Year 10 English

This term the Year 10s have been studying Macbeth. As a part of their studies, students rewrote a scene from Macbeth in a new context. Enjoy two great samples of their work...

Act 1 Scene 7 by Hasanayn Ashraf

A warm fireplace. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are conversing.

Lady Macbeth: I heard that Duncan is giving the title of CEO to his son Malcolm.

Macbeth: Oh, that’s quite understandable, seeing as Duncan has a few too many grey hairs. He has been a great boss and I’m sure Malcolm will be able to run the company well. Maybe leadership runs in the family.

Lady Macbeth: Understandable?! Malcolm only joined last week! You have been a loyal worker for fifteen years! You’re Duncan’s right hand man! If anyone should be promoted to CEO it should be you!

Macbeth: That is true… but it is not up to me to make that decision. I respect Duncan and what he has done with the company. If he thinks it is the right call, then let it be.

Lady Macbeth: Let it be!? YOU should be doing something about this. This is an injustice to your loyalty and hard work that you have been showing the last quarter of your life. Imagine how much money you would earn if you were the CEO. We could finally live a comfortable life; imagine all the debt we could pay off. We could finally pay for our son’s college fees!

Macbeth: Well that would be nice, but how am I going to change the fact that Duncan is giving the title of CEO to Malcolm?

Lady Macbeth: We can fake a tax fraud for Malcolm so that he goes to jail.

Macbeth: That’s quite an extreme thing to do. How are we going to do that?

Lady Macbeth: You know he does his taxes in the office. You also know when he does them; the same time we do. On the day we get our tax files, you can see him in his office. Carefully take his tax files and change them so he ends up paying less than he should have. The government will find out quickly. He will then be sentenced to jail and Duncan will be forced to give you CEO!

Macbeth: This is a big deal. We will be sending an innocent man to prison! And what if we fail and somehow the government finds out we were behind it?

Lady Macbeth: Oh, grow a pair. There’s no way they can find out we had anything to do with it if you tamper with their files very discretely. I doubt Malcolm will be in prison for long, and by the time he comes back you will be CEO and he won’t have anything on you. He would never know, and we could finally live a happy life!

Macbeth: I have a bad feeling about this. If things go wrong, it could affect our son and the rest of his life. If I fail, we could lose everything, including his future. However, If I were to succeed, we would live a prosperous, comfortable life and our son could have a stable future doing whatever he wants to do. But should I really betray Duncan’s trust?

Reimagining (Act 1, Scene 2)

by Rimon Ismail

Intensity is—undeniably—a constant in many workplaces, with employees expected to complete their jobs efficiently and respectfully. Nothing less is accepted. However, today was much more tense than usual; indeed, the members of the PaperCart Scotland branch had been grimly informed of a corporate decision. That is, if the branch did not show its productivity and significance to corporate, it would be shut down due to its uselessness. A somber deadline was given to the workers: if, by the 27th of August, they had not shown their usefulness to corporate, they would be shut down.

With such a prospect looming upon the employees of the Scotland branch, many set out hard to work. As the date creeped closer, and growth within the branch showed little hope of rising, many of the workers resigned themselves to their fate after the work had borne no fruits. Indeed, on the night of the 26th, many of the senior members of the branch sat in the break room, tensely pondering their fate. Among them were Branch Manager Duncan, Assistant Branch Manager Malcolm and senior consultants Donalbain and Lennox. The atmosphere remained within such a state of despair for what felt like eons to all those present. In what was a sudden change of pace, an exasperated salesman barged into the breakroom, breaking the tentative feeling in the air.

Duncan looked up, worrisome, and turned to Malcolm, “So, who’s this? It looks like he has more bad news for us.”

“This is one of my best salesmen,” Malcolm stated in a matter-of-a-fact tone. “He’s been hard at work for us ever since the deadline, and he’s been helping me execute some of the plans I’ve been thinking of to save this place.” He turned back to the worker, inquiring, “So then, let the Manager know- what did you come here to tell us all?”

“Ah... man... we’ve been having tons of trouble selling anything,” the salesman declared with frustration. “The clients have been impossible as of late and it’s like they want us to go under… but, that genius Macbeth—I call him a genius because I’ve never seen someone like him man...” He paused for a moment, his tone rising to joy as he spoke again, “He sold one-hundred grand of stock to just *one* client! And he’s still selling stock like hotcakes alongside Banquo! He sold more than the Irish branch with one sale!” The room, which had boringly listened to the salesman, perked up their ears in shock, with all eyes on the salesman after his wondrous revelation.

Out of all those present, Duncan had the greatest reaction, rising up and spilling the coffee on the table that, up until then, he had resignedly sipped. He spoke with praise, “Amazing! He’s the best salesman we’ve got here!”

The salesman continued on in shock, “Man… Macbeth and Banquo… Later on, the Norway branch caught wind of the sale and tried to undercut us and steal the sale, with the clients nearly buying from them instead… It looked like Macbeth and Banquo were about to lose it…”

“But that didn’t stop them trying to sell them the stock?” Duncan inquired tentatively.

“Yeah, man! It was like they were the greatest persuaders this world has ever seen! They outmatched the Norway branch with ease! Macbeth made it look like their branch was full of toddlers and shut down their counter offer with ease! It’s as if they just sell stock like they’re pressing a button! Nothing’s stopping them right now! I’ve never seen anything quite like it!” The salesman was elated, but suddenly slumped, “Ah, man… I’m too tired; we’ve all been selling night and day for the past week!”

Duncan replied, joyfully, “I don’t doubt it; your fatigue shows your dedication to this branch. Go home and rest, you’ve got the next three days off, and call me if you need more. You’ve earned it.” The salesman left the room, clearly fatigued.

Secondary School Girls’ PE

The secondary girls have had the opportunity to experience many sports this term. The Years 7 & 8 girls had a Commonwealth gold medallist come and train them in weightlifting and professional athletics coaching over a 4-week program. They have competed in athletics and basketball at an inter school level. Well done to Eda Ozdemir for her ribbon in shot put.