Issue 4
The Easter Issue! ‘A Level’ Art Duke of Edinburgh Chocolate bakes
Easter 2018
A note from the editor…
Leia Humphries This issue includes Easter crafts in the kitchen; an in-
sight into the silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition and an exclusive look at ‘A Level’ art pieces. Our year 9 writer, Emma Sansom investigates gun violence and how you can look out for gangs. Take a look
at an interview with Mr Ryan from the Science department, and an interesting article discussing the best dressed at the Oscars!
We have noticed many readers want an anonymous page in our magazine, let us know what you think! As a team we wish you all a great half term and hope you enjoy lots of Easter eggs!
What about the Easter bunny? Everyone knows about Easter, it’s a time to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but there is another main character. The Easter Bunny! Where did the tradition come from though? Rabbits normally have their litter (babies) in spring, a symbol of life. In the 1700’s German Immigrants settled in Pennsylvania and gave their tradition of a hare that would lay eggs so the kids made nests for the creature to give it’s colourful eggs. This can be linked to what we have today with collecting the eggs in baskets. By Lara Bobkov
Best Dressed at The Oscars 2018 By Sarah Wade Alongside the Grammys and the Met Gala, the Oscars is the social event of the season where celebrities from all walks of life come together for the biggest film ceremony of the year. With this ceremony came celebrities in a variety of designers with a popular designer this year being Christian Siriano, worn by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Janelle Monae and Keala Settle (from The Greatest Showman). So here is a list of this year’s best dressed at the Oscars.
Stars in Christian Siriano This year’s Oscar’s saw 16 stars by this designer such as singer and Actress Janelle Monae and professional skier Lindsey Vonn.
Celebrities who continued to support the Time’s Up Campaign Celebrities such as Emma Watson continued to support the Time’s Up movement (against female harassment in Hollywood) on the red carpet. The star wore Ralph Lauren whilst sporting a temporary tattoo that said ‘Times Up’ and later was corrected due to the lack of apostrophe on the tattoo.
Best looks from the Oscars Vanity Fair after party Some of the best looks at the Oscars came from the Vanity Fair after party. Zendaya arrived in a Michael Kors gown looking like a real life Oscar award. Moreover, star couples such as Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth attended the after party looking equally stylish. Other best looks at the Oscars after party included those of supermodels such as Kendall Jenner and Ashley Graham.
I am volunteering at St Clare’s charity
My Duke Of Edinburgh Experience
shop. I think this is great fun as I get to meet new people and improve my people skills which will help me in my later life. My ‘skill’ elements is crochet. I chose this skill as it is something completely different and
By Abby Ward
I had to learn how to do it by myself. My practice expedition took place in the Chilton Hills. I had great fun navigating, cooking, pitching tents and meeting lots of new people. On an expedition, you have to carry your rucksack, navigate to a certain point, and take responsibility for your cooking, water and, most importantly: yourself. Independence is a great life skill to achieve.
I wanted to take up the Duke of Edinburgh Award because I enjoy camping and going for walks. I also wanted to challenge myself and gain new skills, for example: map reading and cooking on a Trangia stove. I started at the beginning of Year 11 and I am currently doing my silver award. I am having great fun completing the additional aspects of the Duke of Edinburgh Award
My favourite section of the award is the
aside from the expeditions (which are
expedition section. It’s a chance to do
physical activities) volunteering and learn-
something different, learn to be an explor-
ing a skill. For six months, I have been do-
er! It’s so easy to sit on the sofa and not
ing my ‘physical activity’ and this has been
venture far, but DofE motivates you to get
focussed on swimming, where I am at-
outside. You get to sleep under the stars
tempting to improve my timed swims and
and witness incredible scenery/natural
my stroke technique.
landforms (which you don’t get to see sitting at home!).
On my silver DofE, we had to a walk to our camp site and walk an minimum of 14k each day. This sounds easy, but when you have to carry a back pack full of clothes, a tent and food it is not easy. This is why I love DofE; it challenges me.
It is impossible to choose the single best thing about the Duke of Edinburgh Award because every aspect is thoroughly enjoyable: from beginning to end you are learning new skills. The Duke of Edinburgh Award has given me the confidence to know that I can overcome any obstacle; I can work confidently in a team; navigate and I can do it all while having an amazing time!
No Bake Easter Chocolate Bark – As we are moving into Spring, many are excited for nicer weather, flowers and food – most importantly chocolate! With Spring, comes Easter, which means Easter Eggs! If by chance (although not likely) you have any chocolate left by the end of Easter then a great recipe for using up that leftover chocolate is the Easter Chocolate Bark:
Directions: 1.
