with another old Crosbeian, John Hallam, who by chance was also visiting.
Over dinner, Glyn and I discussed plans for a Symposium focusing on the genetics of mental illness: this went ahead in February at the Institute of Mental Health here in Singapore, sadly without Glyn; but its success was a testimony to Glyn’s influence at Oxford, with several of his colleagues speaking at what was a very successful and stimulating meeting.
Glyn was a warm and generous man, someone whose kindness and friendship had stayed fresh in my memory for the best part of half a century. He will be greatly missed but he has made all of our lives the better for knowing him.
Philip Ingham FRS, Toh Kian Chui Distinguished Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Congratulations to Year 11 rower Chelsi Hanlon who won the North West Trials last weekend. She has subsequently been selected to represent the North West as a WJ16 x1.
Last weekend cadets from units from across the Crosby area competed in a military skills competition to win the Crosby Combined Cup hosted by MTSCCF. Eight teams including MTS combined, MTS Army, MTS RAF, St Marys CCF, 128 sqn Air training corps, Sea cadets (Litherland), 1st Irish Guards cadet platoon Crosby and Crosby mixed all units, entered the competition expertly organised and run by RSM Brett.
The aim of the exercise was to introduce cadets to APC influenced Military skills and allowed them to work with others from various Crosby units. Activity stands included indoor range shooting, flight simulator, drill, combat first aid and command tasks alongside other exciting tasks. Competition amongst teams was high, with points being awarded at each stand for various skills demonstrated by the cadets including leadership and teamwork.
Congratulations to winning section MTS RAF who took home the Cup! MTS Army section came in second with third place being awarded to Irish Guards. Well done to all cadets on taking part and thanks to all staff involved in the running and organisation of this fantastic event that was tremendously enjoyed by all!
On Thursday it was Viking Day for Year 3. We all went downstairs to the Year 4 classrooms and met a Viking called Wayland. Firstly, he said hello by saying ‘goodar’ which is Viking for hello.
Next we got Viking costumes and dressed up. After that he told us a lot of information. Like the Vikings put dragon heads on their ships to scare off the sea monsters. But they had to take them off when they got near an island because the people there would know that the Vikings had come. Then Wayland showed us some artefacts. He showed us chainmail which protected their body. Wayland also showed us an animal skin. He told us that the Vikings didn’t wear much animal skin because if it got wet it would be really heavy.
After lunch we went back downstairs and Wayland told us some instructions. I had to pick an object and draw it. For our second activity we got a spear and shield and had to charge at Wayland. Our third activity was making an oil lamp out of clay. My fourth activity was to make a board game. I played the game with Evie. Last, we had to take our tunics off and we asked Wayland questions. I loved that day! My favourite part was when we had to charge at Wayland.
By Coco M
On Viking Day we met a half Viking half Saxon called Wayland. First he said ‘goodar’, that means hello. Next, we got dressed up in tunics, head dresses and ropes to put round ourselves.
After that, Wayland showed us all of his artefacts which was interesting. Some of the artefacts were a sword used for fighting and a box for sitting on for the ships that they made. They made ships with wood overlapping each other so the water couldn’t get through. The Viking showed us how he could make fire with his hands. He used a piece of metal and a piece of flax and rubbed them together to make a spark. It was so cool.
In the afternoon I made an oil burner with clay. I got my hands very dirty. Secondly, I made a board game with chalk, cloth and clay. It was very fun. After that I drew pictures of the artefacts Wayland had brought with him. The last activity was charging with spears and shields.
At the end of the day we took our tunics off. We had time for questions. I loved today. It was so much fun.
By Pippa C
The Merseyside Young Analyst competition was held at Liverpool University on Saturday 5th March.
Teams of 3 Year 12 students from schools and colleges in the Merseyside area competed.
The girls who represented MTGS were Grace Wilson, Hannah Roughly and Midi McNulty
The girls carried out a number of different analytical techniques including titration and infra-red to analyse the content of soft drinks
Unfortunately we narrowly missed out on the top prize however the girls were fantastic and had a great day.
This weekend Liverpool became the host city to 11 schools from across the UK. Over 300 pupils joined together for a magnificent public concert at the Philharmonic Hall. The schools, which represent 9,000 pupils, are all associated to the Merchant Taylors’ Company in London and many of them were founded hundreds of years ago by this great Livery Company’s members, including Merchant Taylors’ Schools in Crosby where the original Boys’ School was founded by John Harrison in 1620.
