Spot the 5 differences and write them in Spanish or French
F) = French, (G) = German, (S) = Spanish
By Rosie, Bea, Emily, Olivia (Year 11)
This debate was in response to the film about plastic pollution from Europe exported to Malaysia.
Watch below:
Original news report below:
Le scandale du plastique français exporté en Malaisie via YouTube
Mon cher Antoine,
J’espère que tu profites de ton temps au centre psychologique.
Je t’écris cette lettre d’explication.
Quand j’ai découvert que j’étais enceinte, j’étais dévastée. Je me suis dit, comment une petite erreur pourrait avoir un impact sur toute ma vie ? Avoir un enfant m’empêcherait de travailler à plein temps et m’empêcherait d’être sur mon meilleur jour. Cela signifierait en outre que je devrais m’en occuper. Ainsi je me suis convaincue d’avoir un avortement. Cependant, ta grand-mère m’a convaincue du contraire et j’ai finalement décidé de te garder.
C’est quelque chose que je regrette à ce jour. Tu dois comprendre qu’être une femme en ce moment n’est pas facile. On doit constamment s’occuper des conjoints et faire les tâches ménagères. Avoir un enfant ne rend rien de moins facile. Le fait que je doive rentrer chez moi après le travail et te voir, toi qui n’a pas ramassé la farine comme je te l’avais dit, me met de mauvaise humeur.
De plus, les blagues de ton père à mes dépens m’énervent davantage. Je travaille tellement dur et aucun de vous ne peut me comprendre. Alors, quand tu as décidé de voler la machine à écrire, j’ai craqué. Je ne pouvais plus être près de toi, alors j’ai pensé qu’il serait préférable de t’envoyer dans un centre psychologique. Je pensais que ce serait le meilleur pour moi et pour toi aussi. Je serais capable de me concentrer sur mon travail tout en apprenant toute seule à me comporter et à agir de manière responsable. J’ai même demandé si tu pouvais être dans une pièce avec une vue pour rendre ton temps un peu plus confortable.
Sois sage, mon fils. À bientôt, j’espère….
Ta maman, Gilberte
Ist es unsere Verantwortung? Als Teenager? Als Bürger? Als die Zukunft der Welt? Und außerdem: Warum sollten die schwierigsten Probleme von den Jugendlichen gelöst werden? Mit unserer unsicheren Zukunft ist es keine Überraschung, dass Jugendliche etwas verändern wollen. Eine Studie, die von der UCLA durchgeführt wurde, hat herausgefunden, dass 1/10 der Studenten an Protesten teilnehmen würden. Dies ist eine Verbesserung gegenüber den Vorjahren, aber welche Probleme hindern Jugendliche daran teilzunehmen und was können sie tun, um gehört zu werden?
Jungendliche haben wegen ihres Bewusstseins und ihrer Akzeptanz oft eine führende Rolle bei großen gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen gespielt. Die als “Schneeflocken” bekannte Generation besteht aus den Anführern der Zukunft. Der Grund, warum die Jugend Revolutionen führen können, ist, dass sie viel mehr Einfluss auf den Einzelnen haben als ältere Menschen, zum Beispiel die Regierung. Meiner Meinung nach haben die jüngeren Generationen gelernt, dass man etwas ändern muss, wenn man mit etwas nicht einverstanden ist. Deshalb sind sie die Aktivisten von heute geworden.
Es gibt jedoch viele Probleme, mit denen junge Aktivisten heute konfrontiert sind. Die Klimastreiks in Deutschland haben mit Greta Thunberg, einer 16-jährigen Klimaaktivistin, begonnen. „Fridays for Future“ ist eine Bewegung, in der Jugendliche auf der ganzen Welt aus Protest gegen den Klimawandel die Schule schwänzen. Am 20.09.19 versammelten sich 270.000 Menschen in Berlin, um zu protestieren. Die Aktivisten wollen von der Regierung das Versprechen einer Veränderung. Während dies die Aufmerksamkeit einflussreicher Führer auf sich zieht, wurden selten Maßnahmen implementiert. Für die meisten älteren Menschen scheinen die Demonstrationen nicht Aktionen, sondern nur Wörter zu sein und daher besteht die Notwendigkeit, dass Jugendliche protestieren.
