Written by: Susana Correia
Bullies who bully you are bullied The bully who bullies the bully who bullies you is bullied too. At 9 you become the bully And so does everyone else At 12 you start taking words from Donald Trumps Speech And at 14 you don’t care what teachers teach. At 16 you realize what you have done And try to reach and contact with the people, which are gone You become passionate about things But at the same time people are surrounding you saying What a waste of time But You don’t let them get to you If you want to be a dancer You’re going to be a dancer If you want to be an athlete You’re going to be an athlete If you want to play basketball Then you’re going to play basketball You’re going to run across the field and shoot the ball into the hoop With pride written over your face You start to think Who needs love? Who needs friends? I’ve got me myself and I But you’ve had to come from somewhere Everyone has the right to belong in a home.
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Written by: Kianu Baptiste
Education is a simple equation work hard and you’ll get that sensation put your head down and focus life isn’t no hocus pocus you only get one chance so make it count it’s about the quality not the amount education is the key to success make your parents proud and try your very best because all I want to do is make my mum happy she’s been there for me since I was in nappies I want to be the best of the best get an a star and past every test but that’s not going to happen if I don’t learn so I’m going to face every obstacle and face every turn so I’m going to climb to the top and I’m not going to stop so I’m going to be the best I can be get to number one, not two or three no one can stand in the way of your dreams so just try to achieve, try to believe and you will succeed study revise and make sure you read but life can be hard but this is just the beginning keep on working hard and you’ll end up winning remember life is what you make it don’t ever break. Written By: Mike Misha
Of Course black lives don't matter. This is why Treyvon, Michael, Eric, Lamir, all unarmed civilians, had to be killed. Black lives simply don't matter. This makes it acceptable to have 72% of prisons in the USA occupied with black people. Ridicule, ridiculous and radical. Why do the superiors allow opression to remain and it's strength to regain? I feel violated, ashamed and embarrased. Land of the free? How? We are trapped in a box that holds our talent, skills, knowledge and power. We are trapped like prisoners as that is all we will amount to. We progress as leaders of the free world: Lebron dunking in the opposition, Oprah talking her negatives away, Tiger putting his fears behind him and Usain sprinting from trouble. However, oppression is alive and it's pulse is beating... Our children are being iced at early ages. Our kids just want their pigment to glow. The president is black but the followers wait on white answers from white America. White America. The leaders of our 'free' world. A 'free' broken world where black lives matter, but don't get me wrong all lives matter. Treyvon was killed as a minor, but all lives matter. Eric Brown couldn't breathe but all lives matter. White America. A place where a rapist gets a month because he has a 'good reputation' but a black man gets 39 years despite his reputation. White America is filled with black hearts. Black America is filled with white hearts. Written by Susan Correia
Christmas is rapidly approaching and 2017 is coming to an end but there is still time to squeeze in some Christmas movies, so grab a blanket and some snacks of your choice and snuggle up on the sofa. Everyone has to at least watch one Christmas movie during the festive season, or maybe you prefer to watch them in July, whatever floats your boat. There is nothing I enjoy more than a fantastic movie to boost my mood for the upcoming holiday. Here are some of the go-to Christmas movies. -The Polar Express On Christmas Eve, a boy who is doubting the existence of Santa Claus witnesses a train called the Polar Express that is about to depart for the North Pole. The boy meets other children, including a girl and a know-it-all-kid. The train picks up another boy, whose name is Billy. Billy initially declines to board but changes his mind. The girl and conductor go to deliver the hot chocolate cup to Billy, but the hero boy discovers the girl’s ticket is unpunched. He loses it before he can return it. -Elf On Christmas an orphaned infant boy stows away on Santa Claus’ sack. He is soon adopted by Papa Elf. Papa Elf names his son Buddy. Buddy grows up at the North Pole believing he is an elf, however due to his human size it is impossible to perform elf tasks. When buddy accidentally learns that he is human, Papa Elf explains that he was born to Walter Hobbs and Susan Wells, and was given up for adoption without Walter knowing. -Home Alone 1, 2, 3 and 4 The McCallister family is preparing for a Christmas vacation in Paris. The night before they leave their son, Kevin, is ridiculed by his siblings and cousins. After a scuffle with his brother, Buzz, Kevin, is sent to the third floor of the house, where he wishes that his family would disappear. During the night, heavy winds cause damage to power lines, this causes the alarm clocks to reset; the family oversleeps. In the confusion and rush to get to the airport in time to catch their flight, Kevin is accidentally left behind. -Scrooge The movie starts on Christmas Eve with Scrooge. Scrooge despises Christmas and subjects his clerk with hours of work and low pay. He shows his cold-heartedness toward others by refusing to make a donation to the less fortunate, claiming they are better off dead. While he is preparing to go to bed, he is visited by the ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley, who has died seven years earlier on Christmas Eve. Like scrooge, Marley had spent his life hoarding his wealth and exploiting the poor. As a result, Jacob si damned to walk the Earth for eternity bound in the chains of his own greed. Marley warns Scrooge that he risk meeting the same fate and that he will be visited by three spirits of Christmas: Past, Present and Future. These are some classic Christmas movies which you can enjoy watching over the Christmas and New Year break. Some of these movies are also attached with books that you can read if you enjoy that best. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Written by: Ryan Casey
