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The Viking Voice The Big Interview

Read our exclusive interview with the wonderful Miss Pye!

Around the World

Squid Game: Was it worth the hype? SHIPLAKE GOES FULLY CO-ED - Are we ready? Find out more about Kikinduku and the Gap Africa project that Shiplake students raise money for. Scene It!

CLIMATE CHANGE IS HERE - Are we ready?

PHOTOGRAPHY

SPORTS

COMPETITIONS

Some of Shiplake’s best photos and weekly competition winners here.

See how the Shiplake’s rugby rst XV gets rated by our experts.

Who is telling the truth in Harry and Zach’s Would I Lie To You? And many more!

When Shiplake went into lockdown, Shiplake went to the movies!

WINTER 2021

THE VIKING VOICE

WINTER 2021

CONTENTS PAGE Squid Game Review

page 3

The Big Question: Rewards and Sanctions

page 6

Feature: “Boys and Girls” or “Boys Vs. Girls”

page 7

Shiplake at the Movies: Scene It!

page 9

Poet’s Corner: “Winter”

page 13

Would I Lie To You?

page 14

The Best of Shiplake Photography

page 16

Life in Kikinduku

page 18

Shiplake First XV Rugby Profiles

page 20

The Big Interview with Miss Pye

page 22

Feature: Temperature Rising

page 24

Dogs of Shiplake Quiz

page 26

Shiplake’s Finest Word Search

page 27

Spot the Difference

page 28

The Viking Voice Team: Harry Cucksey, Zach Devine, Dulcie Atherton-Bebbington, Aaron Coleman, Siena Di Cuffa, Sam Edwards, Sam Gillen, Charlie Moss, Berry, Lottie Payne, Oli Prosser, Matthew Provoost, and Ava Timms. (Special guests: Matt Grundy and Jett Dyason)

WINTER 2021

Squid Game Review by The Viking Voice Team The following review is of a Net ix show rating 15+ and is not recommended for viewers under that age (see why by reading on). The article may contain some spoilers. Squid Game is the most watched Net ix series of all-time. The South Korean dystopian drama about the lengths desperately debt-ridden people go to in order to improve their lives has drawn over 140 million viewers this year. Yet viewers have found it dif cult to put their ngers on the reasons for its success. We surveyed thirteen members of The Viking Voice editorial team for their views on the smash hit. All our reviewers gave Squid Game a rating of at least 6/10; three giving a 10/10 maximum. The reasons given for this ranged from the originality of the plot, the shock of the action and the diverse themes the series embraced. Matthew praised the show’s mix of action, violence and kindness and Dulcie commented how the dystopian concept behind the series seemed to draw the viewer in. Sam E remarked on the huge amount of ethical issues and moral choices made by the characters: “The show tries to directly question the audience to make them imagine what they would do in these situations.” This seems to be the reason behind the show’s success. Perhaps surprisingly, the favourite character among the reviewers was Abdul Ali. Described as the show’s “do-gooder” by Wiki-Heroes, Abdul is a migrant worker from Pakistan who fell into debt after the owner of the factory that he worked in failed to pay him his wages. It was his compassion and kindness that earned sympathy with the reviewers who identi ed him as the most moral of the characters in the series.

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The North Korean, Kang Sae-byeok, was also popular. Her name means “morning sunrise” and it was her bravery and determination that most impressed Berry, while Ava liked her because she stuck up for herself and was “stealthy and intelligent.” Siena enjoyed the part when Sae-byeok won against the other girls. Zach was the only reviewer who chose the lead character, Seong GiHun as his favourite character. Nothing wrong with that Zach! There were many memorable moments in the Squid Game. From the initial trial to the glass walk scene, the morbid conclusion in the nal game and the survivor’s guilt at the end of the show. But the two scenes that stood out most in the memory of our reviewers were the rst game of ‘red light, green light’, and the scene where (SPOILER ALERT!) Abdul Ali dies. “The rst game that they ever played was the most memorable because you see the players reaction and realise for the rst time the consequences if they lose,'' according to Ava. Charlie was shocked most by the scene when “Abdul got played” and his betrayal at the hands of Cho Sang-Woo would have made many of the viewers very emotional as they were two very loved and popular characters, according to Sam E. The show is known for its graphic violence and the panel of reviewers were unanimous that this show wasn’t suitable for viewers under 15. Several raised the question of whether the series should have had a higher age rating. Berry noted that it was scary and Ava noted that the show also included themes of addiction and stealing. But it was the graphic detail of the gore and violence that suggested that the age rating was too low. “The whole concept was pretty messed up” according to Matt and Sam E pointed out that the age rating given to the show in its birthplace of South Korea was 17.

