Interview

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/64722483?fbclid=IwAR0044qMtqUwEtrX-d7MX49j7MgHUGnN-utY8ZPp3Qt6mzaZbiXe3FMZR4M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_U9cGSuUzg

Ken Sema is a professional footballer who plays for Watford. Last week he was awarded man of the match after scoring 2 goals in a 3-2 win over West Brom. He was praised for his skills on the pitch but also for his post-match interview.

Ken has a stammer which means he sometimes finds it hard to say certain words or sentences. You can watch the interview in the youtube clip above. Ken has been called inspirational for his interview and people are calling him a role model for other people with a stammer. 

One person tried to explain on social media how a person with a stammer manages their speech; "Your mind has to work at incredible speed to choose words you don't stumble over." Ken is also speaking in a second language.

Another person wrote; "I stutter as well, this is awesome."

Another wrote; "Ken is an absolute hero and role model for children like my son who love football and who stammer. Interviews like this give him so much confidence that he can speak beautifully and out his point of view across just like Ken. Thank you."

There is a brilliant newsround video in the link where Jack, who also has a stammer, talks about their experience and gives three tips for talking to someone who has a stammer:

1. Don't rush them (they will stop taking to you)

2. Don't finish their sentences for them

3. Think about your facial responses.

- What is a stammer?

- Why might Ken, who sometimes speaks with a stammer, sometimes feel like an outsider?

- Sometimes people try to finish sentences for a person with a stammer; how do you think that makes the person with the stammer feel?

- Watch a bit if the interview; what do you notice about the interviewer and the way they conduct the conversation? (they wait for Ken to finish his own sentences and they ask more questions. Why do they do this?)

- "Your mind has to work at incredible speed to choose words you don't stumble over." explain this.

- The title of the video says, "Despite suffering with a stammer..." Suffering is an interesting word to use. Does Ken look like he is suffering? Why shouldn't we use that word to describe someone who has a stammer? What would be a better title?

- How do you think Ken felt as he stepped up to the mic before the interview? 

- Why didn't Ken ask someone else to do the interview for him?

- "Ken is an absolute hero and role model for children like my son who love football and who stammer" Why? What impact can Ken have every time he does an interview?

- What do you think about Jack's tips? Why does he say to think about your facial responses?

- What can we learn from Ken?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders,com

Brianna

 

What do you see in the pictures? Where are they, what is happening, what are the clues? Why is it happening?

The pictures show a vigil in Birmingham last week for the teenager Brianna Ghey. 

Who is Brianna Ghey? What is a vigil?

Brianna Ghey was a 16 year old girl from Cheshire, described as, "strong, fearless and one of a kind with a larger than life character." by her family. She was murdered on 11th February. Two 15 year olds have been charged with her murder. 

Brianna was transgender. 

What does this mean? 

The children will know and give definitions. Encourage exploration of this term to develop understanding and non judgement. Remind the children everyone is welcome at our school- we say there are no outsiders.

This article from the BBC explains, "A trans person's gender identity is not the same as the sex on their original birth certificate. As babies our sex is recorded based on physical characteristics. Gender identity is based on self-perception - how we see and describe ourselves and how we "present" to the world. For example, someone whose sex is female might identify as male or vice-versa "

This week there have been vigils in remembrance of Brianna in many cities across the UK involving thousands of people. 

Did all these people know Brianna? Why are they coming together to remember her?

The photo from Birmingham shows thousands of people coming together; people of different race, religion, age, sexuality, ability; 

What does this show about people in the UK today and their attitude towards people who are transgender?

Police are saying Brianna's murder was not a hate crime. 

What is a hate crime? We may never know if this incident was a hate crime or not; does that matter?

What does the law say about people who are transgender? (The Equality Act 2010)

What do British Values say about people who are transgender (Mutual respect/ rule of law)

What do we say in our school about people who are transgender? 

What other groups of people are welcome in our school?

What can we learn from Brianna? 

Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

Thank you Birmingham Pride for the photos of the Birmingham Vigil. 

