Junior School Magazine - Edition 6

Somerset College

J S

J unior S chool M agazine for S tudent W riters and A rtists

Edition 6

Year 5 Art

Y ear 6 P ersuasive E xposition - T rash

The whole world needs a huge clean up and we should start with large trash heaps, such as Behala. Did you know that according to the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance: 72% of trash around the world could have been recycled or reused? This is not ok, especially when you think how much better it would be if the world had 72% less garbage. That is why the whole world needs this big clean up. In poor countries, the trash problem is worse because they cannot afford proper rubbish disposal systems. Therefore, all of their garbage is thrown in a pile for other people to sort through. Now, can you see how important it is that we not only clean up, but also keep it clean? However, how do we clean it up in the first place? The solution might just be in Sweden. In Sweden, they are running a project called the ‘waste to energy’ program. Where they burn their garbage to create thermal energy, which they then convert into electricity to power nearby homes. They have thirty-four of these ‘waste to energy’ plants where they burn 2 million tonnes of their own garbage, as well as importing and burning 2 million tonnes of other countries trash for pay. They make almost $100 million per year with this trade. Therefore, in total Sweden recycles half of their waste and burns 49% meaning Sweden has a 99% recycle rate. Many countries around the world are trying to be like Sweden in fact Australia has four ‘waste to energy’ plants seeking approval from the Government. However, if we do burn all the worlds’ garbage for power, how do we keep it clean? When you think about it, there are so many small day to day things we could be doing to reduce the worlds rubbish, such as: donating clothes, bulk buying, Reducing, Reusing and Recycling, buying things with less packaging, save leftover, buying less stuff in general along with so many other things that could stop us from re-trashing our lovely planet. I hope that I have convinced you that ‘waste to energy’ plants are the perfect way to clean up the whole world. As well as a renewable energy source and an income source from other countries that cannot afford their own ‘waste to energy’ plant. We must, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, or else we will be forced to incinerate our waste every year.

J enna R aybould Y ear 6G

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Y ear 6 P ersuasive E xposition - T rash

Sadly, our world is in a lot of trouble because it is filling up with rubbish. This rubbish is growing and increasing in size in the form of giant trash heaps. Trash is polluting our beautiful oceans and harming our marine animals. As the years have passed, humans have been responsible for producing and leaving this rubbish that is destroying our earth. There are many ways that we can help to remove and reduce our trash. Starting with huge trash heaps like the one in Behala, we could sort out the trash to reduce and completely remove such sites. “Behala is a huge, monstrous, filthy, steaming rubbish dump and you cannot believe human beings are allowed to work there, let alone live there.” The world needs education on how to reduce waste. The first place to start would be educating the large companies who are responsible for making the packaging. Companies also need to change their plastic bags to biodegradable bags or renewable bags. The consumer needs to be educated on how to reduce the amount of waste/packaging they purchase e.g. buy loose corn on the cob instead of it being packaged. Another way to clean up our world would be to sort out the trash into different piles such as organic material, recycled and upcycled. Organic material is materials such as; food, garden and lawn clippings. Instead of these materials going into your bin and then the landfill, your organic materials can go into a compost bin or a worm farm. Materials such as; paper, aluminium, cardboard, plastic, and metals all can be recycled. Once these products are sorted, they are squashed by big crushing machines and they are ready for recycling. Upcycling refers to creating something new out of unwanted materials or waste e.g. old car tyres can be made into a swing. Finally cleaning up our oceans will also help with reducing waste. Over 5 trillion pieces of plastics are currently littering the ocean. Known as the world’s “ocean garbage patches,” there are five plastic pollution areas that spread across millions of square kilometers of ocean. Plastic rubbish dumped in the sea is causing big problems for sea life and can pollute the water we drink. Our world is being destroyed by the large amounts of trash we produce, both on land and in the sea. Once people understand how to reduce the waste we produce, we can then make a big difference to the piles of trash in the world.

S ienna T aylor Y ear 6Z

JSM Edition 6

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Y ear 6 P ersuasive E xposition - T rash

The whole world needs a huge clean up and we should start with large trash heaps, such as Behala. The whole world needs your help! We produce a massive 2.12 billion tons of waste every year. Most of that gunk goes straight into the ocean, harming both people and wildlife. We must clean up the world, or else we will face extinction of countless animals and plants. If we lose dumpsites, we could save lives. We could save the lives taken away by bad sanitations, avalanches of rubbish and worst of all: the diseases. In Ethiopia’s Koshe landfill site there was about 49 homes destroyed by an avalanche of trash. Diseases also cause horrible sanitation. Those diseases cause most of the deaths in trash heaps on earth, we have about 15 million people living and working in these horrible places. These people are standing on the same planets that we are standing on, can you believe that! The dumpsites are not environmentally friendly or helping endangered species; they are also the opposite of friendly. Dumpsites have even killed some species on the endangered list. In Chicago’s beautiful ocean, there was a whale washed up. It wasn’t an ordinary whale, it was a rubbish whale! That poor whale had about 29kg full of all sorts of rubbish inside. That weighs more than I do! That is what trash can do to the animals. In 2050, there will be more trash in the ocean than fish. Can you believe that too? Losing dumpsites means losing jobs for people working there. However, there is a solution for that. If the governments worked together, they could help the people as easy as pie. The governments could provide money for the children to go to school. Adults could use the money to make a business to earn money themselves. Charities are also a path to escape poverty. In conclusion, cleaning up the earth will improve the health of people, save endangered species and clean up the oceans. Although there will be jobs that are gone, the government could provide support to people’s lives that are impacted by the trash heaps. If we do not clean up the earth, future generations may not have an earth to live on. The change begins now!