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Was the violence of the show justi ed? Most of our reviewers thought it was. Zach felt that it added effect to the show and Lottie felt the violence helped the story to be more impactful and realistic to the viewers. Charlie went further stating that the violence was what made the show and Aaron explained that “the violence was a good way of showing the awful condition the players faced.” Sam G thought the violence was needed to make the show disturbing and Dulcie believed that “without the gore, it wouldn't have attracted such a cult following.” The violence was necessary because it “represented what the human race was happy to do for personal gain” (Sam E). However Matt raised the possibility that the show was guilty of appeasing this generation’s need for shocking content and Ava agreed that some of the violence could have been toned down. It could be argued that the violence would be justi ed if there were moral take-aways from the show. Dulcie felt it wanted to teach us “the true nature of humankind and the actions that we are willing to take to have something that we dearly desire.” Lottie went further, arguing that the show depicts “people as monsters.” Aaron saw a message about the need to look after and not punish the working and lower class,” and Siena agreed that the main point was to teach people to avoid debt. However, Oli, Matthew, Sam G and Charlie all felt that the main purpose of the series was simply to entertain, albeit “to entertain in a twisted way” according to Berry. Nearly all our reviewers recommend watching Squid Game, although Berry wouldn’t because it was too gory. Aaron would only recommend it to the younger generation and Sam G felt that some would nd it too disturbing, but not everyone. With rumours of a second series appearing in the press, it could be that the success of the show is set to continue despite these reservations.

WINTER 2021

The Big Question: Rewards and Sanctions by Lottie Payne This term Shiplake introduced a new system of rewards and sanctions. Change always takes some getting used to and not all pupils have understood the reasons for the changes. We talked to Mr Jones to see if he felt the new system was working and help us understand the reasons behind the changes. What inspired the decision to change the infractions and rewards programme this year ? We received lots of feedback from parents and teachers and even pupils leading it to be reviewed. So a group of teachers led by Mr Shaw started meeting last year to look at the school’s policies and systems and comparing them to those of other schools, which inspired the system we now have in place. It seems that the punishment for an infraction outweighs the reward for an excellence slip, would you agree? Generally pupils receive far more excellence slips than infractions. At the end of last half term, in 90% of all events were excellence slips compared to 10% infractions. So there is a need for a difference as infractions should be a deterrent and occur less frequently. Does the punishment of an infraction seem harsh compared to the behaviour committed, which might usually just warrant a warning? Teachers know that an infraction is not the rst action and it should lead to a conversation. The majority of infractions are for incomplete prep and we are hoping that the new routines for learning should change this and make prep non-negotiable. Do you think the ease of getting a lunchtime detention takes away from its impact? The majority of detentions are awarded for incomplete prep, so now you can complete the prep in the detention. It allows pupils to get into the routine of completing prep and it then becomes less and less of a problem throughout the year as pupils now instantly know what the consequences are.

