lonely

 

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/lonely-widower-poster-thousands-of-friends/

Tony Williams in 75 years old and lives in Alton, England. Last May, Tony’s wife Jo died. Tony has no family nearby and became very lonely. He says he sat at home willing the phone to ring, but it never did.

Tony put a sign in his window; “I have lost Jo, my lovely wife and soul mate. I have no friends or family, no one to talk to.. can no one help me?”

 

After a few weeks Tony started to get a few phone calls. Strangers – now people he calls friends – from all around the world and he has now been inundated with offers of friendship from America, Germany, Australis, Holland, India, Canada, Egypt and Japan. A woman invited him to Florida, USA, and said she would show him around. People have asked if their children can adopt him as a grandad.

 

Tony says the offers have brought tears to his eyes; “They’ve sent me pictures of their kids, their pets, told me about their aspirations and telling me they are thinking of me. I got an email from a local teacher asking of children in her class could write me letters… I would love that.”

-          What causes loneliness and what does it feel like?

-          Tony could have stayed in his house hoping someone would call. What did he do instead, why did he do that?

-          why do you think so many people contacted Tony?

-          Tony calls these stranger ‘friends’ now; how do you think they have they become friends?

-          Do you think Tony cares about the skin colour, the religion of people who contact him? Does he ask if they are gay or lesbian or if they have a disability? Why not?

-          People from all over the world have responded; what does this show us about people around the world?

-          why is this a story of hope?

      why is this about no outsiders?

-          What can we learn from Tony?

bull

 

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/meet-the-determined-bull-that-thinks-hes-a-show-jumping-horse/

Sabine Rouas works on a farm in Verdun, France and five years ago bought a new born calf, which she called Aston and raised alongside her horse Sammy. After a while Sabine noticed Aston was copying the tricks she was teaching Sammy. He started trotting, galloping and stopping following Sabine’s commands. He was also able to jump over horse jumps.

Sabine takes Aston to horse shows where she says people are often scared of him; “They can be a bit scared because he’s big – much bigger than a horse.”

“Most people, even farmers, don’t like to get too close to cows with horns. But once they see his real nature, and see him doing the exercises, they often say, “Oh, he’s really quite beautiful.”

There is a film clip of Aston in the link.

-          What image does a bull have? What do you think of when you see a bull?

-          Where do you think this image has come from?

-          How is Aston different?

-          Aston and Sammy grew up together; do you think Sammy was worried about growing up with a bull?

-          Why are people often scared of Aston?

-          What does it take to make people see there is nothing to be afraid of?

-          Why is this about stereotypes and prejudice?

-          The headline of the article is, “the bull that thinks he’s a show jumping horse”. Do you think Aston thinks he’s a horse?

-          The headline makes the assumption that if you show jump, you have to be a horse. What is Aston showing us? (perhaps he is just a different kind of bull)

-          What can we learn from Aston?

Why is this a story of hope?

rock climber

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-54210413

Matthew Shifrin is a rock climber from Boston USA who took up the sport a year ago. Matthew is blind so he climbs with the help of his friend Max Hernandez. Max and Matthew plan and map out Matthew’s climb before he begins using lego bricks, and then Max stands at the base of the wall calling out to Matthew to guide him as he keeps going.

Matthew says, “The trouble is as a blind person, when you fall you never know how far down you are falling…. The way to overcome that fear is to just get more in to the unknown.”

Matthew explains why he loves rock climbing; “It’s just me, the wall and the caller; that’s it…. It’s very rare for blind people to have these moments of control and moments of freedom.”

There is a film of Matthew climbing in the link above. Before telling the story, ask children to look at the pictures and work out what the story is – what is the person doing? Why might they be wearing dark glasses, what is the lego for and how is it related?

-          How do you think being blind affects Matthew?

-          Why do you think Matthew started rock climbing?

-          What difficulties might a person who is blind experience when rock climbing?

-          How is lego helping?

-          When Matthew first approached the rock climbing gym, what do you think the instructors thought? Why didn’t they turn Matthew away?

-          “It’s very rare for blind people to have these moments of control and moments of freedom.” What does Matthew mean?

-          How does rock climbing help Matthew to feel in control?

-          Why is this a story of hope?

-          Why is this about No Outsiders?

What can we learn from Matthew?

triathlon

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-54224410

https://english.elpais.com/sports/2020-09-21/spanish-triathlete-lets-rival-cross-the-line-first-after-making-mistake-at-the-finish.html

Last week James Teagle, a British triathlon runner in Spain made international headlines when, in the final metres of the race he was eet to come in thirds place. But he became confused by the signs and went the wrong way. His wrong turn meant the runner behind him,  Diego Mentrida, overtook him and looked like he was going to come third.

