Table of contents for 519 in The Week Junior

On 14 November, Children in Need raised £45 million for good causes. What would you raise money for and how would you do it? Read about some of the brilliant and wacky fundraising efforts on page 7. Blue Origin has successfully launched two spacecraft to Mars. What would be the coolest thing about going to space? Find out about the launch – and what happens next – on page 5. From 22 to 30 November it is National Tree Week. Which is your favourite tree and why? Learn how to craft a beautiful pop-up tree on page 27. The big debate Should doctors suggest art trips? Page 10.…

On 14 November, Russia launched a series of overnight air attacks on Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. What happened? Just after midnight, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv and residents headed to the nearest underground shelters. Not long afterwards, drones (remotecontrolled flying machines) were heard in the sky, along with gunfire from Ukraine’s air defences. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 430 drones and 18 missiles against Ukraine and that dozens of high-rise buildings had been damaged. In Kyiv, at least six people were killed, and two people died in a drone attack on a market in Chornomorsk, a city in the south of the country. At least 34 people were injured. When did the conflict start? Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since…

The Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched in March 2022, after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Under the scheme, people in the UK could sponsor someone wanting to flee Ukraine and provide somewhere for them to stay for at least six months. The governments in Wales and Scotland also provided sponsorships for Ukrainians. Almost 270,000 Ukrainian refugees were allowed to stay in the UK under the scheme. At first they were allowed to stay for three years but this February that period was extended for another 18 months.…

To celebrate 30 years since her book Coming toEngland came out, author and former children’s TV presenter Floella Benjamin visited a school in London to talk about it. Benjamin is part of the Windrush generation (a group of people who came from the Caribbean to live and work in the UK). The book tells of her experience of coming to the UK from Trinidad, aged 10, and dealing with racism (when people are treated unfairly because of their skin colour or culture). Benjamin told ITV News that she never imagined Coming to England would be read in schools, and she hopes that no more children will experience racism.…

Many countries are moving towards making “clean” energy (see panel), such as solar and wind power. Solar power is energy generated from sunlight. In fact, so much solar power is being produced in Australia that some people will now be given free electricity. Australia is very sunny and in recent years it has been installing lots of solar power systems. These are panels that look like slabs of glass but inside are solar cells, which contain layers of a substance called silicon. When sunlight hits the silicon, an electric charge builds up. This creates a flow of electricity. Australia now has more than four million solar systems on rooftops, and they can provide more electricity than the country’s coal-fired power stations. However, solar power can only be made during the…

Giraffes are known for their impressive height, which allows them to reach leaves on the tops of acacia trees in Africa. Their long necks are obviously a big help with this, but researchers recently found that giraffes’ long legs are just as, if not more, helpful. It is to do with blood pressure, which is the amount of force the body uses to pump blood. Giraffes have high blood pressure because their hearts need to work very hard to pump blood all the way up through their long necks to their brains. In fact, just the heart of a resting giraffe uses more energy than the entire body of a resting human. The recent study tried to prove that giraffes’ long legs mean their neck doesn’t need to be quite…

On 11 November, the Government set out plans to stop the testing of products on animals. At the moment, some medicines and chemicals, such as those used on food crops, are tested on animals to make sure they won’t harm people, wildlife or the environment. The Government’s plan has a number of steps to stop animal testing. By the end of next year, researchers will no longer be allowed to use animals to check whether products cause skin and eye irritation. By 2030, testing products on dogs and non-human primates, such as monkeys, will be cut by more than a third. There are strict rules around animal testing, and the practice has been decreasing over the last 10 years. However, there are still tests every year in the UK. Most…

The Sheffield Hatters have enjoyed a winning start to the Women’s Super League Basketball (SLB) season. The Hatters are one of the 10 teams playing in the competition, which started last month. The SLB is the highest level of club basketball in the UK. Caledonia Gladiators, Cardiff Met Archers, Essex Rebels, Leicester Riders, London Lions, Manchester Basketball, Newcastle Eagles, Nottingham Wildcats and Oaklands Wolves are the other teams. They all play each other twice and the winning team in each match gets two points. The team with most points after all the season’s games have been played wins the SLB Championship. The league’s top eight teams then go through to the play-offs, where they have the chance to win three more games and take the play-off title. The Hatters won…