The concert was a result of many months of meticulous planning and organisation. During the first half each school performed their own piece uniting together in the second half to perform Puccini’s Messa Di Gloria which was ably conducted by David Holroyd, the Director of Music at Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, Crosby. Rehearsals for Messa Di Gloria had only begun the day before, when most of the schools arrived at Merchant Taylors’ Senior Boys’ & Girls’ Schools in Crosby on Friday morning, but the end result was spectacular and demonstrated a wealth of outstanding musical talent.
Mr David Cook, Headmaster at Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, Crosby, said “we are extremely proud to have hosted, and participated in, this major event. I would like to thank the Company for choosing Liverpool as its venue. For many of the pupils involved this was their first visit to the City and I know from their reactions it has been a very positive one. It has been an enriching experience and immense achievement for everyone involved – one that I am sure they won’t forget. ”
Mental Health Volunteering in Sri Lanka
Last summer I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to go to Sri Lanka for a five week mental health placement with a company called Sri Lanka Volunteers (SLV). Whist in Sri Lanka I worked in a variety of different places ranging from mental health institutions to a drama and dance therapy group for people with special needs. We were also given the opportunity to teach English as a foreign language in schools. We attended various workshops; one on the trauma that Sri Lanka has experienced with events such as the civil war that only ended in 2009 and the tsunami in 2004, one on children’s homes in Sri Lanka and another on working with people with special needs.
Katy in traditional Sri Lankan dress
As a psychology student I found that all the experiences I had in Sri Lanka helped me understand what I had learnt in lectures in a much more practical way. Seeing the devastation caused by the tsunami and civil war really put what the people of Sri Lanka have been through into perspective for me in a way that I don’t think you can truly understand unless you see it in person. What struck me most was how kind people were and how much they were willing to help you even if it took them out of their way, and I think this shows how collectivist and appreciative Sri Lanka is as a country. This was especially highlighted once a project was finished because no matter where you’d been, whether it was a school or a day centre, everyone was so thankful to you for coming, we were told in our orientation that if you gave one child a high five at the end of a class you would have to give all the children one, and they weren’t wrong! It was lovely to be so appreciated as it made all our efforts seem worth it.
Left: “A hand tree made at a special needs project to illustrate that although everyone is different we are still part of the same wider community and we should treat everyone equally.”
Sri Lanka’s health care system is not as advanced as the UK’s NHS, so it was a great contrast to what we were used to at home, however, if anything this made us want to make more of a difference. We would go to each project with our rucksacks full of all different kind of craft activities, ranging from feathers to paint to glitter; we would make all manner of things that matched with the theme of our session, for instance one day our theme was colour so we made rainbows out of paper plates, feathers and pipe cleaners. I wanted to learn more about the coping techniques used in Sri Lanka; creative therapy was a great outlet for the people at the sessions as even something so simple as colouring in can be therapeutic and for patients with mental health problems this was a great way of allowing them to express themselves in a safe and quiet way.
Left: “This was made at a special needs project where we would
also teach basic English. Here we were teaching them about body parts.”
One day were given the opportunity to shadow one of Sri Lanka’s very few psychiatrists, we went with him to the hospitals and sat in whilst he saw the patients. This was my favourite part of the trip as we saw patients with a wide variety of mental health disorders, and even went on some home visits to see patients that didn’t attend the clinic. The home visits really highlighted to me the commitment of the doctor we were working with as he made the effort to go and make sure that these patients were alright, often travelling far distances for a five minute check up.
With all the work we did on projects during the week it was nice to have weekends off to explore the country and learn more about Sri Lankan culture. We travelled all over and did so much sightseeing, we did everything from whale watching, to climbing Sigiriya Rock which has an ancient fortress built on top of it. We were even lucky enough to be in Sri Lanka for the annual Buddhist festival known as the Esala Perahera which celebrates the Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha, we saw about 100 elephants all dressed up in their finery and although the parade was long, lasting about two hours it was well worth the watch!
The Esala Perahara festival
Katy and friends at the top of Sigariya rock
My time in Sri Lanka was phenomenal and I learnt so much whilst I was out there, not just about mental health but also about different ways of life, I also even learnt a little Sinhala! I would definitely recommend the placement to any psychology student wishing to gain experience in mental health as every day is different and you’re constantly learning new things. Although the placement was tiring, I could not have asked for a better place to do it, Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with a rich culture and amazing food, and I would love to go back and see more of the country!
As part of our World Book Day celebrations a literary quiz was held in the Junior Hall on Friday 4th March. Eight teams took part- each with a boy from Year 3, 4, 5 and 6. There were six rounds of tough questions on books for kids and the boys all enjoyed the competition hugely. After a close contest, Powerful Parker emerged as winners with 33 points. The winning boys, who all received a Dan Smith novel, were:
Thomas C Y6
Joseph C Y5
William C Y4
Joseph W Y3 