Es ist die Aufklärung über Probleme in der Welt, die es den Bürgern ermöglicht, Änderungen vorzunehmen. Um gehört zu werden, müssen die Jugendlichen Wege finden, der Welt die harte Realität zu zeigen. Gemäß den Forschungsergebnissen ist das Fernsehen das einflussreichste konsumierte Medium, was bedeutet, dass wir einen Weg haben, um Informarionen in die Welt zu verbreiten. Im Moment sind die großen Proteste ein effektiver Weg, um die Öffentlichkeit zu erreichen, aber wenn dies die Aufmerksamkeit der Regierungen nicht erregen kann, was kann das dann? Es gibt 1,2 Millionen Jugendliche auf der Welt. Wenn jeder von uns mitmachen würde, könnte eine unglaubliche Veränderung vorgenommen werden.
Mit der Wende zum nächsten Jahrhundert entwickelt sich die Welt zunehmend weiter, was bedeutet, dass Jugendliche immer besser ausgebildet werden. Die Zukunft könnte sowohl jüngere Anführer der Welt als auch, hoffentlich, mehr Akzeptanz schaffen. Heutzutage ist es selten, dass die Jugend hinter dem Mond lebt, daher sieht die Zukunft für junge Sterne vielversprechend aus.
Las Chicas del Cable es una telenovela extremadamente dramática y entretenida en Netflix. Se establece en España en la década de 1920. En parte se enfoca en las dificultades que enfrentan las trabajadoras en ese momento y cuenta la historia de cuatro mujeres con diferentes antecedentes que comienzan a trabajar en una compañía telefónica. El personaje principal se llama Alba Romero, una misteriosa mujer con un pasado complicado. Ella y sus amigas intentan navegar sus vidas difíciles, involucrando a sus familias, sus parejas y sus recuerdos. Me encantó ya que fue tan emocionante, no pude dejar de verlo. No sólo hay el asesinato y la pasión, sino también representa el progreso de las mujeres cada vez más iguales con los hombres. Lo recomendaría porque hay un triángulo amoroso impredecible, nunca se sabe lo que va a pasar y hay muchas personas en las que no se puede confiar. Quizás puedas relajarte después de la escuela viendo esto. Si hubiera más episodios de Las Chicas del Cable, los vería inmediatamente. Diría que deberías ver este programa si tienes más de catorce años, si no, cuando seas mayor, puedes verlo. Hay tres temporadas, ¡así que míralo!
Dr Silke Neumann, Head of Biology at WHS, looks at what we as a school community and as teachers could accomplish to limit our contributions to pollution and climate change.
Looking at the scientific literature, watching TV, just reading the paper often leaves me disheartened these days. For example, last week’s ‘bleak’ UN annual report calls for massive and immediate cuts in carbon output. The report said that to remain within the 2 ⁰C limit, cuts to greenhouse gases must triple compared with current plans over the next 12 years. Cuts would have to increase fivefold to keep warming to 1.5 ⁰C, the level above which damage to human livelihoods and wildlife would rapidly escalate [1].
In ‘Six Degrees’, Mark Lynas outlines what we can expect to happen to our planet at each progressive 1 ⁰C temperature rise and how we will end up with mass extinction, unless we act now [2]. However, being the ‘glass half full person’ that I am, this all leaves me geared up and ready to fight, although picking my battles. It is not my intention to discuss what politicians, government and multinational corporations are or aren’t doing, nor to depress you by reading this blog but to hopefully leaving you rearing for action.
