Poisoning Pigeons in the Park... Strychnine and Cyanide

Irish Baritone, Ben Russell, was our guest artist for this year's Phyllis Dence Performing Arts Day. Amongst other things Ben gave us a wonderful version of the old Tom Lehrer classic "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

Ben sang of using strychnine and cyanide to poison his pigeons, and this got us thinking about how such poisons work...


Strychnine is a naturally occurring, colourless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid compound of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen C₂₁H₂₂N₂O₂. When inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through eyes or mouth, it interferes with the action of motor neurone inhibitors, resulting in 'over stimulation' of motor neurones - causing muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia. As it produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction strychnine poisoning is often used in literature and film.


Strychnine is produced by plants of the genus Strychnos which are trees and climbing shrubs found in warm regions of Asia, Africa and America. The seeds and bark of many species are highly toxic, and seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica, from Indonesia, have long been used as a source of rat poison.




Cyanide is any compound containing a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom (a 'cyano group'). Hydrogen cyanide, in the form of Zyklon B, was used by the Nazis in World War II gas chambers and cyanide crystals (potassium cyanide or sodium cyanide) occur frequently in the world of 'whodunnits' such as in Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide.


Cyanide inhibits the action of an enzyme (cytochrome c oxidase) which is needed for cellular respiration. When active in a cell's mitochondria the supply of energy (in the form of ATP) is interrupted and the cell stops working and ultimately 'dies'. Tissues that depend highly on aerobic respiration, such as the central nervous system and the heart, are particularly affected.


Cyanides are produced by certain bacteria, fungi, and algae and are found in a number of plants e.g. the 'stones' of apricots and pips of apples. The cyanide helps to protect plants against herbivores, although the golden bamboo lemur of Madagascar is immune to the high levels of cyanide in the Madagascar bamboo.


Oh by the way, It's 'Science Week ' this week and all of Stover is involved in uncovering who poisoned our science technician - based on various experiments and analyses being carried out in this week's Science lessons!

Dramatic Reflections

Did you hear about the accident-prone actor? It was just a stage he was going through...

Yes, it has been pretty hectic here in the Drama Department over the last two months - writes Ms Absalom. Bugsy Malone was great fun of course, but there were also two 'theatre' trips and the Off-By-Heart Shakespeare Competition.

First was the trip to Kents Cavern for an underground hour-long adapted version of Romeo and Juliet. Butterfly Productions created a wonderfully atmospheric performance among the stalagtites, ‘mites and mineral deposits, ushering us through the twists and turns of the caves to the tragic deaths of the star-crossed lovers in The Great Chamber. This was a promenade performance where we were literally swept along, on foot, with the action.

What an incredible setting for any Shakespeare play – we shall certainly be going to Butterfly’s Macbeth in the Cavern next year.

More recently, An Inspector Calls riveted us to our seats in the Plymouth Theatre Royal. J B Priestley’s old favourite was given a new spin – the Edwardian house in a street set exploded in front of our eyes. Fireworks on stage… followed by an animated discussion on the coach home about social injustice then and now. A Whodunnit with a psychological and social agenda.

Two of our students also took part in the regional finals of the national BBC Off-by-Heart Shakespeare competition in Bristol. Abigail Bulbulian (Yr 10) and Abigail Joint (Yr 9) learnt different speeches from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to perform in the competition, competing with 1500 others. They workshopped the character, text and language in school. Then worked with professional actors. Abi and Abi showed enormous courage, confidence, talent and enthusiasm. Congratulations, girls!

Carol Service

Monday morning saw Exeter Cathedral packed with parents and friends for the Stover School carol service. It was a lovely occasion, in a wonderful setting, which fittingly marked the beginning of the Christmas season for all present. Staff and pupils were bussed in with military precision, and a varied programme incorporated contributions from the Senior Choir, Prep School Choir, Cantabile, soloists, orchestra, readers and of course the congregation!

Farewell Gappies!

Today we said goodbye to Rita and Madelaine, our two Australian 'Gap Year' students, who have been a continually upbeat and cheerful presence throughout the school for the past year. They have made a big contribution to Stover and have been fully involved in a wide range of activities, such as: helping out in the Prep School and Nursery, boarding duties, secretarial work and exam supervision.

