We continue our feature on pupils’ special interests outside of school with an article below from William Bartlett (8N) 

On the Friday prior to half term I was lucky enough to be able to participate in ‘The Courtley Cup’.  The Courtley Cup, funded by Corps Colonel Courtley (a Royal Marine Commando who also organises this event), takes place over three days and involves a variety of activities and competitions for Marine Cadets.  It is held on Whale Island.  We, the junior team—aged thirteen years and under—competed in a variety of competitions, such as basketball and football, trying to accumulate points so as to beat the senior team.

“What is real music?”

There’s so much ‘throw-away’ pop around today that a song just weeks old is classed as ‘old’! Well, I like a lot of music and I don’t care when it’s from. The band ‘Lostprophets’ are an example. Their debut album, ‘The fake sound of progress’, was released in 2000 and their second album, ‘Start Something’, was released in 2004. I listen to that a lot and don’t exactly think of it as “ancient”. Lostprophets are Welsh and have been through a lot. In 2006, they lost their first drummer, then last year drum prodigy Ilan Rubin ditched them, along with their producer. Their latest album, ‘The Betrayed’, is ‘home made’ - i.e. they produced it.