Election 2024

 

  

Lord Buckethead, Elmo and Mr Fishfinger: a very British election | General election 2017 | The Guardian

Who is Lord Buckethead? The Black-Clad Villain Ran for British PM’s Seat (yahoo.com)

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/jun/29/count-binface-interview

What do you see in these pictures? What is happening?

What is happening this week in the UK on Thursday?

What is a general election?

 The photos are from the general election of 2017.

Can you name any of the people in the photos?

One of the people here was the Prime Minister at the time, which one?

In one of these photos we can see Prime Minister Theresa May. She was elected to serve the Maidenhead constituency the night this photo was taken.

What is a constituency?

Theresa May received 37,718 votes, 64% of the vote; The Labour party candidate came second with 11,261 votes. 

How are votes collected and counted? Who can vote?

In the UK we live in a democracy which means anyone over 18 years old can stand for election and vote. Twelve people stood against Theresa May in Maidenhead in 2017, asking people to vote for them. These included Lord Buckethead, who ended up in 7th place with 249 votes and 0.4% of the vote. On twitter Lord Buckethead proclaimed to be an "Intergalactic space lord". Following the result Lord Buckethead tweeted, "249! A new Buckethead record! Something to celebrate eh?"

Other candidates standing in the election around the country included "Mr Fish Finger" in Westmorland and Lonsdale where the leader of the Liberal Democrat party won with 23,686 votes. You can see Mr Fishfinger in the photo above. Mr Fish Finger came 4th (out of 4 candidates) with 309 votes. Following the election Mr Fishfinger tweeted, "Absolutely shattered walking back to hotel for a few hours in the freezer then off to London in the afternoon. Thanks everyone."

This week Lord Buckethead is standing again. He has changed his name to Count Binhead, and he is standing in the same constituency as the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, Richmond and Northallerton. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper this weekend, Count Buckethead says his greatest achievement was getting 4000 more votes than the Britain First candidate in the Lord Mayor of London election in 2021. The Britain First party campaigned against immigration. Count Binhead says the greatest love of his life is Democracy.

-What is democracy?

- 37,469 more people voted for Theresa May than voted for Lord Buckethead; why?

- In 2021, 4000 more people voted for Count Binhead than for a party who campaigned against immigration. What is immigration? What does that result suggest about the people in London today and how they feel about immigration?

- Do you think Count Binhead and Mr Fishfinger want to win their elections? Why do you think they stand?

- Some people voted for either Mr Fishfinger or Lord Buckethead. Did their votes count? Why?

- Why do you think Count Binhead keeps standing in the same constituency where the current Prime Minister is standing?

- Should Lord Buckethead and Mr Fishfinger be allowed to take part in elections? What would happen if they won?

- What does this story demonstrate about democracy in the UK?

- Some people say there is no point in voting in elections because "they are all the same" or "nothing will change". Why do people day that? What do you think?

- Do you have to vote?

- What will happen if people don't vote?

- Have people always been able to vote in elections in the UK? How did that happen?  

- Some countries do not have elections today; why not? What is the alternative to a democracy? (autocracy – where one person holds all power without checks or balances for the entire country. This can also be known as a dictatorship) what is the difference?
- Why is this about No Outsiders?

-Which British value is this about?

 

We provide all our assemblies every week for free. No Outsiders needs funds to keep going. Please consider contributing to our Go Fund Me page

.Badges, lanyards, classroom posters to make the equality ethos visible around school can be ordered from our shop. All proceeds keep us going. 

43 lesson plans and guidance to teach equality: No Outsiders: we belong here by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders,com

 

30 seconds

 

https://www.upworthy.com/teachers-rule-about-something-you-cant-change-in-30-seconds-is-a-lesson-for-all-ages

Natalie Ringold is a teacher who has gone viral after delivering a simple message to her class. 

Parts of the message are on the image above, but some words are missing. Can you work out what the message is?

The message is "Something you can't change in 30 seconds."

What do you think this message is about? 

What can you change about yourself in 30 seconds?

What can't you change? What do you think the teacher is saying to her pupils? 

There is a video you can watch in the link. In the video Natalie says " "If someone can't change something about themselves in 30 seconds or less, then you shouldn't be mentioning it to them." She also squeezes a tube of toothpaste to illustrate her message - why do you think she does that? What is she trying to show with the toothpaste?

Natalie says, "Your words have power. your words matter. If you walk out of this room spreading kindness to the people around you, spreading love to the people around you, that is what truly makes a difference." - 

- what does that mean?

Watch the video and discuss:

- what you you think of this message? Can you think of examples?

- Should we not talk about who we are? Is that what Natalie is saying? What's the difference between you talking about who you are or how you look, and someone else doing that?

-"Your words have power" what does this mean?

- as she talks, Natalie squeezes a tube of toothpaste and then tries to get the paste back in the tube. It becomes messy and you can't put it back. What is she trying to show here?

- "You try to apologise, you try to take the words back, and you try to undo what you said, undo what you did. But it's something they couldn't change about themselves and do it gets very messy. You can't totally take those words back, you can't totally fix it."- do you agree? Can you give an example?

- Natalie says she wants her students to remember this for the rest of their lives - why? Do you think they will?

- In the comments on social media someone wrote, "teachers should help kids learn that their humanity matters as much as their grades" do you agree with this statement? Can you build on it?