Line a baking tray, with high sides, with baking paper
2.
Melt plain chocolate in a microwave for 30 seconds or until completely melted
3.
Pour the melted chocolate across the baking tray – ensure you have enough chocolate to cover the surface and create a suitable thickness
4.
Sprinkle over all leftover chocolate that you have! This can include crème eggs, Oreos, mini eggs and MaltEaster Bunnies. Make sure you press down on the chocolate so that it sticks in the melted chocolate.
5.
Then place the tray in the fridge and allow to become firm and brittle
6.
Once the chocolate is cooled and firm – break it apart in jagged chunks of chocolate so it looks like tree bark!
Enjoy… By Jessica Galloway
Pick an Easter egg, get an Oscar winning film Dunkirk Winner of Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Film Editing
The Silent Child Winner of Best Live Action Short Film
Darkest Hour Winner of Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Oldman) and Makeup and Hairstyling
The Greatest Showman Although not an Oscar winner, actress Keala Settle performed 'This is me' from The Greatest Showman at the Oscars (and in my opinion, it was an Oscar winning performance)
Coco Winner of Best Original Song and Animated Feature Film
By Florence New
An Interview with Mr John Ryan
Interviewer: What were your favourite subjects at school? JRY: My favourite subjects at school would have to have been History, P.E and Geography.
Interviewer: Why are you so passionate about science? JRY: Well, it was a new field for me personally to go into and I am always up for a challenge. I have been given such an incredible opportunity and have gained such an amazing insight into science and I’ve had a great teacher (Bill) so my passion has just developed more over time and I’m still learning. Now I’m trying to impart the things I’ve learnt on to the next generation.
Interviewer: Did you always know you wanted to work in schools and be a science technician? JRY: No not all.
Interviewer: What job/s did you do before being a science technician? What was it like? JRY: I was a Stockbroker, I just sort of fell into it I started off as a tea boy at 16. Then I went to college and passed my Junior Stock Exchange exam in 1973. After that I went on to attend the City of London Polytechnic, which is now the City of London University, where I passed the membership exams for the London Stock Exchange. Then in 1986 I became member of the London Stock Exchange, just prior to the big bang. I stayed at this job until I retired, which was then when I became a Science Technician.
Interviewer: Who is your hero? And why? JRY: My hero would have to be my dad, I mean he equipped me with all the things I needed for life. I wouldn’t be me if it wasn’t for him.
Interviewer: Have you ever lived anywhere other than England, if so where? If so, where was you favourite place and why? JRY: I have not lived in another country permanently but I worked in America and several other European countries. The entire experience was amazing. My favourite place I lived i suppose would have been Switzerland, the country was lovely and the people are so friendly.
Interviewer: Where would you like to travel too (whether you’ve been there before or have never been)? JRY: Well Zurich was my favourite city, so I would of course love to visit their again but my wife and I really want to go to Australia. We have wanted to go for a while now, we want to travel on the Ghan railway where you travel from the South of Australia to the North, it takes 4 days but the experience and sites look incredible.
Interviewer: Are you religious? JRY: Yes I am, I’m a Roman Catholic.
Interviewer: Do you have any Easter traditions? JRY: Yes of course, we go the ‘Chrism mass’ at Brentwood Cathedral on the Wednesday leading up to Easter where the Holy oils which are used in the parishes of Brentwood during the next year are blessed. The next day is Holy Thursday and we go to ‘Mass of Lord’s supper’. On Good Friday we attend the ‘walk of witness’ then in the afternoon we partake in the ‘Lord's passion service’. Then on Easter Saturday in the evening we go to the ‘service of light’ and then on Easter Sunday we attend ‘mass to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection..
Though these celebrations are for Christians, we encourage others to join the celebrations as we want to engage everybody.
Interviewer: What is an interesting fact about yourself? That maybe not many people know. JRY: Well I’m a West ham supporter, I love Football and Athletics. My Daughter represents Great Britain for athletics and she trains with GB team. I was so proud as she came 5th in the Rio Olympic trials. She has represented GB three times now and I suppose my passion and interest in Athletics has just developed further. It’s probably another reason why I love getting involved in the schools P.E department.
Interviewer: What is your greatest achievement? JRY: My greatest achievement in my life, I’d have to say finding the right woman and being married to her for 36 amazing years and having 4 beautiful children.
Interviewer: What advise or message would you like to pass on to the students? JRY: You can be anything you want to be, take all the opportunities you can, look after people on your way up, because you’ll meet them again on the way down. And put your trust in God.
