Table of contents for 528 in The Week Junior

There is still time to get involved in the Big Garden Birdwatch. Which type of bird do you see most often near your home? Have a go at crafting paper birds on page 27. Oxford University Press has revealed that “peace” is its children’s word of the year. Which word would you choose for your word of the year? Find out how the word was chosen on page 7. Scientists have chosen their top 10 strange plants and fungi discovered in 2025. What’s the weirdest plant you’ve ever seen? Check out some of the peculiar finds on page 12. The big debate Should schools reward attendance? Page 10.…

GREENLAND You may think it strange that a country that is largely covered by ice is called Greenland (page 4). The name is said to have been chosen by the Viking explorer Erik the Red in the 10th century, when Greenland may have had more areas of grass and plants. However, it’s thought he wanted people to join him, so he chose a name that suggested it was a good place to live. Don’t just read The Week Junior… Listen to it! This week Bex, Eve and Joe discuss the one thing they would take with them if they went to space.…

On 17 January, the Global Ocean Treaty came into force. This is an international agreement by members of the United Nations (UN) to protect the high seas. The UN is an organisation of 193 countries that work together on the challenges that face humanity, such as climate change. The high seas are areas of the ocean that don’t belong to any country. Amazingly, they cover almost half of the Earth’s surface, yet until now the waters haven’t been properly looked after and protection of marine life has been limited. The agreement means that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can be created in the high seas. MPAs are zones where wildlife species and habitats are legally protected, and there are limits on human activity such as certain types of fishing that can…

Ofwat, a Government department that monitors water companies in England and Wales, has opened an investigation into South East Water (SEW). SEW supplies water to around 2.3 million people in the south-east of England. The investigation comes after water supplies failed several times in Kent and Sussex. That meant lots of homes, businesses and schools were left without running water. What’s been happening? Recently the water supply to thousands of people in Kent and Sussex has been badly affected. On 12 January, officials declared a major incident when 30,000 homes were left without running water for up to six days. Many schools and libraries in the area had to shut because they had no running water, and some hospital appointments had to be carried out virtually instead of in-person. Hotels,…

Fifteen-year-old Scarlett Chapman is on a mission to help families in temporary accommodation in Brighton and Hove, a city on England’s south coast. Temporary accommodation is housing that a council (local authority) gives people until a permanent home becomes available. However, some people end up in temporary homes for a long time, or have to move from place to place. According to the BBC, Brighton and Hove had more than 2,000 families in temporary accommodation during the last seven months of 2025. Scarlett feels this is a hidden homelessness crisis in her city, and decided to do something about it. “It breaks my heart to hear about children living in fear of having to move from place to place, never knowing when they’ll have to pack up again or change…

Spot bramblings flocking together to search for food These colourful little birds visit most parts of the UK from September to April, after spending the summer months nesting in the forests of northern Europe and Asia. Bramblings are similar to chaffinches in their colouring, shape and size. They are about 14 centimetres long with a brown and black head. Their breast and shoulder area is a rusty orange colour. Bramblings also have a white belly. During winter, both male and female bramblings have a yellow bill (beak), compared to chaffinches, which have a greyish one. The UK population of bramblings can reach around 1.8 million birds and they are usually found in flocks, sometimes with chaffinches and other species of finch. You can spot them in woodland areas, hedgerows, fields…

The Caribbean Sea A project run by the UK Government aims to map large areas under the Caribbean Sea for the first time. There are more than 40 scientists on board a research ship called the RRS James Cook (pictured). Their goal is to search for reefs deep below the surface and map more than 5,000 square kilometres of the seabed over the next few weeks. They’re hoping to find and identify new species too. The team will also investigate pollution and the effects of climate change in the area.…

Scientists say they have restored sight to patients with an eye condition called hypotony. This is a big breakthrough because up to now, doctors have not always been able to treat it. Hypotony is an eye problem that happens when the pressure inside a person’s eye is too low. The eyeball is filled with liquid and a jelly-like substance. When there is not enough pressure inside the eye, it can start to deflate like a balloon. Hypotony might happen because the eye isn’t producing enough fluid. It’s rare but it can happen after an operation or an infection. If it isn’t treated, hypotony can damage the structure of the eye, and the person could even lose their sight. There are two types of hypotony: acute (which starts suddenly) and chronic…

