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Fast Fashion

A mountain of discarded clothes in Chile

The dictionary defines fast fashion as “inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.” But why is it bad?

Toxic wastewater is a by-product of producing so many clothes at such a fast rate. This waste contains dangerous substances like lead, mercury and arsenic which are harmful to humans and the wildlife. The sheer volume of water used to make just a single cotton t-shirt is enough to sustain the average person for 1 week.

The fashion industry churns out 80 billion garments a year, which is a 400% increase compared to that of 20 years ago! On average an article of clothing is sometimes only worn 10 times before it is thrown away. These clothes go to landfill or pile up in huge clothing mountains.

Here are 3 things you could do to contribute less to fast fashion:

1. Buy from or donate to local charity shops

You never know what pre-loved gems you can find in a charity shop! Giving old clothes a second life is a great way to reduce your own fashion footprint.

Some of our team wearing their second hand clothes

2. Repurpose your old clothes

Ever torn a piece of clothing beyond repair? Make it into something new! Your favourite t-shirt that now has one too many stains on it could become your new shopping bag. A pair of old jeans could be made into a trendy new hat.

3. Buy from small businesses

Your local small business will not be producing lots of waste with their products and will likely make higher quality clothes that will last longer for you.

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5 Christmas Films which aren’t actually Christmas Films but are Christmas Films

Perhaps, reader, like me you have found yourself, disillusioned with the current array of festive film; the annual monotony of near-identical Christmas movies are grating to say the least. If that is the case, allow me to present 5 Christmas films which break the mould and offer a fresh alternative to the yuletide filmic landscape.

1. Die Hard

With its status as a Christmas film the subject of much debate, it nevertheless seems clear to me that Die Hard should be considered a Christmas film. Not only does it take place entirely during the Christmas period, the plot revolves around a fateful Christmas party, and, even the writer himself, Steven E de Souza, confirmed the film to be a Christmas movie. A taut, claustrophobic thriller, Die Hard is the perfect subversion to the usual trite Christmas clichés.

2. L.A. Confidential

While L.A. Confidential’s plot bears little relation to Christmas in itself (being instead a 90s take on film noir detective thrillers), like Die Hard this is compensated for by the festive setting and copious amount of Christmas lights. Also, like Die Hard, a Christmas party is central to the plot, making this the second addition to the alternative Christmas film list.

3. Gremlins

A critique of consumerism, expressed through unforeseen consequences which ensue when a father presents his son with a seemingly innocent Mogwai as a Christmas gift, Gremlins’ message is far from the norm of Christmas cheer. That being said, amid the carnage and destruction lies a heartfelt tale, surrounded by Christmas imagery. Furthermore, the story occurs at, and revolves around, the Christmas period, cementing Gremlins as a cautionary, yet Christmasy, film.

4. First Blood

Before being reduced to a one-dimensional, one-man killing machine by countless sequels, Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo was introduced to cinema in First Blood, the revenge story of a Vietnam War vet pitted against a small-town sheriff. As well as a commentary on the brutality of war and the post-war alienation faced by soldiers returning from Vietnam, First Blood can also be seen to have a Christmasy setting, as the fictional town of Hope, Washington, upon which Rambo wreaks havoc, is decorated for Christmas, affording the film a deserved place on this list. Perhaps it may be a stretch to designate First Blood a Christmas movie, nonetheless it provides excellent Christmas viewing and is a world away from the tedium of festive film.

5. Edward Scissorhands

While the most famous of Tim Burton’s Christmas films is surely The Nightmare Before Christmas, his earlier hit, Edward Scissorhands, should also rank on the same pedestal of Christmas movies, with the final third of the film commencing over the Christmas period. In addition, the story is imbued with themes of Christmas, as well as a wintry setting and plenty of ice-sculpture carving.

So, reader, I shall let you form your own conclusion as to the legitimacy of my Christmas filmic claims, but rest assured that these films would all be enhanced by Christmas viewing, providing a much needed break from the usual hackneyed festive cinema.

 

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SUPPORTERS FLOOD 1ST XI HOCKEY VS RGS

After an eventful day of running around from captains Jess W and Charlotte M and the lovely Miss Oliver, King’s were finally allowed a somewhat limited amount of spectators for the game against RGS. The game began on the brand new floodlit RGS and Worcester HC pitches and it was eventful from the off. Both teams seemed to want to let the other team attack but they each had their first looks at scoring in the first quarter. After a bombardment of short corners, one of which resulted in an injury to England youngster Bryony G, RGS finally broke the deadlock just before half-time.

