School & Career

Unsung Heroes – Lollipop Men and Women

Is there a Lollipop Man or Woman on your road to school? Do you know his or her name?
When I take my children to school, we walk  if we can, because the parking situation near the school is a bit difficult. On our way we cross the road where the Lollipop Man stands guard.
He isn’t particularly talkative, but is friendly and helpful. It has been warm these past days, and still he stands, in his reflective jacket and ear-muffed reflective hat. I am waiting for him to take the hat off, he must be sweltering under there. Perhaps he has a lighter hat in his cupboard, which doesn’t get worn until summer.

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Home, Health & Style

How to Eat Healthily With Food Allergies

 Writer and blogger Kate Thompson has four children. Kitty and Archie are eight years old. Along with their older brothers (aged 12 and 16) they suffer from food allergies, in their case “gut allergies” called non IgE allergies which you can’t test for.
The more well known allergies are IgE allergies – these  are the ones which bring an instant reaction – sometimes this reaction can be very dangerous, and the person cannot breathe properly. 

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Written By You

Drama Clubs for Kids – Written by You

Hi! My name is Cait, I’m 14 years old and I live in the North-East of England. No matter where you live in the world, there is a good chance there are some drama clubs for kids in your area. Drama is one of my favourite hobbies, and I thought by answering some questions it may make you think about starting drama!

Do you have to know what you are doing?

No! When I first started doing drama I had absolutely no idea how to act, and that was okay. I went into this small drama club and had no idea what I was doing. But over the time that I went there, I gained skills and I learnt how to act. Going into drama having no idea what you are doing can be good because it means you can learn so many new skills, which is great! Over time you can learn how to do other things as well such as singing or dancing!

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Written By You

I Love You Natty – A Siblings Introduction to Down’s Syndrome

My name is Mia and I’m ten years old. 

I’m the first person in my family to write a book. It’s called I Love You Natty and is about my younger sister who has Down’s syndrome. Natty is 7 and there isn’t anything particularly ‘special’ about her, but she does have an extra chromosome in every cell of her body, which looks like a jelly bean.

 

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She needs some extra help sometimes, for example I learnt Makaton to talk with my hands with her. She used to have physio therapy and also had surgery on her heart when she was small. But we all need support sometimes don’t we?

Most of all Natty is just my little sister. I love that when she was small she would force herself to open her eyes to look at me because she recognised my voice. I love Natty and my life wouldn’t be the same without her.

I wrote this book with Mum so that other children could understand what Down’s syndrome means. I did lots of drawings and we chose lots of family photographs to go in the book too.

I hope you enjoy it. Natty does. 

 

 You can order I Love You Natty on Amazon or via your local bookstore

 

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Art & History

Explaining History – And Firing a Steam Train

Have you ever watched someone at work and wondered how they got there, or why they do what they do all day long?
Laura works as an explainer at the UK’s biggest train museum – the National Railway Museum in York. It may seem that steam trains and young women do not go together, but Laura loves it. She spoke to Joanne to explain how she became an explainer, and what she does all day.

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