Layla Drury On 18 January, the 16-year-old played her first game for Manchester United. She scored a goal as her team beat Burnley 5-0 in the Women’s FA Cup. Charlotte Bankes Great Britain snowboarder Bankes won the Big Final at the Snowboard Cross World Cup event in China. Nottingham Panthers The men’s ice hockey team beat Torpedo, from Kazakhstan, 4-2 in the Continental Cup final. It was the second time they have won it, after success in 2017. Lydia Hall Hall, from Wales, won the Vic Open golf competition in Australia. She finished four shots ahead of Kelsey Bennett and Kathryn Norris.…

In 2005, Chris Barns founded a kangaroo rescue centre in Alice Springs, Australia. Today, The Kangaroo Sanctuary rescues and looks after orphaned baby kangaroos (joeys). The joeys are either released back into the wild when they are ready, or they stay living at the sanctuary, which is the size of about 100 football pitches. Barns’s work has inspired a new film called Kangaroo. The film is about a former TV presenter called Chris Masterman who is stranded in a quiet town in Australia. Masterman finds a joey beside the road after an accident and realises he has to take care of it. He doesn’t know what to do but luckily, he’s helped by 12-year-old Charlie, a girl who loves kangaroos. Slowly the pair form a friendship as they work together…

The Secret Life of Pets Apple TV This 2016 animated comedy explores the hilarious things pets might get up to when their owners aren’t around. The Secret Life of Pets is from the film studio Illumination, which created the Despicable Me movies. It follows Max the dog, whose life in a New York apartment block is turned upside down when his owner brings unruly dog Duke home to live with them. They don’t get on but after getting lost in the city, the hounds must work together to deal with a gang of human-hating animals, led by bonkers bunny Snowball, and get home to their owner. The film was so popular when it came out that there was a sequel, released in 2019, and Illumination have revealed that it is…

by Tom Moorhouse (David Fickling Books) After he is caught up in an accident at sea, Ed wakes to find himself lying on an unfamiliar beach. The only other person there is a girl called Steff, and neither of them know where they are. As they set out to explore this peculiar place, they come across some remarkable creatures. Among them is an armoured pangolin called Astolpho, who might be able to help them find their way home. First they’ll have to reach a dragon who lives at the top of an impossibly tall rock – and make her cry precious tears with the power to return them to the places they belong. Author Tom Moorhouse is an ecologist (an expert in how plants and animals interact with their surroundings),…

Meet Adiba Jaigirdar, the author of Nadia Islam, on the Record – a new book about eight-year-old Nadia, a budding journalist. A journalist is a person who researches and reports on news stories. In the book, Nadia and her family go to Bangladesh duringRamadan (an important celebration for Muslims). Her reporting skills are put to the test when she spends time with her journalist aunt, who is writing an article about the effects of climate change on people living in Bangladesh. As Nadia learns more about her aunt’s work, she’s keen to help her write the story. Here, Jaigirdar shares her tips for turning an issue you care about into a story, just like Nadia and her aunt. 1 Find a story Jaigirdar says stories are everywhere, so you can…

The Big Garden Birdwatch is on now until 25 January. This is a survey run by the charity RSPB where people across the UK can help to monitor the bird population. Ask an adult to help you sign up online, then spend an hour counting the different birds that land in your garden or in a park. By taking part, you help scientists find out how well birds are doing. More than 590,000 people took part last year, spotting 9.1 million birds. To celebrate this annual event, try crafting some paper birds to decorate your window. The light will shine through the coloured tissue paper and brighten up gloomy winter days. You can use any thin, flexible card in any colour. To make more birds, you could repeat the same…

Name: Ruby “I creatively made a collection of woolly hat decorations to raise money for those in need at the Garden House Hospice in Hitchin, England. I started to make, give and raise money from my woolly hats near the start of December, and I finally finished on 23 December, when I donated to the hospice. I have made more than 20 woolly hats. I got inspired by a Christmas craft day at my school and by home. Amazingly, I raised £38 for the hospice. I’m going to have another go next year, but I’m going to make even more and start earlier. I’m thankful to my school, football club, swim school, tuition centre, family and friends for their help, commitment and inspiration. I hope you are inspired by me…

1 The island of Greenland is mostly covered by what? a) Grass b) Trees c) Ice 2 True or false? An art installation inspired by the Sun has gone on display at a swimming pool in Bristol. True False 3 How many stamps of boxer Muhammad Ali will be printed by the US Postal Service? 4 Which conservationist carried out the first in-depth study of wild African elephant behaviour? 5 True or false? A flower in Peru was named after Calcifer, the fire demon in the film Howl’s Moving Castle. True False 6 In which century was Kew Gardens in London set up? 7 What was John Logie Baird’s television originally called? a) Televisor b) Telewatch c) Telepicture 8 True or false? The fastest muscle in the human body is…

