Thousands of Students Protest against University fees in Central London

By Rhea Panjwani
On Wednesday 19^th November 2014, thousands of students from over forty towns and cities, organised by the Student Assembly Against Austerity, marched along the streets of central London protesting against student loans and demanding free education. The protestors clashed with the police who attempted to stop them from entering the Parliament square. This student demonstration was the biggest in the last four years. They carried banners and signs which had slogans such as ‘Free Education, Tax the Rich’ and shouted:
“What do we want? Free Education! When do we want it? Now!” and “Shame on You!”

Missiles were thrown at police officers and in some places, protective fencing surrounding the parliament square was pulled down.

It all started with the government’s decision in 2010 to remove the limit on university tuition fees from £3200 per year and raised it to nearly three times the amount at up to £9000. A recent study by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has revealed that an average student who leaves university has a huge debt of about £44,000. About 75% of students who have taken student loans will only clear them when they are in their fifties. By that time, most of them will need the money to manage their own families, pay off their mortgage and fund their children’s education.

Towards the end of the day six arrests were made, including two for affray and two for assault.

Enid Blyton Set for Cinema!

By Alisha Shaikh

Enid Blyton’s stories have always been some of my favourite books to read, whether it’s one from her boarding school series or her mysteries. No matter how much I tell myself that I’m far too old to still be reading stories intended for much younger children, I just can’t resist picking up a Malory Towers book when I feel like relaxing. Generations of families have been enchanted by her captivating novels and now her stories are going to be spread to a far wider audience than people who enjoying reading.

‘The Magical Faraway Tree’, one of Blyton’s most loved books, is all set to be made into a movie. It will be produced by Neal Street Productions (Sam Mendes’ company) and may even have three parts, like the book - The Magic Faraway Tree, The Folk of the Faraway Tree and Up The Faraway Tree.

Marlene Johnson, head of the Enid Blyton Estate, told the BBC, "Enid Blyton was a passionate advocate of children's storytelling, and The Magic Faraway Tree is a fantastic example of her creative imagination.” Many of Enid Blyton’s series were “fantastic examples of her creative imagination”, including the ever popular: Famous Five, Secret Seven, Five Find-Outers, Malory Towers and St Clare’s, to name just a few.

Enid Blyton is also well-known for assisting in the production of Noddy, the TV show that several young children grew up to. I still own the Noddy annual story book of 2004 and I consider it a pretty good representation of my childhood!

I’m incredibly excited about the movies and, although as of yet the release date hasn’t been specified, I just can’t wait!

Arachnophobes beware!

By Jolanta Grant

Professor Hart of the University of Gloucestershire said that the mild summer meant the weather has not been able to thwart the quantity of prey available to spiders, meaning they had more to feed on than usual- which lead to experts saying what many of us arachnophobes dread to hear, larger-than-usual house spiders will be crawling over the door mats of many UK homes soon.  

Males spiders finding warmer environments in homes and seeking to pry out females is always foreseeable in this season, but due to the warm summer this year, spiders have been feeding on the abundance of prey in the last few months. This means we are not only predicted to see a greater quantity of spiders arranging themselves behind wardrobes, and wrapping themselves in silky safety nets on higher ground, but exerts are implying that they will be bigger too... Yes that's right, let's blame the summer.

It was the fact that the summer was so mild that drove the motive of spider survival. The not too hot or cold weather gave the spiders a wider access to their prey which kept up the biodiversity this month of male and female spiders. Both sexes stay in their webs until the autumn when the males become more nomadic and search for females.

Alongside the fact that people are seeing house spiders more frequently due to the increase in their population and more frequently because last winter was quite mild, or even because the conditions around them have become better (attracting more spiders) the point that Professor Hart tries to hit home is how useful they are at pest control.

'We want to encourage people to respect and learn more about their little house guests' - quite a proposal for you fellow arachnophobes!

Paralympians return from Sochi

This year, Britain had one of their most successful years at the Winter Paralympics since Innsbruck in 1984.The GB team won six medals - one gold, three silvers and two bronzes - which made the team finish 10^th in the medal table.

Photo: Charlotte Evans, Kelly Gallagher,
 Jade Etherington and Caroline Powell

This was the first ever gold medal won by the GB paralympians, thanks to Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans in the super G.

