Innholdsfortegnelse for 327 i The Week Junior

More than 100,000 people in the UK signed up to host refugees from Ukraine, in the first two days after the Government announced a new scheme. A refugee is someone who has left their home country because of war or the threat of violence. What’s the new scheme? On 14 March, the Government announced the new scheme, called “Homes for Ukraine”, for people who are escaping the war. Previously, the Government was only letting people from Ukraine come to live in the UK if they had family members here. Under this new scheme, people from the UK can host Ukrainian refugees even if they aren’t related. Anybody who wants to offer a space in their home to Ukrainian refugees for at least six months can register their interest online. Within…

Edmonton, Canada Wild pigs cause havoc Wild pigs in Edmonton and its surrounding valley are posing a threat to other wildlife. The wild pigs have destroyed grassland and damaged crops as they search for food. According to Professor Ryan Brook, they are “the worst invasive wild mammal on the planet”. Residents have called on local authorities to tackle the wild pigs. California, US Pupils’ helpline cheers up thousands Students at a primary school in California, US, have launched a free phone line for people to call if they need cheering up. It features recorded messages from pupils aged from five to 11. They offer advice such as “Buy an ice cream if you’re feeling nervous”, and tell callers, “You are ok.” The helpline has received up to 9,000 calls per…

Everyone wants to be happy but sometimes it can be difficult to feel happiness. That’s because there are misunderstandings about happiness that can get in the way. The good news is that changing the way you think about happiness can help you to feel more joy each day. What is happiness? There are lots of definitions of happiness. Dr Mark Williamson from the charity Action for Happiness says, “Happiness is not about denying negative feelings or being joyful all the time. It’s about making the most of good times and learning to cope effectively with bad times.” Francesca Geens, creator of The HappySelf Journal, believes that happiness comes when we feel good about who we are and our life. She says, “It’s a feeling of appreciating what we have and…

by Jo Clarke. Illustrated by Becka Moor (Firefly Press) Mystery-loving Libby is excited to be joining the travelling school where her Aunt Agatha is headmistress. Her new life has her heading off on the train to Paris, where she’s soon having fun visiting the sights of the French capital, as well as making new friends. Just as Libby starts to settle in, Aunt Agatha is arrested. Teaming up with roommate Connie, Libby has to use her sleuthing skills to prove her aunt’s innocence and find out who was really behind the crime. This detective tale is the first in the new Travelling School Mysteries series and is perfect for readers who like Robin Stevens’s Murder Most Unladylike series or Annabelle Sami’s Agent Zaiba books. It will leave you longing to…

Crossword Read the clues carefully and write the answers into the grid. Across 1 Shape of a dice (4) 3 Pet kept in a hutch (6) 8 Small orange citrus fruit (7) 9 Gran (3) 10 Laboratory magnifying device (10) 13 Timepiece on the arm (10) 17 Ribbon-like fish (3) 18 Pop-group member (7) 19 Absorbent item for the bath (6) 20 Material used in pottery (4) Down 1 Baked birthday treat (4) 2 Cute Disney deer (5) 4 Creative activity (3) 5 Game played by ticking off numbers on a card (5) 6 Underground passage (6) 7 Small castle tower (6) 11 Figure made by a sculptor (6) 12 Desserts (6) 14 Arctic home (5) 15 Animal of the desert (5) 16 Board for carrying dishes (4) 18 Barking…

A woman in the US is fighting hard to hold on to her “FART” car registration plate. Karly Sindy bought it in October but has now been told that members of the public have complained about it. To keep it, she has to prove that the word is important to her, so she set up a hiking group called Friends of Asheville Recreational Trails (or F.A.R.T.) and told the authorities about it. The group now has a website and merchandise. Sindy said 15 people turned up when she held a meeting for the group.…

The Welsh youth organisation Urdd Gobaith Cymru has been praised for its work supporting refugees from Afghanistan. Many people left Afghanistan when the Taliban took over the country in 2021. The Taliban, which is a military and political group, previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, and had very strict rules and punishments, especially for women. Urdd Gobaith Cymru has offered accommodation to 20 families (113 refugees) from Afghanistan at its residential centre in Cardiff. It is now looking for ways to help refugees from Ukraine.…

HUNGRY ELEPHANTS More than 60 elephants were treated to a two-tonne buffet of fruits and vegetables in Chonburi province, Thailand. Every year on 13 March, Thailand holds its National Elephant Day and the animals are celebrated as a source of national pride. A YOUNG CAMPAIGNER Seven-year-old Callum Isted, from West Lothian, Scotland, has become the youngest person to present a petition to the Scottish parliament. On 9 March, Callum met First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to discuss reducing the number of single-use plastic bottles by giving school pupils reusable water bottles. A BABY RHINO NAMED “QUEENIE” A baby white rhinoceros calf has been named Queenie to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. This year marks 70 years since the Queen’s accession to the throne. Reggie Heyworth, from the Cotswold Wildlife Park in…

