The first issue of our student-run magazine, Tributary, has been launched and is available to read here! Founded by two of our students, Sebastian Ellery and Isabel Fraser, this passion project was inspired by the experience gained from their Journalism +Enrichment class, then deciding to take students news into their own hands. Beginning with the goal of bringing students together to discuss topics and potential writing perspectives, they have since exceeded this goal by publishing their very first issue.
Over the past 2 years, news channels and papers have been dominated by the prominence of COVID-19 and we think it is time for a new change. In this magazine the students discuss a range of topics from COP26 and Formula 1, to articles discussing culture and music, they have even included a unique recipe for Reibekuchen (potato pancakes). The eloquently argued features give us a unique insight into what is important to the younger generation, including both fact and opinion based arguments, the students manage to showcase their writing talents through a critical lens.
“I started the club because I really wanted to write about books (especially from other countries because I thought a lot of people were unaware of the range of literature from outside the UK). The content was just whatever people were interested in, whether that be fashion, history or politics. I think this freedom to choose made it a nice opportunity for students to research things that interest them in more depth. The name Tributary I chose because it links to the local area with the Wey, but also because I liked the river imagery, since it links to language-related to information e.g. sources of information, and I like the idea of the magazine feeding information into other people’s lives. In the future, we should have a copy available in spring, and maybe further in the future if we can get more people from L6 to join. I took the Journalism +Enrichment course last year so I think I might like to do something with that in the future or possibly something to do with foreign languages." – Sebastian Ellery (Co-Founder)
In an article written by one of our students, Rafi O’Neil, he discusses the outcome of one of the biggest environmental conferences in the world, COP26. In this article he lays out the proposed targets, comparing them against the targets set in the 2015 Paris Conference and asking the question… ‘Will the targets in the agreement be enough?’. In another article written by one of the co- founders, Sebastian, he explains the importance of ‘Reading from other Cultures’, offering persuasive reasons for us all to venture out of our comfort zone this Christmas. Other articles include ‘Regulations Set to Make Changes’ which explains the changes in Formula 1 rules and regulations and how they will affect the next season. ‘Frost/ Nixon – How a Chat Show Host Brought Down a Former President’ takes us back to 1977, to an interview which could be deemed the moment ‘Nixon became condemned by many as a criminal’. Lighter articles include book reviews, music recommendations and an interesting piece discussing Victorian fashion – what is it? How does it affect us today?
The Tributary is an excellent magazine that has created a space for our students to explore topics that interest them, allowing them to voice their honest opinions outside the restraints of exams and marked coursework. This is a place they can be honest and critical of the world around them… they have something to say and we are listening.