By Jade Tucker
“Art at A' Level is about thinking outside the box, creating work with powerful ideas and producing final pieces which impact on the viewer. The work that the As & A' Level art students have produced in their recent exams is successful on these measures in so many ways. Each student has taken more than just a step forward from their GCSE work, they've been less restricted in their approach and willing to explore some of their more weird and wonderful ideas.
By Jodie Doy
None of the work is clichéd, instead it is all an independent response to the theme of Reflection. We have pieces which are huge in scale, precise in detail, we have drawing, painting and claywork, and every single piece has a meaning behind it with a justification that makes you say '....I'd never thought of that, that's clever'. The work is not supposed to be pretty, it's supposed to be provocative, and the students have risen to the challenge and expectation of Advanced Level study. Well done to all of the students for preparing successfully for their 10 hour exam. Use of time is often an art student's greatest enemy, but all of the girls planned their work fully and used their time wisely. It was probably the least stressful exam I've ever invigilated and I hope you're all proud of what you've produced.” - Mr Tisdale
By Lucy Lucas
By Olivia Leighton
A- level art consists of one school set topic, this year it was Reflections and then a second topic set by the exam board, this years topics were: nature transformed, Scandinavian art, wildfowl and poultry, mother and child, crustaceans, dance, recycled and lighting. Additionally a congratulations to Claudia Ferreira for being awarded young artist of the year in Epping Forest, for her pen drawing of her granddad on a map.
By Claudia Ferreira
By Lana Roberts
By Amy Griffiths
Written By Estella Chambers
Spark 2 Life Roding Valley High School recently had the fortunate opportunity of having a drop down day that highlighted the dangers that pupils of all age may be at risk too.
By Emma Sansom
In this drop down day, which was mainly put together by Mrs Cain, various different companies came in to give out advice and cautions, one of the most informational and fascinating lessons of the day was one on Drugs and Gangs, that was performed by a company called ‘Spark2Life’. In this lesson pupils were taught, the common dangers that surround us in our daily lives, the red flags of these dangers and how to avoid these situations. ‘Spark2Life’ kindly answered some common questions that pupils had and gave some advice for parents in the following statements. Emma; What would be your advice for any worrying parents whose children may be at risk to gangs and drugs? ‘Seek services that are available within your borough to support your child and family. Source a mentor/ positive adult that could support your child so that they have someone safe and responsible to speak to and seek support from.’ Emma; What is one of the most overlooked red flags or misunderstandings of gangs in local areas? - ’One of the biggest misunderstandings could be that not every BAME young person that lives in inner city areas/estates are gang affiliated. One of the most overlooked red flags could be, young people approached to make illegal money that is disguised as legitimate, in the first instances.’
Emma; Are there any companies or phone numbers that the youth can call to express their worries or seek guidance for possibly illegal or irresponsible actions that would remain strictly confidential no matter the confession? -’Crime stoppers Anonymous- 0800555111’ Emma; In your opinion how could schools further influence pupils to prevent the use of drugs or involvement with gangs? -’Schools could partner more with services that specialise in these areas in order to deliver group work/support to students at risk, i.e. Spark2Life.’ Emma; Do you agree with the laws average sentence of suspended custodial sentence, that some members of youth receive for involvement with gangs such as being manipulated to be in the possession of a handgun. (Do you believe a minor should be given a lighter sentence as they may have possibly been blackmailed or manipulated, or maybe that they should be given a longer one.? -’I am not in a position to share an opinion on sentencing, as each individuals case is different and could have mitigating circumstances. Also some charges do not match up to the offence and can be misleading in court. However, there are current discussions within services around exploitation, as child exploitation linked to gangs could come under the modern slavery act. As a result the young person/child should receive further support and an NRM (National Referral Mechanism) referral should be made to social services/early help.’ (All quotes given by Danyele Lawes, Spark2Life)
By Angel Dean
Speak Out! Thirty Year 10 students at Roding Valley High School took part in the Jack Petchey 'Speak Out Challenge' workshop day. They worked with AC Gaskell, the workshop leader from The Speaker’s Trust, and the school's Challenge & Enrichment Co-ordinator Rachel Hanlon on a range of speech writing activities and techniques. After a day of preparation, the students all delivered their speeches with topics ranging from lisps to gentlemanly etiquette. The six winners, who go through to the next round, Livvy Turnball, Florence New, Daniel Grogan, Ella Margetts, Oliver Wells and Lewis Scarfe. Leighton Brooks and Katie Feeney were highly commended. The winners from the first competition round will compete in a school assembly round to go through to the West Essex regional finals at Epping St John’s School on May 10.
By Emma Sansom
By Alex Popa