We shall miss them of course, but wish them well as they return 'Down Under' to pursue their university studies, and hopefully they will keep in touch with Stover and the many friends they made whilst here.

A Little Spanish Something

A really valuable contribution to Stover's vibrant student body  was made  this term by our four 'short-stay' Spanish pupils. Never one to be backwards in coming forward, Mrs Machin (ICT) invited them  to join her in the Home Ec. Room for Pa amb oli ('bread and oil').  This is a traditional food usually eaten at special occasions in Spain.  It consists of Rye bread cut into slices; rubbed with a ripened tomato which has been cut in half.  A good quality olive oil is then poured onto the bread followed by some salt with herbs. 

It is optional to add Serrano ham, chorizo and cheese.  The most common cheese to use is Manchego (Goat’s cheese). 

A few members of staff 'happened to drop by' in order to join in and were shown by the pupils how to create their own Pa amb oli.  The meal was finished off with some lovely stuffed olives and red grapes.

David James Coaches Stover Footballers

Stover footballers were privileged earlier this term to welcome David James for a goalkeeping training session.

The Bristol City keeper is a former England international and holds the football league appearance record for goalkeepers. He has also kept more clean-sheets than any other league glovesman. League and FA Cup winner James’ former clubs include: Watford, Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham, Manchester City and Portsmouth.

Bugsy Malone

Tallulah amd the girls

Friday saw the final triumphant performances of this year's school musical Bugsy Malone. Set in 1929, the Jubilee Hall was transformed into Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy in prohibition New York, complete with gangsters, showgirls and of course Bugsy the boxing promoter plus girl friend Blousey Brown and sassy admirer Tallulah.

Amongst many very entertaining moments, particularly polished performances were put in by Clara Finigan who played the title role with poise, aplomb and great stage presence, Abigail Joint as Blousey and  Annabel Kennedy as Tallulah. There was also great support from the vast cast of hoodlums and hangers-on, a lovely song from Georgina Allen as Fizzy, and some neat choreography from the show girls. Wonderful costumes and impressive splurge guns topped off a highly enjoyable show.

Congratulations to all performers, the stage hands, Tony Etheridge for the car, and a special thanks to directors Ms Absalom and Mrs Middleton, music meister Mr Hurst and technical guru Mr Haigh.

Ms Absalom writes... ‘We could have been anything that we wanted to be….’ Our young cast of 11–15 year olds did themselves proud in our matinee and evening performances on Friday, 2 December. Many of the performers were new to the experience and all are to be congratulated. The Year 10 girls, with a few years of ‘treading the boards’ behind them, set a terrific example in early word learning and the importance of self-discipline as an actor. A new American pupil in Year 9, Alyssa Chudy, choreographed the musical numbers with superb panache and brought an authentic sense of glamour to the 1930s speakeasy. As well as those mentioned above, Saul Kurzman (Yr 8) met the challenges of failing gangland boss, Fat Sam with great maturity and good comic technique .


Mrs Middleton and I would both like to congratulate and thank the company for ‘getting it together’ and their brilliant American, Irish and camp accents!

South Devon Schools' Cross-Country Comes to Stover

Last week saw teams of runners from all over the region descend on Stover as we hosted the South Devon Schools' Cross-Country Championships. Congratulations to Mrs Craven and her team, ably helped by the Sixth Form CSL pupils, for organising such a highly successful event. Thanks also to our groundsmen ('The Barn Boys') for getting the place so well set up.

The Stover ICT Trip to London's Olympic Park

In October 40 pupils and 5 staff set off for London, to visit the Olympic Park. After spending some time visiting the main attractions such as the London Eye, Westminster, Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, some free time was enjoyed followed by an evening meal in Covent Garden. After a night at the Holiday Inn there was a 6.30 wake-up call in preparation for a hearty breakfast and another busy day.

Day two saw the group visiting the Olympic site, where a classroom session explored the use of ICT when hosting an event as big as the Olympic Games. Pupils were put into groups and had to consider everything from the original bid to the advertising, building, merchandising and even the legacy. Pupils were also shown videos of athletes using technology to enhance their performance.