Urban areas are, for obvious reasons, the main contributor to our CO2 concentration in the atmosphere [3]. It is a very sobering experience to have a go at the carbon footprint calculator. I suggest you do it a few times, leaving each long distance flight in as you go along so you can see its impact. Try it out on this link: https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/
Add this book [4] to your Christmas wish list or get it from the WHS Library, much carbon friendlier than buying by the way. It is full of astonishing information, such an eye-opener with too much to mention here. But just a few examples, did you know that:
– a text message, a web search and an email all have a carbon footprint;
-watching TV with friends is much more efficient, because one hour of TV per day emits as much CO2 as a 45-mile drive in an average car;
– a heart bypass operation’s CO2 contribution is equivalent to two return flights from London to Madrid;
The University of St Andrews has reduced using food trays after a think tank conducting research at the university found that students were the worst offenders of any age group when it came to waste at meal times, throwing away on average food worth £273 each year. When food waste ends up in landfill it rots and emits methane, which is more harmful to the climate in the short term than carbon dioxide [5].
According to a University of Oxford study, the environmental impact of different foods varies hugely. Their findings showed that meat and other animal products are responsible for more than half of food-related greenhouse gas emissions, despite providing only a fifth of the calories we eat and drink. Beef and lamb were found to have by far the most damaging effect on the environment [6]. Try the climate change food indicator https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46459714; another eye-opening experience to see what small changes we can make to have a huge impact.
David Attenborough – my absolute hero by the way – has raised our awareness of the impact of plastic pollution so brilliantly with his Blue Planet 2 series. It is so detrimental to life in oceans and this life helps to keep the atmospheric CO2 tolerable by sequestering carbon in ocean sediments which then form carbonate rocks such as chalk or limestone, less oceanic life, less carbon sequestering. I need to say no more. WHS will phase out the use of all single-use-plastic, please do not bring any to school anymore.
Air quality and carbon emissions go hand in hand. Living within 50 metres of a busy road stunts children’s lung growth by up to 14 per cent, a new report by Kings College London reveals [7]. Transport now accounts for 26 % the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 25 % coming from energy supplies [8] and according to a study in 2018, we are not alone: Transport is Europe’s biggest source of CO2, responsible for the emission of over a quarter of all greenhouse gases. The main sources were petrol and diesel cars and trucks. Did you know that an idling vehicle emits 20 times more pollution than one travelling 32 mph [9]?
Plant trees, donate money to planting trees, join a charity replanting our rainforests around the globe are just some examples locking away CO2 from the atmosphere. Closer to home, a simple hedge around school could halve pollution levels. According to an article published by The Lancet this month, trees in towns substantially increase life expectancy, reducing stress and lowering the risk of death from heart disease, cancer and dementia [10]. The Woodland Trust has just held its UK’s largest mass tree-planting event, you can still join in. Teachers are planning an action research project into the effect plants in classrooms on well-being during next term as a central aim of the school to be more aware of the environment we all live in.
As teachers, we have an enormous opportunity and responsibility to empower the young people we are educating. An American poll revealed that most teachers do not address climate change as they feel it is not related to their subject. This raises the question, ‘Where does climate change belong in the curriculum’, surely not just STEAM and Geography [11]. Let’s work on this together to find a meaningful way on how to incorporate climate change into our subjects, see below for some examples. We could just share a personal experience, show a Blue Planet clip, assign a novel, a co –curricular project in enrichment, or lead an environmental issues club, I am sure there are many more ideas out there. As for any other context, the most effective teachers are full of enthusiasm, expertise, empathy, have the ability to empower and are enterprising [12].
