Area 6 : News & Views

LATEST SITE NEWS

NOVEMBER 2003

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23^rd November 2003: PROJECT HAPPYCHILD NEWS: The December issue of Project HappyChild News is now on line - for the first time ever, this is *early*. The newsletter contains information all site visitors may wish to be aware of :)

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7^th November 2003: STARLIGHT CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: Our thanks to Laura Smith at Starlight for forwarding details of their new address and contact details. Starlight Children's Foundation grants wishes for seriously and terminally ill children - click here for their Directory entry which has now been updated.

You can buy Christmas cards to support Starlight and other organizations helping disadvantaged children - click here for our Catalogues page.

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7^th November 2003: VOLUNTARY SERVICE OVERSEAS: TEACHERS NEEDED! Can you (or anyone you know) spare 12 months to help children in the world's poorest countries get the education they desperately need? Over 115 million children of primary school age are not enrolled in school. You could help by working with VSO to train and inspire teachers from around the world - 12 or 24-month placements, in countries such as Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Maldives, Mongolia and Nigeria. Click here for more details on the VSO website.

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7^th November 2003: ENGLISH SCHOOLS LISTINGS: Our thanks to Emma Georgeson, Communications Unit, South Tyneside Council, for sending details of their new web address - we've updated our Schools England N-Z page with this info and also a link to their new schools listing page which includes e-mail addresses and Ofsted report links.

OCTOBER 2003

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21^st October 2003: CHARLIE YELLOW: As many of you will know from press and TV, Charlie Yellow is home from America :) Charlie had an amazing 22 *hours* of surgery - and the photos which have just gone on line will show the difference - click here.

See the Charlie Yellow website for more of the background to this extraordinary story.

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13^th October 2003: We've just received an Appeal from Jenny in Palestine - an 18-month-old girl in Nablus with ventricular cancer had to be flown to Italy for urgent cardiac surgery. Associazione Bambini Cardiopatici (ABC) has amazingly provided the medical treatment free of charge, but one of Project Hope's own aid workers has had to cover some of the associated flight costs out of his own pocket so far and the doctors are now asking for little Saba's mother to be flown over as well. They have a shortfall of $1290 to cover - if anyone can help, this would be much appreciated :) Contributions may be made via the Project Hope website and may be made by credit card (using PayPal) in a number of different currencies.

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1^st October 2003: The October 2003 issue of Project HappyChild News is now on line - click here.

SEPTEMBER 2003

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21^st September 2003: Just a brief note for those of you who followed Vinny Lauwers epic journey around the world [see our FOCUS page, near the foot] - Vinny is planning another landmark journey to raise funds for needy children [more details on his site, see "Updates"]. Also his documentary "Spirit of Vision quest" is finally completed! - enquiries to Phil DeMontignie from Discovery Films who is handling world sales for TV, video and DVD.

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16^th September 2003: CHARLIE YELLOW: We're delighted to say that Charlie has had his operation and is well on the road to recovery :) Help is still needed though - please see the updated letter from Charlie's granddad in the Guestbook, or see Charlie's website.

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11^th September 2003: To mark the second anniversary of the Twin Towers tragedy, we have created a special new resource for this website.

"THE POTTED LEARNING PAGES" celebrates the very *best* that the Internet has to offer, and will enable these free resources for school or home learning to be shared with kids in many countries.

Take a little time to browse through these *amazing* free resources which are a potent symbol of the goodwill and cooperation which exists in so many areas of our increasingly-united world.

Please do pass on the address of the page [file-send-page-by-email] to a few friends with children :)

You can access "The Potted Learning Pages" here and our Twin Towers memorial page here.

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10^th September 2003: Spellings, Sounds and Meanings: The AH database went live at 9.50am this morning. Over 1700 *new* worksheets are now on line, interlinked to the WALL OF WORDS and FIVES resources. Our thanks to Mario in NZ for all his help :)

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4^th September 2003: The Project HappyChild September Newsletter is now on line.