I have been playing bass for nearly 4 years now. It has been a hobby that I have enjoyed doing. I believe that it will get me somewhere in life at some point. This instrument is the most well-known instrument in the world. Those people who don’t know what their talent is, I will inspire them to pick up a bass and begin to learn. Many of the world’s greatest bass players were inspired to play even though they never found interest in it. I was inspired by my Dad when I saw him in the bedroom playing and was blown away by the way it sounded. At the age of eleven, I asked him to teach me. Every day I was improving, every day I was playing, and every day I was getting there. When I play, I always try to get myself in this position where I let the rhythm take over and ride this wave of beautiful energy. When you feel it, you feel like you can do anything. People who hate this instrument don’t know the greatness they can receive from this beautiful invention. I was also in spired by other bass players like Stanley Clarke, John Deacon, and Mark King. Their music helped me to keep going. You should know how it feels if you play bass. When I appeared on the school stage this year at the Christmas fair and was by myself, I made a lot of people feel amazed from my hidden talent. There was a lot of people supporting me through the performance, and that made me feel special inside. It made me feel like I could do anything. So many people were saying how talented I was, some people were saying that I should do this for a living, and that I have been gifted with a gift that God gave me the most brilliant gift that anyone could ever have. Before this I was letting computer games take over and wasted my time on them too much. At the beginning of year 10, I found out that gamming is a waste of time. So I sold all my games and consoles. The money that I got from selling them was then used to buy something that was very useful, a bass guitar. It was the best decision that I ever made. I hadn’t made that decision, I would be getting anywhere. As part of a community of musicians, we will try to inspire many people to pick up a guitar, bass, piano, drums, anything that they feel like they will be able to do. We will inspire them through the way we play and through the way we sound. I will leave you with one question. If you are getting teased or bullied for being good at and instrument, why are you listening to them? They are only doing that because deep down inside, they wish that they could do what you could do. One way I can protect the environment is by informing as many people as I can.
This will help them know just a small thing, like a packet of crsips, not being in the bin can have a big imapct on the environment. Plastic can take a long time to decompose but if you reuse it or recyle it, it would be better for the community. If you recycle your waste into compost it could help many things in your garden. It is all a chain reaction. If you tell your friend about recycling and they tell their siblings then they tell it to their best friends and soon this will spread the word. Also, posters are a good way to show the destruction of waste. If people see horrible pictures they would not want this to happen to them. This could also be discussed in form time or in Geography lessons. Written by Susana Correia
I can officially say that I have lived a hundred different lives from reading books. I have learnt so much from them. My writing and reading has boosted rapidly over the years. Books are my escape, my escape from everything, If something is happening in real life I write about it, every single detail, however I always end the story with a happy ending. I might not know if there will be one for the situation happening outside in the real world but it makes me feel at ease. I love reading. Actually, let me rephrase that, I am so passionate about books that I will spend hours and hours with my nose inside a book. I remember my first every chapter book. I used to think that they were a waste of time, however, I realised that it was the best way to pass my time. Trying out new books is like going on a new adventure, learning about new things. What about History? Without books hwo would we extend our knowledge? It is a priviledge to be able to have access to books but not many people realise that. Written by Sonya-Marie Dariya
Last week I went to an event in the Commonwealth secretariat that was set up to advocate the elimination of violence against women in the UN. There was a panel of speakers, including Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, second counsellor of education from the Kenyan High Commission, Margaret Lesuuda, chief scientific advisor and director of research and evidence at DFID, Professor Charlotte Watts, and Commonwealth Girls Education Fund ambassador, Ladi Dariya. They all gave the most moving and empowering talks on the effects of acts of violence on women in commonwealth countries, they mainly focused on female genital mutilation (FGM) and the impacts it has on millions of women physically and emotionally. FGM is the process where girls as young as 5 are taken to places to partake in a ‘cutting’ ceremony in order to be perceived by their community as women. This means that they can be married off at that age to a man almost 5 times their age. If you agree that this is despicable you know it needs to change. We watched a video about a young girl called Nancy who started a revolution against FGM by at first refusing to have it done and then giving