Our job at The Week Junior is to explain the world to curious kids, and science is a huge part of that. Last week we reported on exploring Earth’s deepest oceans; this week, on page 5, we write about NASA’s mission to send a crew further into space than humans have ever gone. On page 14, you can find out about the engineers who invented television – and changed the world. The author of our Book of the Week is Tom Moorhouse, a scientist with a brilliant answer to the question “Do you have a favourite animal?” on page 24. On page 13, you can read about how a team studied little rainforest frogs to find ways to protect them, and on pages 16–17 there are reports into a discovery…

On 17 January, thousands of people gathered in Greenland and Denmark to protest against US President Donald Trump’s announcements that he wants the US to take control of Greenland. Where is Greenland? Greenland lies off the north-east coast of Canada. It is the world’s largest island, but has a population of only about 56,000 people. It is mostly covered in ice. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which also includes Denmark and the Faroe Islands, but its location is closer to North America than Europe. Greenland has its own prime minister and parliament and governs itself, although it relies on Denmark for certain things such as military protection. Why does Trump want it? Trump said the US needs Greenland for “national security” reasons. He said the island, which…

A mega rocket roughly as tall as Big Ben was brought to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, on 17 January, in preparation for NASA’s Artemis 2 Moon mission. Measuring 98 metres tall, the rocket was transported in an upright position from the Vehicle Assembly Building, four miles away from the launch pad. It was moved by a machine called Crawler-Transporter 2 in a journey that took about 12 hours. Artemis 2, which will be ready to blast off any time from 6 February, is the first mission in more than 50 years that will take humans around the Moon. During their 685,000-mile trip, the astronauts will reach the furthest distance humans have ever been from Earth. The crew includes NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch…

The Government’s changes to the water industry in England and Wales aim to improve how water companies perform. One change will be having a better system for dealing with complaints about water companies. The Government will also try to help customers cut costs, tackle water pollution and replace Ofwat with a more powerful regulator to monitor water companies. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said, “Water companies will have nowhere to hide from poor performance.” However, many environmental groups say the changes don’t go far enough.…

Iain Douglas-Hamilton was a conservationist (someone who works to protect animals and the environment). He was born in 1942 and went to school in Scotland before going on to study biology and zoology at Oxford University. When he was 23, he moved to Tanzania in Africa to study wild elephants at Lake Manyara National Park. He got to know the animals so well that he could recognise them by their skin wrinkles and ear shapes. Douglas-Hamilton’s research was the first in-depth study of wild African elephant behaviour. By the 1970s, poaching (the illegal hunting of animals) had increased. Between 1979 and 1989, Africa’s elephant population halved because the animals were hunted for the ivory in their tusks. As well as being a scientist, Douglas-Hamilton became a defender of elephants –…

A new study has found the reason why the numbers of a species called the southern Darwin’s frog have been falling. The discovery means researchers can now look into the best ways to tackle the problem. Southern Darwin’s frogs live in rainforests in parts of Chile and Argentina. Scientists have found that they are being threatened by the spread of chytrid fungus, which makes frogs unwell. A fungus is a type of organism that gets its food from decaying material or other living things. It was previously thought that chytrid fungus could only spread through water, which southern Darwin’s frogs avoid. However, the new study has revealed that the fungus can also spread on land through frogs that have been in close contact with each other. Dr Andrés Valenzuela-Sánchez, who…

The Himalayas Weather experts say that less snow has been falling on the Himalayas mountain range during recent winters. The Himalayas stretch across Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The average snowfall there has been lower in the last five winters compared to those between 1980 and 2020. Experts say this is caused by global warming, and it could affect the local water supply because the melting snow in spring usually supplies rivers.…

Scientists have found a way to turn waste cooking oil into glue strong enough to tow a car. Using chemical reactions, they made materials called polymers from the cooking oil. Some of the polymers were sticky. The scientists used the polymers to stick two pieces ofmetal together, then attached them to two cars, one of which was pulling the other uphill. The pieces of metal didn’t come apart, which showed that the polymers were as strong as industrial glue. Enjoy these stories? Find more in this month’s The Week Junior Science+Nature magazine sciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk…