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2^nd September 2003: There has been massive progress on the Sounds Database this summer, and we're delighted to say that the setting work is now completed for the AH database [currently with Mario in New Zealand] and the 1700+ AH worksheets should be on line soon :)

Meanwhile (after many e-mails from visitors!) we have expanded the Sounds Database to include two new, additional, pages for each main sound group: "FIVES" where all words in the database are set to print five-to-a-line (portrait on A4), and the "WALL OF WORDS" which has all the words with the same sound stress set on a single webpage [*landscape* on A4], for easy visual reference.

The WALL OF WORDS for the AH database is now on line - click here - and the AH-sounds "FIVES" page has also been completed, click here. We'll update this News page as soon as the 1700 new AH worksheets are ready to upload :)

Thanks to all visitors for their patience! We know how much interest there is in these new resources. Achieving these in html takes an inordinate amount of time :) but we're planning to create them for all 16 sound groups. Revised schedule for all 16 on line [and the full 12,000 free worksheets including those for translation] is now approximately Christmas 2003 :)

AUGUST 2003

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27^th August 2003: THE MARS PHENOMENON: Scroll down a couple of screens of this page to 18th August, where you'll find details of how to get your free on line map of the night sky local to *you*. Mars is due to be visible from the UK from around 11pm tonight (time varies for other continents) and will be the closest in recorded history. Wherever you are, don't miss this :)

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24^th August 2003: THE CHILDREN OF PALESTINE: We are receiving daily updates from Jenny Gaiawyn, in Palestine [see entry 3rd July, below]. We can't re-publish here everything she writes, but for a brief quote: "Where is the truth of what is happening here in Palestine? how can the mass media turn a blind eye and print whatever they are told without looking for the truth?"

If you're in the media and you would like to know what is *really* happening, from someone who is actually there, e-mail Jenny and ask to be added to her mailing list. Project Hope also now has a website. [Editor's Note, 13/04/23 - previous website palhope.org seems no longer to be in existence, but a recently-located Project Hope site here refers back to 2003 (see their 'history' page).]

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22^nd August 2003: SOBIG-F VIRUS: This virus/worm seems to have made its impact felt :) and Sophos has recently advised that a "second wave" of attacks is due this weekend. Advice from Sophos can be found here and Symantec's page (with removal instructions) is here.

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20^th August 2003: WILL YOU HELP CHARLIE YELLOW? Please see the updated letter from Charlie's granddad in the Guestbook - the hospital in Minnesota has kindly reduced its fees to allow this operation to go ahead as soon as possible. Any donations from *anywhere* will be very much appreciated, to allow Charlie's family to cover all the associated costs.

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18^th August 2003: THE NIGHT SKY: With the planet Mars now said to be closer to the earth than at any time in the last 73,000 years, many visitors will be able to see it clearly now in the sky at night. We appreciate that most schools are still on holiday, but any kids with telescopes will be able to get an unparallelled close up over the next couple of weeks :) The Royal Observatory at Edinburgh is linked here and there's a wonderful site at https://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/ [Switzerland] where you can key in the coordinates of where you live [get these from a gazeteer or the back of an atlas], and see a map of the sky as you will actually see it from where you are :) Well worth a visit.

When you key in your location, it will give you a picture of the sky as it looks *now*. As far as we can gather, the "universal time" it shows is actually GMT (an hour behind BST here in the UK) - just add on the number of hours to what time you want to look at the sky, to the 24-hour clock time showing when you visit the site [make sure to move the date forward if you go past 24:00:00 / 00:00:00]. Mars is shown as a red circle background with a white-circle-with-a-little-arrow-coming-off-it-at-the-NE-angle.