Amy H @chrishamphoto on Instagram

Louisa D-V@chrishamphoto on Instagram

After the interval, King’s continued to battle but struggled to find any real opportunities to hit the back of the RGS net. Good saves from Jaime L and Amy H and brilliant ‘wheels’ from speedster Louisa D-V kept King’s fighting in the third quarter. When the fourth quarter began, King’s looked likely to score against the weary RGS defense. Constant pressure from Milly C, Hannah W and Henny A meant chances were in abundance but King’s still couldn’t find an opening.

Brilliant midfield runs from Charlotte M, Jess W and Lucy W and a great save from Amelia T made King’s look like they could snatch a late one, however their final efforts were in vain and RGS gained the victory. All the players should be really proud of themselves as they showed great heart to keep fighting till the end. This first loss means Kings still hold a 2-1 advantage over RGS in the ‘big games’ with the Super Ball and The Challenge Cup still to come.

Player of the Match- Louisa D-V.

#UPTHEDOTS

The squad

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Bubbles

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Playing the Squid Games (Part 2)

The first game of the Squid Games begins with Red Light, Green Light, undoubtedly the hook of the series. This game is similar to that of “Granny’s footsteps,” in which the “granny” looks around every few seconds to the approaching players; if they see a player move, they are out.

The Korean version is named 무궁화 꽃 이 피었 습니다 (“the hibiscus flowers bloomed”), following the same rules, but instead the phrase is chanted by the person who is “it” until then turn their head to catch any players with movement.

Squid Game uses these simple children’s games and gives them a violent, shocking twist. If you are caught moving, then you are eliminated – shot dead.

Upon playing as a group, it became clear that without the threat of being shot dead, players like Elliot did not take the game very seriously, as he is seen running, as if he is in a rugby match. In general, the game was familiar to those of British heritage and so was certainly not difficult – without a gun to our heads, that is.

Photo by Magnus

Overall points so far:

Grace: 8
Mary: 7
Magnus: 6
Ben: 5 (joint)
Thora: 5 (joint)
Elliot: 5 (joint)
Alfred: 4

Game difficulty: 2/10

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KING’S DISMANTLE VESEY’S + OSH

After living off the buzz of the derby win for the past week, King’s headed to Birmingham for what was the earliest start of the season. Having had what was a rather lazy warm up, the boys kicked off and the 2s took the lead first through a well worked forwards try. As was becoming normal for this season Charlie L scored, taking his tally to 8 trys in 5 games.

Having some boys stupidly deciding to head to Twickenham instead of playing under His Royal Gafferness, Mr Wilson, this meant some of the 2s members played out of position. The standout fill-in was Sam N at 9 who not only set up Ben W with an outrageous offload but also riled the Vesey’s players and coaches up so much that they used some very ‘pleasant’ language to describe our new scrum-half. Actions speak louder than words, of course, and the King’s 2s dominated the rest of the game and convincingly won 34-0 with added tries from Marcus R, Shrav R, Ed J and Elliot F. The 1s had a much closer game but still ended victorious, winning 26-12 with Mr George T getting another yellow card!

Home, sweet home!

The following week, Kings hosted OSH at the hallowed Slingpool Walk. Both KSW teams looked to continue their winning streaks but alas for one team this wouldn’t be the case. The 2s continued their dominance of all the other sides in the world and started well in the incredible 30mph winds! Three early first-half tries put the Mighty 2s up 17 points to 0 against some rather gobby Swinford fellas. Despite starting the second half into the wind, King’s scored via a sensational Ben W cross-field kick that was touched down by speedster Barnaby T. King’s continued their fantastic form and ended 29-0 victors.

On the First’s pitch, the game was much closer as tempers boiled over between the 2 sides. OSH ended up winning 12-0 but that didn’t reflect the brilliant second half efforts from the Worcester side. Next week the boys face their last game until Christmas before a hard test against Solihull in January.

#UPTHEDOTS

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Quiz competition in Warwick

On Wednesday 1st December our school competed in a quizzing competition against King Edward’s Stratford, Warwick and King’s High. In our A team we had George C (captain), George C-F , Emily A, and Ellie C. In our B team we had Micah B (Captain), Amy H , James C and William G.

Our Quizzers

After a few technical difficulties from the buzzers, King’s was off to a flying start answering the first question of the night correctly. The first round was against Warwick’s A team and the scores were tied at the half-way point. After pulling ahead at the last moment Warwick took the win that round. However, our A team rallied together to achieve a win against King Edward’s Stratford in their next heat.

In the second round, Hannah B (L6) came on as a substitute for the Bs and with the use of a new technology – ‘BuzzInLive’ – we began the questions. One of my personal favourite questions in this round was one in which the teams were asked “what is the capital city of Burkina Faso,” which was followed by “now please spell that out.” If you are a quizzing fanatic, you may know already that the capital, while pronounced in English “waa-guh-doo-goo,” it is in fact spelled O-U-A-G-A-D-O-U-G-O-U.