Julie Richardson, the headteacher at Verulam School in St Albans, in Hertfordshire, England, has changed the uniform rules at the all-boys’ school, stating that sixth form students no longer have to wear blazers and ties. Richardson explained the change, saying, “If businessmen and women in the City are no longer wearing suits and ties, why should teenagers?” Ties have been part of school uniforms for more than 100 years but some people think they are an old-fashioned and not very practical part of a school dress code. Others argue that they look smart, are an affordable way of marking out a school’s identity and students are unlikely to grow out of them. What do you think, should young people be made to wear ties at school or should they be…

Electronic gadgets are useful but when they break or get replaced it’s easy to end up with a collection of old cables and devices. Recycling electronic waste, or “e-waste”, doesn’t just clear out your clutter – it also helps the planet by cutting down on the amount of rubbish we create and by reusing valuable materials that devices contain. The next four weeks are a great time to clear out your e-waste because from 17 March the environmental organisations Wastebuster and Recycle Your Electricals are running a Hidden Treasure Hunt competition. With support from Currys and Microsoft, the aim is to encourage schools and communities to recycle their e-waste. Take your e-waste to a Currys store and you’ll receive a Cash for Trash voucher for your family. Then register your…

On 4 March, a stray rocket smashed into the far side of the Moon. The rocket, which weighed around three tonnes, had been seen for several years but it was only in January that images taken by British amateur astronomer Peter Birtwhistle showed it was on a collision course with the Moon. Originally it was thought to be part of a rocket launched by US company SpaceX but experts in tracking space junk now say it was part of a 2014 Chinese space launch (the Chinese space agency denies this). The rocket crashed in a 350-milewide crater called Hertzsprung, on the side of the Moon that permanently faces away from Earth. This meant that astronomers weren’t able to see the smash directly. Based on its size and an impact speed…

The Winter Paralympics closed on 13 March with Great Britain winning six medals, including one gold, during the 10-day snow and ice sporting event in Beijing, China. The home nation came top of the medals table, picking up 18 golds, 20 silvers and 23 bronzes and finishing with 61. The Winter Paralympics take place every four years and include different types of skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey and curling for women and men with disabilities. Team GB’s gold was won by Neil Simpson from Scotland in the men’s vision-impaired super-G skiing. Simpson was guided on the slopes by his brother, Andrew, and it’s only the third time Britain has won a gold medal at the Winter Paralympics since it started in 1976. Ollie Hill, from Reading in England, came third in…

If you’ve got a lot of musical ideas in your head but haven’t got an instrument to help get them out, well, there are plenty of websites and apps that could be useful. Chrome Music Lab (tinyurl.com/TWJ-chromelab) is a collection of music-creation tools from Google. Song Maker, for example, lets you choose a virtual instrument and construct a song by clicking or tapping to place coloured squares on a grid. Google is also behind the marvellous Blob Opera (tinyurl.com/TWJ-blobs) where you make music by dragging around four colourful blob-shaped opera singers. Oceanwaves (tinyurl.com/TWJ-ocean) is a clever website where you can make music by dragging and dropping sounds into place. You can also invite friends to do it with you, making tracks together over the internet. Roland50 (roland50.studio) is a free…

Have you ever had an adventure in Paris? The most memorable thing I’ve done while visiting Paris is fall over spectacularly. I ended up covered in mud and had to walk around all day with everyone staring at me. Do you and the main character Libby have anything in common? Yes! We’re similar in many ways. We both love reading mystery stories, often speak without thinking and we have a bad habit of getting in trouble. Favourite sweet treat? I would like to pretend it’s something very sophisticated and grown-up like macarons, but the truth is I’m obsessed with Parma Violets. I once accidentally ordered a bag of 354 packets by mistake. Can you speak any other languages? Je parle très mal français. (I speak French badly.) If you could…

Is there an age limit? Some rooms have an older age limit but most are aimed at people around eight years or older. Check before booking. It’s good to have a range of ages in your group so that you have lots of skills to solve the puzzles. You’ll often need at least one adult in the group. Prices can start from about £12 per person. What about board games? Like online games, escape-room-themed board games are another way to enjoy this experience. Use the clue cards, models, instructions and pieces from the board game to recreate the feeling of being locked in and needing to crack codes.…

