Sports

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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

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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

Great Women You Should Know… Hedy Lamar

You probably do not know who the actor Hedy Lamarr was as her last film credit was in 1958. If you ask your parents they may have a vague recollection or at least know her name.
What they probably don’t realize is that she wasn’t only an actor. She was a philosopher and, most importantly this month as we remember the World Wars and the sacrifices made during those wars, she was an inventor. She and avant-garde composer George Antheil worked together to create the first broad-spectrum frequency hopping wireless communications.
“What on earth is that?”, you’re probably thinking!

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Popular, Science, Nature and Tech

What is Biotechnology?

Perhaps you have heard of the term biotechnology and wondered what it is. You may think you know already – after all, the parts that make up the word are very familiar: bio + technology. You have seen the first part of the word in biology, antibiotics, all sorts of words. It comes from Greek bios, which means ‘life’.

As for technology, it is not just about computers and smartphones. Technology is the practical use of knowledge to create useful things and solve problems. You might like to think of it as tech-knowledge-y. So, taking it one step further, biotechnology is about using biology in technology.

We talked to Alessandra Iscaro, a biotechnology researcher at the University of Florence, Italy, and she explained to us what it is all about.

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