Jump! Mag

School & Career

A World at School – Education for Everyone

We are lucky in the western world. We are entitled to a free education until the age of 18. You might not always feel like going to school, but you are able to learn about loads of different topics, which will help you find a job when you are older. Not only that, but school can be great fun too – we bet you have a favourite subject, that you love to learn about.

A lot of children across the world don’t have this opportunity. Sometimes it is because the children are too poor to be able to afford to go to school, and there is no way they can pay for uniform, travel and schoolbooks. Sometimes it is because the government doesn’t provide free education where they live. Sometimes it is simply because they are girls. You might have seen the story of the girls in Nigeria who have been kidnapped, because they wanted to go to school – we are all hoping very much that they are soon home with their families. Now more than ever, it is vital to ensure children can go to school safely.

Written By You

Twirling Skye

My name is Skye, and I am eleven years old. I belong to Riverside Reflections, which is a baton twirling team.

My mum teaches us how to twirl, and sets our routines for us. She started twirling when she was five years old, which is quite a long time ago!! I started doing it properly when I was about five.

If you don’t know what twirling is, I’ll try to explain. A baton is a metal stick that is weighted at both ends, and has rubber to cover these ends. It is quite heavy, and hurts if it hits you, so you have to practise lots so you don’t drop it on your head!

Language & Literature, Science, Nature and Tech

Where did the Word Butterfly Come From?

Millie explained recently what etymology means, and fitting to this week’s theme of Jump! Into Biology, we are are asking ‘where did the word butterfly come from?’.

Who hasn’t seen a butterfly flitting by and enjoyed seeing the flutter of its wings? But have you ever considered why it came to be called “butterfly”? Perhaps you have wondered whether there used to be a large number of yellow, butter-coloured butterflies who gave their name to the whole species?

Well, there is a nice little story attached to the name of the butterfly. In the past, there was a general belief that butterflies ate milk and butter. This probably came about because of the way that flies hover over any food at all that’s left out, and butterflies may have been seen hovering over uncovered pails of milk and butter. Not only that, but this belief developed to encompass the idea that butterflies were either sent out by witches to steal butter, or were in fact, witches themselves, disguised as butterflies. Quite why the witches were out to steal the butter, we don’t know!

Science, Nature and Tech

When Two Girls Sent Their Cat into Space

Have you ever let go of a helium-filled balloon and let it soar into the sky? Maybe you’ve even tied a message onto the string, with your contact details and hoped that someone would let you know where it landed when it popped. These awesome girls went a big step further than that. They sent a balloon into SPACE, with a couple of Go-Pro cameras attached, in a really cool science experiment.

Toys and Games

Six Ace Classroom Gadgets You Won’t Want to Miss

There’s no getting around it – school can sometimes feel like a drag. We’re willing to bet that some of these cool gadgets and new technology would make school life much easier!