K akeru A dachi Y ear 6G

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JSM Edition 6

Y ear 6 P ersuasive E xposition - T rash

The world needs a huge clear up and we should start with large trash heaps, such as Behala. Trash is slowly destroying the earth. The vast amount of trash in the world is polluting and killing the environment as well as humanity. Did you know that 1.3 billion tonnes of household trash is generated per year? Imagine how much of this waste ends up on dumpsites such as Behala. Every year 8 million tonnes of garbage from all around the world is added to our oceans; 80% of this trash is from mainland waste. Ocean pollution is a big threat to the world. The ocean plays an essential role for life on earth. It provides over 70% of the oxygen we breathe and over 97% of the worlds water supply. Pollution does not only effect marine life but also man kind. Toxic chemicals are entering the ocean daily. Chemicals in polluted water can contaminate water and food chains through marine life. Even when trash is disposed of properly, it still does damage. The breakdown of organic materials in landfill produces excessive amounts of methane gas, contributing to the rise in greenhouse gases. Also representing 12% of the total global methane emissions. Trash in landfills release methane gas which contribites to climate cahnge and global warming. It needs to stop! Trash is not just litter; its also a slow, toxic poison to us and the environment. Exposure to chemicals in trash, especially plastics, have been linked to increased alleigies, cancer, diseases and possibly chemical poisoning. Be cautious, because your garbage can be very harmful. In the final analysis, the world’s excessive amount of trash is destroying the earth. For these reasons, we need to help bring an end to this torture we are inflicting on the world. One day it could be left in a critiacl condition. We need to make a change and contribute to making a better world in which we live. This is our home that we are polluting it. We can be it’s salvation.

A thena A gnew Y ear 6L

JSM Edition 6

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Y ear 6 P ersuasive E xposition - T rash

We are suffocating our earth in our own rubbish. Now it is up to us to save our world before it’s too late. Scientists are finding many ways to overcome this problem, for example, recycling. People now are so oblivious to the problem you have to resensitise them to do it. At local gas stations in NSW, they have machines that take your recyclable materials and in return, they give you a profit for what you bring. In Sweden, they have taken a different approach. Their scientists have found a way to turn rubbish into electricity. They call this, ‘waste to energy’, and it has made a huge incentive to recycle. With only 38% of recyclable materials being recycled to 99% in just 40 years. Electronic waste or Ewaste is one of the biggest problems now. With Australia alone at least making 5 million tonnes of Ewaste, we only keep 1% of what we buy for more than 6 months. With households throwing out 99% of things, they buy in less than 6 months. People are so caught up in getting the newest device that they forget how they are effecting the environment. 8 billion dollars of edible food is thrown out every year in Australia. This is because people are scared of eating food that is past it’s printed off date or because of how it looks. People need to be educated on food and its expiry dates. In addition, if your food is off you should make a worm farm or compost bin to put it in – so that nature can do its work. In conclusion, the earth is in need of help. Humans are at the source of its downfall. It is in need of a hand and it is up to all of us to put out a helping hand. By making the right decision and make your life an eco-friendly one.

X avier R yan Y ear 6W

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Y ear 6 P ersuasive E xposition - T rash

The whole world needs a huge clean up and we should start with large trash heaps, such as Behala. Every year we dump 2.12 billion tons of waste. It’s mainly because 99% of what we buy turns into trash within 6 months. I strongly believe that the whole world needs a huge clean up and we should start with large trash heaps, such as behala. Firstly, I will talk about recycling, secondly, I will talk about the links with trash and lastly, I will talk about how to overcome the world’s problem of trash. Firstly – Recycling – 75% if our waste is recyclable but we only recycle 30%. We tend to not recycle and only put things in the red or green rubbish bins. Sometimes we recycle and it is okay to forget. When we recycle, we can use it more times and it is not thrown away or burnt and pollute the environment. We can all make a change in life just by recycling. Secondly, the book Trash strongly relates to this subject. Behala is mentioned in the book and main character, Raphael describes it to be a ‘huge, monstrous, steaming rubbish dump.’ He also says there are two types of rubbish, good and bad: good being newspaper, plastic and glass, bad being disgusting things; which brings me back to recycling. Lastly, many people are trying to overcome the world problem of trash. Many people are trying to save the world and some of the things are they doing are, saving forests, clean production, conscious shopping, fair trade, blocking landfills and many more. The reason why I am telling you this is because we always want more and I learnt from a video that the world is slowly being destroyed. Therefore, that is why we need to be conscious. In conclusion, I hope you think about this hard and remember that, trash is made by people. ‘We are people and we have the power to resolve the trash’ ( quoted by me ). Once again I strongly believe the whole world needs a huge clean up and we should start with large trash heaps, such as Behala.