Nick Sharman, Head of Design and Technology here at WHS, has suggested that we could purchase a plastic recycler [13], besides being of obvious benefit, I can imagine our girls would come up with fabulous ideas on how to make useful products from these recycled plastics. Ms Lindon is organising an eco-poetry competition event and we recently held an environment sing-along with A Cappella in a Friday Jammin’ session to join with other schools in making a stand against pollution. In addition, our classicists have produced an engaging quiz, linking their subject the environment. I encourage us all to unite and channel this great potential we have as a teaching and learning community into looking after our environment, our climate and our carbon foot print together with the young people we teach here at WHS. The school and its leadership team are putting a huge emphasis on tackling climate change – please watch this space – as it is a big deal, and not all the science is black and white, but we can do something about it. Let’s get to it.
References:
[2] Lynas, M., Sixth Degrees, our future on a hotter planet, London, Harper Perennial, 2008
[3] https://naei.beis.gov.uk/data/map-uk-das?pollutant_id=2
[4] Berners-Lee, M., How bad are bananas? The carbon footprint of everything, 2010
[5] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ban-on-canteen-trays-to-cut-waste-2h8bxjhq7
[6] https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b0b53649-5e93-4415-bf07-6b0b1227172f
[8] https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/living-near-a-busy-road-can-stunt-childrens-lung-growth
[10]https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-plane-truth-is-we-need-more-trees-l593x75n7
[11] https://www.npr.org/2019/04/25/716359470/eight-ways-to-teach-climate-change-in-almost-any-classroom?t=1575046395890&t=1575278578792
[12] Bentley-Davies, C., How to be an amazing Teacher, Bancyfelin, Crown House Publishing Ltd, 2010.
Emily, Year 10, asks if enough emphasis is placed on drama as part of the A (Arts) within STEAM.
STEM was originally a government initiative to “help empower future generations through science, technology, engineering and maths to grow a dynamic, innovative economy”. Recently the A was added to STEM to include the arts, but how much emphasis, if any, is put on drama as part of this addition? Traditionally within education drama has been seen as a soft option. It was often viewed as a GCSE choice for students who are less academically capable, and few links are made between the benefits of drama and other areas of the STEM curriculum.
When considering the A in STEAM, many people think of subjects such as art, design or and/or the humanities, with the performing arts (which includes drama) very much a secondary consideration.
Commonly drama is mistaken for a break from academia. Drama, music and dance are often under threat amongst underfunded schools subject to ever-increasing budgetary constraints. Even important figures within the performing arts world cannot be relied upon to promote drama within education. The head of the National Youth Theatre said in 2014 that “drama classes should be taken off the GCSE curriculum because they are irrelevant, and the subject is seen as soft and easy”.
Learning drama at school, or participating in the performing arts, is beneficial and important in many different areas. The skills you develop through drama can help in all areas of your subjects including the traditional STEM subjects. Positive outcomes include:
Problem-solving – drama improves problem-solving and decision making, for example improvisation can help with quick thinking solutions. Developing problem-solving skills is a key reason why the STEM initiative started in the first place – to solve many of the world’s problems.
Imagination – In drama you need imagination; you have to make creative choices and think of new ideas. Imagination increases creativity and innovation; this is essential in, for example, engineering to design new products and processes to drive efficiency. Einstein himself said that “imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Team working skills – this is an essential skill in life which crosses all disciplines at school and in life. The ability to work well in a team, to be able to listen and incorporate other people’s ideas is as important in STEM careers as it is in any other. In drama lessons, or when putting on a school production, working well as a team is essential to the success of the project, whether you are front of stage or backstage, no project or performance succeeds unless every part of the team pulls together.
Empathy – drama teaches you the skill of empathy and develops your emotional intelligence. You have to understand a character’s motivation and actions by putting yourself in their shoes. EQ is becoming an increasingly important skill in the workplace.
Confidence in speaking – drama lessons often translate into better communication skills and self-confidence. Drama students are encouraged to ask questions and explain their thoughts, and of course to perform in front of a live audience. The ability to be able to speak effectively in public and present your ideas confidently is a key leadership skill that will help with an individual’s career progression.
