RVHS Exposed Summer 2021 Edition

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Editors Note: Well everyone, we’ve made it! It’s been an extremely difficult year for everyone, but we’re finally at the end of it, and with COVID restrictions hopefully about to go, we could finally see a return to normality soon. Additionally, congratulations to all of the Year 11’s and Year 13’s who recently finished their assessments, and best of luck with your results!

Summer can be a stressful time for a lot of people, and it’s important to allow time to yourself in order to relax and unwind. As much as friends and family are important, always remember that you should be the first priority, and you should never compromise your own happiness for other people.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the virtual Challenge and Enrichment showcase.

Projects ranged from a brain sculpture to a family tree history and many many more. The winners will be announced next week - good luck!

Again, I hope that everyone is able to make the most of this summer and give themselves some time to relax. Enjoy Reading!

Joseph James, Editor

The top three games of the Euros so far The Euros have been going on for almost a month now and here are the top three best games of the Euros

3. England 2-0 Germany: Germany were one of the favourites going into the tournament, and England absolutely played them out of the park. Germany were destroyed by two quick goals, which knocked them out of the tournament.

2. France 3-3 Switzerland: This game was truly amazing - six goals, an amazing penalty shootout and the favourites France getting knocked out on penalties.

1. Spain 5-3 Croatia: This game had everything you could want. Eight goals, a funny own goal and an amazing comeback to send it to extra time. A perfect football match.

By Louis James

Video game news: E3 was a few weeks ago and quite a few exciting games were announced during the presentations from a selection of different companies. Here are the most exciting announcements.

The legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 Arguably the most exciting news shown off, Nintendo showed off a new trailer 2 whole years after the announcement. The trailer showed off the new areas and some exciting features but still remained cryptic as to the story of the sequel. The team has expanded the vast country of Hyrule into the land in the sky as shown in the picture above and the playable character link seems to have gained some control over time.

Metroid: Dread: Nintendo also announced the first new 2D Metroid in 19 years, marking the 5th instalment in the series. The game follows Samus as she finds herself deep in an alien planet, being hunted by indestructible robots named EMMIs and longing for a way out. The Nintendo treehouse team provided more insight into the game with a short segment of gameplay.

Shin Megami Tensei V After an incredible 4 years since the announcement of the fifth SMT game Atlus have shown off a gameplay trailer detailing the new world and storyline the game has to offer. It follows the average Japanese secondary school student who gets transported to another dimension and has to fight to survive in a land of angels and demons.

Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy: Fans of the MCU will be pleased to know that Square Enix are producing a game featuring the Guardians of the Galaxy (hence the title), it will be a single player game featuring only Star Lord as a playable character, the rest of the team are simply teammates. Boasting an “All Star” soundtrack of signature 80s music the characters will stay true to their movie appearances despite having an original storyline.

By Alexander Montague-Patel

The rook: common but overlooked As far as bird families go, corvidae is generally considered to be fairly unremarkable - encompassing carrion crows and, essentially, all the other birds that look like them, a member of this group tends to be dismissed as a common sighting and not considered further. Most people can name a good few: magpies, ravens, maybe jackdaws - but are you aware of the rook?

Similar to the carrion crow, and almost indistinguishable in flight, rooks’ defining features are their beaks, the bases of which are not covered with feathers. This results in bare white skin being visible and the bill appearing longer than that of a crow. The purpose of this adaptation is suspected to be to allow the bird to probe deep into soil when foraging for grubs and soil-based invertebrates without getting its head dirty - similarly to how vultures are ‘bald’ to maintain hygiene.

They can also be recognised by the ‘baggy trousers’ of the feathers around their legs, unlike the neater carrion crow, and their exaggerated peaked crowns.

Their dark colouring, harsh calls, and tendency to gather in large groups have earned them some negative associations - generally seen as bad omens, a large group of them arriving in an area was believed to be unlucky, and rooks deserting a rookery (breeding colony) was a signal of coming disaster.

But despite these superstitions, rooks are actually beautiful and fascinating birds. They form life-long partnerships, called pair bonds, and build nests and raise chicks together. They are also very intelligent, a trait found throughout the corvid family, and have been able to use tools and understand puzzles in captivity. In some experiments, they have demonstrated abilities that rival, if not exceed, those of chimpanzees.

As was previously mentioned, rooks form breeding colonies called rookeries which consist of a group of messy, cupshaped stick nests. One such colony can be found outside of the school, in the tall trees near the PE bridge. The birds themselves can often be seen perched on the roof of the maths building, sitting in trees around the site, or wandering around the playgrounds.

Like the seagulls, they are attracted by the feeding opportunities provided by litter. Unlike the seagulls, they aren’t so confident as to grab food in the presence of people and don’t tend to soar when looking for it. This makes them less noticeable and more pleasant to have around.

Overall, rooks are unique, intelligent and deserving of appreciation. So next time you see a moderately large black bird, maybe pay closer attention: there are more corvids than just crows, and they can be truly fascinating.

