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The UK Government has announced the Budget (its spending plan). What do you think the Government should spend our money on? Find out what happened in the Budget on page 6. A painting by Frida Kahlo has become the most expensive painting by a female artist sold at auction. Who is your favourite artist or illustrator and why do you like their pictures? Read all about Kahlo’s art on page 5. Author Catherine Cawthorne’s book looks at the science behind fairy tales. Which fairy tale would you like to put to the test? See how Rapunzel inspired Cawthorne on page 11. The big debate Is cloud seeding a good idea? Page 10.…

On 26 November, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, revealed the Budget in Parliament. The Chancellor is a senior Government minister and is in charge of the UK’s money. What is the Budget? The Budget is a plan for how the Government will organise the UK’s money. The Chancellor usually reveals a new Budget once a year – and the last one was on 30 October 2024. Traditionally, on Budget day, the Chancellor carries the Budget speech to Parliament in a red box. Changes announced in the Budget don’t take place straight away. Usually, they are put in the Finance Bill (a bill is a written plan for a proposed law) that must be approved by Parliament. What was in the Budget? The Budget included measures that will…

As author Catherine Cawthorne was reading Rapunzel to her children, she had “strange thoughts” such as: could you grow your hair that long?; and would it fall out if someone climbed it? This led to Big Bad Wolf Investigates: Fairy Tales – her book that won The Week Junior Book Awards’ STEM category this year. The book uses science to find out if the events in fairy tales could actually happen. Cawthorne thinks children are great at sorting fact from fiction “because they are so curious naturally and ask lots of questions”. However, she believes that the rise of fake images and videos makes curiosity even more important. If you see or read something you aren’t sure about, Cawthorne says take a step back and ask questions such as, “Could…

Volunteers have been picking up millions of tiny plastic bio-beads (see panel) that have washed up on beaches in East Sussex and Kent, England. On 29 October, up to 10 tonnes of beads were accidentally released from a water-treatment works owned by Southern Water. The beads, which are used by water companies to treat waste water from people’s homes (everything you flush down the loo or empty down the plughole), were first noticed on Hastings beach on 30 October. Then they began to wash up at Camber Sands. This popular beach has the only stretch of sand dunes in East Sussex and is home to lots of birds during winter. The plastic waste also washed into Rye Harbour – a nature reserve that is home to more than 4,355 species…

More than 7,000 partula snails have been released on four islands in French Polynesia, in the Pacific Ocean. It was the largest single release of the snails into their natural habitat since a conservation programme to save the species began more than 30 years ago. Wild partula snails are about the size of a human finger nail. They were wiped out after people introduced a nonnative snail species to French Polynesia, which ate partula snails. The last nine wild snails were rescued in 1991. Since then, under a breeding programme led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), 15 zoos have bred 15 species and sub-species of partula snail. The zoos include London Zoo and Edinburgh Zoo in the UK. To keep track of the partula snails, conservationists dotted the…

Fly-tipping In Oxfordshire, England, an investigation has begun into a vast pile of rubbish that has been flytipped (when waste is dumped by people illegally). The pile is said to be 150 metres long, 10 metres wide and around six metres high. The rubbish was dumped in a field close to the River Cherwell. The Member of Parliament (MP) who represents the area, Calum Miller, is asking the Government to help remove the waste before it leaks into the river.…

The robot that helps firefighters Students and graduates from the University of Texas at Austin, US, have created a robot that could help save firefighters’ lives. Their company, Paradigm Robotics, invented the remote controlled Firebot to go into burning buildings before firefighters and get information by taking live video and heat readings. The bot was developed for almost 13 years and can cope with temperatures of up to 650° C – and even a roof falling on it. The team hope to send a Firebot to all fire stations. Enjoy these stories? Find more in this month’s The Week Junior Science+Nature magazine sciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk…

Whether you’ve experienced the death of a loved one or know someone who has, Grief Awareness Week (2–8 December) helps to see how sharing your feelings and listening to others can guide you through a difficult time. What does grief feel like? Grief is the strong feelings you experience when someone you care about dies. Losing a person – or a pet – you love can be very painful. “Grief describes all the things we feel in our hearts, minds and bodies,” says Poppy Mardall of Poppy’s Funerals, which supports families after someone has died. “We might feel sad or angry, we might feel less hungry, or we might have strange dreams,” she explains. You may feel lots of emotions that can change from moment to moment. There’s no right…