Next there was a two mile walk around the Olympic Park with information on each venue, and a stop at the View Tube - which gave a good view of the stadium and its surrounding area. The guide was very informative and explained what will happen to the accommodation for the athletes and the other buildings after the games are over. She also spoke about the area and its associated regeneration project and how this will help the local community. Eventually we set off on our journey back to Stover, very tired but feeling like we had been part of something special.

Thanks to Mrs Machin for this post

Annual Concert for St. Cecilia's Day

Teigngrace Church

Last week saw twenty pupils from Stover giving a very polished performance at Teigngrace Church in a concert to celebrate the feast of St. Cecilia (the patron saint of musicians). Teigngrace is our local church, and we are linked to it historically through the Templer family, as it was rebuilt by the children of James Templer - who built our school.

The concert was a mixture of solo items by singers and instrumentalists, with some vocal and piano duets. The programme concluded with all the singers who had taken part singing ‘The Rose’ and ‘A Clare Benediction’ as an encore.

Futsal

This morning’s Senior School assembly was taken by Miss Titterton, of the PE Department, who introduced us to the world of Futsal.

This is the internationally recognised version of what is known in the British Isles as ‘5-a-side football’. The name Futsal is derived from the Spanish for football (futbol) and hall (sala), and this form of reduced size indoor football is recognised and supported by FIFA and UEFA, who run World and European Championships for club and national teams.

In Futsal, unlike normal 5-a-side football, there are hockey-sized goals, a smaller ball with reduced bounce, and no side boards to use for rebounds. It is designed as a fast and fair game which rewards skill, tactical awareness and speed of thought (and action).

Futsal is now supported by the English FA, and in Devon Futsal leagues and competitions are being run at Plymstock School, Paignton Community and Sport College and Exeter City FC (among others).

 

 

Any Stover pupils who wish to get involved in playing Futsal are asked to contact Miss Titterton, and to sign the list in the Round Passage.

Maths Challenge

The Maths Department recently entered some of its star Year 12 and 13 performers in the Senior Mathematical Challenge competition which is run by the The UK Mathematics Trust - a ‘satellite’ of Leeds University which organises national mathematics competitions and other mathematical enrichment activities for 11-18 year old UK school pupils.

This was great fun and a very useful exercise for the Stover mathematicians. A big ‘congratulations’ is in order for Linh Nguyen who, despite only being in Year 12, came out as ‘Best in School’ and winner of a gold medal. Other top performers were Bobo Chan, Neo Kan, Sian Wood, Dauen Lee, Coco Lee, Carol Chan and Angel Sze. Well done to all concerned!

The Prep School Choir

The Prep School Choir with their trophy

Congratulations to the Prep School Choir who won their class in the City of Plymouth Music Festival last week. Sixty young Stoverites performed two pieces in front of a large audience. The judges noted that the choir 'showed a good contrast in styles and was musical, energised and focused. A fun, great sound!’ Winning the trophy capped a wonderful day out for all, with the pupils giving of their very best and acting as excellent ambassadors for Stover.

 The Prep School Choir's next public performance will be in Exeter Cathedral at the School Carol Service on Monday 12th December.

Stover Artists win Christmas Card Competition

Many congratulations to Hugo Longrigg and Henri Poole-Birrel who have been selected as winners of the Anne Marie Morris MP Christmas Card Competition. This competition was open to Year 5 and 6 pupils from all the schools in her Teignbridge constituency. Hugo and Henri’s designs will now be made into Christmas cards and used for Ms Morris’ official correspondence. What an excellent achievement boys!

Rugby Victory for Stover Prep

Saturday was certainly a great day for Stover rugby, when our Under 10 team came home victorious from the Queens’ Rugby Tournament. The team were quietly confident going into the pool games and thought they had a good chance of making the knockout stages. As the day progressed our defence held strong and we beat the following schools: All Hallows (20 – 0); Paragon (10 – 0); Exeter Cathedral (15 – 0). In the quarter final we beat Queens (5 – 0) and in the semi- final we beat Exeter School (10 – 5). This was the only team to score against us all day. Our opponents in the final were Sherborne School, who were unbeaten all season and had defeated the much fancied Millfield team en route to the final.

The decider was a tight, physical game which we won 5 - 0 thanks to an Alfie Raynor try. Alfie was outstanding and really set the tournament alight with his running. A special mention goes to Reuben Ash who was captain; and led from the front at all times. The coach, parents, staff and pupils of SPS are all very proud of this magnificent achievement. The splendid cup and individual medals were presented to the team in our Awards Assembly on Monday. Well done lads!