- Why is this about no outsiders?

- Which British value is this about?

No Outsiders needs funds to keep going. Please consider contributing to our Go Fund Me page

.Badges, lanyards, classroom posters to make the equality ethos visible around school can be ordered from our shop. All proceeds keep us going. 

42 lesson plans and guidance: No Outsiders: we belong here by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders,com

Veteran

 

Edward Ryan Obituary (2024) - Albany, NY - Albany Times Union (legacy.com)

The photo shows retired firefighter and army veteran Colonel Edward Thomas Ryan, who sadly died aged 85 last month. This photo was the picture used in his obituary on June 8th.

During his lifetime, Edward was a member of a church, he had Bachelor of science and Bachelor of arts degrees; he was a firefighter in New York State and had been decorated for his role in the army. He was awarded a Defence of Liberty medal in 2001. He also received a "Commanders Citation" military medal "For services beyond the call."

- What is an obituary for?

- What does "For services beyond the call" mean?

- Reading Edward's achievements above, what kind of person to you think Edward was?

Edward wrote a personal note before he died, which was added to his obituary. The note read:

"I must tell you one more thing. I was gay all my life; through grade school, through high school, college, life. I was in a loving caring relationship with Paul Cavagnaro or North Greenbush. He was the love of my life. We had 25 great years together. Paul died in 1994, I'll be buried next to Paul. I'm sorry not to have the courage to come out as gay. I was afraid of being ostracised by family, friends and co-workers. Seeing how people like me were treated, I just could not do it. Now that my secret is known, I'll forever rest in peace."

- Why didn't Paul tell people he was gay?

- Edward was in a relationship with someone for 25 years and no one knew - can you imagine what that must have been like for them? Why would they choose to do that?

- Do you think Edwards family were worried about him being in his own, why didn't he just tell them? 

- what did Edwards family miss out on, not knowing about Paul for all those years? (think about family celebrations, weddings etc and he was never there)

- Edward says he didn't have the courage to come out. Yet he was a firefighter and received military medals. Was he a brave person?

- I was afraid of being ostracised by family, friends and co-workers - what does that mean?

- Edward apologises for not coming out. Should he be apologising?

- What message would you give to Paul if you could meet him today?

- June is Pride month. Some people say we don't need Pride month - what do you think Edward felt about Pride?

- Do you think we need Pride month? 

- There are different views about LGBTQ+ equality around the world. In the UK we have freedom of speech and democracy and different view are allowed. We can agree and we can disagree and still respect each other, as long as we are not othering each other or being judgmental. What do we say about different families and equality at our school, why do we say that? (We want everyone to know they can themselves and they belong here)

-What is the law in the UK about this? (Equality Act 2010) What are the 9 protected characteristics? (age, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation, sex, gender reassignment, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity)

- What can we learn from Edward?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

- Which British Value is this about?

No Outsiders needs funds to keep going. Please consider contributing to our Go Fund Me page

. Badges, lanyards, classroom posters etc can be ordered from our shop. All proceeds keep us going. 

No Outsiders: we belong here by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders,com

 

Rap video

 

‘We got the energy’: Irish children’s rap video goes viral | Ireland | The Guardian

A group of children in Ireland have filmed a video that has gone viral with over 8.6 million views. It is being called a drum and base-beat masterpiece. The producer says “The kids’ energy and positivity has inspired people”

The song was made in Cork, created by a youth rap project called Kabin Studio with a group of 30 neighbourhood children aged 9-12 plus a group who live in refugee accommodation.

Lyrics are:

“Think you can stop what we do?

I doubt it

We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it,

I searched for my spark and I found it.”

The song is an anthem for  Cruinniú na nÓg, (Gathering of youth) which holds hundreds of free events for children and young people across Ireland every year.

The producer explained how the song was made: “We put on a drum and base track. We found the beat and started coming up with a chant and chorus idea. The children developed the chorus first during an Easter camp, after which the tutors took the material to a refugee centre, where more children helped to complete it.”

Both teams then teamed up to shoot the video on the top of a bus and in central Cork.

The producer says, “We don’t want to make any money. If it does make money we want to support Kabin Studio and kids in direct provision” (the refugee centre).

There is a link to the fantastic video in the link above.

-What is a refugee?

-          - Why do you think this video has gone viral? Does that suggest anything about people today and attitudes towards refugees?

-         -  Why do you think the producers wanted to use local children and children who live in a refugee centre? Why didn’t they just use local children?

      - Some people might ague that the children in this video should not be making a video with refugees from a different country. How would you respond?

----what do we say at our school about difference and diversity?

-          - “The kids’ energy and positivity has inspired people” what does this mean?

-          - What does the lyric, “I searched for my spark and I found it,” mean?

-          - Why do you think the producers chose to make the video on the top of a bus?

-          - What do you think they are trying to show through this song and video? Is it just lots of fun or is there a message?

-         - - Why don’t they want to keep the money?

-          - What can we learn from Kabin Studio?

-          - Why is this about No Outsiders?

- Which British Value is this linked to?

 The new No Outsiders guide with lesson plans for 20204 is here No Outsiders: we belong here by AndrewMoffat

www.no-outsiders.com

 No Outsiders needs funds to keep going. Please consider contributing to our Go Fund Me page