girls who didn’t have her confidence a voice. You can read more about it here https://nancysgirlrevolution.com/ One talk that particularly took my attention was that of, Ladi Dariya. When she was a young girl her father died. His other wives took all the money leaving her family in poverty. She was sent off to live with her uncle and had to work as a goat herder. In a nutshell, she was bad at it. She would often let the goats run wild while she stuck into school. This was because in her community only boys went to school as it was seen as a more valuable investment. Soon after the village started complaining about the goat-related destruction of their crops, which eventually led to her uncle reluctantly letting her go to school. This was going great all until secondary school. At that point she was in trouble. This was until a charity, then know as the Commonwealth Countries League, sponsored her through secondary school. She eventually went to university and met a lovely man, before going on to have three amazingly empowered daughters. After the talks I felt empowered. I knew that people my age were worrying about marriage while I worried about homework and that needed to change. Not every girl is as lucky as Ladi was and that needs to change. We need to stand up and (not physically) fight for as long as it takes to abolish these injustices forever. From, Your friendly neighbourhood feminist. Ps: If you couldn’t tell Ladi is my mum. Written by: Nicole Silva
A plane carrying 81 people crashed in Colombia killing 77 and leaving only 4 current survivors. The manager, players and backroom staff of Chapecoense had been flying to a South American cup final (Copa Sudamericana) when their plane crashed in the mountains when it was approaching Medellin’s international airport. The aircraft declared an emergency late last night because of an electrical failure. Jose Gerardo Acevedo, a regional police commander said: “Six people were rescued alive, but unfortunately one died. The rest of the occupants unfortunately died. The tragic toll is 76.” This was raised to 77 when it was stated that goalkeeper Danilo passed away, this lead to only 4 survivors. Chapecoense had been travelling to a two-leg final in the Copa Sudamericana. They were going to play Atlético Nacional of Medellin on 30/11/16. Chapecoense from the city Chapeco in southern Brazil were in the middle of a “fairy-tale season.” Chapecoense reached Brazil’s first division and the final of the Copa Sudamericana last week. They were achieving higher than the club had ever gone since it was created in 1973. The team was flying to Medellin via Bolivia and it was said that the players had to change their flight and board the plane that crashed after Brazilian aviation authorities stopped them from taking another plane to Medellin. In a statement the club said “My God accompany our athletes, officials, journalists and other guests travelling with our delegation.” Conmebol said that it was going to suspend “all activities” until further notice. Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva, playing for Liverpool said “God bless all these people involved in this terrible accident.” On Instagram David Beckham said: My heart and love goes out this morning to all the families and friends that have lost loved ones.” Wayne Rooney tweeted: “Thoughts are with @ChapecoenseReal.” Quotes from “London Evening Standard”. Written By Carl Abiador
On the first day, we were openly welcomed by a British Land representative. Alan Bunting, funder of British Land, gave us a tour of the site, Sheldon Square and Kingdom Street, and introduced us to the ethos of British Land, which is Places, People, Prefer. Through the development in Paddington, they aim to redefine Paddington not only as a transport hub, but also as a destination. This key idea revolved around our project until the last day of the workshop. “This was a completely new experience for me, at first I thought that constructing a building was simple, however after Alan, the British land funder, took us around and spoke about the construction my eyes were opened to the real world. I was amazed by all the work that has to be put into a construction in order for it to be successful.” We were then introduced to different professionals that embodies the construction industry ranging from quantity surveyors, mechanical and electrical engineer, structural engineers, construction manager, and architects from different companies. We were given the opportunity to interview these professionals and extract as much information as we can that will be beneficial for us. “I took the chance to speak to them about how they got into this career and what qualifications or pathway we need to take”. They emphasized how teamwork and at the same time independence are much needed skills to reach the position that they are in now. Additionally, they stressed: “experience in a workplace is very important not only for your CV but also for your learning stages in life”. They told us how they branched out to different options such as contacting construction companies for a work experience alongside their education. “ I was also given the chance to ask a question which gave me a greater knowledge about careers in industry based around design.” “A lifetime opportunity to interview a group of engineers who work for the construction site. I was able to find out the grades you need to get into a certain career.” Gavin Williams, the head construction manager started working on his loft at the age of 14. Ross Wilkinson, mechanical and structural engineer, didn’t had any A levels, but instead had work experiences, apprenticeships, and got into construction through a scheme. On the other hand, Alex Groot, structural engineer, had his qualifications from Cambridge University. This shows the different mixture of pathways that landed them to their positions. However, they still emphasized how qualifications are very vital yet reminded us that experience pushes us further into the