RVHS Exposed - Christmas 2020

In This Issue: 

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Christmas Food

Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas Christmas Photography The Guerrilla Girls

Editor’s Note: Merry Christmas Everyone. Thankfully the nightmare that has been 2020 is almost over. I hope you are all enjoying the festive season. Christmas is just around the corner and I’m certainly excited for it, mostly so we can all get a well-earned break.

We have a wide range of articles in this issue of RVHS Exposed, including ones that will help to keep you busy during the Christmas Break, such as ideas for Christmas Photography, Online Art Exhibitions you can look at during the break, eco-friendly gift ideas for Christmas and Christmas Quizzes. During lockdown, it can be tough to find things to do and I often found myself not doing much, so it’s important to keep yourselves occupied, and I hope this issue of the magazine will help with that.

Exam stress can also be difficult, so it’s important to not spend all of your time studying and to take breaks throughout your revision time.

Additionally, the lockdown means we can’t spend as much time with our friends or family as usual, which can be particularly hard during Christmas time. For that reason you should make sure to stay in contact with your friends and family during the festive season.

Joseph James, Editor 1. Germany, 2. Three Ghosts, 3. 364 presents in total, 4. 1994, 5. A Coin, 6. Donald Trump, 7. Capricorn Answers:

GUERILLA GIRLS: 35 YEARS OF ANONOMOUSLY FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE: Since 1985, anonymous graffiti based around themes of equality and social justice have been appearing around the state of New York. These works used facts and imagery to raise awareness about the treatment of minorities in the U.S, or often discussed the poor attitudes towards women in art.

It soon became known the masterminds behind the pieces were a group of women who hid their identities with gorilla masks. These women have been known for fighting for equality in unique ways.

They go by the name “The Guerrilla Girls� and, over the years, they have continued to stay true to their modern ideals. To this day, they are still actively fighting injustice, from vouching for more recognition for women in art to fighting for LGBTQ+ and black rights.

Many of their pieces have become worldrecognised symbols of justice. 2020 marks the 35th year of the Guerrilla Girls.

By Athina Christofi

Food Festivity: Sugar cookies Ingredients: - 200g unsalted butter, room temperature - 280g caster sugar - ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract - 1 egg - 400g plain flour - Pinch of salt - ½ teaspoon cream of tartar - Royal icing Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 170C 2. Put the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in the freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment or handheld electric whisk and cream until light and fluffy 3. Add the egg and mix well 4. Add the flour, salt and cream of tartar and mix well, but don’t overwhisk 5. Dough should be light and fluffy, soft and easy to handle 6. Lightly dust a clean work surface with the flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Cut out shapes with your choice of biscuit cutters.

7. Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking trays and bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes 8. Cookies should be light golden on outer edges and paler in the centre 9. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

10. Decorate with royal icing (The photo above is the cookies I made with this recipe)

The history of Christmas food and traditions  Candy canes were invented in 1670 in Germany, where a choirmaster wanted the candies to be shaped like a shepherds crook  Until Henry VIII’s regime, goose was the favoured bird for Christmas  It was illegal to eat mince pies on 25th December, because of Oliver Cromwell trying to stop gluttony  Sugar plums came in the 16th century and is basically a fruitcake ball  It was prohibited to eat fruitcakes other than on special occasions because it was sinfully rich and delicious  Christmas crackers were introduced in 1902

Teachers Favourite Foods at Christmas: - Miss Bleakley = Mince pie with custard or turkey with cranberry sauce - Miss Barron = Anything sweet!