Diego then slowed down just before the finish line to allow James to finish ahead of him and achieve third placing. The two runners shook hands and competed the race together. The Spanish link above has footage of the moment.

If Diego had taken third place, it would have been the first podium finish of his career, but Diego later explained why he gave up that victory; “Seeing him make the mistake, I unconciously stopped myself. He deserved it.”

“This is something my parents and my club taught me since I was a child. In my view it should be a normal thing to do.”

Footage of the incident went viral on social media with Diego receiving praise from around the world.

 

-          What is a triathlon?

-          Why do you think James, who was from Britain, was confused by signs?

-          What choices did Diego have as James went thw wrong way?

-          Diego has never achieved a podium finish? Do you think a little part of him thought, “Yes! This is my moment!”?

-          Why did he stop to allow James to come in third?

-          How do you think James felt as he realsied what Diego was doing?

-          Diego is Spanish and James is British. Why are competitors from different countries helping each other like this?

-          “It’s what my parents and clun taught me” what does Diego mean? Did they teach him to lose?

-          Why has this gone viral? What does this show about peope around the word and their opinion about what he did?

-          What message would you give to Diego?

What can we learn from Diego?

Lacrosse

 

https://www.irishpost.com/news/irish-lacrosse-team-withdraws-from-international-tournament-to-allow-native-american-team-to-compete-192267?fbclid=IwAR0saDyZ4el9-CXxLJsGcES6zW1ERwmpKqlXucTLglyoblv6geAnKiOqBxw

An Irish Lacrosse team who qualified to represent their country in the international Lacrosse World Games have withdrawn from the competition to allow a team from a different country to have their place.

The Iroquois Nationals are a Native American Lacrosse team and they were told they were not allowed to compete in the World Games because they were not a Sovereign Nation and did not have an Olympic committee.

A Sovereign nation is defined as one which has a permanent population, defined territory and one government.

Native Americans invented Lacrosse and the game is a sacred sport for them. Lacrosse teams across the world stood in solidarity with the team and eventually the Olympic committee agreed they could take part. But the qualification rounds had already taken place and there was no room for them, so the Irish team gave them their place.

The Chief Executive of Ireland Lacrosse said it was, “simply the right thing to do.” The team released a statement which ended with “I dteanna a cheile – together as one”. When the Iroquois Nationals responded to say thank you, they also ended their statement with the same words and language. The Iroquois have changed their team colours from yellow and purple to green white and gold – the Irish colours.

-        What is Lacrosse?

-        Why don’t the Native American team fit in to the “Sovereign nation” criteria?

-        “simply the right thing to do”- why?

-        How do you think the Iroquois Nationals felt when they heard the news?

-        What does ‘together as one’ mean? Why did the Native American team use Gaelic language in their response?

-        Why have the Iroquois Nationals changed their team colours?

-        When the Iroquois Nationals play, who will be supporting them?

-        What can we learn from the Irish Lacrosse team?

-        Why is this about No Outsiders?

surf

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/09/maya-gabeira-surfed-biggest-wave-year/616216/?fbclid=IwAR1V1cDbEPvdwLr8VQlfGAlvDAp5yZl1nLbn-dBlMSGNhl5O6NWkbuKcVEA 

 

Last week a new world record was set by a surfer; a wave they surfed on February 11th in Portugal this year was recognised as the largest wave surfed by anyone this year, at 73.5 feet (22m) 

 

Ask the children to think about what that would mean to the surfer and how they felt when this was finally announced 6 months after they surfed the wave. If the children use the pronoun “he”, ask why they assume the surfer is male? This surfer is female; her name is Maya Gabeira. The second biggest wave this year was surfed by a male surfer; Kai Lenny whose wave was 70 feet. 

 

Here is footage of Maya surfing the biggest wave: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTuqJE03aH4 

 

Maya said, “I never thought this could happen. To have a woman in this position in a male-dominated sport is a dream come true.” 

 

• What is surfing? How does it work? 

• How do you think a surfer feels when the wave approaches them? 

• Do you think surfing is easy? Here is a ‘surfing fails’ video that KS2 children might find interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vwb3kPwGn4 

• On that video you can see the surf boards are often attached by rope to the surfer; why is this? 

• why do you think some people assumed the winner of the competition would be male? 

• Maya calls surfing a “male-dominated sport” what does this mean? 

• What is Maya proving to the world? 

• Why does this story show us about gender equality? 

• Why is this about no outsiders? 

• Why is this story about hope? 

Fish and chips

 

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/refugees-gary-lineker-fish-and-chips-friday/

Gary Lineker made a short film last week to celebrate National Fish and Chip day. In the film Gary starts by saying, “Britain wouldn’t be Britain without Fish and Chips. A national institution!”