Stover Prep in TOP FIVE for ‘The Best Preparatory School’

Stover was nominated for ‘The Best Preparatory School’ at The Archant Good Schools Show held at Olympia, London earlier this term. Stover was shortlisted with four other Independent Preparatory Schools nationally and was invited to attend The Archant Good Schools Award Ceremony in London. The Ceremony is designed to bring together many of the UK’s top independent schools and allow parents and pupils the opportunity to vote if they believe their school has something special to offer.

At this same event, Mr Brown was nominated for 'Best Teacher' and he, too was in the final. We are absolutely delighted to be the finalists for such a prestigious award and thank all the pupils and parents who nominated the Prep School and Mr Brown.

Devon Schools Maths Challenge

The Team: Neo, Alex, Daeun and Linh

Blundells School in Tiverton recently played host to teams of top mathematicians. Three rounds of rigorous and testing calculations saw a very close finish ending with the Stover team in a highly creditable fourth place after Shebbear, West Buckland and Colyton Grammar.

Mrs Skuckova from our Maths Department reports:

There were 3 rounds. Round 1 consisted of 10 challenging and complex questions, and we only scored 50% - a shaky start – perhaps due to nerves! This only made our team pull together and the fighting spirit kicked in.

Round 2 was a Crossnumber round, requiring excellent team communication between pairs and good nerves. Our team achieved 55 out of 56 – Wow – Excellent stuff. I was feeling very proud!

Round 3 was the nerve-wracking Relay round – a demanding and tricky format in which each pair has to get a question absolutely correct for their team to use that number to solve a further question. We scored 45 out of 60 (West Buckland got 42), and as there were 4 questions and only 8 minutes, there was real pressure, but our team excelled!

We were so close to a top place, but could take pride in our best result so far. Our pupils worked very hard to prepare themselves and showed great enthusiasm and joy during the competition itself. I was excited to see such emotion generated by people doing mathematics!

The Gunners come to Stover

Monday assembly this week saw a change from the normal routine, when we saw a presentation by Mark Titchard of Arsenal football club, who is the South Devon Co-ordinator for 'Arsenal Soccer Schools'.

Being a life-long follower of the Grecians (Exeter City), this is heady stuff indeed as the 'Play the Arsenal Way' soccer programme comes to Stover for a 12 week course, for boys and girls from Years 5 to 13. Starting in January they will spend an hour every Friday after school going through warm up activities, technical ability exercises and mini matches with the Arsenal coaches. Our thanks are due to Head of boys PE Mr. Veal for setting up this wonderful opportunity for Stover pupils.

A residential course will be held at Stover during the Summer holidays for gifted and talented players from the South West region.

Further Music Success at Plymouth

Helen, Harvey and Mrs Farleigh - amongst others

The week at the Plymouth Music Festival ended on a real high. The choirs all won their respective classes on Friday (including the Prep School Choir winning their first cup) and adjudicator, Bryan Husband, was highly impressed - ending his comment sheet with the phrase ‘Wonderful singing and fabulous music making!’

The senior vocal classes followed with Helen Te and Harvey Seale both collecting trophies in the adult singers classes. They gained enough marks to be entered for the Championship class on Saturday afternoon, and Harvey went on to win this, becoming the most successful adult vocal soloist in the festival.

Thanks must go to Mrs Farleigh, our singing teacher at Stover for all the hard work she has put in to prepare pupils not only for this competition but also the many other concerts and events that our singers take part in.

Plymouth Competitive Music Competition

Junior Vocal Category Prizewinners

Thanks to Mr Lea, our Director of Music, for passing on this penultimate instalment on the Plymouth Competitive music festival. It was the turn of the singing pupils on Thursday, and there was success for: Georgina Allen, Clara Finnigan, Annabel Kennedy, Venetia Blelloch, Amy Bellamy, Abigail Joint and Tim Lee, who all scored highly and received very favourable comments from the Adjudicator in the Junior Vocal classes. Our pupils were competing against a large number of other 11-16 year olds from local schools, and certainly did their bit to maintain and promote the strong reputation for singing at Stover.