H aysal B athols Y ear 6W

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Y ear 6 D esign T echnology

Y ear 6 D esign T echnology

I talian C alligrams

E lla S lawinski Y ear 5N

A yla C hirathivat -G eralds Y ear 5N

I talian C alligrams

J ade L ee Y ear 4C

H arry G eaorgeson Y ear 4H

I talian C alligrams

C harlotte K emp Y ear 4H

A udrey A braham Y ear 3R

I talian C alligrams

N icholas K lassen Y ear 3G

T rinity TJ-W ilson Y ear 3R

W ho A m I? Born in Warsaw in 1867,

A good education was a struggle, I was destined for great things, As a secret educator I had to smuggle. When my mum and sister died, My heart was like shattered glass, Defeated, deflated and depressed, But this grief did eventually pass. I travelled to Sorbonne to study, Because I admired my father, He shared his interest in science, Physics and chemistry, I would rather. It was in France I met my love, Together, the Nobel Prize we won, I discovered Polonium and Radium, But Pierre died before our work was done. Boom! My second Nobel Prize, In 1911, created quite a splash, My achievement danced around the world,

Making me famous in a flash. A remarkable woman I was, I was often known by my name, My mobile X-rays were amazing, My discoveries brought me fame.

Marie Curie

E mily N ickels Y ear 5P

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Y ear 5 A fternoon of E minence

Y ear 5 A fternoon of E minence

Y ear 5 - N arrative

CHAPTER 1 - ABOOD

The war started with one single BANG! Hayyan had rolled a six on the dice, catching up to me, Abood, in snakes and ladders when the rumbling began. Mama and Baba ran in as well as Hayyan’s parents. We sprinted to the lone miniscule window that gave us a little of a view of Aleppo, Syria. From then on things seemed to proceed in slow motion. We were propelled backwards with a blast of air from the pineapple grenade hitting the ground. While we were blasted backwards, I hit my head on the edge of a razor-sharp table. The next thing I knew I woke up with excruciating pain on the side of my head. I touched the space on my head that was most painful and as I looked at my hand there was a smudge of blood. I could feel a trickle of blood dripping down the side of my cheek as I moaned in agony. Mama and Baba looked at me with horrified and concerned expressions. Hayyan rushed to my side with a look of despair in his eyes as he helped me to my feet. I knew what my parents were going to say next and it was what I had been dreading for the whole ten years of my life. “We have to flee,” they said and that was the start of my life as a refugee. I found out what a refugee was when I was five years old. Baba explained it to me as “a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.” There are many reasons that cause people to flee. For example if there’s a war in your country, your political opinion is different to the party ruling your country, if people are against your race or your human rights being denied. In this case we were refugees escaping from a civil war. Reluctantly, I packed my undersized suitcase wishing I didn’t have to go, though I knew it was for my own good. “HURRY UP” Mama shouted in panic, as another bomb fulminated. I swiftly said a goodbye to my rickety old house, my heart heavy with sorrow. I felt so sorry for Hayyan because he didn’t get to say goodbye to his house and I knew he wouldn’t go back there ever again. I pondered the thought of which country we were going to flee to. Maybe we would travel to Australia, because in 2012 to 2016, 314 refugees came to Australia. Baba always dreamt of moving to Australia, as it is a peaceful and safe country with no wars, unlike Syria. As we abandoned the house, a shiver ran down my spine, and not just because it was 7 degrees which prickled my skin like thorns. I was absolutely horrified and so was Abood. I could tell from his expressions. There were ghastly, lifeless bodies, gallons of blood on the sides of the destroyed road and every few seconds there was a deafening “BANG!”, followed by an incessant blood curdling yelp or scream. It was like hell all in one country. “We don’t deserve to be here!” I thought. “We deserve more than this, we are too young to see these gruesome and grotesque sites. These are things children our age shouldn’t even imagine! We have the right not to be exposed to these things!” I remember reading an article about all the children’s rights that are neglected when you are a refugee. I was shocked how so many children’s rights are denied and because of this, I have feared of being a refugee ever since. The Children’s Rights Convention (CRC) articles: 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31 and 36 are all the rights that child refugees are deprived of. I memorized them for fun and just in case they come in handy in a certain situation. Continued over page.. . CHAPTER 2 - HAYYAN

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Y ear 5 - N arrative - continued