Football fans in the village of Hanwood in Shropshire, England, got a treat when Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos made an appearance for a local pub team called Bull In The Barne FC. The club won a competition that was organised to raise money for a charity called Football Without Borders. Carlos won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and was a Champions League winner three times with Real Madrid. However, despite scoring a penalty, Carlos couldn’t prevent Bull In The Barne FC from losing 4-3 to Harlescott Rangers.…

“Here I am with a brand new spaniel puppy. Mum Poppy is doing a great job.” Harry “I planted some herbs as I was inspired by the article about house plants. Herbs are useful for cooking and I’m looking forward to seeing them grow!” Anna “For World Book Day the pupils in my class dressed up as a writer of their choice. I chose to dress up as a reporter for The Week Junior.” Ada…

Follow The Week Junior on PopJam @TheWeekJunior. You can download the PopJam app from the App Store or Google Play. Last week we asked you if teenagers are too young to drink coffee. You said… “No, because I am 13 years old and I drink coffee.” “Yes, it can keep you awake if you have too much and you may get addicted to it.” “They should be able to drink things like ice tea and maybe, as a treat, coffee.” “No, but they shouldn’t drink too much. Too much would be bad for them.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here.…

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has updated its “basket of goods”, which is used to calculate (work out) the rate of inflation. This comes as many families in the UK face much higher prices for essential things like electricity, gas and food. What is inflation? Inflation is when prices rise. It affects people because their money becomes less valuable. For example, if the price of sweets goes up but your pocket money stays the same, you won’t be able to buy as many sweets as before. What is the “basket of goods”? To work out how much prices have risen, the ONS looks at 700 goods and services. This is known as the “basket of goods”, and it represents what the average UK family spends their money on. The…

When England’s football manager Gareth Southgate sat down to speak to The Week Junior, he’d just finished teaching a futsal skills masterclass at Torriano Primary School in London as part of the Pokémon Futsal programme. “They’re a lot noisier than they were at the start so I think they’ve enjoyed their afternoon,” he said. Futsal is an indoor version of football with five players on each team and a smaller ball. Many of the world’s best footballers, such as Lionel Messi, played futsal when they were young. “My generation didn’t get to play it,” Southgate said, “but it’s good to see it’s getting played.” Southgate has noticed a difference in English players now that they’re growing up playing futsal. “We’ve got lots of boys in the national team now who…

Kenyan wildlife experts have released the first mountain bongos into a new reserve, marking a big step in a project to bring these colourful antelopes back from the brink of extinction. Bongos are large antelopes with long spiral horns, a brown coat and narrow white stripes that help them hide in their forest habitats. The lowland bongo is fairly widespread in western Africa, although its numbers have fallen because of hunting and the felling of trees. The eastern or mountain bongo is critically endangered, with fewer than 100 animals still living wild in Kenyan forests. In 2004, the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy (MKWC) began an ambitious rewilding project, bringing mountain bongos from zoos in the US and slowly reintroducing them to a habitat where their last wild relatives had disappeared…

A discovery in an old museum store has pushed back the date of the first octopuses by more than 80 million years, proving for the first time that they were swimming in Earth’s oceans 328 million years ago – long before the dinosaurs ruled on land. The find also suggests that the earliest octopuses had 10 arms rather than eight. Octopuses and squid are part of a group of soft-bodied animals called cephalopods (meaning “head-feet”) – the same group as the extinct spiral-shelled ammonites. Octopuses have eight arms lined with suckers for grasping prey but squid have 10 arms, two of which are officially tentacles (smooth limbs that haven’t got suckers all the way along). Until now, the origins of the two groups have been a mystery but some scientists…

Libby Hale and Will Birchall On 12 March, the cross country runners were crowned overall champions in the British Athletic Cross Challenge for the under-13s category. Australian Women’s cricket team They enjoyed an impressive win by 141 runs over New Zealand at the Women’s Cricket World Cup. Andy Murray The British tennis player won his 700th match on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour with a win at the Indian Wells tournament in California, US. Cristiano Ronaldo He scored a hat-trick (three goals) as Manchester United beat Tottenham 3-2 in the Premier League. It’s the 59th hat-trick of his career.…

If you have never seen Hamlet by William Shakespeare, you are in for a treat. Despite being written more than 400 years ago, the play’s themes – love, loss, family, anxiety, power – mean it is an action-packed thriller that still entertains audiences today. “We see characters going through such familiar and timeless territory that Shakespeare’s stories will always be relevant,” Kiren Kebaili-Dwyer tells The Week Junior. Kebaili-Dwyer plays Prince Hamlet in the National Theatre’s specially adapted version of the play for audiences aged eight to 12. The plot is fairly simple. Hamlet’s father is dead and his uncle has taken over the kingdom. Then Hamlet sees a ghost that reveals a dreadful deed has been done. Will Hamlet seek revenge? Kebaili-Dwyer says the crew had a lot of fun…