Using screens can be fun but spending too much time on them can make you miss out on other things. The NHS recommends that children and teenagers should not have more than two hours of screen time a day. This is so you’ll have time to do things that are good for you, like getting outside, interacting with other people and moving around. Why is screen time so tempting? “Screen time is designed to be tempting!” says Jonathan Haidt. He is a psychologist (an expert in how people think, feel and behave) and his book for children and young people, The Amazing Generation, is a guide to reducing screen time. He says, “The ‘tech wizards’, as we call them in The Amazing Generation, use dopamine triggers – like bright colours,…

Wolfblood Available on BBC iPlayer Catch all five series of this fantasy drama about two seemingly normal teenagers who turn out to be part of a mysterious race. The wolfblood have lived among humans for centuries, disguising their powers but they are humans who can turn into wolves at will. Cosmic Princess Kaguya! Available on Netflix This new anime series follows teenager Iroha, whose life changes fast when a girl called Kaguya crash-lands into her life from the Moon. Kaguya persuades Iroha to perform in a virtual world with her. Age rating 12. Dog with a blog Available on Disney+ Stepbrother and sister Tyler and Avery don’t get on, until their family adopts a new dog called Stan. The rescue dog helps to bring them together when the pair discover…

What is your favourite place to be in nature? Nearly always near the top of a mountain. Although my favourite low-lying place is called Deepdale Beck, near where I grew up. Describe this book in a single sentence. Ooh, tricky. Right. When Ed’s boat crashes he wakes in a strange land, with a girl he’s never met; to get home they must find a dragon, while being pursued by terrifying butterflies and talking wolves. Do you remember your dreams? I read once that there are little dreams and big dreams, and big dreams are your mind trying to tell you something. Those are the ones I tend to remember, I think. What made you a reader? Just the sheer, warm pleasure of being able to drop out of the world…

27 January is Holocaust Memorial Day. The Holocaust refers to the killing by Nazi Germany of around six million Jewish people during the Second World War (1939–45). Morris Gleitzman’s Once, published in 2005, is set during the Holocaust. It’s the story of a 10-year-old Jewish boy who searches for his parents in Nazi-occupied Poland, not knowing how dangerous his journey is and with only his gift of storytelling to help.…

Woolly surprise for shoppers Shoppers at a supermarket in Burgsinn, a town in Germany, were recently surprised when a group of 50 sheep walked in through the doors. Shop workers had difficulty shifting the animals, which wandered around the tills and checkout area for about 20 minutes. Pushing them out proved impossible but a staff member eventually managed to move them by making noises to shoo them outside. The shepherd who looks after the sheep told a local radio station that they probably trotted in while following someone carrying a bag. The animals might have thought the bag contained something tasty for them. A train filled with Elvis Presleys The singer Elvis Presley, who died in 1977, was famous for hits such as Suspicious Minds and Heartbreak Hotel, as well as…

27 January 1756 Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the most important music composers in history. Born in Salzburg, Austria, he was a child prodigy – this means he was very good at music from an early age. He began playing instruments at three years old, and composed his first symphony (a long, complex musical composition) when he was eight. Mozart wrote lots of famous tunes and several operas (musical dramas) including The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. He died when he was just 35, but he had composed more than 600 pieces of music.…

Greenland was once controlled by Denmark and Norway. When Denmark and Norway, which had been united under the same king, split apart in 1814, Denmark kept control of Greenland. During the Second World War (1939–1945), Germany captured Denmark. From 1941, the US took responsibility for Greenland’s security, building military bases there. After the war, Denmark again controlled the island. In 1953, Greenland’s status was changed so that it was no longer a colony and it officially became part of the Kingdom of Denmark. This gave it more rights, including representatives in Denmark’s parliament.…

BALI’S ELEPHANTS Bali Zoo, in Indonesia, has announced that it will no longer let people ride on its elephants. Animal welfare charities welcomed the news and said riding elephants can cause them harm. The zoo said it will now focus on elephant care and conservation. FUNGI FANS One of the rarest types of fungi in the UK has been spotted in Hertfordshire, England. The vaulted earthstar, which was only recognised as a new species in 2015, was found at the Box Moor Trust estate in Hemel Hempstead. The unusual fungi, which can often resemble people, usually grow beneath yew trees. A NEW TENNIS STAR An amateur tennis player surprised everyone when he won the Australian Open’s Million Dollar One Point Slam. Jordan Smith, from Sydney, bagged the prize of one…