As we scurried along the winding roads, we got drowsier and drowsier until Abood shouted, “WATCH OUT!” Abood’s parents froze in their tracks, then there was a monstrous KABOOM, several yells and dust everywhere. Then there was silence. “No, no no no, please no, not today,” Abood whispered through salty tears. Abood’s parents were dead, and yet their lifeless bodies appeared to be begging for help. From then on things dragged. Over the course of a few weeks, our stomachs got thinner and thinner until you could see our rib cages. We simply didn’t have the energy to go on. We were too weak and too young. Have you ever gone with just one slice of bread a day? It feels like a bunch of knives are stabbing you in the chest all at once. We became too weak to walk and soon we were crawling in the filth, searching greedily for scraps as the days went on. But one day I saw something glinting in the dim sunlight. Something that looked a lot like water. “WATER!” I screamed. We scurried as fast as cheetahs, lapping up the salt water like dogs. Although it was salt water, it felt wonderful to finally have another liquid to drink other than the filthy old water that we had been forced to drink during our life-threatening journey to escape. Just then I realized something, since the water was salt water, it must mean that the water was from the sea. That means we could escape by boat! Coincidently, there were already refugee boats leaving, so Baba, Mama, Abood and I rushed to the boats. The only problem was that my parents and I went to one boat and Abood was forced to go onto another. And that was the last time I saw Abood. CHAPTER 3 - ABOOD People say before children had rights, we had to work in dangerous places because we were considered to be ‘little adults’. However, little by little children were given rights. The French thought that the children needed breaks, so they gave them breaks. Then, they gave children an education in the 19th century. After the 20th century children were given medical, social and legal rights. 1924 was when the first documents of the child rights were established. Then this thing called UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) was made. Apparently, they help children who are in need and I hope they will help me because it feels like all my rights are being denied. My parents have died, my loved ones have been torn away from me and the way that I, and many other like me, have been treated has been horrific. Food is scarce, and sanitation is a big problem in a cramped boat that’s over crowded. Days and nights went by as our throats got drier and our energy was progressively lost. Dirty, sweating bodies were pressed against my skin as the days became longer and the nights became shorter. I missed Mama and Baba, but most of all, I missed Hayyan. We had been best friends since we were babies and we had been separated just like that. It wasn’t fair how I’d been treated, I deserved more opportunities and rights. I was dying slowly, I could feel it. I didn’t know how much more I could take. Then, everything went black.

Continued over page.. .

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Y ear 5 - N arrative - continued

CHAPTER 4 - SYLVIA Everyone was surrounding this boy when a refugee group came. They had carried him in from the shore. He looked about 10 years old, with brown eyes and brown hair. He was a little on the tall side and was alarmingly skinny. I thought he was kind of cute, but I shook the thought off. When he finally woke up, he looked dazed and confused and he asked, “where am I?” I answered, “you’re in America!” I showed him around as he asked a lot of questions. He questioned, “who is helping us?” I was ready for this question. “Well,” I replied, “UPS has supported us by raising 14 million dollars for our blankets and food, IKEA have raised more than 33.4 million dollars on renewable sources for us and Airbnb have put 1.6 million dollars to improving the health and medical services provided in refugee camps.” He kept glancing at me and then looking away and I knew I had a crush on him. We became best friends very fast and we hung out a lot. He was funny and nice, and I had learnt that his name was Abood. There was this girl at the refugee camp that was very nice. Her name was Sylvia. She had black hair that was as wavy as the sea, quite tall and was about 11 years old. I had a massive crush on her. I didn’t know if I should tell her or not. She had dark blue eyes, they looked like the deepest part of the ocean. I was showed around and I was so surprised that anything could be so different to Syria. This was a new beginning for me. One night, Sylvia showed me something spectacular. She woke me up and led me outside into the dark, freezing night. She had a torch in her hand, but when we were a little way from the camp, she switched it off. There in the coal black sky, were billions among billions of stars. They were so beautiful, I could hardly speak! I could for the first time in my life, see the milky way. We were staring up at the stars when something caught my eye. “A shooting star!” I gasped. I made a wish that someone will adopt me sometime, but not just me, Sylvia as well. We stayed there until dawn. It was that night that I learnt that even though things may look bad, there’s always something to make you smile. There and then I knew that I would never forget the time I first saw the stars. Every night from then, we would go see the stars and I always made the same wish every time I saw a shooting star. One night, I learnt that Sylvia’s parents were from Uganda and they had moved to Afghanistan before Sylvia was born, but when the war started in Afghanistan, her parents were killed and she had just managed to escape to America. She was so close to not coming to America. If she had not sprinted like there was a cheetah behind her, she would not have been there with me the first time I saw the stars. It was also on that night that she told me that 6.3 million people had already fled Syria and it was clear that we were included. I became aware of the fact that Syria is the leading country with people fleeing, ahead of Afghanistan with 6 million refugees, South Sudan with 2.4 million refugees, Myanmar with 1.2 million refugees and Somalia with 986,400 refugees. I was getting quite worried and a little discombobulated because this refugee camp started to get a little over crowded. More and more refugees came, until I had hardly any space to myself! Continued over page.. . CHAPTER 5 - ABOOD

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Y ear 5 - N arrative - continued

