expressChislehurst e

Remembering Remembrance Day

Issue #1

Suggested donation of 30p to Help the heroes

Eco WarriorsBattling to save our community

CONT

ENTS

Nuclear Power

Rememberance Day

The Problem with Litter

The Vietnam War

Eco Warriors

Our World

1234567 From God to Man

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing to read Chislehurst Express and welcome to our �rst edition. This is a captivating newspaper full of interesting and mind boggling information. Our �rst edition is all about the environment. We evaluate environmental concerns. How much electricity do we need? Will global warming become worse? We explore all of these things, so you �nally understand the environment from a scienti�c, historic, poetic,social, and global view

During this time of year when Christmas is on the horizon and all one can think of is the Christmas holidays and Christmas presents. I urge you to have a think about where the wrapping paper and boxes are going to go on December 26th. In addition it is duringthis time of the year that many people who do not have a close knit community experience loneliness. Here at Chislehurst Express we would like to encourage you to take time out this Christmas and think about how you can impact positively on your environment and local community.

We have articles full of fascinating information on subjects such as the impact that war has on our world globally and locally. The signi�cance of Remembrance Day both historically and to present day as well as a philosophical article that challenges how we see our relationship with our world.

We shall also introduce you to our Eco-Warriors (loving the names ladies) who have decided to combat pollution…

There is terrifying information on the False Widow spider that has recently joined our community.

All of this and much more can be found in our very �rst edition of Chislehurst express. I urge you to sit back put your feet up (not on the school desks) grab a mince pie and enjoy the Chislehurst Express.

Seasons Greetings

Gabby Kriger 8B (Chief Editor) and Tanya Morris 7W (Editor)

Nuclear power stations are one of the main ways that we get electricity. These nuclear power stations are effecting the environmentin a disastrous way. It is ruining our planet. The main fuels of a nuclear power station are uranium and plutonium.This is what the workers use to power our homes. In a nuclear power station, nuclear fuel follows a controlled chain reaction process in a reactor to produce heat. The heat is used to change water into steam in the boiler.On our planet there is some big debate on whether or notto keep these nuclear power stations or to switch to a more eco- friendly way of powering our world. Some people believe that we should not switch because unlike fossil fuels, nuclear fuel does not produce carbon dioxide or sulphur dioxide so therefore it will not contribute to global warming. People also say that one kilogram of nuclear fuel produces millions more energy than one kilogram of coal.Although there are many thought provoking points that disagree with this. For example environmentalists say that

if there is an explosion or spillage large amounts of radioactive material could be released into the environment causing irreversible damage to the environment.

Nuclear is extremely toxic especially to humans and that has always been a worry. There was once a disaster in 1986. What caused this was a nuclear power plant explosion. This explosion released large quantities or radioactive particles into the atmosphere that spread over western USSR and Europe.

All of the nuclear stations in England except one are scheduled to close by 2032! The Soviet Union and Japan have seen terrible nuclear accidentsand I certainly would not like to see such environmental disasters occur in our country.

These nuclear power stations are in great debate. Some say keep it and some say don’t. What do you think do you want to keep nuclear power stations and always have the worry that a disaster could always occur or do you want to switch to a more environmentally safe way and explosion free. Kiera L, Sophie M, Millie C

NUCLEARPOWER

Our home environment is the surroundings in which we live in now, and our community is what surrounds us. World War 1 and World War 2 have been two significant events in history that have affected out environment. One only has to walk down to Chislehurst War Memorial located less than a mile away and witness the impact that WW1 and WW2 had on our community.

War plays a big role in our lives, on the news we always see information about the army and horrifying images of death and struggle. We sail through our daily lives without a thought for the army, but on 11th November, we all take a few minutes remember everyone that has died for us and all those who still fight for us. WW1 began on the 28th July 1914 and brought devastation to many. By the end of World War 1, over 9 million soldiers were killed, meaning over 9 million families were grieving and 21 million soldiers wounded. This war lasted until 11th November 1918, which is why we remember the soldiers on this day.

RememberingRemembrance Day

WW2 was just as awful, starting on 3rd September 1939. It started because of Germany’s unprovoked attack on Poland which resulted in war after Adolf Hitler refused to abort his invasion. Children and some women were evacuated to the country to live with strangers so that they would be safe from bombs that were dropped over the city. Because bombs were dropped over our ports, meaning wehad little food supply, there was rationing, meaning everyone could only have a certain amount of food and they all had ration books.There was also a thing called a blackout, meaning everyone had to turn all their lights o� and live in complete darkness so that if a German plane was �ying overhead, they wouldn’t be able to tell that it was a city because it would be in darkness. There were gas masks to protect them from gases and shelters to protect them from bombs. The war was tough for the citizens,but even worse for soldiers. Many lives were lost and thankfully, it ended in 1945. Unfortunately, war still goes on today and manylives are still lost.

