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Get Involved
The next edition of The Westgate Stu-
dio is the Easter issue! We want your
poems and stories, whether real or
imaginary on the theme of New Be-
ginnings.
Send all submissions to either:
ai@westgate.slough.sch.uk
or cd@westgate.slough.sch.uk
The Westgate Studio
Welcome to the third edition of the The Westgate Studio; the first
ever student magazine at The Westgate School! This edition has
been a success because of the hardworking and dedicated Journal-
ism club that I am grateful for.
It hasn’t been easy at all. The first meeting of the
Journalism club was attended by lots of year 8s
with a couple of year 11s. The following week, it
was the same... These students have met week after
week, discussing ideas, writing, proofreading and
editing. It has been a very long process.
The Westgate Studio is a core example for the im-
mensely talented students we have here. There is
a real sense in this issue of some of the things that
you are talking about and have probably seen on
the TV. Our junior reporters like Emanuela and
Niamh have both explored the extremes of war and
how it can affect people. However, to every conflict
there is peace. This will be portrayed in this edition
so you are in for a treat.
The Westgate Studio is not just about a bunch of
lonely people who go to an extra-curricular club
but it is about having the power to make a differ-
ence. That is why we want your articles, opinions,
poetry and creative writing. As one distinguished
writer has said: 'words can light fires in the minds
of man' so we want your voice, your input, your
words.
The Westgate Studio
3. Shadows
I glare at it while it creeps
Shrouding the atmosphere
It stalks my mind while I sleep
Instilling into me a horrendous fear
I can’t wait for the sun to perish the gloom
It hides in the corner its silence shouts night-
mares
The darkness continues to linger and cling to
walls of my room
My heart pulsates to tell me one simple thing
I’m scared
Gripping my chest and legs tightly.
It whispers and whines and never leaves
This monster doesn’t go away it happens nightly
I lay on my bed exhausted and grief.
I cry in the torment and wonder why the shad-
ows are so heartless
My mother opens the door and asks the matter
of my cry
She listens to my unfortunate night and says go
to bed silly its just the darkness
I lay back down relaxed and brave as something
whispers into my ear...Die
Jai Chauhan
Division
Division, why does it separate us?
Race, ethnicity and creed,
Why do all these things matter?
Should I be defined by my dark skin?
Or the country I come from,
Can’t you see what’s beyond that?
It’s tearing apart what’s left of us!
Peace, oh peace will you ever fill the hearts of vic-
tims?
We’re all hostages of division,
We’re a broken people,
Compassion fix our shattered hearts,
Love make us whole again,
Love has journeyed so far away it may never re-
turn!
We’re all bound by hate,
so we can never love even if we tried,
What will have to happen to bind us again?
The tears are flooding the land,
Blood is crying out from the ground,
Learn to love before your wrath consumes all
that’s left of you!The Westgate Studio The Westgate Studio
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4. WW1 recipe - Fruit Cake
Ingreedients
•3 med. sized apples, cubed
•2 cups. raisins
•1 cup. white sugar
•1 cup. brown sugar
•2 cup. water
•2 tbsp. lard
•Boil together 5 minutes. Cool.
•2 tsp. baking soda
•1 tsp. cloves
•1 tsp. cinnamon
•1 tsp. nutmeg
Method
•Soak raisins in warm water until
plumped.
•Sift together dry ingredients with 1 cup
flour. Add to fruit mixture. Stir togeth-
er using a wooden spoon (do not beat).
Add enough additional flour to make a
liquid batter of the same consistency as a
cake mix.
Add nuts, if desired.
•Transfer batter to a greased pan and
smooth over the top with the back of a
spoon or spatula.
•Bake in a preheated 325°F oven un-
til a toothpick inserted in centre of cake
comes out clean (in Civil War times, a
broom straw was often used to test the
cake). When cake is done, it will spring
back in centre when touched lightly with
fingertips.
The Westgate Studio The Westgate Studio
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5. Hope is a bird
With wonderful feathers
Sits on the boughs of the soul
And sings the song of how to remain alive
It sings when the dream breaks
It sings when ships overurn
You are at the bottom and
Far away is the shore
At that time it teaches you
How to rebuild the broken wings of your dream
How to ride from bottom to top
How to swim to reach to the shore
Then you get an energy inform of a wind in the
tune
To be alive strongly better than before
And it will continue to sing till you want to listen.