Jade Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell took bronze in the same competition and won a whopping total of three silver medals in the visually impaired downhill, slalom and super combined. GB's wheelchair curling team, Aileen Neilson, Gregor Ewan, Jim Gault, Bob McPherson, and Angie Malone, took a bronze medal.

British skier Jade Etherington, who won three silvers and a bronze along with her guide Caroline Powell, has been classed as being the greatest British Winter Paralympian of all-time; because of this Etherington had the honour of carrying the British flag at the closing ceremony. Unfortunately, Etherington missed her final race of the competition, Sunday's giant slalom, because of illness but recovered for the closing ceremony.

The closing ceremony celebrated the achievements of the 547 athletes from 45 countries who competed for the 72 medals.

International Paralympic Committee president, Sir Philip Craven, exclaimed that the Games were the best ever Winter Paralympics. "Proud Paralympians - your inspirational athletic performances have redefined the boundaries of possibility," he told the crowd. "You have shown the world that absolutely anything is possible and that life is about amazing capabilities and not perceived deficiencies."

Britain hopes to exceed even further in future Paralympics and the UK has set up funding to help create future winter Paralympic stars.

The Paralympic flag was lowered and presented to Pyeonchang in South Korea, hosts of the 2018 Winter Games.

Virginia Mitreva,

year 8

Turn Up the Air Conditioning!

While England wraps up warm for the traditional mid-winter freeze, Australia’s road tar begins to melt.

What most people don’t realise is that while, in January, England is in the middle of winter, many other countries are halfway through their summers. Australia, in particular, is really heating up with some of the highest temperatures ever seen there.

On Tuesday 14^th January 2014, the weather forecast for England was 2°C. The weather forecast for Australia was 45°C. The English were turning up the heating; the Australians were turning up the AC. The English were pulling on gloves, scarves and coats; the Australians were stepping into swimwear. All over Australia everyone was heading to the beach, ready for a day of fun, games and sunbathing.

But not all of the effects of hot weather are exciting and enjoyable; according to BBC News, in Victoria over 250 fires were started by lightning strikes, resulting in a fire ban and several evacuations taking place. In Melbourne, at the Australian Open, a tennis player collapsed 2 hours and 22 minutes into his second round. In Tasmania, the road tar began to melt. The consequences of the heat were startling and upsetting.

There are, however, some funny and surprising aftermaths of the heat. On Friday afternoon, a video was uploaded onto CBBC Newsround. It showed a chocolate being placed on a street in Victoria on Wednesday - it melted in less than three minutes! Press play to watch the video below!

Hopefully the weather in Australia will cool down drastically, making Australia the fun and exciting place that it usually is. So, where would you rather spend your next winter – in England, with a temperature of 2°C, or in Australia, with a temperature of 45°C?

By Alisha Shaikh,

year 8

More Bad Weather to Torment Britain

News comes over the past week for communities in the south east of England after detrimental flooding during Christmas and the New Year. In spite of the recent break from rain threatening cities, in towns and villages across England water is continuing to drain into rivers, namely the Thames, making it increasingly likely that more floods are yet to come.

This has come after weeks of terror for residents of the UK. Commencing the 5^th of December, extremely high tides caused tidal surges and rivers to burst their banks. The enhancement caused by the strength and direction of the wind led to the Environment agency issuing 41 severe flood warnings and 125 flood warnings. Flights and trains were cancelled, children were sent home from school (including Boston High School students), electricity lines were cut off and residents were forced to evacuate their homes. On a most serious note, two people were killed that day. Britain continued to by battered in the run up to Christmas, thousands having their plans ruined by cancelled flights and trains, power cuts and flooding of homes. Due to the cancelled transport tempers were frayed with a 31-year old makeup artist who stated “I am fuming and absolutely desperate – there has been no information at all and we can't make alternative plans.”

Several thousand homes in the south east lost power due to the weather and were expected to be without power for Christmas day. This was certainly a year that would be remembered for all the wrong reasons. With more bad weather expected to torment Britain, residents are bracing themselves after the death toll of the floods has increased since the 5^th of December, and are preparing for the worst.

By Jenny Brown,

year 12

A Sweet New Gadget Prints Edible 3D Treats!

Every January, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held in Las Vegas to show off new electrical appliances. This year, the show saw one of the sweetest ideas yet - literally! American firm 3D Systems revealed their delicious 3D printers that are able to print edible 3-dimensional goods, including sweets and chocolates that would otherwise be virtually impossible to make.

