Improve Your Communication Skills
A Poem – Sadness is a Storm
This poem was sent to us by one of our talented young readers, 14 year old Rebekah.
Sadness is a storm.
A clap of thunder,
As you howl and wail,
Yet through it all,
You still prevail.
Nothing withstands
The heart of the tempest.
Ominous clouds loom,
Lightning flashes.
Light still gets through.
It gives you a glimpse,
Of hope pure and true
All’s well once more,
With the subsiding of the storm.
.
Why do we get Hiccups?
Everybody gets hiccups (also sometimes spelt ‘hiccoughs’). Even when babies are still in the womb they hiccup, which can feel very odd to their mother! But why do we get them and how can you stop them?
What are Hiccups?
Hiccups are caused by the diaphragm (pronounced DYE-uh-fram). This is a large, dome-shaped muscle that sits at the bottom of your chest cavity, below your lungs. When we breathe in the diaphragm tightens, helping to pull air into the lungs, and when it relaxes it forces the air back out again. Sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated and instead of tightening smoothly it does it in a jerky way, which makes air suddenly rush into your throat. This air is stopped when it hits the voice box and makes the opening between the vocal cords close very suddenly. This is what produces the sound of the hiccup.
Prehistoric Art
When we visit art galleries or learn about art in school, we tend to think of paintings on canvas, sculpture or photographs. Often these will be clearly recognisable as people or objects like food and flowers, and we can relate to them as familiar in some way.
Art and pictures have been around ever since people first were recognised as human by historians, in pre-historic times. Prehistoric simply means history which dates before written accounts are available to study. The earliest humans did not have writing with which they could communicate and this means that art and pictures were even more important to them.
What Makes a Family?
What does the word ‘family’ mean to you? It can mean many things in our society. Some define family as a mother, a father and one or more children. For others, there don’t need to be children in the home for there to be a family. Where there are children, about three quarters of the parents will be married to each other.
In 2013 the Office of National Statistics, which is a government body which takes surveys on all manner of topics to help the government make policy (rules under which we all live), found that there were 18.2 million people living in this type of family. Many more of us have families which have a different make-up. For the purpose of the survey, a family is defined as people living in the same household.
However, as many of you will know, there are other ways in which we describe our family. There are children who have two parents of the same gender, there are children who have only one parent with whom they live, other children have guardians and live with aunts, uncles or grandparents.
Ailsa – Our ContiReporter at Women’s U17 EUROS – Day Two
Tuesday 26th of November
Today was match day! England v Italy.
The match was at Telford Stadium so we had a 50 mile journey from St. Georges Park to get there.
It was a rather cold day to be outside but it wasn’t shown by any of the excited school children that flooded the ground, ready to watch the game. Before the match began outside the stadium, Continental Tyres were running a Conti Fan Zone. A variety of football activities were being run for the energetic children.
I had a go at measuring the speed of my kick. On my first go I fluffed it and didn’t even hit the target (that’s why I play in goal!) but on my second go I managed to get 29mph which was quite good.
I had to do a piece to camera about what went on before the match and interviewed two Birmingham City Ladies who were taking part in the activities.
Me and my cameraman David positioned ourselves by the team dugouts, ready and waiting for kick off. When the game finally kicked off it was a fast, exciting game.
Both teams were equal and no team was particularly dominant. The England captain, defender Leah Williamson was a stand out player as she was clearly comfortable on the ball and lead the team with ease.
At half time it was 0-0. For the second half me and David retreated to the press box, due to the days coldness, where Simon and Dad had been watching the game and famous footballer spotting.
I had to do some reporting to the camera at half time about how I thought the match was going. The second half was just as gripping and as nail-biting as the first. Unfortunately England conceded an untimely goal off a deflection. England continued to battle throughout the second half and continuously tried to win themselves back a goal, they came staggeringly close to scoring again but unluckily when the final whistle blew, Italy won 1-0.
The score didn’t reflect the game, a draw would have connoted the game more suitably. After the game, I got the chance to ask Lois Fidler a question at the after game press conference.
Following the press conference I then got the opportunity to interview the current England Ladies Manager, Brent Hills, who was lovely and chatty, I still can’t believe I got the chance to interview him.
I was also fortunate enough to be able to interview Alex Scott, England international, Dave Sampson, Bristol Academy Ladies Manager and four of the Under 17 girls, Leah Williamson, Keira Walsh, Chloe Kelly and Molly Rouse.
I was overwhelmed by the people I got the chance to talk to about the game. As the day came to a close it was time for us to go back to St. Georges Park after a long, jam-packed, thrilling day.