Supposing that everyone in the world really could speak English, would that mean that learning other languages was a waste of time?

April 1, 2020February 10, 2021 ~ thegsaljournal ~ Leave a comment

Imogen - Year 12 Student Editor's Note: Following her first essay published in The GSAL Journal on 'How has warfare changed since WWII?', talented Year 12 student Imogen returns with this convincing essay written in response to the Newnham College (Cambridge) Modern & Medieval Languages Essay Prize. All female students currently in Year 12 at … Continue reading Supposing that everyone in the world really could speak English, would that mean that learning other languages was a waste of time?

Breaking Down ‘Of Mice and Men’

February 3, 2020June 16, 2020 ~ thegsaljournal ~ Leave a comment

Thabiso Mupfiga - Year 8 Student Editor's Note: As a Year 9 set text at GSAL, the famous novella 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck will be familiar to many of you. However, this piece of writing by a student in Year 8 is truly exceptional: "I have NEVER in my 17 years of … Continue reading Breaking Down ‘Of Mice and Men’

Dovek: The Last of his Kind

December 5, 2019 ~ thegsaljournal ~ 2 Comments

Erin Fabbroni - Year 8 Student Editor's Note: This superb piece of writing was completed in response to a Year 8 English task to introduce a character within a recognisable genre. The text has not been edited from its original format. MJP Many years ago, thousands of years ago, there was a great planet. Many … Continue reading Dovek: The Last of his Kind

Book Review: The Man Who Couldn’t Stop

September 12, 2019February 9, 2021 ~ thegsaljournal ~ 1 Comment

Alexandra Hall - Year 9 Student & 2008 Society Member 'The Man Who Couldn’t Stop' by David Adam I’ve often wondered if it’s just me who has a sudden urge to jump off a twenty-foot balcony, walk in front of a bus or punch a stranger in the face. Reassuringly, according to David Adam, the … Continue reading Book Review: The Man Who Couldn’t Stop

A GSAL Salad

September 10, 2019September 11, 2019 ~ thegsaljournal ~ 1 Comment

Leo Khan - Year 8 Student A poem by Leo Khan (Year 8), written in the style of renowned poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Author's note: Dr. Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born and he grew up in Birmingham. He was always writing or even making up poetry but this had nothing to do with school, where … Continue reading A GSAL Salad

Missing: The Lost Colony of Roanoke

June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 ~ thegsaljournal ~ 1 Comment

Tessa Grainger - Year 8 Historian Tessa Grainger (Year 8) has written a short story for the Historical Association Historical Fiction Competition 2019. Historical fiction allows students to use their historical imagination to bring the past to life and to creatively fill some of the many gaps left by the written records that have survived. … Continue reading Missing: The Lost Colony of Roanoke

Salutaris 2019

May 1, 2019July 1, 2020 ~ thegsaljournal ~ 12 Comments

Mr C Dodd - Staff Editor Salutaris is the GSAL Sixth Form academic journal. It is an annual publication that provides Sixth Form students the opportunity to showcase their academic writing. It also provides a number of students with editorial experience. The name 'Salutaris' means 'health-giving' or 'beneficial', i.e. promoting healthy academic discussion and writing … Continue reading Salutaris 2019

Developing Thinking Skills: May 2019

April 6, 2019May 7, 2019 ~ thegsaljournal ~ 1 Comment

Mr C Dodd - Staff Editor Be Philosophical How should we treat animals? Is it possible that some animals (dolphins, chimps, birds, dogs etc) have sophisticated languages that we aren’t able to interpret YET? (But we might be able to in the future.) Imagine ordering a burger if you could understand what a cow was … Continue reading Developing Thinking Skills: May 2019

In Conversation With… English at Cambridge

March 27, 2019February 23, 2021 ~ thegsaljournal ~ Leave a comment

Mr C Dodd - Staff Editor This month The GSAL Journal caught up with 2018 GSAL leaver and successful Oxbridge applicant Sami Creswick (English, Cambridge). Mr Dodd was asking the questions. Hi Sami! Thank you for taking the time to chat to me today and congratulations on securing a place to study English at Cambridge. … Continue reading In Conversation With… English at Cambridge