CHAPTER 6 - NANCY GRIFFIN Christopher and I are the Griffin Couple. We are global citizens and we met at university when we were eighteen. Although we have been married for 3 years, Christopher and I have remained together ever since then. We love traveling together and do so quite frequently. Because of the fact that we didn’t have any children, we were thinking about adopting one. It was on one night that I flicked on the TV and we watched a documentary about refugees. “Here in America, there has been an over load of refugees. Some have arrived by boat, others by train and some just by walking,” stated Barry Geralds, the news reporter. “The majority being children without parents, so here’s your chance to adopt a child. You can raise awareness and help refugees by: donating money to refugees, creating a website about refugees, publishing an article about refugees, making a documentary or video about refugees or fundraising to donate money to refugees. Other suggestions include being active on social media and the internet to raise awareness about refugees, making posters and signs or even simply giving out flyers. But most of all we encourage you to adopt a child!” As I turned off the TV, I looked at her husband and squealed, “we’re adopting a child refugee!” In our eagerness to adopt a child refugee, we traveled all the way to America. When we came, there was a large group of children. This was obviously the refugees with no parents. I observed that there were two children that looked inseparable. Coincidentally, these two children were Abood and Sylvia. Although we noticed how the hardships that both Abood and Sylvia had experienced had affected them, it was their brave faces and positivity that made us want to spend more time with them. After a long period of time of chatting and getting to know each other, Christopher and I decided to adopt Abood and Sylvia. Ever since, we have watched Abood and Sylvia bloom and grow into amazing people. And although their tales of seeking refuge will forever stay with them, they have developed into people who hold their heads high and continue to believe that even though things may look bad, there’s always something to make you smile. AUTHOR’S NOTE After writing this narrative, I have truly understood how fortunate we are to live in a peaceful and safe country. I never really thought about how blessed we are until after I wrote this narrative. I think we should all appreciate how lucky we are to live in such an amazing country like Australia. There are no wars, limited violence and conflict, and anything that can harm us in such a severe way. My view on the life of refugees now is a lot different to my previous opinion four weeks ago when I hardly even knew what a refugee was. When I am in times of stress, I just remember to be grateful for the things we have.

D anielle S voboda Y ear 5P

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W hat G oes U p N ever C omes D own The wind howled as dark storm clouds loomed over me. “How long until we arrive?” I moaned at my Mum. “I don’t know! My GPS has lost connection!” Mum replied. My friend Lizzie sighed. “I guess we’ll get there when we get there.” And that was the last thing I heard before I blacked out. I dreamt about being on a 3-hour car trip with my friend Lizzie. After several hours of driving we finally got to the new theme park that had been greatly advertised in The Daily Magazine. Everything was how it was described except for one thing - it wasn’t new. Tattered old-fashioned rollercoasters zoomed in and out of the clouds, old popcorn carts with creepy men who had no teeth sold corndogs and deflated kids bouncy-castles lay sprawled over the hard cement. Lizzie immediately raced over to the fastest, highest and scariest rollercoaster in the theme park and jumped first in line. A hooded man said to us, “What goes up never comes down on this ride!” Surely, he’s joking. “What goes up MUST come down. He’s probably just trying to scare us… Right?” I whispered in Lizzie’s ear. Lizzie ignored me and clambered into the first seat. The carriage creaked at her arrival. Cautious thoughts ran through my head, but I ignored them. “And off we go!” screamed Lizzie. White clouds covered our bodies as we ducked in and out of the clouds. Screaming, we did loops around the sky going upside down, sideways and more. I closed my eyes the whole time. “Maddison,” questioned the worried voice of Lizzie. “You can open you’re eyes now. I opened my eyes to see clouds everywhere. “AARGH! Where are we?” I screamed. Cloud is not a solid substance, so I was shocked to see that we were standing on it like solid ground. “How are we going to get down?!” I shouted at Lizzie. “Well, he did warn us,” whispered the frightened girl. “3, 2, 1,” the man’s deep voice echoed around us then suddenly, everything went black. A small light flickered on and off as I realised we were in a maze. “Wait! I know this maze like the back of my hand. This is Filzuckers Maze! But, it’s a bit different,” said Lizzie.” Obviously, we are in the centre of the maze. Can you work through it backwards?” I stated hopefully. “I will try. Anything to get us out of this horrible maze!” And with that thought I worked my way through the maze like a piece of cake. After ages of walking, taking wrong turns and chatting the pair came to a blue slide that they slid down with glee. THUMP! Our shoes hit the hard- concrete floor. Both Lizzie and I would NEVER ignore a sign again. I soon found Lizzie shaking me awake. We were here.

