Improve Your Communication Skills
Exploring Australia: Specsavers, Sunshine and Sexism
When I found out I was coming to Australia for two weeks, I was so excited. Australia’s completely the other side of the world to my home in Birmingham. I fantasised about what it would be like: kangaroos hopping round, koalas on every corner, barbecues every night. It would be so different to what I’m used to.
But when I got here, the first thing that struck me was how similar everything was. Getting the bus from the airport, I noticed they drive on the same side of the road as us. When I got to the bus station, the first shop I saw was a WH Smiths. In fact, lots of the shops are the same: Specsavers, Zara, Laura Ashley, Vodafone, Starbucks, McDonald’s, KFC. The first night I was here, I was truly adventurous and had tea at Nandos (although it wasn’t as nice as the ones in the UK and they didn’t have my favourite Wild Garlic and Herb sauce) and then went back to the hotel and watched Homes Under the Hammer, Time Team and Coronation Street.
The UK General Election – An Explanation for Kids
Every five years, United Kingdom elects a new parliament. This is called a General Election and it’s pretty complicated. If you’ve ever wondered how a country decides who is going to run things, this is how! We asked our contributor Tina Price-Johnson to write an explanation of the General Election for kids.
When I was in Year 9, my school ran a mock general election, so we could learn how an election works. I was chosen to be the Liberal Democrat candidate, and two other students were chosen to represent the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. We didn’t have any other parties at that time!
We had to pretend we were running to be elected as a Member of Parliament (MP), and the other students in the school were the voters. We created posters and learned what each party stood for, so we could debate in front of the whole school and give our speeches. We spoke to students in the hallway, and each of us had a team of other students to help us out. This is exactly what all the candidates for MP in your local area will be doing. More or less!
The Doncaster Book Awards – By Kids for Kids
There are lots of children’s book awards, but the Doncaster Book Awards is special. That’s because children decide not only which books they want to win, but even which ones are on the shortlist.
Doncaster is in Yorkshire, in the north of England. Lots of schools in the area, alongside many home-educated kids, register and take part in the awards. First, the children select the shortlist for different categories of books, and these are then voted on by all the schools and the children. Sometimes book publishers ask to get their books on the list, but the answer is always no. This one is by children, for children!
Women in Politics: Be The Change You Want To See
Recently the online parenting website Mumsnet ran a survey which found that people in politics are seen to be ‘white, middle-class and male’. We think that ANYONE can become an MP, so we decided to chat to some politicians about diversity in politics.
First up, we wanted to know what it is really like for women in politics. We asked Tina to chat with Heidi Alexander, Labour Minister of Parliament for Lewisham-East in London.
Real Life Minecraft – What is Quartz?