What impact have you seen the new system have? It has caused much conversation among staff and pupils and I feel that it has been very well-received. We can clearly see that the infractions have been a clearer deterrent and stressed the importance of prep. As for excellence slips, because of the snakes and ladders board, it is clear what the incentive for good behaviour is and we hope this inspires pupils to work hard. 6

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“Boys and Girls” or “Boys vs. Girls”? by Dulcie Atherton-Bebbington As one of many year 12 girls thrown in the deep end of a coeducational sixth form, I wished to challenge and explore the contrast between the lives of boys and girls in our scholarly environment. The Viking Voice provided me with a platform to explore this venture, allowing me to interview those in charge of and managing the upcoming co-educational change. The main question in my mind: Are boys and girls treated with equality here at Shiplake College? My rst, and perhaps most important port of call along my journey to answer this question was to address the sixth formers themselves. I sent out a survey to the whole of years 12 and 13 asking for opinions about their beliefs and arguments with regards to the social climate for our coed sixth form. The most striking responses came in response to the question ‘Do you think girls are equally accommodated as boys at Shiplake?’ 61.7% answered no, whilst only 38.3% believed that Shiplake is balanced and fair in its current state. Many interesting points were made as to whether there is a sense of bias towards either gender regarding the new disciplinary system set in place this term. For me, perhaps the most interesting responses were encouraged by the question ‘Do you think the school in its current state is equipped to become co-educational? Why or why not?’ These answers came in fty- fty. 50% agreed the school was prepared for the change, whilst the other half disagreed, and made some excellent points as to why. Before of cially setting out upon my journey to nd if there were answers to the points my survey raised, I chose to informally ask some of the girls in Gilson whether they felt equally accommodated at Shiplake. One of the main concerns I received was the lack of female toilets across the college campus! When discussed with the boys, this idea was deemed ridiculous and an unnecessary complaint, for why would there be a need to argue over a concept as petty as a lack of bathrooms?

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When I had the chance to interview both the headmaster, Mr. Howe, and Mrs. Green, Director of External Relations. I wanted to not only to establish the changes that the school will undergo over the next 2 years, but also to address any concerns felt by the current generation of sixth-form girls at Shiplake, such as the lack of toilet facilities. Mr. Howe con rmed that as year 7 girls join us in 2023, the Stableyard will become the new hub for our younger students. To accommodate the growth in student base, Shiplake plans on building a large toilet block to serve both boys and girls. A great step forward for Shiplake with regards to equality in our community. I gained much insight about the school’s plan for the upcoming co-ed change from chatting to Mrs. Green. She reassured me that the school intends and desires to create an environment where girls and boys can thrive side by side from a young age. One that was highlighted during our interview was the lack of full sized astro pitches at Shiplake for our girls hockey team to play upon, meaning that we cannot host matches and must travel to Reading Hockey Club for weekly training sessions. This is something with which Mrs. Green, as a hockey player herself, agrees is a grave shame. However, ultimately the reason for the school’s inability to install a full size pitch comes down to a lack of space, not a lack of care. Strategically, it is impossible for Shiplake to currently house a hockey pitch in addition to all of the other upcoming builds necessary to implement the co-educational change. Shiplake hopes for a future where we can expand to accommodate all with regards to facilities. With Mr. Howe, I wished to discuss the changes in curriculum that would be enacted to facilitate the new girls joining the school. I was intrigued to learn that Shiplake plans on introducing dance to the lower school, preferably in 2022, in order to provide our younger boys as well as the new girls with a new outlet for creativity. In addition to this we explored what changes to the curriculum would be necessary, in subjects such as PSHE and other areas of pastoral education. Perhaps what impressed me most was the way Mr Howe talked of Shiplake’s aims to create an environment for students and staff that feels like a community. I believe his primary message was that ‘It’s like a jigsaw puzzle and everybody has a role to play.’ It seems to me that the plans going forward are very positive and Shiplake holds a bright future for both boys and girls.

WINTER 2021

Shiplake at the Movies: Scene It! by Mrs. Farrell Lockdown, though frustrating for an active drama department, ensured we had to think outside the box a little more than usual. Thinking of ways to allow our wonderfully creative students to express themselves and enjoy the fun side of drama from home was really important to us. Whilst our scholars and drama students in lessons enjoyed a full range of practical and technical design opportunities, we wanted to ensure that our co-curricular efforts did not stall and give the students an opportunity to maximise their time at home with family in a creative way. The “Scene It At Shiplake” competition began life with the Year 9 and 10 Thursday activities rotation and as we saw the amazing entries coming in each week, we knew that there would be a wealth of students across the year groups who would love to create something similar, and so the competitive element was born.