New trailer for Super Mario Bros. Nintendo and film company Illumination have released a new trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The film is the sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie in which the brothers teamed up with Princess Peach, Toad and Donkey Kong to battle Bowser and save the Mushroom Kingdom. The trailer confirms that popular character Bowser Jr will be in the new film. The mini menace looks set to be the main villain in the film, arriving to try to save his dad, Bowser, who was shrunk after eating a shrinking mushroom and then imprisoned in the first movie. Another character joining the animated adventure is Rosalina, who is voiced by Captain Marvel actress Brie Larson. Character Yoshi is likely to appear in the…

by A.J. Wood. Illustrated by Jo Rioux (Magic Cat) From Gandalf in The Hobbit to Merlin in the legends of King Arthur, mysterious wizards often feature in stories and myths. In this book, there’s an exciting twist: you can become the wizard yourself. You’ll be invited to try out a series of 40 “magical” experiments that you can do at home. Make a lava lamp, mix some invisible ink, grow your own crystals, brew a batch of magic lemonade and find out how to stop water from freezing. Along the way, you’ll learn about important science topics such as the Periodic Table (a chart that shows all the known elements), chemical reactions and the pH scale (which shows how acidic a substance is). At the end of the book, you’ll…

“Always there’ve been tales of sightings of such a beastie, sometimes at sea, more often in a loch.” St Andrew’s Day, on 30 November, celebrates the patron saint of Scotland. The story of The Water Horse, published in 1990, is set near Loch Ness in Scotland. Sister and brother Kirstie and Angus find a strange egg on a Scottish beach, from which a horseheaded creature hatches. When the creature doesn’t stop growing, Kirstie and Angus must find a way to keep it safe.…

Man maps Britain… on foot Dr Uy Hoang from London is mapping all of Britain’s waterways for Google – by walking them all. After noticing that his local towpath (a path that runs next to a river or canal) didn’t show up on online maps, Dr Hoang decided to start documenting waterways as a hobby. Over the last 10 years he has taken 300,000 pictures using a camera on a pole and walked an estimated 1,600 miles. Hoang walks for up to 10 hours a day and uploads his images to Google Maps. He hopes his hobby will help people find their way around. £1 million for a heap of old rope Artist David Shrigley has created an artwork called Exhibition of Old Rope – made from 10 tonnes of…

Teacher’s name: Mrs Hackett School: St Mary’s C.E. Primary School, Kirkby Lonsdale, England “Mrs Hackett is my class teacher and also the school’s music teacher. She makes learning fun by bringing it to life. She teaches songs to help us remember things like times tables and prime numbers. Recently, she used a music video to inspire us to do different types of writing like diary entries, speech, descriptive paragraphs and more. She understands everything that we may need help with. She is very supportive and is AMAZING!” Polly 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…

This issue we report on the end of COP30 talks in Brazil (page 4). The talks were hard but it is a good sign that lots of countries are still working together. There are many ways to try and solve the problems facing the natural world using science. These clever inventions help – although sometimes they cause problems too. On page 12 you can read about the clean-up of Camber Sands in England after “bio-beads” were accidentally spilled. These plastic beads help clean dirty water in waste-water treatment. Our Big Debate is about cloud seeding – an artificial way to make rain by spraying chemicals into clouds. You can read the arguments for and against on page 10. Left to its own devices the natural world produces its own wonders,…

The annual climate-change conference COP30 ended on 22 November after two weeks of talks between world leaders. What is COP30? COP30 was the 30th annual United Nations climate meeting. The United Nations (UN) is an organisation of 193 countries that work together on the challenges that face humanity. COP stands for Conference of the Parties. The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, in 1995. At each COP, world leaders gather to talk about how to tackle climate change. This year’s conference was held in Belém, Brazil. World leaders were joined by climate and environmental charities and members of indigenous communities. Indigenous people are the descendants of those who lived somewhere before another culture arrived and took over. They are often among the first groups of people to be…

The two-child benefit cap limits the money people can claim through universal credit and tax credits to help look after their children. Universal credit and tax credits are money that people who are out of work or on low incomes can claim. For their first two children, they can claim extra money to support each child. They can’t claim the money if they have more children after the second. This cap (limit) has now been scrapped. Researchers say that removing the cap will lift 250,000 children out of poverty, by helping families who don’t have enough money for food, fuel, clothing and housing.…

Grace Horne, who lives in Sheffield, England, has been handcrafting scissors for the last 15 years. Most scissors are made in large batches but Horne creates her own one-off designs, which take weeks to put together. She usually makes around 30 pairs a year. They’re made from steel, and finer metals such as silver and gold are used for decoration. They typically sell for between £1,000 and £5,000. Horne thinks she could be the only person left in the UK who handcrafts scissors. She said, “It is an endangered craft and it is great that I get to keep it going.”…