Then the food on the plate starts talking and explains to Gary that they woudn’t be here without refugees;

“Have you ever thought about where I actually come from?” says the fish;

“You’ve got refugees to thank for me. I’m a bit Spanish, a bit Portuguese, 15^th Century Jewish refugees bought me over.”

The chips then explain they came over with French refugees. And the first Fish and Chip shop was opened by a refugee called Jospeh Malin in the 1860s.

Gary ends by saying, “Britain wouldn’t be Britain without refugees.”

Gary got lots of praise on social media for this film but some people said refugees were not welcome. One MP said if Gary was so concerned about refugees he should invite a refugee to stay in his house. So Gary contacted the charity “Refugees at home” to offer to host a guest.

-        What is a refugee?

-        Can anyone become a refugee? How?

-        why is Fish and Chips a ‘British institution’, what does that mean?

-        Why do you think Fish and Chips are so popular?

-        Battered fish originated in Spain and Portugal and chips were invented by Jewish refugees. Today there are fish and chip shops in every high street in Britain. What does this show about the impact refugees have had on Britain today?

-        Why do you think the MP asked if Gary was going to offer to host a refugee in his house?

-        Why do you think Gary offered to do this?

-        What does this show about Gary Lineker?

-        What can we do in our school to make sure everyone knows they are welcome?

Why is this about No Outsiders?

Pride train

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/uk-pride-train-lgbt-crew-first-journey-a4532916.html

A “Pride train”  staffed by LGBT+ crew made it’s first journey last week from London to Manchester. The train was painted with all the colours of the rainbow flack including pink, blue and white for the transgender community and black and brown to represent the Asian and ethnic minority population.

Train manager Paul Austin said, “This is about being accepted for who I am and representing the LGBT+ community we serve across our network. Being part of the first all LGBT+ crew is a sign of the steps we are taking towards a more inclusive, diverse and equal society and I am proud to be involved today.”

Avanti trains said future crews will not be exclusively LGBT but the Pride flag will remain.

Sarah Copley, Avanti West Coast Executive Director said, “It’s a symbol of our commitment to diversity and inclusion as it travels up and down the west coast main line. We live proud 365 days a year, not just today. I am so proud to be part of a business where our people represent the communities we serve.”

-        What do you see in the picture? What does the flag represent?

-        Why do you think Avanti Trains chose to do this?

-        A TV reporter said this “gay train” was “ridiculous”. Is the train gay?

-        Why do you think some people didn’t agree with a rainbow-coloured train?

-        Is the train trying to make people gay?

-        Paul wants “a more inclusive, diverse and equal society” how does the train help this?

-        “We live proud 365 days a year, not just today.” What does Sarah mean?

“our people represent the communities we serve.” What does this mean?

Why is this about No Outsiders?

 

Morgan’s story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw7D12NudJU

Interview including cultural appropriation discussion https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53452080

Morgan Bullock is a 21 year old African American Irish dancer who lives in Virginia, USA. Over summer Morgan went viral for her dancing.

Morgan says, “People say I shouldn’t be Irish dancing because I’m black and I don’t look like most Irish dancers.”

Morgan says when she first saw Irish dancing she remembers how energetic it was; “It was something I had never seen before.” She was the only African American girl in her Irish dancing classes; “I don’t think I ever considered it an issue, it was definitely something I took note of but I had grown up in a predominately white area so it wasn’t something I was uncomfortable about.”

Some people argued that Morgan was wrong to take part in Irish dancing because she was not Irish. People said this was ‘cultural appropriation’; this means when people of one culture adopt customs or practices of another culture. This could be a hairstyle, a piece of clothing or an activity. The problem arises when people from a dominant culture pretend to be something they are not by drawing on stereotypes to do so. Morgan argues there is a difference between appropriation and appreciation, and she is appreciating.

Morgan appeared on a radio show where she was invited to join Riverdance. Riverdance is a very famous Irish dancing show that is performed across the globe. Padriac Moyles, the lead dancer in Riverdance said, “Thank you for having the guts in many ways to put yourself out there”

-        What is Irish dancing?

-        Why do people think Morgan is unusual?

-        Morgan was the only African American dancer in her class; do you think this affected her?

-        Why do some people say Morgan should not do Irish dancing?

-        How does Morgan respond to that?

-        KS2/3 what is cultural appropriation? How is this story related? Do you think Morgan is guilty of cultural appropriation? Discuss.

-        Why did Padriac Moyles say Morgan had “guts”

What can we learn from Morgan and this story?

why is this about No Outsiders?