The idea behind the competition was that students, staff and their families would choose the advertising poster or cover of their favourite lm and using costume, props and other items from around the home as well as their excellent acting skills, to recreate them. For the most creative of the competitors who were not satis ed with just a picture, they could recreate a scene from the lm. My emails were buzzing each day with amazingly creative entries from a range of year groups. The very rst submission and one of our favourites was from Oli Bailey who took pictures from around a farm which he then cropped and manipulated into the now iconic Dr. Dolittle poster. Speaking of iconic, Daniel Johnson-Greenwood’s entry closely followed with a very creative use of a toilet roll to portray the one and only 007 in all his glory.

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Representing the Year 8s with what sounds like a weekend of fun with the family, Freddie Coultas gave us not one, but two entries with his version of Ted 1 and Ted 2. The creative use of Photoshop and his acting skills made this a front runner. Freddie was not the only one to give us a movie and its sequel, Joe Morgan treated us with some fantastic interpretations of The Gremlins movies and they are just as spooky as the original if you ask me! There were a couple of popular choices and some lms had multiple entries such as Star Wars, Home Alone and James Hyman’s video entry with his brother of Men In Black wiped the oor with Mr Howe, Mr Jones and Mr Brown’s photo entry of the same lm.

It was great to see staff getting involved and special mentions to Mr Milburn and Mrs Magee whose entries of Alien and Thelma and Louise were fabulous. I’ll let you decide who submitted which one.

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The drama scholars did not disappoint and Felix Collar submitted multiple different concepts and got the whole family involved, including his dog as Sandy to his Danny and his Mum looking ravishing in their Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure! James Bizior was another 007 entry with his moody submission from Skyfall. James Lucking’s submission was in stark contrast as a sultry and professionally executed representation of The Exorcist. The choice of location and camera effects on this one pushed it right up into the top three. There were few competitors who submitted videos, but Jack Dag’s recreation of a scene on the barricades in Les Mis and Zac Fisher's thrilling Greatest Showman performance are very highly commended and we will have our eye on these two for our whole school production next year!

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One of the best things about this competition was getting to know our school community even better, talking with students and their families about their favourite lms and why they chose speci c lms to recreate. Ben Watkins’ entry of Steve McQueen’s ‘Les Mans’ makes perfect sense when you speak to him about his passion for competitive driving and our winner Noah Scotchbrook’s choice goes back a generation and is not only one of his and his brother’s favourite lms but that of his Dad as well.

Noah not only submitted an outstanding picture entry of Dumb and Dumber with his brother Jake’s help, he also submitted an impressive one man version of an iconic scene in the movie. The roles were clearly distinguished through his excellent acting skills and the comedy of the scene came shining through. A fantastic example of how our students can throw themselves into a creative challenge and excel. Well done to everyone who got involved and I hope that you enjoyed creating your Scene It scenes as much as we loved receiving them. It is great to be back in real live school now and I hope that you all continue to get involved in all of the drama opportunities open to you such as inter-house drama and the whole school production.

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WINTER 2021

“Winter” by Shiplake Poet Laureate: Matthew Perry

Winter Goodbye summer Going into autumn Crunching through golden leaves It gets colder Wetter Darker The trees bare The ground frosty And then it snows Snowmen appear around the park And lightness comes from the dark Sitting around the re Watching the snow fall Wishing of spring When it gets warmer Lighter Brighter Life starts over Goodbye winter Going into spring Hello summer once more.

THE VIKING VOICE

WINTER 2021

THE VIKING VOICE

WINTER 2021

The Best of Shiplake Photography by Berry & Siena Di Cuffa Congratulations to the multi-talented photography students featured in this selection of amazing photography. Thank you for sharing your art with us.