L ily H anson Y ear 5W

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V isions of H ope My name is Felicity. I would describe what I look like, but up until yesterday I didn’t know. It was morning, but I couldn’t forget what had happened the night before. I am ten years old and last night I saw myself for the very first time. Last night I saw - I saw a lamp post, my hands and snow. Up until last night I had been blind since I was three. I’ll tell you everything. Not long after I left my house on the corner of Neptune Avenue, walking my Golden Retriever ‘Keeper’, I heard somebody crying. I turned around and instinctively asked what the matter was, but as I turned, my head felt light and dizzy. I had fainted once before. It felt like that, so I tried to take deep breaths, but I just couldn’t. It was like I wasn’t in control of my body. What happened next was indescribable, extraordinary, sensational and all the other words that I know - you know what I mean. I could see more than darkness. I think I saw, or maybe I imagined white glittering things that I felt were very cold. I had touched snow before and guessed that it must be snow. Then I saw what must have been a lamp post! I had run into these before and asked mum what they were. She told me that they light up the street, but I didn’t know what that meant. My comfortable darkness began to be replaced with so many colours and shapes. I looked down I was astonished, I saw my hands. I tried to move them, but I couldn’t then something distracted me. I could see a little girl of about my age was standing two or three metres away and not moving. That girl looked so pretty with long dark wavy hair and vibrant eyes that were coloured, but I don’t know the names of the colours. There was a distant look in them. Standing right beside her was a Golden Retriever with a bright collar and the girl was holding the dog’s leash in her skinny hands. I looked at my hands again and they were wet, and my shoulders were shaking and underneath the frightening happiness of seeing. I felt sadness and pain. It was like a blanket devouring the happiness. That’s when it hit me stronger than a colossal wave. I had been transferred into the crying person that I had heard before, and the young girl I could see was me. I was inside someone else and I had no control. I needed to get back. Thats when I felt that same dizzy feeling and just like that, my vision was stolen from me and I was back in my body – the girl that could no longer see. I called out to “keeper” and I heard her low bark. Keeper led me home. I had seen. I now think I know what seeing is. I think I know what light and shapes look like. I don’t know how to deal with it. Today I am going to try see my brother. I start by trying to think of my brother differently than I have ever before. I usually recognised him by sound and smell. By feeling his mood. I would feel him make things better in the way his big warm hands hoist me up on to his broad shoulders and he messes up my hair, then I turn around in circles to try to get dizzy. But this fleeting excitement always just fell back into darkness so quickly. I would grab a hard cover book from the table and wack it against my head in hopes of trying to convert my dizziness into sight. “Ugh” I moan as I can feel my family fussing over me and making wild speculations of how this happened. Trying to turn dizziness into sight never worked. It just gave me a headache. But today, I know (at least I’m sure) that I have seen. Maybe last night was just a dream, but things are different. But thinking I can control things, or thinking differently to be able to see, is just making it worse. I start to cry. I know it is babyish. I have never cried because I can’t see, but now I did. I can make out kind words being spoken by my family, but kind words can’t change my eyesight. Continued over page.. .

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V isions of H ope - continued

A stupid dream. So now I am back to being good Felicity, I have not attempted to see again, nor have I attempted to explain how I saw that night. I will never forget what had happened but I refused to believe that it meant anything. A couple of weeks later, I was out collecting the groceries for the week from the car, when I sensed the presence of somebody crying. This time I heard a man. I barely got within three metres of him when I start to feel dizzy and then my breath came in short bursts and in an instant, I was paralysed and I couldn’t move. I was seeing. I wasn’t dreaming. I saw the sun setting to the west. I saw my family bickering over who would carry the bags, completely oblivious to the blind girl and the crying man standing in front of them. Underneath the happiness of seeing again, I felt pain and sadness just like the first time. The man I was inside of spoke “I am sorry - I just am so sad and lonely. My wife and two children have just died.” I need to get back to my body fast. I try moving but I am paralysed. I hear myself saying, “is there anything I can do to help?”. Even though I was in his body, it was me, not him talking. The man replies, “you should run home now it is getting dark.” And just like that he stops crying and whistles to himself as he walks the opposite direction. I feel that same dizzying feeling and just like that I was back in my body. I ran to my room as fast as I could. When I got there, I lay on my bed and found a note on my bed reading: Please come alone! The note was in Braille. How did the writer know I was blind? I am astounded yet again but I do as the mysterious note says. I set my alarm for 11:50 and tip toe down the stairs. The whole house seems silent as I hear all the clocks in the house chime at once at midnight. I enter the garden warily and open my ears. The garden seems to come alive and before I know it I hear a voice: Meet me in your garden at midnight.

Your parents did a horrible deed and they paid a toll. The toll of losing their daughter’s sight.

You have been born blind and will stay that way until you make up for that deed.

If you want your sight back, you must help anyone who needs it.

That is why you can see through the eyes of people who need help.

Help them and bit by bit you will regain the power of sight. No words form in my mouth then I hear a whooshing sound and I know the voice has disappeared. What horrible deed did my parents do? I will find out later but for now I know what I must do, if I want to be able to see...

A bigail B rinkworth Y ear 5W

JSM Edition 6

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C hild L abour

Child Labour Child labour is a worldwide problem. We are so fortunate to have no child labour in this country due to laws which stop people employing young children. Sadly, around the world many children have to still work in factories making clothing, sporting equipment and many other items that people around the world use on a daily basis. We must help these children to ensure they get the childhood they deserve.