This year marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of J.M.W. Turner, one of the UK’s most famous painters. Next year it will be 250 years since the birth of John Constable, another of the country’s most celebrated artists. Both men were well known for landscape painting, a type of art that focuses on the outdoors and nature. To mark the anniversaries, the Tate Britain art gallery in London is hosting a special exhibition featuring work by both men. Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals explores their work and lasting impact. It features paintings, sketches and items that the two artists owned, including paint boxes. Nicole Cochrane, from Tate Britain, tells The Week Junior that the painters’ works were often compared during their lives (see panel). “Both of these artists…

Birthdays aren’t only about receiving gifts; in many cultures, it’s also a time to give to others. So, to mark The Week Junior’s big birthday, we’d like you to help the Children’s Book Project achieve its goal of gifting a million books this year to children and families all across the UK. It’s really easy to get involved and it’s a great way to share the books you’ve loved with other young readers. Imagine, if every one of our readers donated just one book, that’s at least 70,000 books that the charity could give to children who don’t have any books of their own. Important information The charity can only accept children’s books that are in good condition and it cannot accept the following: • Old or tatty books •…

Roblox isn’t just about playing games, it’s about making them too. The Roblox website has lots of guides on doing that with the Roblox Studio app, but here are some extra tips from top creators. The first tip is to dive in. “Find something to make with your friends and just bash it together. It’s so motivating and easy to just make something; anything at all,” says Alex Balfanz, who is known as “badcc”. Balfanz taught himself to code when he was about nine years old, and now he is one of the creators of a game called Jailbreak, which has been played more than 7.6 billion times. The second tip is to think about real life. Alex Hicks – who is also called AbstractAlex – says, “Pick something you…

A drink to freshen your breath A food store called Erewhon in California, US, has teamed up with dental care brand Boka to launch a new smoothie that tastes like toothpaste. The green drink is inspired by one of Boka’s toothpastes and apparently it’s supposed to give you same clean, fresh feeling you get after brushing your teeth. Nathan Day, who works at Erewhon, said the smoothie is “as refreshing as it is creamy” and makes people feel like they’re at a health spa, “cosy bathrobe and slippers included”. However, the drink has had mixed reviews from customers. Nod off with a teeny tiny horse Visitors to a holiday property in Nottinghamshire, England, are able to share their room with a miniature Shetland pony called Basil. The Airbnb apartment is…

Dandelion Earth has given many flowers, life and loveBut you stand out, my friend,Bright as the SunAnd luscious like a dove.Your lovely little leavesCould never get stolen.The Sun’s little sister,A lion’s mane, lush and golden,Can be seen in different ways.The Sun’s twin, shooting beautiful raysPeople see you as weeds,but I think no such thing.People, not bees, know nothing of your beautyand all the good deeds.You’re like a firework, sprout out of the ground.A lion’s mane, wild and proud.…

1 Which species of bird has returned to a Northern Ireland nature reserve for the first time in about 25 years? ❑ a) Capercaillie ❑ b) Puffin ❑ c) Stork 2 True or false? Radio 2 presenter Sara Cox raised more than £10 million for the charity Children in Need. ❑ True ❑ False 3 A gathering of bagpipers broke a world record in which Australian city? 4 What is the name of the world’s largest art museum? ❑ a) The Louvre ❑ b) The Rijksmuseum ❑ c) The Metropolitan Museum of Art 5 True or false? It has been 20 years since Coming to England, a book by Floella Benjamin, was published. ❑ True ❑ False 6 What percentage of the world’s grey seals are found around Britain? 7…

21 November 2015 The Week Junior publishes its first issue It’s a special week for The Week Junior – our very first issue came out 10 years ago. It was published in the aftermath of a series of terrorist attacks on 13 November 2015 in Paris, France. We chose the Peace for Paris symbol for our cover. It merges the international peace symbol with Paris’s famous Eiffel Tower, to show how the people of Paris stood together. The Week Junior has changed over the years; we didn’t have a Wellbeing page at first and we have doubled the number of puzzles. Many people have worked on the magazine since 2015 and five people from the original team remain: Anna, Vanessa, Dave, Felicity and Stevie.…