Alex Subramanian

Gina McKee-King

Charlie Neale

Merry Oakes

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Tom Stuart

Arthur Barnett

Berry Partridge

Gina McKee-King

Ava Timms

Dan Beard

WINTER 2021

Life in Kikunduku by Matthew Provoost Shiplake College started its relationship with the primary school in Kikunduku back in the mid-1990s. Over the last twenty years, Shiplake College has done a marathon length walk/run around the whole school several times to raise money for Gap Africa. A little over £4,000 has been raised to support the children who go to school in Kikunduku. As of today Kikunduku Primary School has 329 pupils.

Kenya is a developing country with a population of 47,564,296 (2021). Kenya’s GDP is $100 billion and its GDP per person is $1,817. Over 2015-2019 Kenya's economic growth averaged 5.7% per year which made it one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic has negatively hit Kenya's economic development resulting in a massive decrease in GDP and economic growth. The average life expectancy in Kenya for males is 66 years and females is 69 years.

THE VIKING VOICE

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On the 10th of November I had the privilege of meeting with the Rev to talk about Kikunduku. We spoke about the way that the relationship with Shiplake College and Kikunduku came to be. It all started in the mid-90s when a group of pupils from Shiplake’s expedition society visited Kenya and they came across a school in the village called Kikunduku. The college then decided to work with Gap Africa in order to raise money on a regular basis for the school.

To this day each house at Shiplake College takes on the responsibility for raising £420 per year to cover the education fees of one child. Many fundraisers are also run to help raise money for building projects at Kikunduku Primary School such as new classrooms and well holes to supply the school with water.

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Shiplake First XV by Oli Prosser, Aaron Coleman

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Rugby Profiles and Charlie Moss

WINTER 2021

The Big Interview with Miss Pye by Sam Gillen and Sam Edwards Miss Pye is currently a tutor in Skipwith House and teaches psychology to GCSE and A level students. Sam Edwards and I thought we would ask a series of questions with regard to her background, choice of university and how that in uenced her decision to be here today; with a brief mention of the recent well known Net ix series, Squid Game! We hope you enjoy getting a small insight into Miss Pye’s journey into teaching… Question: What subjects did you do at A level?

“Psychology, PE, Biology and French. However, I dropped French.”

Question: Why did you decide to specialise in Psychology over the other 3? “It's not actually that interesting, it was just my best subject which I was getting better grades in, but I ended up being really really happy with the decision that I made.” Question: What University did you go to? “I went to Stirling University in Scotland. Bit of a random choice but I wanted to get as far away as possible. Had I not gone to Stirling I would have gone to Liverpool.”

Miss Pye studied here, at Stirling University.

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Question: What made you decide to go into teaching after that? “I was going to go into sports science but I decided not to. My brother was at a school in Wokingham and they were looking for a psychology teacher and I kinda just fell into it doing the training for the job.” Question: Was psychology the rst thing you were thinking of going into?

“No, I was thinking of going into sports psychology rst but I decided not to.”

Question: What brought you to Shiplake? “At a school in Wokingham, I met Mr Ebbage who was already working at Shiplake. The job came up at Shiplake and I thought I would take it up. There is a distinct beautiful atmosphere, everyone is really nice and there are lots of dogs. I love dogs.” Question: Who was your favourite character in the Net ix series, Squid Game? Did you think the violence was justi ed? “Sang-woo was my favourite. I think the violence was normal for your age group as this is a lot of what your age is already watching regardless.” We would like to thank Miss Pye for taking some of her time to let us nd out more about her. If there were any questions that you would like to ask, or are curious about Miss Pye’s educational journey, I'm sure she would be happy to tell you more!.

Like Timo Werner, Miss Pye could have gone to Liverpool.

Unlike Zach, Miss Pye’s favourite Squid Game character is Sang Woo.