Oxford University Press (OUP) has revealed that its Children’s Word of the Year for 2025 is “peace”. OUP, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, gathered information from almost 5,000 children across the UK, aged six to 14. The researchers said children’s responses highlighted their “awareness of current affairs”. “AI” was the runner-up for a second year in a row, and the popular saying “six-seven” was voted as the slang word of the year.…

Winning prizes is fun, but what if students are winning big treats just for going to school? At one school, pupils get the chance to take home rewards such as bikes, televisions and £100 gift vouchers for good attendance. The school in Manchester, England, has a “rewards shop” where pupils can use the merits they earn (points or tokens awarded to pupils) to buy raffle tickets for the chance to win big prizes. Some people say winning prizes takes away from the point of going to school, which is to learn; and that giving big rewards could lead to jealousy between pupils. For example, the school in Manchester once gave out 10 TV sets in 10 days, which means not everyone got one. What do you think? Should there be…

Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (see panel) have released a list of their top 10 new plants and fungi from 2025. Last year, Kew’s taxonomists, helped by international colleagues, named 125 plants and fungi. A taxonomist’s job is to study and officially name new species. Thousands are named from around the world every year but the Kew team hope that their top 10 list will highlight Kew’s role in this, and how naming species helps to raise awareness of them and ensure they are protected. Kew’s scientists named three trees in their top 10, including one from Papua New Guinea. Eugenia venteri’s fruit is said to taste like a mix of guava and banana, with an aftertaste of eucalyptus. Two new types of fungus were picked out, including…

Tree kangaroo Chester Zoo in England has welcomed a baby Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo. After they’re born, babies (known as joeys) climb into their mothers’ pouches and stay there for up to a year. The joey is part of a programme to help the species, which is endangered in the wild. • LIFESPAN: Eight to 14 years. • HABITAT: Tropical rainforests in Papua New Guinea. • SIZE: Up to 58 centimetres long. • DIET: Flowers, grass and leaves. • FUN FACT: They are able to jump nine metres down from a tree without being hurt.…

On 26 January, it will be 100 years since the first public demonstration of television. Scottish engineer and inventor John Logie Baird invited 40 members of the Royal Institution (an organisation for scientific education and research) to his laboratory in the attic of a house on Frith Street, London. The television – then called a “televisor” – showed a fuzzy image of a dummy and then a human face. TV has changed a lot since then. Who invented television? As well as Baird, US inventor Philo Farnsworth and German engineer Paul Gottlieb Nipkow also did important work towards inventing television. In 1884, Nipkow came up with the idea of sending images along wires using a spinning disc. Baird used that idea in his first television invention, which he made using…

Researchers have uncovered the oldest known evidence of humans using poison arrows. Poison was found on arrowheads discovered at Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The arrowheads were made of a material called quartz and were 60,000 years old. After analysing the arrowheads, researchers found they had toxic substances from a plant known as gifbol on them. Gifbol means poisonous bulb. Researchers already thought that humans living 70,000–60,000 years ago used poison to hunt, but had worked this out from clues, rather than from clear evidence. For example, scientists thought arrowheads from this time were too small to have killed animals on their own, so some researchers thought they might have had poison on them. Up until now, direct evidence of poison has been difficult to find because it…

On 18 January, Senegal celebrated a thrilling victory when they won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). They defeated Morocco 1-0 in the final but during the game there were some unusual events including players walking off. AFCON is the biggest international football tournament in Africa. The men’s competition is contested by 24 countries and is usually held every two years. Senegal first won the competition in 2021. The latest tournament took place in Morocco and began on 21 December. In the tournament the teams were split into six groups of four. Morocco and Senegal finished top of their groups and then won three more games to reach the final at the new Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat. The match was very close and the score was 0-0 near…

Emily, 12, from Oxfordshire, England, knows it’s all about balance. She says, ”I have set time limits on my devices and some apps to help me not lose track of the time I’m spending on screens. In my free time I like to read instead of watching screens. I find reading really enjoyable because it’s just like watching a film but you can make your own interpretations of some of the characters. I also like to go for walks to see the scenery and get in exercise at the same time.”…

The Netflix movie KPop Demon Huntersscooped two prizes at the Golden Globe awards, held in Los Angeles, US, on 11 January. The film, about a girl pop group who fight monsters, won the prizes for Best Motion Picture (Animated) and Best Original Song, for Golden. The Golden Globes is an important awards show that takes place every year in Hollywood, the home of the US film and TV industry. The awards are seen as a hint of who is likely to win at the Oscars, the famous film awards that take place in March In her acceptance speech for the Best Original Song award, singer-songwriter Ejae, who performed Golden in the film, said, “I can confidently say… never give up, it’s never too late to shine like you were born…