ENJOYING POETRY Up to 135,000 pupils across England will be taking part in Young Poets Week. The event is all about celebrating poetry and inspiring the poets of the future. It runs from 24 to 28 November and features special workshops on poetry, including with the poet and author Laura Mucha. BIRDWATCHERS Puffins have returned to a Northern Ireland nature reserve for the first time in about 25 years. The seabirds have been found nesting once again on the Isle of Muck in County Antrim. Their return follows a project to remove brown rats from the island. Brown rats eat puffin eggs and chicks. A WICKED YOUNG ARTIST An 11-year-old girl will have her artwork for the film Wicked: For Good shown on screen before every UK screening. Maidah, from Liverpool,…

Visiting an art gallery can be an eye-opening and richly rewarding experience that introduces people to new works of art and new ways of looking at the world. You might have a favourite painting or sculpture, or enjoy making your own art. Recently, scientists discovered that not only is art enjoyable, it’s also good for your health. In the study, 25 people viewed original artwork at the Courtauld Gallery in London, while the other 25 looked at copies of the same paintings, but not at a gallery. The results showed that the people who saw the paintings in the art gallery had lower stress levels and their immune system was boosted, among other benefits. If art has such positive benefits on people, then should doctors prescribe trips to art galleries?…

Indian sloth bear For the first time in more than 40 years, a female Indian sloth bear is living in the UK. Lincoln Zoo in England plans to introduce new arrival Zara to its male sloth bear, in the hope that they have babies. • LIFESPAN: Up to 40 years. • HABITAT: Dry grasslands and forests in South Asia. • SIZE: Up to 1.9 metres. They weigh 55–145 kilograms. • DIET: Termites (a type of insect), ants, fruits, berries and honey. • FUN FACT: For the first nine months of their lives, sloth bears ride around on their mother’s back.…

England men’s rugby union team England defeated New Zealand by 33 points to 19 at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, London. Scotland men’s football team Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean both scored goals right at the end of the match, as Scotland beat Denmark 4-2 to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals. Jannik Sinner The Italian tennis player defeated Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz to win the ATP Finals event in Turin, Italy. It was the second year in a row that Sinner has won the tournament. Luke Littler The teenage darts player won the Grand Slam of Darts event and became world number one for the first time.…

In Your Dreams Available now on Netflix In this new movie, sister and brother Stevie and Elliot travel into the bizarre world of their dreams on a quest to meet the wish-granting Sandman and keep their family together. Kingdom Available now on BBC iPlayer Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, this new six-part wildlife series follows four rival animal families in Zambia over five years – meet the leopards, wild dogs, lions and hyenas. Malory Towers Available now on BBC iPlayer Malory Towers is back for its seventh and final series. There are fallouts, film stars and fun as Darrell and her friends kick off their last term at the boarding school.…

What do you enjoy more, drawing or story building? Most of the time, they go hand in hand. Story building is fascinating but I especially love when these stories come alive through my drawings. How did you develop your own art style? It came quite naturally. Mostly by drawing a lot, trying and experimenting with different styles until I found my own. How many languages do you speak? My first language is Spanish, and since I’m from the Catalonia region, I speak Catalan. I also speak English and am currently learning Polish (because my partner is from Poland), though my level is still very basic. Do you identify with any of your characters? I really relate to Dai. Like him, when I was a kid, I was afraid of many things…

When I was 10 years old I loved drawing, reading and dancing. I wanted to become a ballerina, and failing that, a fashion designer. I was scared of lots of things: spiders, the dark, getting lost, ghosts and growing up. The world felt big and unknowable. Now that I am grown-up, I wish I could tell my younger self to be braver and not to worry so much: that growing up is great and the world is a wonderful place packed with interesting people, amazing places and adventures waiting to happen. (Also, spiders are our friends and the invention of Google Maps means I’m very unlikely to get lost.) I obviously didn’t make it as a dancer or as a designer, but 10 years ago I did get the chance…

The US space company Blue Origin successfully launched a rocket on 13 November, carrying two spacecraft that will fly to Mars. The craft, which don’t have astronauts on board, are part of a mission called Escapade, run by NASA (the US space agency) to study Mars and prepare for future human exploration. The rocket, New Glenn, was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, US. The booster – part of the rocket’s engine that helps to launch it – separated from the rocket once it was in the air and landed safely back on Earth without being damaged. It’s the first time Blue Origin has achieved this. This means it can be reused for future rocket launches, which is cheaper and less wasteful. The spacecraft attached to New…