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6^th August 2003: ANDY'S GUIDE TO POKÉMON: We're delighted to say the new cheats, tips, shortcuts, questions and comments are now starting to go on line - see the main Index to Cheats, Tips and Shortcuts. Long task ahead! - but thanks for all the related e-mails, which are coming in via every mail download now :)

JULY 2003

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30^th July 2003: WILL YOU HELP CHARLIE YELLOW?: See the Guestbook to find out more :)

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30^th July 2003: CHILDREN IN IRAQ: Our thanks to the Croydon Advertiser (and Trinity Mirror) for permission to reprint the following text from the article "Exiled Shanaz returns to her Baghdad roots" which originally appeared on the icCroydon website:

"I have more than 250 volunteers and premises in Baghdad.

"What I can do with a small amount of money is a lot more than what a larger organisation can achieve because I do not have to pay any wages or rent for premises.

"I have Iraqi people wanting to help rebuild their own country.

"With just £30,000 to £40,000 I could open a home and centre for street children which would serve up to 2,000 children.

"That would feed, clothe, educate and cover medical costs.

"Now I am back in England I get so annoyed when I hear people giving the Prime Minister Tony Blair a hard time about finding weapons of mass destruction.

"No one has found Saddam but it does not mean he did not exist.

"To us Iraqi people the worst weapon of all was Saddam. Now at last we have a chance to rebuild our lives."

We have an appeal on line for the Children of Iraq - please click here to access. There has been significant publicity in Newspapers as well as appeals on websites and even the BBC - people are genuinely interested it seems - yet not one single donation has been received by KCF.

Maureen McCluckie, who runs KCF with Shanaz Rashid, whose words are quoted above, sent us the following [extract]:

"... not one donation from anyone, not even one letter of support or offer of help.

"It's a good thing that I'm a optimist and not a pessimist otherwise I would just give the whole thing up - and in the meantime the children are dying all over Iraq and living in appalling conditions. Our orphanages will have to close soon as we don't have any money to maintain them."

There must be *someone* out there who can do something. £40,000 to set up refuges for Baghdad street children, £20,000 to keep the orphanages going in Iraqi Kurdistan - surely there's someone *somewhere* with £60,000 they could allocate? Or more - for more is certainly needed - there are many many more kids who won't make it through unless someone does *something*. Any donations from anywhere will make a real difference right now.

Whatever anyone's views on the war (right or wrong) it's the kids who are now paying the price. We can't let that happen. Click here for the Appeal page with details of where to send GB pounds or US dollars. Please just send whatever you can afford :)

26^th July 2003: ANDY'S GUIDE TO POKÉMON: Thanks to everyone who has been writing in in recent days! We've been absolutely swamped with mail quite apart from the backlog of thousands of e-mails from kids all over the world, about different aspects of the game/s. We have just set the first 14 pages [which will form the template for all the further new pages] and will be adding some of the new info very soon :) Click here for a preview of the new pages.

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25^th July 2003: CHILDREN IN IRAQ: The Kurdistan Children's Fund has received no donations whatsoever in response to their emergency appeal for help for children in Iraq - orphanages have been looted in Baghdad and many children are living - and dying - in appalling conditions. Please click here for the Appeal page - and please send *anything* you can afford :)

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20^th July 2003: HARRY POTTER: Just for a few days, there's a temporary preview of the new areas at Harry Potter here - many parts still under construction but you should still be able to find your way around ;)

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11^th July 2003: ANDY'S GUIDE TO POKÉMON: Work has now started on updating the "Cheats, Tips and Shortcuts" area at Andy's Guide to Pokémon. We've been absolutely inundated with people sending in cheats, questions, ideas and comments for some time now, and it started to become clear that a thorough overhaul of this whole area would be needed to allow all the new material to go on line.

This has now begun! We've just started upgrading the existing pages, and we'll be adding as many as we can of the new Cheats pages (and all the other items) over the course of this summer. Our thanks to *everyone* who has written in! We'll be adding the best of what we've been sent, as soon as we can physically build all the pages :)

8^th July 2003: Project HappyChild DIRECTORY: We're delighted to say we have now been able to add a direct e-mail address and website link for Family Service Units, who support children and communities in deprived inner city areas.