Fighter pilot

 

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/female-super-bowl-flyover-team-speaks-making-history/story?id=96983944&fbclid=IwAR1ozYxMpb4-l6Bs2mNW5AhUOVy8XncapH5tGu6fA5rdM45dHzkcKhJWCIM

This picture shows the flyover at the Superbowl The Superbowl is the national football league championship game in the USA. It's the final game of the season and is watched by 92 million TV viewers. Traditionally, the game is launched by a flyover by the US Navy who fly four planes in a diamond formation.

This year, to mark 50 years of women flying in the US Navy, all four planes making the diamond formation will be piloted by women. This has never happened before. 

One of the pilots is Catie Perkowski. She says, "As a football fan, when I got the call to do the Superbowl flyover, it's almost like a dream."

Catie normally flies aircrafts on and off an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea and  says there is no distinction about her gender; "What it boils down to is that we trained to do this job together. I didn't join the navy to be a female fighter pilot. I joined the navy to be a fighter pilot, so to me it makes no difference."

- What is a fighter pilot?

- Do you think there are gender stereotypes around fighter pilots? Where do they come from? 

- How fast do you think the flyover is? (345mph)

- What do you think the challenges are flying a diamond formation over a football stadium at 345 miles per hour?

- What are the challenges flying a jet place on and off an aircraft carrier?

- "I didn't join the navy to be a female fighter pilot. I joined the navy to be a fighter pilot."  what does Catie mean by this?

- Catie says her gender makes no difference; what do you think? 

- If gender makes no difference, why is this a news story? Why not have one woman fluing a plane in the formation, or two women and two men?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

- Which British Value is this about?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone equal by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

Up Helly Aa

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64464271?fbclid=IwAR1x4PEJ4HLamQ01WTbsl8N1WEwhsecbSbpm2sKwGuofD74B25SWud0jt1Y

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-64452185

This photo shows the procession for the Up Helly Aa Fire Festival in Shetland which is usually held every year on the last Tuesday in January. The festival celebrates Shetland's Norse heritage. Warriors parade through the streets of Shetland carrying torches before a replica Viking Longship is set alight. 

This year there was something different about the parade of warriors. Can you guess what was allowed for the first time in the torch parade?

The Up Helly Aa Festival has been going for 142 years and a rule was changed this year.  In 2023 for the first time a gender restriction was lifted. 

Previously, females were allowed to join in the celebrations as hostesses in the many community halls across Shetland where parties took place after the festival. This year, females were allowed to join the torch parade.

In smaller versions of the festival on other islands, women have been allowed to join processions for some years. But this is the biggest and longest-running festival. There is a junior version for primary schools where no gender restrictions exist. But this means many girls have been joining Up Helly Aa processions till aged 12, and then from 13 years on as they leave primary school, they can only watch as the boys continue to march. That rule changed this year.

The group Up Helly Aa For All have been campaigning for this change for 40 years. Johan Adamson from the group says, "There's been a lot of people through the last 40 years campaigning for this and it's fantastic. It's so important. There was so much wrong with what's been happening like the girls being excluded, and that was just such a big wrong."

"You can sit in primary school and get involved and see the squads, make your shields, make your helmet and then be told at 11 or 12 you can't be in it. All that controversy about no girls taking part has stopped, so everyone can react in a positive way to the festival and long may it continue."

- Who were the Vikings?

- Where is Shetland?

- What is meant by Norse heritage?

- Why do you think only men have been allowed to join this annual torch procession for 142 years?

- Were there female Vikings? (Yes. The Birka grave in Sweden is of a female Viking warrior https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/viking-warrior-women-birka-grave)

- what is a gender stereotype and what is the stereotype about Vikings? Where does it come from?

- One could argue this is about tradition. Traditionally, men have marched in the Up Helly Aa processions. Should some traditions be kept? Is it about respecting history?

- Which British law has the Up Helly Aa festival been breaking since 2010? (The Equality Act) 

- The Up Helly Aa For All group have been campaigning since the 1980s. That's 40 years! Why do you think this change has taken so long to happen?

- What can we learn from the Up Helly Aa Festival in 2023?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

- Which British Value is this about?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

LGBT history month

 

What do you see here? Where do you see these and what are they for? 

