The award recognises Noel’s volunteer work for helping children and the elderly. Tasks such as collecting and delivering food, as well as selling food to those in need are a few of the many volunteer jobs Noel has participated in. Among the many jobs, the one Noel feels the most important was delivering mooncakes to elderly centres.

A small challenge Noel faced as she grew older was that the children she was helping stayed the same age, and so the age gap between them kept on growing. It became harder to talk or get close with the children. Nevertheless, Noel still found a way to help no matter the situation or age differences.

This was also not Noel’s first award. Noel’s received lots of praise for her volunteer work before as well, which reflects Noel’s strong desire to help others. During our interview, Noel mentioned how easy it was to help others. All we needed to do was to spend a little of our own time to help those in need. Additionally, it is also important to help people of all ages as they might just need a little help from us.

"Don't spend time on your own, spend it on others."

How does it work?

“How does it work?” Well, there are two sides involved consisting of the prankster and the victim. The prankster puts a link somewhere that would drag the person’s or the victim’s attention and if the link is activated, it will pop out both the video and the audio of a 1980s song called “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. It is called “Rickroll” because the song is by Rick Astley and the word “roll” means to prank or trick somebody. 

Examples

The first-ever “Rickroll” was made by a group of friends prank calling a radio station after a sports game. The group phoned the station and instead of speaking, they played the audio “Never Gonna Give You Up”. But there are many more ways to “Rickroll” or be “Rickrolled”. Examples include a fake preview for a highly hyped-up game, a phoney recording, a link sent in the comment section of a video, somewhere in school newspapers, etc. The list goes on, primarily because of how old it is and how it evolved. 

Article by George

IGCSE Exams in 2021

Currently, the hot topic on Earth is if the IGCSE exams will be cancelled in 2021? This article will analyze the drawbacks when it comes to cancel the external examinations. 

A vast majority of students think that the IGCSE exams should be cancelled in 2021 because it will increase their stress. Therefore, students will be forced to do the work that they have missed. This can decrease the student’s motivation. 

On the other hand, if the exams are taking place, students may get infected from the virus because students are sitting closely to each other when the exams are happening. 

Given these points, I think IGCSE exams in 2021 should not take place because it is absolutely ridiculous when the exam takes place. First of all, this can increase the infections of Covid 19. On the contrary, it is not fair that students in the UK don’t need to take the external exams. This is just my opinion. I am sure there will be different types of answers. There will be no right and wrong answers because this topic is very controversial. So, do you want to take the external exam?

By Mario

Lunar New Year 🧧

Lunar New Year!

How do we celebrate?

Visit your family, eat with your family but most importantly, spend time with your family.

Story of Chinese New Year:

In legends there was a village that has monster, who only ate children. The monster attacks the village at a specific time. So the villagers move away from the village when the time comes. One day an old man arrived to the village, he said he know how to defeat the monster, nobody believed him so the villagers moved out. While the villagers move the old man put on red things all over the houses, and had red firecrackers ready. When the monster arrived to the village, it was very scared of all the red things that was on the houses, then the man lit the firecrackers to make loud noises, after all that the monster went running away from the village. 

The red things on the houses were red lanterns, red couplets and paper cutouts which are still being used to decorate houses today. The red firecrackers can be still seen today, but Hong Kong does not allow firecrackers, instead there will be firework displays at harbors; in China, people uses both firecrackers and fireworks.

Now, the biggest migration of people happen during lunar new year with people rushing back to their home town to celebrate with their family. During the most anticipated event of the year, which is the new year diner, families do this while watching the New Year special on TV. For most people, this is the only holiday they each year.

As for why red pockets is given out during Chinese new year, Chinese people love the color red and regard red as the symbol of energy, happiness and good luck so sending red envelopes is a way to send good wishes and luck (as well as money).  Wrapping lucky money in red envelopes is expected to bestow more happiness and blessings on the receivers. Hence, it is impolite to open a red envelope in front of the person who gives it to you. 

Have a safe and happy Chinese New Year!

Written by George and Oscar

Christmas recommendations

In light of the Christmas spirit, here are some movies I recommend. 

• Home Alone

• Authors Christmas

• The Polar Express

• A Christmas carol

From all these choices, I would say the best movie would be A Christmas Carol. The story starts with an old man who hates Christmas and shutting the Christmas spirit from his life but after the Christmas spirts shows his past, present, and future, he remembered his Christmas spirit again.

Another good classic is called Home Alone. If you haven't watched any of these movies then you are here for a treat. In this movie, you start with a family who is getting ready to go on vacation but after the family gets up late for the plane, they forget something very important. The toaster? No. The lights? No.  Their kid? Yup. They forgot their kid, Kevin. You will be following kevin and his adventures while his parents scramble to get back home.

Written by Oscar

The Art of Cramming

By Department of Student Life

Edited by Oscar

In preparation for the upcoming exams, let us go through the Art of Cramming again.  Again, remember to not start studying the day before the exams . Give yourself some time to study. 

All-Nighters are not encouraged. Especially if it is the night before the exam, sleep deprivation will hurt you cognitively. Concentration, reaction time and decision skills are weakened resulting in poor test performance.

Avoid excessive caffeine. Some side-effects are restlessness, rambling flow of thought and speech, gastrointestinal disturbance, nervousness, and muscle twitching. The rebound let-down and fatigue actually make you feel more tired.

There is a best time to sleep. You need a minimum of three hours and the best times to sleep are between 2AM and 6AM. Your body heat is lowest from 3-4AM, so you are drowsiest then and your memory retention is extremely poor. Sleep helps the mind absorb and retain the information you reviewed while studying.

Tips on staying alert while studying:

• Break work up into small units; 40 minutes of study with 5 minute breaks. Movies or TV are poor choices for relaxants after studying. They put interference between the studying and the test and worsen memory retention. (Exercise or sleep are better options.)

• When reading a lengthy or difficult assignment, take notes after each paragraph or section to keep your focus and concentration.

• Washing your face or taking a short walk helps refresh and re-stimulate your mind.

• Use every available daylight hour to study.

• Avoid studying on your bed. Find a place with good light, little noise, and as little interruptions as possible.

• Eat light foods (fruits and vegetables). Lean proteins are also important for the day of the test. Avoid donuts, coffee, and greasy, heavy foods.

Also remember to ask your teachers for help if you are stuck on anything.