Usually on this website we exclude any links to subject matter which might be inappropriate for younger children. We have made an exception with our link to the FSU site, because it carries the results of a survey which is quite extraordinary in its depth and covers physical, mental and emotional issues in a surveyed group of young people (primarily 14 and 15-year-olds, but ranging from 11 upwards to late twenties) from a very broad range of ethnic backgrounds.

Many parents of teenagers may find it most enlightening to browse through the survey results (PDF document on the FSU "news" page) - it's very much "no holds barred" but certainly an accurate representation of how many teenagers experience life and deal with the problems they face. The report tackles many issues which are perhaps not always openly discussed but the insights it offers may be of constructive use to many parents :)

Thamesmead FSU is aiming to lead the way in anti-bullying work, with a new project that helps tackle bullying wherever it happens, a mediation project that will be the first in the country to work with young people at school and in their community, as well as with adults in family and neighbourhood disputes. "This project will be written up, and the lessons learned spread throughout the UK and wider ..." - we would comment here that if this anti-bullying project comes anywhere near the quality of the survey on teenagers' lives, its results will be well worth waiting for :) See the FSU news page for further details.

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3^rd July 2003: THE CHILDREN OF PALESTINE: We have just received an urgent Appeal from Jenny Gaiawyn, in Palestine, where education has been severely disrupted by teachers being arrested and children are becoming very stressed and despondent under the strong military occupation.

Thousands of children have already been injured or killed and Project Hope is working towards setting up special centres throughout Nablus on the West Bank, to allow kids to learn and have fun in a safe environment. Funds for coordinators are urgently needed as well as volunteers (university students particularly) from any country, to help with teaching the children.

Please see Jenny's letter in the Guestbook for more information about Project Hope - help will be welcomed from any source, including companies, individuals and national Governments.

JUNE 2003

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26^th June 2003: HARRY POTTER - for details of Jo Rowling's live webcast today (and our initial review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) see the intro page at Sol's Guide to The Magical World of Harry Potter.

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22^nd June 2003: We're delighted to say that Project HappyChild News for June 2003 is now on line - please click here.

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22^nd June 2003: However complicated a journey to school you may have, we'd lay odds it's not *this* bad!

100 of the children attending Qelemumu primary school in Fiji have to wade through this river on their way to and from school each day.

They do this at "low tide" but in the rainy season the river becomes impassable and there have been incidents of children drowning.

The "Children of Fiji" charity is appealing for funds for a footbridge - they've raised over £25,000 and need about another £11,000. Even tiny donations will help towards their target - e-mail longs (at) dynamicduo.co.uk for more details or telephone (UK) 01300 320433.

Update June 2004 - e-mail received from Peter and Margaret Long, Directors of "Children of Fiji": "We are pleased to report enough funds have been raised and the bridge is currently being constructed. We have also provided the school with fresh water storage facilities.

"We have now moved on to our next projects. One of these is the provision of adequate dormitory and dining facilities at Navitilevu School, Viti Levu. Our other project is to provide fresh water and sanitation to Mali school on the volcanic Mali Island in Fiji."

21^st June 2003 - 11.32am! : HARRY POTTER: Yes, it's the 21st of June and *that book* is already in homes across the globe and being eagerly ploughed through by children and adults alike :)

For a review of the first chapters of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix see our intro page at Sol's Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter.

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18^th June 2003:

We're delighted to say the first area of the Sounds Database is now LIVE - 558 free worksheets for AR sounds - writing / spelling, wordsearch puzzles, dictionary meanings, use in sentences, making crossword clues and translation (for teaching English as a foreign language). Click here to reach the main Sounds Database index page and here for an overview of this new resource which will explore the English language from many different angles.