What do you notice about the colours?

This photo is of a self scan from Sainsburys taken last weekend. Sainsbury's have used the colours of the rainbow flag on their self-scanners this month.

This month is LGBT history month. 

The Argos/ Sainsbury's website includes quotes from people working at Sainsburys about this. Lauren Hackett says; "At Proud@Sainsburys we want to ensure that the LGBT agenda is at the forefront of what we do all year round but for me LGBT History Month is one of the most important months in the calendar year as we are able to really focus on the issues LGBT individuals have faced in the past to get equal rights and highlights that there is so much still to be done."

- What is LGBT history month, what is the aim?

- Do you know any LGBT history? (if not, why not? How can we change that? Should we? Does it matter?)

- What does LGBT stand for? (often today we say LGBTQ+ - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/ Questioning and the plus includes other identities under the queer umbrella. Queer is another word for different)

- Why do you think Sainsburys have used rainbow colours on their self scanners?#

- it could be that this is not about LGBT history month; perhaps Sainsburys just chose to use pretty rainbow colours on their scanners this month. There is no sin saying, "We support LGBT history month" so perhaps we are mistaken. What do you think? 

- There is no sign in stores and Sainsburys have not announced this on social media, they just did it. Why do you think they didn't feel the need to announce the rainbow colours on their scanners, what does this show about how they view LGBT history month/ LGBT equality? (it is usualised - we don't have to make an announcement because it's just what we do)#

- What do you think Proud@Sainsburys is about?

- "we want to ensure that the LGBT agenda is at the forefront of what we do all year round..." so why have LGBT history month in February? Why nor have every month as LGBT history month? (Historian David Olusoga says about Black history month that we should be talking about black history all year round, but in Black History Month we just turn the volume up.)

- "We are able to really focus on the issues LGBT individuals have faced in the past to get equal rights and highlights that there is so much still to be done." what issues did LGBT individuals face in the past and is LGBT equality been achieved today?

- Does everyone need to celebrate LGBT history month? Do you think LGBT people want to be celebrated or just want to be equal? Perhaps it's not about celebrating, perhaps instead it's about acknowledging LGBT history month/ understanding LGBT history/ learning about it? What do you think?

- By using rainbow colours on their scanners, are Sainsburys celebrating LGBT history month, or are they acknowledging it? 

- What can we learn from Sainsburys?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

All terrain

 

https://www.upworthy.com/georgia-all-terrain-wheelchairs-at-state-parks

Georgia USA, is making sure their parks and hiking trails are accessible to everyone. The Aimee Copeland Foundation and Georgia Department of Natural Resources have teamed up to provide a fleet of all-terrain wheelchairs in 11 of Georgia's state parks. The wheelchairs are free to use.

The chairs are able to travel through mud, sand, snow and water. Visitors with cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal chord injuries and with lower limb amputations are qualified to use the chairs.

Georgia Parks Sites Director Jeff Cown said, "I am proud to partner with the Aimee Copeland Foundation and offer access to visitors with mobility or physical disabilities." In the video link (in the above article) different language is used; "Georgia Sate Parks are offering free all-terrain wheelchair rentals so people of all abilities can enjoy the great outdoors."

Cory Lee is a wheelchair user and travel blogger who has covered accessible adventures throughout the world. but has never been able to explore his home town of Georgia until now, He says the chairs are life changing, giving people more independence through the parks.

- what is an all-terrain wheelchair? How does it work?

- Why do you think Georgia State Parks have done this?

- Is it safe for a person with cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy to be hiking? (yes with the right equipment)

- Cory Lee has covered may accessible adventures; what is an accessible adventure?

- Why might parks and hiking trails be inaccessible to some people? 

- Why does Cory Lee say the wheelchair are life-changing?

- Why has Georgia State Parks chosen to make rental of these chairs free?

- There is an interesting difference in language used by Jeff Cown and used in the video. Jeff Cown says the wheelchairs, "offer access to visitors with mobility or physical disabilities." The video says the wheelchairs are made, "so people of all abilities can enjoy the great outdoors." What do you notice about this language, which is a better use of language, why?