‘Match tea’

Following another win in the third round, we had made it into the final! It was a second showdown against Warwick, who had also won two of their rounds. To begin with the competition was neck and neck. However, after a valiant attempt our A team lost but came second out of eight competing teams.

Well done to Warwick, we’ll get them next time!

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10 things you can do to protect the earth

Making small everyday changes to your daily life can help save our planet. Below are 10 things you can do to help create a greener planet:

  1. Reduce, reuse and recycle ♻️
  2. Volunteer for cleanups
  3. Be conscious of travel: choose more green options like cycling or walking
  4. Buy a reusable water bottle.
  5. Remember to turn the lights off to save energy
  6. Eat less meat which can help lower your contribution to greenhouse gas emissions
  7. Waste less food
  8. Don’t stream in 4K. (Takes more energy.)
  9. When shopping, take your own reusable bag 🛍
  10. Stop buying fast fashion

The planet’s natural resources are finite and these 10 ideas can help you personally help the planet. For example, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recycling 1 tonne of paper saves the equivalent of 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water.

Think of the change we all can make by thinking carefully about are actions and following this small list!

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Playing the Squid Games (Part 1)

If this guy challenges you to a game of ddakji, run!

Whether from a friend or the internet, it’s hard not to have heard of Squid Game. This hit South Korean Netflix drama has been Netflix’s #1 show in 90 countries, as it attracts fans across the world with its insane concept.

In this hit series, 456 ‘players’ are given the chance to earn enough money to pay off all of their debts and live the rest of their lives in luxury by simply playing a set of 6 games with 40 billion Korean won (£30 million) as the cash prize. However, the price of losing is … death.

This year’s King’s Speech writers decided to try out the games ourselves in order to see how we would fare were this nightmare world real.

The first game was ddakji, in which players try to flip an opponent’s paper tile with their own. This game is introduced in the first episode of the series, in which the main character (Gi-hun) is scouted by a man from the Squid Game organisers who then challenges Gi-hun to a game of ddakji.

If Gi-hun is unable to flip his ddakji tile, then he is slapped across the face. If Gi-hun manages to flip the tile, then the man owes him 100,000 won (£60 pounds). This game is used in the series to lure people that are in debt into the idea that they can play more games like this and win a massive cash prize.

Thora playing ddakji. Photo by Magnus.

We played this game in 10 rounds. Grace was the best player, managing to flip the tile in half of her 10 tries. We assigned points to each player according to their rank in the game. These points will go forward to the next round:

Grace: 7
Mary: 6
Magnus: 5 (joint)
Ben: 5 (joint)
Thora: 5 (joint)
Elliot: 5 (joint)
Alfred: 4

Game difficulty: 8/10

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KING’S DO DOUBLE OVER RGS

Cartoon by Elliot 

After Open Morning had come to a close, the 2s embarked upon the long and strenuous trek to the other side of town. Having had a top class warm up, the King’s boys left the RGS boys napping and scored two quick trys through Ollie E and another from Charlie L (who was then picked for the 1st team game later that week). King’s controlled the rest of the first half giving them a comfortable lead going into HT. The massive King’s crowd were loving life.

The second half saw one lapse of judgement, which led to an undeserved Grammar School try, pulling the score back to 12-7. The last 10 minutes were definitely hard to watch for the brilliant King’s supporters as the referee had clearly changed his underwear to green in favour of RGS: 3 yellow cards were issued to King’s in as many minutes. Nevertheless, the boys held out for the win.

Later that week, the big game arrived. Hoping to follow the 2s in victory, the 1s headed to the pristine Sixways Stadium. King’s scored early through a penalty but RGS scored the evening’s first try from an unfortunate and undeserved charge down of a kick. King’s fought back almost instantly and scored through School Monitor, AKA ‘The Giraffe’, Will C. King’s continued to dominate just like the Mighty 2s and a moment of genius and pure athleticism from Captain Alex T gave King’s a comfortable 17-7 lead at HT.

After many fans failed to obtain food from the packed food trucks and bars, the second half began. King’s scored through ‘Baby Rhino’ Jack L but RGS replied with a very similar try. Will W then scored a well worked forwards try before young scrum-half protege George H scored an amazing intercept, much to the delight of his fellow L6 pupils who almost spilled onto the pitch in excitement. The game finished an astounding 39-12, which summed up an amazing performance. Special mention to George T who not only had an amazing performance with the boot but also decided to copy the Mighty 2s in getting a yellow card for some slightly naughty behaviour!

#Worcesterisblue