From AI to Wi-Fi: How the Internet Works by Craig Steele. Illustrated by Terri Po (Templar) How much do you understand about how the internet really works? This guide explains everything from the history of the internet, to how websites are made and coded, and how to stay safe when you are using it. Human 2.0 by Patrick Kane. Illustrated by Samuel Rodriguez (Big Picture Press) This fact book explores human bionics and medical engineering, celebrating the technological breakthroughs that have helped change people’s lives. These amazing devices include cochlear implants that help with hearing loss; pacemakers that help keep hearts beating; and bionic arms and legs. Robots by Dr Henny Admoni. Illustrated by Amy Grimes (Neon Squid) Robotics professor Dr Henny Admoni reveals how robots are used every day on…

Name: Moriah The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell “Magical, exciting, funny. I like this book because the characters are amazing and the adventure keeps you wanting to read more.” *If you are the competition winner, we will only use the details you provide to contact you and arrange delivery of your competition prize. Further details about how we manage the data you provide can be found at www.futureplc.com/privacy-policy…

Although STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) is taught in schools across the UK, a growing number of home kits let you code, build and experiment on your own, too. The Science Museum has a range of STEM kits that help you learn how to build different gadgets. One is the Hydraulic Cyborg Hand kit, which teaches you about mechanics and engineering as you build a robotic hand where each finger can move individually. The Build Your Own Robot Spider kit allows you to make a walking spider from more than 70 parts, and the Circuit Lab kit gives you more than 50 electronics experiments to try. The BBC micro:bit pocket-sized computer is one of the most popular STEM gadgets in the UK. More than 11 million have been handed…

Wordsearch Can you find all of the words listed? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may read forwards or backwards. ADDER BADGER BAT BLACKBIRD FIELDMOUSE FROG HARE HEDGEHOG KESTREL KINGFISHER LADYBIRD NEWT OTTER OWL PIGEON RABBIT ROBIN SQUIRREL SWAN WOODPECKER Shortcode Eight letters of the alphabet have been replaced by numbers. Crack the code to find the words. Word fill in All these words fit in the grid. Can you work out where each word goes to complete it? 3 letters FIG PEA 4 letters BEAN CORN PEAR 5 letters APPLE ONION 6 letters CARROT POTATO SQUASH 7 letters KUMQUAT SULTANA 9 letters AUBERGINE SWEETCORN TANGERINE Number tower Place a number in every circle to complete the tower. The value in each circle is the sum of the…

Teacher’s name: Miss Davies School: Thorner C of E Primary School, Thorner, West Yorkshire “Miss Davies helps us when we are stuck and tries to make learning fun. Once, she let us eat carrots, apples, crisps and Haribo (sweets) to test which teeth we use to eat different foods. Sometimes she lets us play games after class and reminds us to do things like get our school planners out. She is really nice and fair and lets us read or doodle after lunch. She also makes the classroom colourful and calls Friday “FriYEY” – which makes me smile.”Greta If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’ll send your school three free issues of The Week Junior. Send your nominations, along with a picture of your teacher and…

Portico Sadie Massey Awards These writing competitions are open to young people aged from seven to 18. For the Book Review competition, write a review of any book or graphic novel and explain what it means to you. For the Short Story competition, create an original piece of work set in the north of England. You can enter one or both competitions, and everyone who enters in the UK will receive a notebook and bookmark. The deadline for entries is 20 March. For more on the competition rules, ask an adult to help you visit theportico.org.uk/resources WIN A BADGE! Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Please include your full name and address so that we can send you a Roving Reporter badge if your contribution makes it onto…

“I randomly found this beautiful turkey fungus growing out of our church windowsill and I recognised it from your magazine!”Sophie “Our guinea pigs Nibbles and JJ love Friday evenings when The Week Junior arrives as it keeps them educated.”Isla and Georgia “This is our donkey Jenny. She came into our kitchen to have a carrot, and read The Week Junior with me at Christmas.”Ophelia “We loved the snow in the first weekend of 2026. It got us outside nearly all day. My sister Ema had an idea to build a snow leopard.”Lukas Plastic FREE We’re proud to be plastic-free The Week Junior is delivered without a wrapper. This decision was made in response to requests from our readers who wanted us to reduce waste. Since removing the wrap in 2018…