Swift and Hawk: Cyber Spies by Logan Macx(Walker Books) In the first book in a new spy series, we meet Swift and Hawk – teenage experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. When their families mysteriously disappear, the pair are recruited by the top-secret Moebius Programme and soon find themselves plunged into a life-or-death rescue mission. Vi Spy: Never Say Whatever Again by Maz Evans(Chicken House) Junior secret agent Vi Spy is struggling at her top spy school, while her shadowy enemy Umbra is still at large. With the help of her friends, can Vi defeat the arch-villain before she gets kicked out of school? The second instalment of this fun spy series combines laughs with plenty of action. Eternity Engine by Struan Murray. Illustrated by Manuel Sumberac (Puffin Books)…

Name: Louis Dead Man’s Cove by Lauren St John “Mysterious, adventurous, addictive. This story takes you on a rollercoaster ride. I was on the edge of my seat desperate to know what would happen next.” YOUR TURN Email your book review to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If your review is printed in the magazine you’ll receive a Roving Reporter badge. Sum up the book in three words and write one sentence telling us what you liked about it. Please include your name and address.* *If you are the competition winner, we will only use the details you provide to contact you and arrange delivery of your competition prize. 23 Further details about how we manage the data you provide can be found at www.dennis.co.uk/privacy-policy…

What you need A4 sheet of coloured card•Coloured tissue paper in squares•Coloured pens or paint•Scissors•Glue•Googly eyes Olaf Falafel is a children’s author, illustrator, dad of two daughters, and a comedian. During the first lockdown, he created an online Art Club (tinyurl.com/TWJ-olafart). Each episode was filled with jokes, useful drawing tips, funny animations and stupid jokes. Now, every month he shares some of his favourite artists and shows you some simple ways to recreate their style. Over to you, Olaf… “It’s Mother’s Day coming up and I usually make my mum a Mother’s Day card and buy her a big bunch of flowers. This got me thinking about the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, who is probably one of the most famous painters of flowers ever. “O’Keeffe was born in Wisconsin, US, and…

What is it about a shipwreck that so grips the imagination? The discovery of the wreck of Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s ship, in such good condition beneath the Antarctic ice is such a fascinating story that we just had to put it on the cover. The report (on page 3) has so many levels – the skill and perseverance of the team that located the wreck is just one part of it. The story of the crew on that original doomed voyage in 1914 is another tale of adventure and courage. As things went wrong, the name of the ship, Endurance, became a kind of warning. The word “endurance” means the ability to survive hardship or strain, which certainly describes what Shackleton and his men went through on their terrible journey…

Write for change Ever thought about girls’ education? Around 129 million girls are out of school worldwide. Restless Development’s writing challenge is designed to get young people from seven to 18 years old thinking about this. You can get involved by writing a piece answering this question: “How does education need to change to help more girls stay in school?”. If you’re under 16 you must get a parent’s or guardian’s permission to enter, and entries must be written in English. This challenge is part of Restless Development’s Aid Match Power Up Appeal, which is raising money to help girls in countries including Sierra Leone in Africa go to school. Find out how you can enter the challenge before 7 May at tinyurl.com/TWJ-RestlessDevelopment and learn more about the Power Up Appeal…

Teacher’s name: Miss Wiley School: St Augustine’s Priory, Ealing, London “I would like to nominate Miss Wiley because she helps resolve friendship problems. She makes learning fun and is a very good listener. She also makes the ICT club enjoyable and captivating!” Summer If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’ll send your school three free issues of The Week Junior. Send your nominations, along with a picture of your teacher and your school’s full name and address, to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk…

1 Which country has just sworn in its youngest-ever president? ☐ a) Canada ☐ b) Chile ☐ c) Colombia 2 True or false? Encyclopedias have been added to the ONS basket of goods. ☐ True ☐ False 3 On the slopes of which mountain did a group of climbers have the world’s highest tea party? 4 Which school has the same uniform today as pupils wore in 1552? ☐ a) Christ’s Hospital ☐ b) Christ’s College ☐ c) Christ’s Kitchen 5 True or false? Gareth Southgate played futsal growing up. ☐ True ☐ False 6 Which animal has just been released into a new reserve in Kenya? 7 Which part of its body inspires the name of the horseshoe bat? ☐ a) The shape of its nose ☐ b) The…