Dingo The government of the state of Queensland, in Australia, is considering classing dingoes and domestic (pet) dogs as the same species. Dingoes are wild dogs, descended from an ancient breed of domestic dog thousands of years ago. • LIFESPAN: Up to 10 years. • HABITAT: Deserts, grasslands and the edge of forests. • SIZE: 60 centimetres tall, up to 25kg. • DIET: Mammals such as rabbits and wombats, and some fruit and plants. • FUN FACT: Dingoes sometimes perform a wiggly dance before they pounce on their prey.…

You might think of soil as just dirt, which squelches under your feet and splatters your clothes when it’s wet. Did you know that it is essential to life on Earth? World Soil Day is on 5 December, highlighting how healthy soil leads to a healthy ecosystem (community of living things) and more food. What is soil? Soil is made up of lots of different things. Much of it is tiny particles of rock, such as sand or clay. In between these are spaces called pores, containing air and water. Soil is formed by the breakdown of rocks into tiny grains by processes like wind, rain and plant roots growing into cracks and breaking it up. Over time, dead plants and animals rot away and add nutrients to the soil.…

Have you ever wondered how to boost your chances of winning a game of rock, paper, scissors? The two-player game has three basic rules: rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock. Scientists say the best way to win is to be random and unpredictable, and to not pay attention to what has happened in the previous round. To find the secret of success, a team at Western Sydney University, in Australia, studied people’s brain activity during nearly 15,000 games of rock, paper, scissors. There were 31 pairs of players, who each played 480 rounds of the game on a computer. Afterwards, the researchers compared the results of the games with the recorded brain activity for the players. The results showed that most people had a clear favourite…

On 21 November, the 2025–26 men’s Ashes series started. The Ashes is a famous cricket competition between England and Australia and is held once every two years. Each country takes it in turns to host the event. This series is being played in Australia and the first match was in Perth. Australia defeated England by eight wickets. Travis Head batted brilliantly in the second innings, scoring 123 runs to take his country to an impressive victory in the first match. The men’s Ashes is made up of five matches, which are called Tests. The second Test starts on 4 December at The Gabba stadium, in Brisbane, with three more to play in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The final Test match is due to finish on 8 January and each one…

In the movie Zootropolis, viewers were introduced to a city (Zootropolis) filled with talking animals. There are creatures of all shapes and sizes but they’re all mammals, so you might think these are the only types of animals that live there. In Zootropolis 2, however, you’ll discover that’s not the case. The movie catches up with Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, the rabbit and fox who were the two main characters in the first film. Now working together as police officers, they must sniff out a mystery when a snake turns up in the city. Their detective work leads them on an exciting journey through Zootropolis, with a few surprises along the way. The reptile at the heart of the chaos is a pit viper called Gary De’Snake. In real…

The Bad Guys: Breaking In Available now on Netflix Before they became the Bad Guys, Wolf and his crew were a team of criminals trying to make their way onto the Worst of the Worst list on 6 News Nightly. However, it seems that they’re not actually particularly good at being bad. Gormiti: The New Era Available now on BBC iPlayer Based on a line of toys called Gormiti, this series follows four high-school children who are chosen to become protectors of the realm of Gorm. They must learn how to channel their powers to defeat the evil Lord Graven.…

Tell us about your favourite experiment in the book. My all-time favourite has to be the ghost rockets. I’ve performed it many times for kids but it never fails to make me jump when they eventually do take off. What’s the most interesting thing you learned from this book? How to burst a balloon with a piece of orange peel! It’s all to do with an oil contained in an orange’s skin. It is powerful enough to break the bonds in the balloon’s rubber, so if you dab some on your finger and touch a blown-up balloon, it will pop. What was your favourite subject in school? English, art and biology. Now I get to make books that can combine all three. What is the best part of writing children’s…

Flint Castle was built in the 13th century as part of King Edward I’s conquest of Wales, then partially destroyed in the 17th century during the English Civil War. Now, in the 21st century it is being explored by young people… in Minecraft. The castle has been recreated in blocky form by Cadw, which is the part of the Welsh government that looks after historic sites and buildings in the country. The virtual Flint Castle is part of Cadw’s “world in Minecraft” – an educational project launched in December 2024 to help young people learn about Welsh history and language. As well as exploring the walls and towers of the castle, there is a “Conflict Trail” where pupils can learn about the relationship between Wales and England over the centuries.…