“Food is an incredible platform for creativity, experimentation and celebration and we are thrilled to place these powerful 3D printers in bakers and chef’s kitchens,” Liz von Hasseln, Creative Director of Food Products at 3D Systems told the Independent, adding “We invite leading pastry chefs, restaurateurs and event planners to join us in bringing 3D printing into the kitchen.”

 

The printer will be available to buy later in the year and will come in two models; the   ChefJet, and the ChefJet pro, so that both cutting-edge confectioners and ambitious amateurs can use and appreciate this amazing appliance in their restaurants and bakeries. The manufacturers will also be releasing a smartphone app for it, called The Digital Cookbook, with instructions on how to make a fair few treats and goodies for those who’d rather play it a little safer and stick to a recipe than make a mess of their kitchen.

Although 3D printing isn’t an entirely new concept, the ChefJet is the only product of its kind to be able to commercially produce food, taking kitchen gadgets to a whole new level. Therefore, as you can probably imagine, it doesn’t come cheap. The basic model costs around £3000, with the advanced version costing double that.

So, how does it work? Well, after you’ve inputted a file of your chosen design from your PC or smartphone, the printer spreads very thin layers of chocolate or sugar on top of each other to make complex and futuristic-looking sweets. Also, by infusing the sugar with anything that takes your fancy, like vanilla or cherry for example, there is no end to the different treats that are now, thanks to the ChefJet, possible for humans to create!

Willy Wonka, eat your heart out!

 

By Emily Bonner,

year 8

 

Friendly Seal Cuddles Young Diver

Jamie, 15, was learning to dive at The Isle of Man, when a mysterious seal appeared next to him hugging his leg.

Seals swim fast but they don’t hang around humans which is why it was surprising to see the wild grey seal having his fins wrapped around the diver’s legs. Jamie, the diver, said “The seal stayed around for about ten minutes”.

Michelle Haywood from the Discovery Divers said, “We were diving around the Calf of Man, a little islet situated on the southern tip of the Isle of Man”. It was Jamie’s first time diving off the boat and his first time near the Calf of Man.

Jamie even said “I was surprised to see it but after a while it wasn't scary or intimidating at all - even when it nipped me”.

A video of the seal encounter can be seen below.

Jade Lewis,

year 8

They Came In Like Wrecking Boars!

Last week, Forest of Dean Football Club were struck for the third time by a bunch of destructive wild boars.



The current state of the pitch

The boars managed to break in through the surrounding fencing and left the pitch in a terrible state. The club estimates it will cost more than £1,000 to fix the mess which the boars created.

It's not the first time the pitch has been targeted; the boars made two visits to the club in just one week. 

“It could have happened to any club around here, but we’re the unlucky ones this time.” Ian Marfell, Soudley AFC chairman, told BBC news. But why do the boars choose this particular pitch? A wild boar expert suggests it’s down to the fact that the Forest of Dean Club has their grass cut regularly, which makes it easier for the boars to dig for what they’re looking for - worms and grubs to eat.



Wild boars

Five years ago, the boars came from the surrounding forest and damaged the pitch, but didn't leave the pitch in as bad of a mess as it is this time. It could take until Christmas for the pitch to return back to normal - or at least good enough to use!



Emily Bonner, year 8

New-Born Sumatran Tiger Cub Dies at London Zoo

Officials at London Zoo were devastated when the new-born Sumatran tiger cub died after drowning in the enclosure’s pool.

The cub was born on 22^nd September after a six minute labour. The birth was caught on camera in the den for hundreds of thousands of people to witness and it was the first to be born at the zoo in seventeen years. The cub had not been named yet and they didn't know the sex of the cub as it was too early to determine.

Photo: Melati (The mother of the cub)

The keepers checked the enclosure on Saturday after the three week old cub couldn’t be located; later they found the cub at the bottom of the pool.  Post mortem tests were carried out and the zoo confirmed that the tiger cub died from drowning.

London Zoo's Malcolm Fitzpatrick said: "We're heartbroken by what's happened. To go from the excitement of the birth to this in three weeks is just devastating."

However it’s still unclear of how the tiger club actually died. It is thought that the cub’s mother carried it outside of the den early Saturday morning.

"We would do anything to turn back the clock and nobody could be more upset about what's happened than the keepers who work with the tigers every day.” Fitzpatrick commented.

 Kyra Balderstone, year 9