Our thanks go to Mario Becroft in New Zealand for many hours of programming work enabling this free resource to be created - see our Sponsors page.

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18^th June 2003: HARRY POTTER: With only a couple more days before the launch of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" we've updated the main intro page in our Harry Potter area with details of tomorrow's BBC interview with JK Rowling, along with the live webcast scheduled for 26th June at the Royal Albert Hall ... and the theft of 7000+ copies of the book from a trailer in Merseyside ....

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1^st June 2003: LANDMINES: Our thanks to the British Army - particularly Captain James Webster, UK Mine Information and Training Centre, Camberley, Staff Sergeant Nick Du Val (Gibraltar Barracks), and Sgt Layard Soulsby, Webmaster, Directorate of Corporate Communication (Army) - for enabling us to update our Landmines in Bosnia page - site visitors had written to us after having packages returned by the Gornji Vakuf post office.

We've now added a postal address for DZ at the Mine Information Coordination Cell in Sarajevo, and we'll add more information when we hear back from her - click here for the Appeal page and here for our page commemorating Princess Diana's work helping raise awareness of the whole landmines problem.

MAY 2003

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30^th May 2003: FREE MATHS WORKSHEETS: After many requests, we've now been able to add more free worksheets for simple Addition (now totalling 2000 worksheets in all) and there's also a new area for Subtraction, with a further 2000 free-to-print worksheets on line. Click here for the index to free Key Stage 1 Maths resources.

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27^th May 2003: SCHOOLS INTERCHANGE: Our thanks to Bernadine whose recent e-mail about possible penfriends for her son, in schools in Egypt, alerted us to the fact that both school and university link pages from our Schools Egypt page had moved during the recent Egyptian Universities Network site upgrade. We've updated the link for Universities in Egypt but were unable to locate the schools' page anywhere on their site, so have written to EUN requesting further info.

Meanwhile we've been successful in locating a listing for Sacred Heart schools in Egypt which has now been added to the Schools Egypt page.

15^th May 2003: Just a brief update to say that the Spring Sale on The Times GCSE CD Roms has now finished; trust that many of you will have been able to order these before stocks ran out :)

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11^th May 2003: FREE TRANSLATIONS: Systran have now kindly made additional languages available - Korean, Russian, Chinese, Dutch and Japanese, which means that a high proportion of pages at Project HappyChild can now be viewed in 12 languages.

Given that many people who discover our pages won't know more than minimal (if any) English, we've aimed at a "pictorial" guide to how the translation facility works, with as few words used as possible.

We've also added brief details on the Korean, Chinese and Japanese pages, as to how English-speaking visitors can obtain (free) the requisite fonts for viewing pages in these languages (these should also enable use of the free translation facility from foreign language sites into English).

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10^th May 2003: GCSE and A LEVEL PREPARATIONS: Breaking with tradition somewhat! - a brief mention of a commercial site. The Times CD Roms for GCSE and A Level have been reduced to only £2.99 at ...... Having explored some of The Times CD roms we've found the quality excellent and the audio/interactive factors may be of benefit to many kids who find revising from textbooks or other printed matter rather heavy going ;) [link later removed - see note 15th May]

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2^nd May 2003: BRICKS AND MORTAR: Our thanks to Sam in Cumbria for writing to us about her 6-year-old daughter's experience of our free-to-print reading system, Bricks and Mortar - " ... I have to say that I am astonished by the way she has responded ..." We've added the full text of Sam's e-mail to our Bricks & Mortar index page - click here.

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2^nd May 2003: FREE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES: Our thanks to Tony Warren for advising us that a number of the links for West European Resources had changed - these have now been updated on our one-page index to free educational resources worldwide.

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1^st May 2003: We're delighted to say that the May 2003 issue of Project HappyChild News is now on line - click here.

NEWSLETTERS - this website has been on line since 1998 - there have been a lot of Newsletters! The archive is here and the very last Newsletter is here.