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Challenges and Opportunities Locally and Globally Although there are several definitions of child labour, they all have a similar meaning and message. For example, one definition for child labour states that child labour is work that deprives children from their potential childhood and their dignity. It’s dangerous work that exceeds reasonable hours and interferes with a child’s education. Another definition says that child labour involves employment of children below the minimum age of 15 years, doing hazardous unpaid household chores for long hours in an unhealthy environment in dangerous locations and involving unsafe equipment for heavy loads. Where Does Child Labour Exist? Child labour is an international dilemma that it is more common in countries whereby poverty and hunger are major issues. Every region of the world uses child labourers and it is most common in the regions of South America, Africa, Asia and India. Child labour occurs in industries including agriculture, clothes, jewellery and textile production and sporting equipment. There are 168 million children worldwide trapped in child labour. 73 million of these children are below the age of 10 years. This accounts for almost 11% of the overall child population. Of this, 100 million boys and 68 million girls are involved in child labour across the world. Approximately 60% of the population of child involved in child labour takes place in the agricultural industry. The rise of child labour started in the United States in the 1700’s and the early 1800’s when the industrial revolution began. Many families had to work, or they wouldn’t be able to survive. Why Does this Issue Exist? In countries where child labour exists, it is often due to political and social reasons including extreme poverty, hunger and political unrest, and this causes families to be desperate to feed and clothe their families. Low family income can cause child labour because the families need more money to buy food and look after their family. For other families, to cover bills, particularly large unexpected costs like medical bills, the family are forced to borrow money. They become ‘debt-bonded’ and their children are forced to have to also work to repay the debt. Girls can also face discrimination with expectations that they will work for the family, particularly in the household, rather than go to school. Other reasons include illness or death in the family. Extended illness or death in the family can result in expensive medical bills and loss of income, and because of this, families are forced to send their children to work.

The Right and Responsibilities of Children Worldwide The convention of the rights of a child is a document that provides rules and regulations to protect children from having their rights violated and to be forced into child labour.

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How were the Convention of the rights of the child created and why? The Convention of the rights of the child were created to allow children to have the childhood they deserved. In the Middle Ages, children were thought of as small adults and were made to work like adults too. Then, in the 19th Century, France made laws to start to protect children in workplaces. By 1881, France made a law to say that all children have the right to be educated. In the 20th century, children were being protected in the medical, social and legal fields. In 1919, the League of Nations was formed (now the United Nations). In 1924, the UN created the first child rights document, called the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. This is the first international document for children’s rights. After World War II had ended, all the countries came together to make children safe, and UNICEF was created. UNICEF then puts in place many programs for helping children in their education, health, and getting their access to healthy water and food. Later, the International Charter for Economical, Social and Cultural Rights supported children’s right to be educated and have healthcare. Then in 1979, the UN named it the International Year of the Child and more countries worked to support children. From this, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is created in November 1989. It is about protecting the rights of all children. What rights are challenged under your issue? There are 42 Articles in the Convention of the Rights of the Child document and many of them are related to child labour. A few of the key Articles that are challenged by child labour are listed below. Article 6 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child is being challenged when children are forced to work in child labour. This is because children are not being allowed to live a full life, give that they work dawn to dusk and do not go to school or have fun. Child Labour also challenges Article 18 of the Convention because by sending their children to work at a young age means they are not considering what is best for each child. Each child should be able to enjoy school, friends and fun times. Child labour violates Article 36 of the convention because if they work too hard at a young age when their bodies aren’t fully developed, they may hurt their brain, bones and muscles which could damage their bodies and stop them working when they get older. Child labour also breaches Article 31 of the Convention. It does this by making children work all day, destroying their play time with friends and other fun activities. Access to Equal Opportunity There are several organizations that are working very hard to prevent and eliminate child labour. Some of these organizations include, The International Labour Organisation (ILO), UNICEF and World Vision.

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C hild L abour - continued The International Labour Organization (ILO) brings together employers, governments and workers to develop policies and programs to achieve this goal. They have a program called ‘SCREAM” which standing for Supporting Children’s Rights through education, the arts and the media. It also reflects the silent suffering of children involved in child labour, and encourages them to have a voice. UNICEF is focused on preventing child labour across the world. UNICEF recognises that child labour is more common in countries where poverty exists. In Nepal, for example, UNICEF has developed a child labour protective system which has allowed them to save 9,000 children from child labour. These children had been separated from their families, and are now back with them and are being helped with education, shelter, medical treatment. UNCIEF’s major focus is on educating children and their families on child labour to try and break the cycle. They also work with big companies like IKEA, to make sure that they don’t work with suppliers how are involved in child labour. World Vision educates the community about the rights of a child. It also works with governments to advocate for children by changing laws to stop child labour. They also provide counselling and therapy to children, or even support them to move communities to help stop them getting back involved in child labour, (Rohana, Online communication-chat, World Vision, August 20, 2018). As a Global Citizen, what ACTION can you take to help and / or raise awareness? There are many actions that we as global citizens can do to act to help eliminate and raise awareness of child labour. Some of the key actions are: 1. Educate ourselves and find out as much as we can about child labour so that you can share your knowledge. 2. Educate others to raise awareness. Let your friends and family know about child labour so they can also be informed and share what they know. The more people that are aware, the more people can work together. 3. Stop buying products from stores or companies that use child labour. This would also include asking shops where their products are made and let them know that you will not buy any child labour products. 4. Volunteer your time with an organisation like World Vision or UNICEF that is working hard to prevent and eliminate child labour. This might include door knocking in your neighbourhood to collect money to go to the countries that involve child labour. This may also involve fundraising by selling chocolates to your friends and family and sending the money to countries involved in child labour. 5. Donate money. Donate some of your pocket money to the organisations that are working hard to free children from child labour. 6. Contact businesses that do business in counties that have child labour. Encourage them to put pressure on governments to take action and stop using child labour. 7. Contact government leaders in Australia and other countries by writing a letter letting them know that we should not be trading with countries that are involved in child labour , and bring in laws to eliminate child labour.