THE VIKING VOICE

WINTER 2021

Temperature Rising Climate Change and Shiplake by Sam Edwards Climate change is inevitable. Extreme weather is coming. The frightening reality is edging closer and closer, year by year, and is more than likely to impose catastrophic effects on us here at Shiplake. Personally, we at the Viking Voice are expecting the worst and advise that you do so too. Examples of what should be expected are: damaging ash oods, unbearable heats, scorching droughts, increased storms and high winds. Political leaders are failing to tackle these effects and our dark future is becoming darker. Many lives will be lost due to the extremity of the effects; almost 10% of our population will be homeless from sea levels rising by 2100. These are frightening facts and should be taken seriously. Can you imagine the Riverside pitches, completely engulfed, by a lethal ash ood that hits suddenly, sweeping away hoards of hopeless students? Slowly but surely, this is becoming a possible reality. We at Shiplake, are reliant upon our Riverside elds to host training for years 7 - 10; Without these, we lack the space to facilitate the high number of rugby players we house. When these inevitable oods broach us, will we have to reduce our sports offering for the affected period? No longer will we yearn for the summer to arrive, when temperatures reach an intolerable 40 degrees each day in the classroom. These extreme temperatures will make teaching and learning a grim experience for students and teachers alike. We could choose to install air conditioning units, but these are costly investments, destined to consume greater amounts of electricity, further polluting and contributing to global warming. Rainfall is expected to rise dramatically as we step closer to a warmer future. Our rowers rely on the calmness of the river in order to keep the stretch safe to row. There are certain weeks in the year when the current is deemed unsafe for rowing and the regularity of this is likely to increase exponentially. This leaves our rowers with a steady decline in training opportunities on the river to develop their personal technique.

WINTER 2021 As a result of the rising heat, we at Shiplake should expect an increase in wild res, in addition to a multitude of other natural disasters. Though wild res here in the UK are rare when compared to the likes of those in California and Australia, if the climate were to reach the same extreme temperatures as the regular ones in aforementioned destinations, we may begin to face similar intensity to those who endure such tragedies. At Shiplake we are surrounded by a woodland of many beautiful and rare species of tree. However, in the future these trees could act as the principal fuel for a erce and untamed re burning across the site, making its way from the treasured Skipwith house, spreading up the driveway, as chemicals from the labs intertwine with the undeniable ames, detonating the remains of our cherished school.

There are predicted high winds for the future that could cause huge amounts of damage to infrastructure. A large number of our students rely on buses and other means of transportation to travel to and from school each day. If these bus routes were to become blocked by trees, many of the students would be rendered incapable of simply journeying to school. Could these problems mean we must fall back upon the inef cient and draining use of online school that tortured each and everyone of us in the remote learning period of last year. All of these possible outcomes are the result of our own contribution in pushing our Earth’s climate into a crisis mode. The unsettling dystopian future is threateningly close, and though we may not see these effects in their full force during our lifetimes, what are we leaving for the future generations? Doomsday. Cities will fall. Wildlife will burn. Could this rising climate kill us all? It has happened before. And what of us at Shiplake? A dreadful fate for us all!

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Dogs of Shiplake Quiz by Siena Di Cuffa and Ava Timms This quiz entails guessing the owners of these dogs by reading the short synopsis on their owners. The rst three tutor groups to send in the correct answers get a lovely prize which are... Jaffa Cakes!!! Please send the answers to 18atimms@shiplake.org.uk

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WINTER 2021

Shiplake’s Finest Word Search by Oli Prosser Welcome to the Shiplake’s Finest, only the nest word search there is. Give it a go and email 18oprosser@shiplake.org.uk to win some Jaffa cakes!

Words to nd: Boat, Everett, Excellence, Football, Geography, Howe, Infraction, Maths, Matron, Orchard, Rowing, Rugby, Skipwith, Thames

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WINTER 2021

Harry & Zach’s Spot the Difference by Harry and Zach Spot the difference and email 18hcucksey@shiplake.org.uk to win some Jaffa cakes! There are 5 differences to nd.

If you would like to join our growing team of journalists, we would love to hear from you. Email Mr Read to nd out more about the Viking Voice, or talk to Mr Read, Mr Settle or any of the current Viking Voice team to nd out more about it.