On 17 November, the UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the Government’s plans to change the UK’s asylum seeker laws. An asylum seeker is a person who has asked another country for protection after fleeing their own because of war or the threat of violence. When a country agrees to offer an asylum seeker protection, that person becomes recognised as a refugee. What did the Home Secretary announce? The Government wants to reduce the number of people trying to seek asylum in the UK, and to remove from the country people who have asked for asylum but been turned down. Under the changes, after people are granted asylum and become refugees, their status will be reviewed every 30 months. During the review, if their home country is judged to be…

Vicky is a 17-year-old from Bristol, England, who has worked on the Diana Award anti-bullying programme. The Diana Award is a charity that helps young people who are working to improve the lives of others. Last week was Anti-Bullying Week, organised by the Diana Award with Kooth, a wellbeing app for children. The Week Juniorspoke to Vicky to find out more. After being bullied at school, Vicky became an anti-bullying ambassador to help prevent the same thing happening to others. “Raising awareness for other people, who might not have the voice to, was really important to me,” she says. When Vicky was being bullied, she said focusing on the good things in her life helped. “I had so many other things that I was proud of,” she explains. “I knew…

“Being authentically yourself… is so much more beautiful than trying to look like everyone else around you.” Jasmine Mitchell, who has alopecia, won Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off. Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss, which can be caused by lots of different things. Mitchell, who is 23 and from Edinburgh, says she has had the condition since she was 12 and used to wear a wig. However, more recently she decided to embrace her hair loss and stop wearing the wig.…

November is a great month to spot grey seals. As the temperature drops and the seas get more choppy, they haul themselves up onto the shore to have their fluffy white pups. About 40% of all the world’s grey seals are found around Britain. They only come ashore in certain places – usually quite remote. These include the Monach and Orkney Islands in Scotland, the Farne Islands and Norfolk coast in England, and the Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion coasts in Wales. Grey seals are the larger of the UK’s two seal species (the other is the harbour seal). Their scientific name is Halichoerus grypus, meaning hook-nosed sea pig. Adults can grow up to 2.6 metres long and are named for the colour of their fur, which has a blotchy pattern. Grey…

Elderly African penguins At the New England Aquarium in Boston, US, seven elderly African penguins have been given their own special enclosure. Eric Fox, who works there, describes it as an “old folks’ home”. The island is set apart from younger birds so older ones don’t have to compete for territory. It has been built with flatter areas and a stand to help them hop out of the water more easily despite aches and pains. One visitor called it “wonderful” and said, “All of us need extra care as we get older.”…

Climate change is an issue that can feel worrying. As world leaders meet at COP30 to discuss climate change, there’s lots you can do to help with climate anxiety. What is climate anxiety? There are often lots of stories about the environment and climate change in the news, from forest fires to rising temperatures, and this can make you anxious. “It can feel frightening, uncertain and overwhelming,” says author and therapist Eloise Skinner. She’s an expert in how people think, feel and behave. If you are feeling this way, you are not alone. A survey by the Save the Children charity found that 70% of young people they spoke to are worried about climate change. Get informed There are ways to help ease your worries. One of them is making…

Can you imagine going into hospital and being looked after by a doctor who is only 10? That’s what happens in the new BBC show Dexter Procter: The 10-year-old Doctor. It’s based on a popular children’s book by author and real-life doctor Adam Kay, who also wrote the TV show. The story is about a smart kid who becomes a doctor for children. As the youngest doctor in the world, Dexter tackles all sorts of medical mysteries – some of which are quite disgusting – as well as having to deal with a jealous colleague, Dr Drake. Drake hates the fact that such a young person can be a doctor and keeps trying to get Dexter sacked. Young actor and theatre star Cian Eagle-Service will play Dexter, while Peter Serafinowicz,…

Dragonborn by Struan Murray (Puffin Books) When Alex learns she is a dragon child, she must travel to the island of Skralla where she will train alongside other dragon-children in order to unlock her inner power. Meanwhile, the greatest dragon of all is preparing to wage war on the human world – and it’s up to the dragon children to stop him. Champions of the Galaxy by Tola Okogwu (Simon & Schuster Children’s) In this sci-fi adventure, the Earth is under threat from a group of aliens. Help is offered by a mysterious species called the Onni – but first, children from across the planet must prove their worth by competing in a series of trials. Kola is one of them: he has to join a misfit team and travel…

