Embedded Files
Welcome to the first instalment of the Lordswood Publishing House!
Every half term we will be publishing creative writing and student journalism on our website - showing the best of the best of our wonderful writers.
The lost island
The lost island
By Umar H.K (Year 8)
The jet-black Tomahawk-757 crawled into the inky black sky. Its propellers deafening the passengers inside. The ocean below glittered in the pale white moonlight. The helicopter began to rise into the hands of the night sky and at last was swallowed into the bleak darkness.
The boys inside the helicopter were each of 13 years of age. They had been assigned to a school project which would take them out of their bleak lives in the English Capital of London to the Australian Outback. Each one of them were sent here because their parents were either wealthy business owners or politicians. The boys attended Kings College school and this was just one of their many trips abroad. The boys were each sent here on one accord; they gathered as much information on the Australian outback as possible. You see, these boys were no ordinary school boys. They worked for the special operations division of the MI6.
The boy in the middle was the so-called group leader. In MI6 the boys were called by code names and not by their full government names. This was to protect their identities from potential targets of the British Government. This was the last assignment before the boys became SAS (the most elite fighting force in British History).
The one in the middle was named Wolf. The one to his left was Fox and to his right was Eagle. The three of them were the best in their division and there was none better than them. They all adjusted their wet suits as they were preparing for their parachute out of the helicopter.
The back of the helicopter opened and the agents were getting ready to jump but then something terrible happened....
The helicopter lurched to one side as if struck by something and the boys went with it too. They were slammed onto the side of the helicopter and Fox had the breath sucked out of him. Eagle was fighting against gravity for balance and found himself on the losing side. Wolf was trying to help Fox up but had little success. The pilot was slumped against the dashboard and the wheel was free.
“ EAGLE GET TO THE WHEEL BEFORE WE CRASH!” shouted Wolf as he heard the unsettling beeping sound of the alarm.
beep beep
The helicopter began to free fall. The lights were flickering and the agents huddled together. Certain of their deathly fate in the Australian Sea…
Digital privacy and freedom - the necessity to act for our digital future.
Digital privacy and freedom - the necessity to act for our digital future.
By Hethu K. (Year 9)
What if every move you made was recorded, everything you see was conditioned to fit a certain agenda and everything you said vanished off the face of the earth? Hold that thought. You'll understand its importance very soon.
The internet is the biggest form of communication we have. It is the most useful took that anyone can use as long as they have a device, a screen and a connection. Now, here in the UK, we have a good sense of privacy and freedom online. You can search articles and have a reasonable change of getting unbiased answers, you are able to exercise your free speech without persecution and you can step foot into most websites without your information ending up in the wrong hands...
However, this isn't the case for all. In many countries, infringement on internet privacy is rampant. You're unable to search for anything without receiving a biased viewpoint and you can't upload anything contradicting the views of the governments without it being replaced by government propaganda. Even the UK is under scrutiny for its recent legislative and regulatory developments like the Online Safety Bill, potentially leading to a backdoor collection of user data undermining privacy and security.
The internet is a place where everything you post is public and everything you see can be tracked. Though we have laws in place to protect ourselves such as the Data Protection Act of 2018, numerous times have companies been exposed for lucrative data collection scandals. For example, apps like 'Temu', 'Tiktok' and 'Instagram' are just a few that collect data you wouldn't be expecting and raises the question of the publicity of your own personal information.
One of the most famous scandals is the Facebook (Meta) - Cambridge Analytica scandal. Ever since 2025, Facebook has been found to be harvesting data from about 87 million users and granting it to a British company called Cambridge Analytica. This company was then using this data to better target political messages to influence people, note that this was all done without the consent of the users. the information that companies collect about you ranges from your location, gender, hobbies, relationship status, career and even your height and your weight. This then gets sold to advertisers to better target their products.
In a world where everything you see, everything you hear and everything you say is monitored... Without strong data protection or freedom of expression online, it leaves people open to manipulation, abuses of power and propaganda.
With the opportunity to advocate for strong digital privacy and freedom laws, we can set the standard for other countries to do the same and follow suit. We, as citizens of a country with greater access to freedom of speech, have a responsibility to ensure the digital landscape stays a safe and free land for all to use.
Thank you to all our student contributors, we look forward to the next installment of the Lordswood Publishing House!
Lordswood Boys' School • Hagley Road • Harborne • Birmingham • B17 8BJ
Tel: 0121 464 2837
Email: enquiry@lordswoodboys.co.uk
For paper copies of any of the information on this website please refer to our publication scheme
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