industry. “What I liked about this day is that I was able to gain more confidence in speaking to people with a profession as well as being able to gather information from them about careers.” The remaining hours of the day was spent fitting in high visibility vests, helmets, gloves, glasses, and boots; 5 PPE, a jargon in construction. We then toured in the construction site of 4 Kingdom Street with Uwe Switala, a member of M3 Consulting. He explained the construction process of the building ranging from the materials and logistics. He told us how materials are measured in packages, and also how ventilation and other utilities work above the ceiling. He also showed us two gigantic water tanks to be used in the building. We then went back to the offices under the makeshift podium to return our 5 PPE to conclude the day. “What I liked about the day is that I was able to gain an insight on what work is like in this industry and gained knowledge of the steps I would need to take in order to get certain jobs.” The second day started off when we arrived at Imperial College’s Skempton Building in South Kensington, London. The building has its very own design and engineering department. A huge block of space dedicated to huge machineries about three stories high. This initially gave us a real feel of the industry. Daevon greted us with a warm welcome then we initially cracked on with the first activity. St George’s was mixed with City of Westminster College and QK. We were then separated into four groups. “I can say working with strangers is a challenge. You don’t know any of their strengths and weaknesses.” It became apparent when we had to talk through the task. However all of us knew that at some point we have to talk and eventually everyone opened up. This resulted to some good ideas flooding the table. “At first I was nervous because I wasn’t confident enough to speak in front of everyone.” The task includes us designing 5 Kingdom Street, the neighbouring building of 4 Kingdom Street. We had to think about designing a structure that will harmonize with West Way, the neighbouring buildings, National Railway tracks, and the geography of the place. These elements were hurdles but we got our way around it and eventually finalized with a building that it sustainable and well thought out. “This task helped me mix with other people out of my school and it helped me build my confidence.” The next challenge came when we had to make a prototype of our design. The activity resembled so much like the industry since we need to buy our materials and had a strict budget. We had to make the design become a possibility yet factors such as budget and structure became an apparent hurdle. However, something good came out of this. It made the team better when different ideas started to flow. Ideas to make the building stand and at the same time reflect the initial drawing came out of the group. Everyone in the group started talking and at the same time making compromises in order for our building to become a possibility. In the end, we managed to create our towers. “It showed me how a group of different students with different talents and different type of confidence come together to present something. It also gave me a taste of the real world.” Our last day we got suited and booted. We started off again in Imperial College with our separate groups. The aim for the day is to deliver a concise, well thought out, and fluid speech. We had to gain the interest of the panel which consisted of high ranking professionals from companies such as British Land and M3 consulting. We had to give it our best shot since the pitch itself doesn’t only reflect what we’ve been working hard over the last two days, but it’s also a showcase of our teamwork and our skill to speak in public. Each group’s presentation was stressful, yet it went very well. Everyone gave their best shot and acted professionally. Group 1’s hardwork, which included Carl and Claudio, was rewarded when they won the pitch. However this wasn’t the grand prize. The greatest reward we could ever achieve from that workshop is getting a work experience and the only way to achieve is through a job interview. “I had interviews before but being interviewed by a professional which is clearly more experienced than you gave me the chills” We can feel the adrenaline rushing through our veins. However, we realized that these people that will bombard us with questions are humans too. Eventually, the interview process felt like it was you and another person having coffee together. It was calm yet it pulls out what’s inside of you. The questions make you think and at the same time allows you to give yourself a chance to show off. This should not be taken lightly as it is a competition with others as well. However as someone being interviewed, posture and eye contact isn’t the only thing that’s important, but also being true to yourself. “It felt like an actual job interview in the real world especially because I was talking to a professional in the industry”. We concluded the day after the interview. Everyone felt the relief and that the interview was a breeze. “Personally, I never knew I could learn and experience so much in a span of three days. The whole workshop was a learning experience. It made me think of what lies ahead of me and the necessary steps that I have to take to reach the place that I aspire to be in the future.” “I got to meet amazing, talented people. I was able to see the real world and decide if I really want to get into the construction industry and believe me, I am now more interested in construction”. “Furthermore, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience on the construction youth project and I think it has highly benefitted both my knowledge and interest on the construction industry”. Now, being back in school, we wait patiently for that red dot on our email, hoping that we got ourselves the work experience. Fingers crossed. |
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