- Miss Cain = Pigs in blankets, blue cheese and green triangles from quality streets :) - Mr Liddle = Pigs in blankets - Miss Delbourgo = Christmas dinner, especially yorkshire puddings - Mr Baidoo = Ghana Waakye - Mrs Patel = Chocolate - Mr Mammen = Stollen

Chocolate log Ingredients: For the cake: - 3 eggs - 85g golden caster sugar - 85g plain flour - 2 tbsp cocoa powder - ½ tsp baking powder For the filling and icing: - 50g butter, extra for the tin - 140g dark chocolate, broken into squares - 1 tbsp golden syrup - 284ml pot double cream - 200g icing sugar, sifted - icing sugar and holly sprigs to decorate

Method: 1. Heat the oven to 200C. Butter and line a 23x32cm swiss roll time with baking parchment 2. Beat the eggs and golden caster sugar together with an electric whisk for about 8 minutes until thick and creamy 3. Lay a sheet of baking parchment on a work surface. When the cake is ready, tip it onto the parchment, peel off the lining paper and roll the cake up from its longest edge with paper inside.

Leave to cool 4. To make the icing, melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Take from the heat and stir in golden syrup and 5 tbsp double cream. Beat in the icing sugar until smooth 5. Whisk the remaining double crm until it holds its shape. Unravel the cake, spread the cream over the top, then carefully roll up again into a log.

6. Cut a thick diagonal slice from one end of the log. Lift the log on to a plate then arrange the slife with the diagonal cut against the cake to make a branch. Spread the icing over the log and branch (don’t cover ends), then use a fork to mark the icing to give the effect of tree bark. Scatter with icing sugar and decorate with holly

More history of Christmas food!  Christmas pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine  Tradition of tangerines in stockings came from 12th century French nuns who left socks full of fruit  Roots of the yule log go back to the Iron Age where Celts would burn huge decorated logs to celebrate the winter  Eating panettone is an Italian Christmas tradition, dating back to the 1500s.  First known gingerbread recipe is from Greece in 2400BC, followed by Chinese recipes in the 10th century and finally gingerbread cut out in shapes sold during medieval fairs in England, France, Holland and Germany.  First gingerbread house originated in 16th century Germany

By Amber Giddy

Online Art Exhibitions during Lockdown: One thing that all us art-lovers (that's called an aesthete!) have truly missed during lockdown is being able to visit art galleries and expeditions. But, thank goodness, there is a solution - online art exhibitions!

So, how do they work?

Well, videos uploaded to YouTube or to the galleries' websites tour you around some of the most iconic galleries like the Tate Modern. They show viewers works of a different artist each time, including Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Aubrey Beardsley.

Here are my top few that I would recommend you take a look at!

Jakob Kudsk Steensen: Cartharsis from the Serpentine This 4-minute video shows some of Steensen's most ethereal, eyecatching works. The colours used are captivating! You can watch it with the link below. https://youtu.be/Cx_9suUViKk Eye to I: The National Portrait Gallery This video shows portraits of various artists, including Maria Magdalena and Thomas Hart, from the 20th-21st century. https://youtu.be/DS47QDJRKT8 Picasso and the Paper: Royal Academy of Arts The RA virtual exhibition showcases more than 300 of Pablo Picasso's pieces that he created throughout his career in this detailed 40-minute video. https://youtu.be/oOOY6GbV9Ks Edward Hopper: Foundation Beyeler For me, Edward Hopper's pieces have a very authentic feel to them. He used oil and acrylic paint to produce these landscapes, which you can see exhibited in Foundation Beyeler. https://youtu.be/4PocQLU8v14 I hope you enjoy watching these exhibitions, and thank you for reading!

Athina Christofi, 8W

A Winter Wildlife Walk: Christmas holidays as a perfect opportunity to explore and find out about the place we call home. Exercise is very good for your mental health and a good walk is a great way to find a new place around where you live that you can enjoy. A walk I do a lot is the Loughton nature reserve lake loop The Loughton nature reserve is right where you would not expect. It is almost hidden behind the roads of Loughton. On this walk, you will be able to see the

heart of Loughton’s nature.

Start: Drayton Avenue, Loughton, IG10 3DF Finish: Drayton Avenue, Loughton, IG10 3DF Time: Around 30 minutes depending on speed Distance: 2 Km Wildlife you can see: Swans, Red Kites (if you're lucky), Parakeets, Sea Gulls, Coots, Mallards, Ducks, robins and sparrows.