Wordsearch Can you find all the types of insect? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and read forwards or backwards. BEDBUG BEETLE EARWIG FIREFLY FLEA GNAT GRUB HORNET LADYBIRD LOCUST LOUSE MANTIS MOSQUITO MOTH RED ANT SCARAB SKIPPER TERMITE WASP WEEVIL Sudoku Place the numbers from 1 to 6 exactly once in each row, column and 2x3 bold-lined box, to complete the grid. Split words Piece together the groups of letters to find four words linked to parties. Number fit All of these numbers fit in the grid. Can you work out where they go? We’ve placed one to start you off. 3 numbers 174 437 462 576 954 4 numbers 1365 6764 7981 8181 5 numbers 14476 28165 30156 60418 6 numbers 810717 811665 940752 7 numbers 3462351…

Take part in a reading challenge The Reading Agency is encouraging people to read with its Winter Mini Challenge. Set yourself a reading challenge on the charity’s website (at least three books) and log every book you read between 1 December and 20 February. Audiobooks count too – and you can pick any books you like. If you reach your goal, you’ll receive an online badge and a certificate of achievement, and will also be entered into a prize draw to win a bundle of books. To find out more, ask an adult to visit tinyurl.com/TWJ-winter 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 sowed bottle gourd seed in February. The creeper grew big and the leaves were massive. Some large bottle gourds were shared with friends and relatives. The entire process was satisfying.”Rumaisa “This is me and my dog Quentin, who likes to snuggle up to me when I read The Week Junior. But he can also get in the way of it.” Emmy “I made the terrarium from issue 517 to make a decoration on my shelf. My mum and dad loved it. I used a recycled Nutella jar!”Max “Hearing about (former rugby player) Lewis Moody’s motor neurone disease diagnosis, I decided to do a charity bike ride. A mile a day for seven days.” Ethan We’re proud to be plastic-free The Week Junior is delivered without a wrapper. This decision…

TOM BONES Famous Welsh singer Sir Tom Jones said he is happy that a 3D model of a woolly mammoth skeleton will be called Tom Bones in his honour. The model is on show at the National Museum Cardiff, where 18,000 visitors cast votes to choose the name. HAPPY CATS This year, Woman’s Weekly magazine asked readers to knit or crochet woolly mice to give to cat rescue centres around the UK. Between May and September, 46,506 mice were sent in – a new world record for a donation of handmade pet toys. The magazine has been busy sending them out across the country. COMIC LOVERS An original copy of the very first Superman comic from 1939 has sold at auction for around £6.9 million. The copy of Superman No…

An estimated 55 million people around the world are affected by droughts every year. Droughts affect people’s lives and pose a serious risk to farm animals and crops. Could cloud seeding, where rain is created artificially, be the solution? During the process, chemicals such as silver iodide and sodium chloride (salt) are sprayed into clouds, usually by planes or drones, or sometimes fired from the ground. The water vapour in the clouds turns to liquid and freezes onto these particles, forming ice crystals. These grow larger and eventually become heavy enough to fall as snow or rain. Experts say cloud seeding can increase rainfall by anywhere from 5% to 15% but some people think it has negative effects. What do you think? Is cloud seeding a good idea? Yes –…

These common insects are found across the UK in woodland, grass areas, parks and gardens. Also called common or stone centipedes, they like to shelter in the warmth of fallen leaves at this time of year. They also hide in compost heaps, tree bark and under rocks. Contrary to popular belief, centipedes don’t really have 100 legs. Brown centipedes have 30 along their three centimetre-long bodies, which are an orangy brown. The creatures have one pair of legs for each body segment, with longer back legs. They also have large antennae and venomous claws on each side of their heads, which help them to catch prey like flies, slugs, spiders and worms in their jaws. Brown centipedes are harmless to humans and tend to stay hidden in the day, coming…

France’s birds A study has revealed an increase in insect-eating birds in France, which could be the result of a ban on neonicotinoids (a type of chemical put onto plants to control insect numbers). In 2018, France became the first country in the European Union (a group of countries that work and trade together) to totally ban the outdoor use of these chemicals. The new study shows a 2% to 3% rise in some bird species since then but some scientists say more research needs to be done.…

Researchers have discovered the fossils of an ancient “warrior” crocodile that roamed what is now Brazil, 240 million years ago. Fossils are imprints of ancient animals or plants preserved in rocks. At first glance, this one looks like a dinosaur. It has bony plates on its back, a long neck and a jaw full of sharp teeth – but this creature is older than dinosaurs and fills a gap in scientists’ knowledge of the time before dinosaurs took over the Earth. Its discovery sheds light on an important moment in the history of life, said Rodrigo Temp Müller, a palaeontologist (fossil scientist) at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria in Brazil, who led the dig. Müller and the team found fossils of the creature’s lower jaw, backbone and pelvis near…