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C hild L abour - continued

Conclusion In conclusion, child labour is an issue that lots of children in the world have to deal with on a daily basis. Research has shown that child labour is most common in countries that also experience issues such as hunger, poverty and political unrest. There are many organisation that are working very hard to eliminate child labour including UNICEF and World Vision. Their work, and the work of other similar organisations is focused on education and raising awareness, which has been positive in reducing child labour. But, there is still a long way to go. If we all do something small to work with one of the many organisations that are helping to eliminate child labour, then in years to come, we can hope for a world that is free of child labour. Reflection I have learnt so much about child labour during this inquiry. I respect child labourers because they work daylight to dark and they are only children. It is not fair that children are forced to work in harsh conditions like sweat shops, on farms, in hot factories day after day with no fun or excitement in their lives. This inquiry has made me feel grateful for my life because I have a good education, and every day I am allowed to enjoy sport and spend time with my friends and family. I am looking forward to working when I am old enough, and am grateful that I am now going to be protected by laws that look after the rights of children. The key strategy to eliminate child labour is educating everyone you know about child labour. I have started to educate myself about child labour and will continue to spread the word to raise more awareness.

A lexander W eaven Y ear 5P

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C hild L abour - W eebly

click image to start weebly

JSM Edition 6

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Y ear 5 - D escriptive W riting

The Beast Within the Forest Beating out of my chest, my heart was racing faster than it had ever raced before.

“What was that?” said Derek trembling with fear. As terrified as I was, I still spoke. “I’m not sure.”

The beast was colossal with sticks bigger than Mount Everest poking out of its back. Emerging from the shadows was a pack of wolves. The leader of the pack had blood red eyes. Ferociously the wolf leapt onto the beast’s leg and with teeth as sharp as nails, the wolf bites as hard as he could but it was not enough and with the touch of his hand the beast flicked the wolf off with immense power. Shocked and hurt the wolf pack retreated into the forest. We could see the enlightenment on the beast’s face like he was king of the world. Delighted and exhausted the misunderstood beast ventured deep into the forest never to be seen again.

R aiden K yaw Y ear 5P

The Well During the boiling heat of Egypt, he knew he had to get water to survive. He had been travelling day and night in search of water. After another day of travelling in search of water, he saw a well. Immediately he started lowering the bucket as fast as he could but as he started to pull the bucket back up, he couldn’t. It was stuck but he needed the water, so he bent over to look below. Unfortunately, at that moment, his camel nudged him, and he fell in the water. Blub, Blub, Gasp! He quickly swam to shore. when he reached the shore, he admired the view. it was beautiful, exquisite and unique. It was the most jaw-dropping view he had ever seen! He was out of his mind. Then a Mysterious voice said to him, ‘Welcome Jack’...

M elody Y ang Y ear 5P

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Y ear 5 - D escriptive W riting SPLASH, THUMP! The unknown creature marches through the rotten stream. Bravely, I peek around the big brown tree to observe the creature. Viewing the creature, I see a fearful fantasy face with grotty green eyes, a crooked creepy nose, a monstrous mouldy mouth and sharp intricate ears. “GRRRR” it grunted! Delicately, the creature lays its devilish disgusting body on the grass. This was the perfect time for me to run away until…it spotted me!

B enjamin L iu Y ear 5P

It started as a walk. I was wandering around, unaware of the horror I was about to face. When I saw the mysterious silhouette, I couldn’t not investigate! Curiously, I approached the shape slowly. ‘Getting closer’ , I thought to myself, ‘ nothing bad is going to happen’ . Then I saw it . . . My heart skipped a beat. Towering before me was a tree; although not just any tree. It had a body. Its features were, well, inhuman. Wooden limbs hanging from the main trunk. The head, green as leaves, was unmoving, eyes fixed to the ground. I had a feeling it packed a formidable punch. ‘ But it can’t move ’ I said to myself. At least that’s what I thought. It moved, and although I wanted to see it’s front, I ran . . .

A adi R ai Y ear 5P

A World Without Light Darkness means everything. Feelings, situations and places. Figuratively and literally it always has an impact. Anyone or anything can become darkness, that’s what happened to my world, my life, devoured by darkness. Heart beating fast I pressed my back against a tree, the usual tranquility of the forest was long gone. Despite the forest the darkness had swallowed everything. A strong feeling enlightened my senses and suddenly I knew what was going to happen, the river beside me started to bubble and gurgle, the silhouette of a hideous figure emerged from the depths. Then it hit me, this thing, this animal it was the one who controlled the darkness, the one who killed my family and destroyed my life! A surge of anger raced through my veins, all I wanted to do was destroy the creature who ruined my life. “Hey you, beast!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, the formidable creature turned to face me.

S ophia A hern Y ear 5P

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