Picture 1: A coot a bird that lives in the lake with a white stripe on its forehead and a black body. Picture 2: A red kite, a bird of prey that swoops up above Loughton. You can tell it's a red kite by its v-shaped tail. Picture 3: Parakeets a bird similar to a parrot which flies in groups near the trees and the sky above the reserve. Picture 4: A mallard which is a species of duck can be found at most lakes in the UK they have a bluey-greeny neck and brown feathers. Picture 5: A swan is known as quite a beautiful bird with white feathers and a long neck. Picture 6: The route of the walk. Picture 7: The lake from above.

Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas for this Christmas!

For this article I am going to be including some great gift ideas without the bad effect on our environment.

Gift Idea 1: Recycled Christmas wrapping paper: (£7.00 form WEARTH London) Although this isn't technically a gift, it can come in pretty useful when wrapping up gifts for friends and family, once they're done with it, it can be recycled again! (just make sure you don't recycle the Sellotape)

Gift Idea 2: Reusable Christmas crackers: (£15.00 from WEARTH London) These reusable Christmas crackers are a great way to add your own twist to this Christmas tradition. These can even be personalised! (All deliveries from WEARTH London are also carbon neutral so that your deliveries will not have an effect on the atmosphere).

Gift Idea 3: Eco pencil pouch: (£22.99 from protecttheplanet.co.uk) If you’re looking for a great secret Santa present, this is a good choice. It's 100%

Gift Idea 4: Keep Cup (reusable take out cup): (price depends on size and type: from keepcup.com) Keep cups are reusable hot (or cold) drinks cups that are brilliant for the winter season when you want to order a hot drink (but maybe cannot sit inside because of COVID) and do not want to add to the millions of single-use coffee cups going to landfill each year.

These come in mix-and-match colours and come in non-toxic plastic or glass (as pictured).

Some coffee shops will even give you 50p off of your drink if you are using a reusable cup!

Gift Idea 5: Recycled notebook: (ÂŁ7.99 from protecttheplanet.co.uk) Need a good stocking filler? Well I've got an idea for you! There are many different brands that make recycled stationery. This type of stationery is great to use instead of throwing out plastic every time your pen runs out or your notepad gets full.

By Ava Towner

Christmas Photography: Merry Christmas everyone! Here are some ideas for Christmas photography!

These are all examples taken by me I took these using my Nikon D3500 camera and my 1855mm lens.

The light in the background produces an effect called Bokeh. This means that a certain part of the picture is blurred.

Some things you can take pictures of this Christmas:  Christmas tree  Lights  Candles  Snow (If there will be any)  Frost  Trees

By Bianca Nedelcu

Christmas!

Merry Christmas Roding Valley high school hope you have the same Christmas you wished for and don't let COVID-19 get your hopes down.

So I'm writing another piece of this magazine I'm going to talk about Christmas maths and I'm also gonna give you some good tips why to stay happy this festive season.

Maths!

20x1000= 20x1008= 100x100= 190000x12=

Important information!

The best time of the year is Christmas but this year it is going to be different we are going to make it well worth it. You are going to wake up on Christmas morning and open your presents.

You should be happy this Christmas because it's the season to be jolly.

You get presents, roast dinner, Christmas pudding and cream. As it is a Christmas article.

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year!

By Jenade Rayment !

Christmas Quizzes:

In this word search, there are six Christmas themed books for the ages 10-12.

Frostheart Watership Down Boy in the Tower Artemis Fowl Wonder A Christmas Carol

By Skye Nash 1. Which country started the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree?

2. How many ghosts show up in a Christmas Carol?

3. How many gifts were given in total in 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' song?

4. What year did Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ come out?

5. What is traditionally hidden inside a Christmas pudding?

6. In Home Alone 2, who does Kevin run into in the hotel lobby?

7. If you’re born on Christmas day, what’s your star sign?

Answers on Page 2

By Joshua Conway