Italy Davis Cup team Italy won the Davis Cup tennis tournament for the third year in a row, beating Spain in the final. India blind women’s cricket team India won the first T20 Blind Women’s World Cup. They beat Nepal in the final by seven wickets. Eberechi Eze Eze scored a hat trick (three goals) as Arsenal beat London rivals Tottenham 4-1 in the Premier League. Matt Weston, Tabby Stoecker and Marcus Wyatt The British competitors won golds at the Skeleton World Cup in Italy. Athletes lie on a sled and slide down an ice track. It was Weston’s 10th World Cup gold medal.…

Scooby-Doo In the film, which came out in 2002, the Mystery Inc. gang go their separate ways after an argument. A couple of years later, they are each invited to Spooky Island to investigate strange goings-on there. Available on Amazon Prime. A Series of Unfortunate Events Based on the series of books by Lemony Snicket, in the show the Baudelaire orphans take on the treacherous Count Olaf as they try to uncover secrets about their family. Watch on Netflix. Gravity Falls Twins Dipper and Mabel Pines travel to spend the summer with their Great Uncle Stan (Grunkle Stan) in the town of Gravity Falls. Dipper finds a journal filled with information about the town – and the strangeness begins. Available on Disney+…

Choose Your Own Evolution by Jules Howard. Illustrated by Gordy Wright (Nosy Crow) This book combines non-fiction with a “choose-your-ownadventure” interactive story. On each page spread, you’ll encounter a new creature: can you make the decisions that will help it survive, evolve and avoid extinction? There Was a Roman in Your Garden by Bettany Hughes (Puffin Books) Historian Bettany Hughes invites you to imagine you’ve stumbled across an ancient treasure chest in your garden, buried a long time ago by a child living in ancient Roman times. As you open it, you’ll encounter a series of curious objects, including a fun game, treasure and even evidence of the world’s first pizza. The Big Book of Useless Science Knowledge by various authors (Neon Squid) Do you know about a poisonous tree…

Something Sarah Ann Juckes loves about nature is the fact that you never know what you’ll find while you’re out there. It’s also a place to relax and take a breath. “Nature doesn’t expect anything from us,” she tells The Week Junior, “so we can go there and just take a moment to be ourselves. ”Each of Juckes’s books is themed around nature, including her most recent one, Robin. Set during winter, it’s about Eddie, who feels like no one remembers that he’s there because his sister is ill. Out in the forest, there’s a monster that grows with all of Eddie’s sad and angry thoughts that he says out loud. When a little red bird takes him to meet a girl called Mari, the two become friends and she…

What you need • 60g butter• 250ml semiskimmed milk• 900g cane or granulated sugar• A 397g tin of condensed milk• Saucepan (ideally non-stick)• 20cm square cake tin• Baking parchment• Whisk• Sugar thermometer or spoon and bowl of ice-cold water St Andrew’s Day is on 30 November, when peoplecelebrate Scotland’s patron saint. Patron saints are people chosen as special protectors for a place, person, group or country. Nobody really knows why Andrew is Scotland’s patron saint but St Andrew’s Day is an official holiday in the country. Some schools close and lots of people have parties and eat traditional Scottish food. Tablet is a Scottish sweet, often eaten during celebrations. It’s sometimes compared to fudge, but it’s crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth rather than smooth and chewy. Simple and quick to make, tablet…

Name: Oscar “I am in the school eco-team and I love junk modelling. I wanted to make a village with the plastic bottles and packaging that we put in the recycling bin. I have made lots of different houses for the village. I cleaned and dried the bottles and removed the stickers, then painted them or covered them in clay or paper. I tried to make each one different. Some of my favourites are the floor cleaner bottle house, the lighthouse with a soysauce bottle for the beacon, the doghouse made from a Nutella container, the igloo house from a salad container and I also like the bottle top windows. I used some left-over clay to make vines with flowers, window boxes and a garden. It’s easy to make…

1 Where did this year’s COP30 conference take place? ☐ a) India ☐ b) Brazil ☐ c) China 2 True or false? Traditionally, the Chancellor carries the Budget to Parliament in a green box. ☐ True ☐ False 3 A new museum has opened in Croatia that is all about the history of what? 4 When did the first experiments with cloud seeding take place? ☐ a) 1946 ☐ b) 1966 ☐ c) 1986 5 True or false? Arden Cho is the voice of Rumi in KPop Demon Hunters. ☐ True ☐ False 6 In which ocean would you find French Polynesia? 7 What type of animal is a pangolin? ☐ a) Reptile ☐ b) Mammal ☐ c) Fish 8 True or false? There are 28 different species of crocodilians.…