By Skye Salek-Haddadi

Will You Love Me Tomorrow: The forgotten girl groups of the 1960s The 1960s marked the beginning of pop music as we know it. For once, audiences stopped distinguishing so heavily between genres and instead would listen to any record that made the charts, meaning that music tastes encompassed a large range of different sounds. Although many of us imagine that the decade was mainly dominated by British rock bands, most notably the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, it also saw the emergence of many other styles of music, including sub-genres of soul and R&B. In the early 1960s, primarily taking place during the transition between the decline in 1950s rock and roll and the arrival of British Invasion groups to America, female vocal acts began to see a rise in popularity. Before the decade had truly begun, they had already developed a distinct sound, combining elements of doo-wop, mainstream pop and rock and roll.

In 1957, teenage girls Shirley Owens, Doris Coley, Addie Harris and Beverly Lee performed their song ‘I Met Him on a Sunday’ at a school talent show. After hearing them sing, their classmate Mary convinced them to meet her mother, Florence Greenberg, the founder of Tiara Records. Before too long, the group had been signed and had changed their name from the Poquellos to the Shirelles. In the following years, they had a number of modest hits, including ‘Dedicated to the One I Love’, but it was not until the release of ‘Tonight’s the Night’ that they would start seeing any real success. This single was followed by ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’, which topped the Hot 100, allowing the Shirelles to become the first black female vocal group to achieve a number-one hit.

The Shirelles may not have developed the distinct ‘girl group sound’ of the 1960s; it was arguably the Chantels in 1958 with ‘Maybe’, but they were the first to achieve considerable commercial success. They paved the way for many other girl groups, including the Marvelettes, who in August 1961 released the track ‘Please Mr. Postman’. The record saw the same success as ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’, becoming Motown’s first number one single. The song was the first real indicator that Motown was achieving its aim of racial integration by becoming popular among both black and white audiences, an important milestone for the record label as well as soul music as a whole. The group would go on to become consistent hit-makers, with their singles ‘Playboy’, ‘Beechwood 4-5789’ and ‘Don’t Mess with Bill’ all making the top 20. The Marvelettes opened doors for many other girl groups, such as Martha and the Vandellas, whose string of hits included 'Heat Wave', 'Dancing in the Street' and 'Jimmy Mack'.

However, it was undoubtedly the Supremes who became the most well-known girl group of the decade. Motown’s marketing of them focused on their feminine qualities, with the glamorous frontwoman Diana Ross along with bold backup singers Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson dressed in gowns and high -fashion wigs. Unlike many other R&B performers at the time, Ross’ voice was soft and silky, giving her a place alongside mainstream pop artists. In the spring of 1964, their single ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ topped the charts, and was followed by four other consecutive number one hits. The Supremes maintained this popularity throughout the rest of the ‘60s, with a total of twelve number-one singles, the last of which being ‘Someday We’ll Be Together’ in 1969. The group ultimately disbanded in 1977, seven years after Ross left in order to start her solo career.

By Poppy Tribe

Strawberry Shortcake Slices.

With the heat descending upon England quickly (hopefully), here are some food recipes to cool you and your tastebuds down!

Prep: 25 minutes (plus overnight cooling).

Serves 14.

Difficulty: Easy.

Ingredients:

600ml double cream 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste 1 tbsp orange blossom water 125g icing sugar, plus 2 tbsp 500g shortcake biscuits, plus 3 crushed 350g strawberries, sliced STEP 1:

Line a 20cm cake tin or dish (either a square or rectangle works well) with cling film, leaving an overhang. Whip 500ml of the cream, the vanilla, orange blossom water and 125g icing sugar with an electric whisk until thick and billowy

STEP 2:

Add a layer of biscuits to the tin, and spoon over some of the cream, about 1cm thick all over. Add a layer of strawberry slices, then repeat with the cream, biscuits and

strawberries until you fill the tin, finishing on a layer of biscuit. You’ll have some strawberries left over to serve.

Press everything down well so every biscuit is covered in cream. Cover and chill overnight.

STEP 3:

To serve, flip the tin onto a serving plate, and remove the cling film. Whip the remaining 100ml cream with 1 tbsp icing sugar and dollop on top of the cake, swirling it around.

Top with the remaining strawberry slices in lines, sift over the remaining 1 tbsp icing sugar, and sprinkle the biscuit crumbs in between the rows of strawberries. Cut into slices to serve.

Give it a Glossy Finish:

Dusting the strawberries with icing sugar gives a nice shine as it dissolves, and makes them lovely and glossy.

TRY A TWIST: Add 1 tsp rosewater instead of orange blossom and top with chopped pistachios instead of biscuit crumbs. Or try this method with different biscuits, such as digestives or malted milk and swap strawberries for other fruits.

I hope this gave you some inspiration to bake some tasty treats this summer.

By Skye Nash.

Summer term!

A six week holiday is now right around the corner! Time for sun, pools and ice cream!

This is the best season of the year when flowers are open and everywhere is green, colourful and eye-catching. You can get a tan or play in the pool with your siblings. It’s the time where barbeques can take place and you have that sizzling sensation on the tip of your tongue. I’m excited, aren’t you? Instead of staying indoors and watching TV or playing video games, try to get outside and enjoy the sun while it lasts.

By Jenade Rayment