- In the past, people often used the term, "Wheelchair bound" to describe someone using a wheelchair,  but today people often use the term "Wheelchair user" Why do you think this language is changing?  Why does language matter? For those who do not rely on wheelchairs, they may see life in a wheelchair as limiting or restricting. Those who rely on wheelchairs know the opposite is true; wheelchair offer mobility, freedom and independence. Writing about this in 2017, Heather McCain says, "At no point in my ten years of using a wheelchair did I ever feel confined or bound. I felt free, independent and able to participate as a productive member in our society thanks to my wheelchair."  https://canbc.org/blog/proper-terminology-dont-use-confined-to-or-wheelchair-bound/#:~:text=The%20terms%20%E2%80%9Cconfined%20to%20a%20wheelchair%E2%80%9D%20and%20%E2%80%9Cwheelchair,in%20a%20wheelchair%20as%20limiting%2C%20confining%20and%20restricting.

- What can we learn from Georgia State Parks?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

journey

 

13 stranded strangers went on a road trip. Here's what happened | CNN Travel

13 Strangers Rent Van Together After Canceled Flight - YouTube

A flight to Knoxville, Tennessee, was cancelled at Orlando International Airport, USA, leaving 13 passengers stranded at the airport with no way to get to their destination. The next flight was 48 hours away.

Rather than stay at the airport and wait for the next flight, 13 complete strangers from the cancelled flight decided to hire a minivan, split the costs and drive the 600 miles to Knoxville together. They documented their travels on social media along the way and the story quickly went viral.

What do you think happened on the journey? Watch the video above (the youtube video is better than the video in the article).

No one is exactly sure how the idea happened; “Michelle says it was her vision, but everyone else made it a reality. Carlos thinks it was Amy's idea, but he put down the credit card. Carlos' partner Laura says she'd never normally do anything like this. Laura's daughter Mikayla was in disbelief; "When they first told me I looked at them like they were crazy. I'm like, 'You want to get into this big van with a bunch of random strangers?'"

To make sure no one was left behind, they numbered themselves 1-13. People shared stories about their families and lives and one of the passengers started filming on tik tok, which got attention and over 1 million views within an hour. People watching tik tok were sending in messages that the group read out in the van to keep them going. Alanah says, “We were all so different and I think a big part of why people like it so much is because you could literally see our differences in real time.”

One of the passengers, Laura, was on her way to an interview at the University of Tennessee. When she arrived (in time), the University had heard about her story through social media and treated her and her family to a free lunch. Laura says she has been left heartened by this experience. She says she doesn’t want to make people think they can just get in a car with strangers, but she felt secure because she was with Carlos.

"I take away the fact that there are some really good people in this world. We were all different cultures, we were different backgrounds. It couldn't have gotten more perfect. So I don't have any regrets. No regrets whatsoever."

Alanah says, "I feel like this situation for me specifically kind of restored my trust and humanity a little bit. There's definitely hope for people -- people can be good. And also, if you get the opportunity to go on a crazy adventure, you should take it, because you never know what's gonna come out of it."

Carlos says the experience is a reminder of the importance of trying to "roll with the punches" when you can, especially while traveling, and to take a positive outlook on the tough and unexpected situations which will inevitably crop up from time to time. "Things happen that none of us want or can control," he says. "Don't let the small stuff affect you. And you make the best of it."

The group have remained friends and are planning a reunion.

-          Why do you think this story went viral so quickly?

-          “We were all so different and I think a big part of why people like it so much is because you could literally see our differences in real time.” What does this mean?

-          "I feel like this situation for me specifically kind of restored my trust and humanity a little bit. There's definitely hope for people -- people can be good” why does Alanah say this?

-          Is it ok to get in to a car with strangers? Did these people make the right decision? What do you think made people feel this was a safe thing to do? (was it a safe thing to do?)

-          "roll with the punches" what does this mean?

 -“Don’t let the small stuff affect you. And you make the best of it.” What does this mean

- What can we learn from this story? Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com