In 2012 the National Endowment for the Arts released a report showing that low-income student’s who had access to the arts tended to have better academic results, when music, dance and drama are part of people’s life they generally then go on to have better work opportunities. You also cannot underestimate the importance of a balanced education, and drama can act as an important emotional release from the demands of academia and the pressures of modern life.
Overall, I believe that drama does deserve a place in the A in STEAM. Many skills that drama help you develop are vital to those needed for success in STEAM careers and in everyday life.
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/11/18/ctq-jolly-stem-vs-steam.html
http://www.childdrama.com/why.html
https://leftbraincraftbrain.com/what-is-steam-and-why-is-steam-important
Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE DL (born 23 March 1962) is a retired British rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds. He is the most successful male rower in Olympic history and is regarded as one of Britain’s greatest-ever Olympians.
However, Sir Steve Redgrave was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 35, while he was training for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Having won gold at the previous four games, large amounts of pressure had been placed on him and didn’t think he’d be able to compete with a potentially debilitating illness.
His consultant, however, Dr Ian Gallen, said there was no reason why he shouldn’t be able to achieve his dream of rowing at the Sydney games. Despite this, the pair had to navigate a host of challenges – for example, Redgrave had to get used to injecting insulin and regularly changing aspects of his diet to keep up with his gruelling training regime.
Going on to winning his 5th gold medal, Redgrave is an extremely inspirational person not only in British rowing but sport in general. His persistent to train at such a high level and ability to adapt to a major obstacle in his life make him such a good example of what a good sportsperson should be like, and the reason why many look up to him today.
written by Amy – rowing rep
Helena, Year 10, looks at the different influences on medieval and Renaissance art, and how this changed the portrayal of children and babies in art.
Last summer, I visited the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which is full of amazing Italian art from the medieval and Renaissance periods. Whilst there, I found it amusing that all of the babies in earlier artwork look less like babies and more like old men, such as in Madonna and Child by Bonaventura Berlinghieri, painted between about 1260 and 1270. Or in Paolo Veneziano’s Madonna With Child, painted in 1333. At first, I thought perhaps these artists had just never actually seen a baby, or couldn’t paint them, however, these odd-looking babies were actually very intentional.
In the medieval period, most portraits of children and babies were commissioned by the church, which greatly limited the range of subjects to Jesus and a few other babies in the Bible. At the time, portrayals of Jesus were heavily influenced by homunculus, which translates from Latin to mean ‘little man’. They believed that Jesus was born perfect and unchanged, which was reflected in the artwork of the period, as he often is painted with similar features as a wise old man. Over time, this homuncular, adult-looking Jesus became the norm, and artists depicted all babies in the same way.
This unrealistic way of painting baby Jesus actually reflected a much wider trend in medieval art; unlike the Renaissance artists, they were far less interested in naturalism, and tended to lean more towards expressionistic conventions. This can be seen in both of the paintings above, as like Jesus, Madonna also does not look very realistic.
During the Renaissance, Florence’s middle-class prospered, and art was used for more purposes than the decoration of churches. Unlike in the medieval period, where common or even middle-class people are rarely portrayed in art, during the Renaissance more people could afford to commission art and portraits. Therefore, as portraiture expanded, and people did not want their own children and babies to look like homunculi; realistic, cuter babies became more standard. Eventually, even Jesus began to be depicted as the more cherub-like baby we would recognise today.
During the Renaissance period, artists became more interested in naturalistic and realistic painting styles, unlike the more expressionistic style used by the earlier Medieval artists. There was a new interest in observing from the natural world and this extended to include babies and children as well as adults.
In this period, a transformation in the way children were viewed was underway. Instead of tiny adults, babies were thought to be born without sin or knowledge and were therefore innocent. This changing of adult attitudes was reflected in artwork, as babies began to look much cuter, younger and more realistic than before.
It’s probably a good thing that post-Renaissance attitudes to children have prevailed, as I think we can all agree homunculi babies are not the prettiest!