By anonymous
“Hope Is a Bird” Memories I remember
I remember the time
I went down on my knee
I cried till I could barley see
I was devastated.
Me why did this happen to me
Me out of all the other people that I could see
Me not just me all my family
Me Alessia Francischelli.
The thought running through my head
The things that have been said can’t be true
The feelings thumping through my heart
These things are just pieces of broken art to me.
I remember it like it was just yesterday
There heart and soul won’t just die away
They will always stay with me through thick and thin
I can’t just let them be thrown away
Like they have the meaning of a metal bin,
they are everything.
All I’ve got is memories
From all of my long lost family
I will hold on to my memories forever
They will always be there beside me
Cheering me on through my life
I love you forever and always ,
My long lost family up in heaven x
By Alessia Mia francischelli.The Westgate Studio The Westgate Studio
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6. At 9.37am US time (2.37pm
UK time) A third hijacked
plane, American Airlines
Flight 77, crashed into the
US military headquarters in
Washington DC. By this time
the world was glued to their
TV screens, shocked at what
they were witnessing.
At 9.59am US time (2.59pm
UK time) the south tower col-
lapsed. Many people were
killed and some jumped out
of the window to save them-
selves. Firefighters and emer-
gency workers were killed as
well as the people working in
the building.
On the 11th of Septem-
ber 2001, the world was
shocked as the Twin Tow-
ers of America were de-
stroyed by terrorists. It
was a devastating event
that left the world shocked
and the people of America
were devastated by the
loss. They closed off their
boarders to planes and
tourists and many have
still not recovered.
This event started at
8.38am US time (1.38pm
UK time) when US air
traffic controllers con-
firmed a passenger plane,
American Airlines Flight
11, had been hijacked by
unknown people.
Many Americans didn’t re-
ally register the news. How-
ever when the hijacked plane
crashed into the north tower
of the World Trade Centre
in New York 7 minutes later,
many were shocked and up-
set.
At 9.03am US time (2.03pm
UK time), a second hijacked
plane crashed into the south
tower. The American peo-
ple were in despair and the
president (George W Bush)
made a TV statement to peo-
ple in the US, saying: “We
have had a national tragedy.
Two aeroplanes have crashed
into the World Trade Centre
in an apparent terrorist at-
tack on our country.”
At 10.03am US time
(3.03pm UK time) the
fourth (and last) hijacked
plane, United Airlines
Flight 93, crashed into a
field. At 10.28am US time
(3.28pm UK time) the
north tower collapsed,
causing the deaths of
thousands of people.
9/11 was a tragedy that
shocked the whole world,
not only America. The
country as a whole was
relieved when the per-
son responsible (Osama
Bin Laden) was captured
and killed. That ensured
that America would never
endure a tragedy like the
horrifying…..
The Westgate Studio
The Westgate Studio
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7. Remembrance
They sacrificed their lives for us,
Saved our country from destruction,
Served the Navy too,
So we wear little red poppies,
To show that we remember.
We wear little poppies,
As red as can be,
To show that we remember,
Those who fought for us.
For we are here,
Because of them.
Anonymous
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
By John McCrae, May 1915
Flanders fields
The Westgate Studio The Westgate Studio
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8. Gaza War
On July 30th, innocent lives of
at least fifteen children, were
unethically taken away when
the school in Jabaliya, refugee
camp, was tragically hit by five
shells during a night of relent-
less bombardment across Gaza
by the Israelis. Pierre Krähen-
bühl, commissioner-general
of the UN agency for Palestin-
ian refugees, UNRWA openly
states that ‘the world stands
disgraced’. The world is becom-
ing a place where humans are
losing their humanity and are
heartlessly murdering children
who are peacefully sleeping on
the floor of a classroom which
they are not able to learn in but
are forced to use for unreliable
shelter. What is the purpose
for putting upon this ‘universal
shame’? It is for land; land that
the conflict between Israel and
Gaza selfishly revolves around.