Name: Hannah Wings of Fire: The Graphic Novel by Tui T. Sutherland. Illustrated by Mike Holmes “Unpredictable, engaging and humorous. A breathtaking fantasy world of dragons.” YOUR TURN Please email your book review to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If it is printed in the magazine you will receive a Roving Reporter badge. Describe your chosen book in three words, tell us what you liked about it and why you would recommend it to others. Don’t forget to include your name and address.* *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…

Decide which books you’d like to give and put them in a bag or a box. Make sure you check with a parent or guardian in case there are any they’d like to keep. There are 700 Children’s Book Project drop-off points across the country. To find your nearest one, ask an adult to go to tinyurl.com/TWJ-project Your parent or guardian will need to fill in some details online, including how many books you’re donating and where you heard about the Children’s Book Project. Please make sure to select The Week Junior from the dropdown menu so we can keep track of how many books our readers have donated. Take the books to the drop-off point and then give yourself a big pat on the back. Your gift has the…

National Tree Week (22–30 November) is a celebration of trees and marks the start of the tree-planting season. In its 50th year, National Tree Week encourages people to plant trees and hedges. If you can’t plant a tree, try designing and making your own pop-up one. Below, we show you how to create an autumnal tree, with colourful cut-out leaves and other seasonal touches in the background. You could also design one for each season. If you don’t have coloured card, colour in white A4 card. Make the tree a simple shape so it’s easy to cut out. You could also try making the window (hole) a different shape, by cutting a wavy or zigzag edge around the circle. Check that the card opens and closes easily after sticking the…

Wordsearch Can you find all the breeds of dog? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may read forwards or backwards. ALSATIAN BEAGLE BOXER BULLDOG CHOW COLLIE CORGI FOXHOUND HUSKY LABRADOR LURCHER MASTIFF PEKINESE POINTER POODLE PUG SHIH-TZU SPANIEL SPITZ WHIPPET Shortcode Eight letters of the alphabet have been replaced by numbers. Crack the code to find the words. Number tower Place a number in every circle to complete the tower. The value in each circle is the sum of the numbers in the two circles directly beneath it. ANSWERS ARE ON PAGE 33 Word fill in All these types of bag fit in the grid. Can you work out where each one goes to complete it? 5 letters PURSE TRUNK 6 letters BASKET CLUTCH VALISE WALLET 7 letters…

Teacher’s name: Mr Colley School: St Thérèse of Lisieux Catholic Primary School, Stockton-on-Tees, England “I’d like to nominate Mr Colley because he was the one who told me about this great magazine. I love reading it with breakfast – so much so, I’ve nearly been late for school. He’s also great as he makes learning really, really fun and loves sport, just like me. He’s a great sporting role model, encouraging me in my running and is genuinely interested in my running exploits and PBs (personal bests).” Sebastian 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 your school’s full name and address, to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk JOKE OF…

Never Such Innocence The charity Never Such Innocence is asking young people to enter its annual international competition. Using poetry, art or song, entrants are asked to explore different views of war and conflict, imagining what it might feel like to walk in someone else’s shoes. It is open to young people aged nine to 18, and the deadline for entries is 27 February. You can enter each category once (one poem, one song, one piece of art). Every entrant will receive a certificate and, as part of the prizes, the winners will have their work published in a digital booklet. Ask an adult to visit tinyurl.com/TWJ-charity-comp 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…

We’d love to see your snaps. Send them to us at hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Don’t forget to tell us why you took them. “I used the How To on making woodland book ends (issue 511) to make a wonderful creation for my friend’s birthday.”Adie “I love reading The Week Junior so much. It has taken over my whole sofa!”Owen “I went to the Botanic Garden at Oxford where they have a garden for Ophelia, which has the same plants as the painting by John Millais.”Rafe “We read issue 517 after school on Friday and were immediately inspired to make our own terrariums. They looked amazing with succulents, aloe vera and moss. The crystals added the final touch.”Mathilda and Dahlia Plastic FREE We’re proud to be plastic-free The Week Junior is delivered without…