It is morally wrong to think that just
because we are not suffering through
this war as it is not taking place in our
country, we should not get involved
and raise awareness or even tell our
children about it. Apparently, the topic
of this conflict is ‘too dark’ (quoted
from a parent) for these children to be
informed about. However, since they
are moving into year 7 and will be
learning about WW1 and the Holo-
caust in History, are these topics ‘too
dark’ for them too? The majority of
the people who answered ‘No’ believed
that Britain ‘has got enough on its
plate’ and we should ‘not get involved
in other people’s battles’. Well, it is not
like they have senseless manslaughter
happening on every street corner.
On the year 7 induction day, I
volunteered to help out in the
RMS department along with oth-
er fellow years 11s. During the
course of this evening, I assem-
bled a survey consisting of the
question ‘Do you think that we
should get involved with the Is-
rael and Gaza conflict?’ From the
results I collected, I concluded
that the majority of people who
stated ‘I don’t know’ were mostly
year 6s.
Facts about the Conflict:
• After the holocaust, more
Jewish people wanted their
own country. They were given
a large part of Palestine but
the Arabs who already lived
there and in neighbouring
countries felt that was unfair
and didn't accept the new
country.
• A group called Hamas
won elections and took con-
trol of Gaza after the Israelis
left. Much of the world calls
Hamas a terrorist organisa-
tion; it refuses to recognise
Israel as a country and wants
Palestinians to be able to re-
turn to their old home.
• Israeli spokesmen have
explained how the Israelis
have killed more than 1,000
Palestinians in Gaza, most of
them civilians, compared to
the three civilians killed in
Israel by Hamas rocket and
mortar fire.
• The conflict started in the
late 19th century when the
Zionist movement started
with a group of secular Eu-
ropean Jews to establish a
homeland for the Jews in Pal-
estine. Before that Jews lived
in peace with Muslims and
Christians in Palestine for
about 1300 years.
This suggests that the
younger generation of
today’s society are not
getting educated enough
about serious problems
that affect the world that
they live in.
Nevertheless, other adults had perhaps
more understanding views on why they
chose to answer ‘no’; they believed that
if we take a risk by getting involved in
the war through more warfare, this con-
flict may backfire therefore putting our
country at risk which could end in de-
struction and more deaths, for example,
of the British soldiers who would be in-
volved in this armed conflict.
Have you noticed how many of these facts or
other background knowledge on the conflict
is proclaimed on the news on a regular basis?
The media have their manipulative methods
of shading in the parts of these facts that they
do not want the public to be aware of so that
the readers or watchers will be swayed onto
their biased opinions. The media and the
news have the power to do this because of the
large network following they have; the whole
western world is connected by the media.
Ultimately, there are many ways of making
our actions have an impact on helping these
innocent civilians whether it is through fun-
draisers, creating charities, participating in
protests or just simply spreading the word
though blogs or videos. Notwithstanding,
there still are people who want to help but
have no idea where to start. Primarily, I urge
you to educate yourself on these conflicts –
read newspaper articles from Palestine and
Israel and notice the similar or contradicting
points. Subsequently, you will expand your
knowledge on questions which you are con-
fused about now and as a result, you can then
decide to let your actions reflect your beliefs
towards this conflict. For example, if you de-
cide to take action, you could look at the pe-
tition regarding the ‘UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon’. This petition wants people to
call on the UN Secretary General to do all he
can to put ‘permanent ceasefire’ in place and
speak out against the use of explosive weap-
ons in populated areas, working towards a
lasting resolution to the crisis, so that chil-
dren in Gaza and Israel no longer have to suf-
fer the terrors of war.
Individually we may be little, but together we
have the power to make our message heard
to bring peace. Senior Reporter
Aliza AsadThe Westgate Studio
9. I remember, I remember
I remember, I remember La Guiche
In the centre of France, near Blois,
A ruined abbey, an old house, my French family
holidays.
I remember the smell of the lavender
The earthy old wine cellar full of dusty old
bottles
Drunk by men long ago.
I remember the sound of crickets
Singing at night looking for love
And the cockerel’s crow in the morning
Star Writer
Waking me up every day.
I remember the sight of the hot air bal-
loons
Blue, red, yellow, green, orange, purple
Floating above us at teatime.
I remember my holidays at La Guiche
And the long hot summers in France.
By Raphael Comberousse
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