This is why, on November 11th every year, we all have a 2 minute silence to show our respect and gratitude to all the soldiers and the citizens that were part of the war and still are part of the war. We remember the hardship they had to go through. To show our respects, we wear a poppy because after all the devastation, pain and su�ering of WW1, the poppy was the �rst thing to growin the �eld.

In Flanders �elds the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, �yScarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders �elds.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders �elds.

This is a poem by John McRae, who died before the end of WW1. This was the only poem to become famous during WW1 and it was in the papers. This is truly inspiring to me because these 9 million people died for humanity and for their county; I hope that next year we can all wear a poppy in remembrance to the brave soldiers that died for usand the soldiers that are still �ghting for our country. I hope we take the time to look at our environment and ask ourselves what contributions we made to ensure that our communities continueto inspire and grow.By Elise Williams – Moore 8A

The Problem of Litter In addition, a majority of monitors, lights, computers and other electronic resources are being left unattended during and after school hours. This means that our school will lose valuable money which could be used for supplies and other general needs. It is important we alert people and members of sta� to switch o� electronics to save energy. We also realized that our school has recently purchased new computers. Our hope is that they get switched o� when unused! Water wastage:A large amount of water is wasted in schools. Some of the reasons for this is the fact that water fountains and taps are constantly left on. There are some problems that occur at our school which include water such as blocked drains. Recently there was a blocked drain at school that caused a lot of damage as it left lots of dirty water puddles and �ooded a small area near the Gym. Water is taken for granted and wasted unnecessarily; particularly when globally we are running out of fresh clean water. FOODAnother issue is to do with our school canteen. We are a huge school of a population of over 1,300 we consume a lot of food. We are worried about it being left over. We asked our dinner lady: ''Are you aware of how much food is wasted in the canteen?'' She replied ''Yes; but there is not a lot of waste here.'' We discovered that our canteen is quite good at preventing wastage and providing healthy and nutritious options. This helps the environment as energy doesn't have to be burned frequently to get rid of the waste. Keep it up Beaverwood!It is important that we work collectively to look after our learning environment particularly when we spend at least 25% of the day at school. We encourage you to think about what you can do to make a positive contribution to reducing our schools carbon foot prints

There is an enormous amount of litter around school and it is slowly polluting our learning environment. We have an Eco-Warriors Club to try and prevent some of this from happening however collectivelyas a student body we are the ones who can make the most di�erence!Some pupils and sta� at our school have calculated that you are only ever 10 steps away from a bin at school, yet there is a constant need for someone to take their time to go around our school picking up all of the litter left behind after break and lunch.

The person whose job it is to do this is our school Caretaker who we interviewed. We asked him some questions about the school and his job and these are the answers he provided:We asked him:“How often do you have to deal with things that need �xing?”“It depends, sometimes it is frequently”

We then asked: “what is the main job you have to do?”He replied by saying, “litter picking is de�nitely the job I do most”.

“litter picking is definitely the job I do most”. - Caretaker at Beaverwood

Around Our School:By Gemma Moulton

There are many countries in this world whose environmental issues are ignored by the population, one of the many countries being Vietnam. The Vietnam War started in 1945 and ended in 1975, but the county’s suffering did not end there. The Vietnam War affected the nation in many ways, but the ecological damage is often forgotten. Between the years 1965 and 1968, North Vietnam was bombedto force them to negotiate; the bombs destroyed over 2 million acres of land. The war of the US troops against the Viet Cong then began. Two of the many chemicals that were widely used in Vietnam were Agent Orange and Napalm.Agent Orange was a dangerous mix of two defoliants dispersed by the Air Force. The project used cargo planes to spray the chemical 150 feet above treetops, it killed off plants that had served as cover for the enemy and also their crops. The chemical was damaging to people that came into contact with it.

In 1971 the use of it was stopped but the damage was tremendous afteralmost a decade of use.Napalm was another chemical used to destroy the forests. Napalm is a sticky substance; it was sprayed onto the forests and then ignited. The way it burns is similar to gas and it quickly destroyed the plants, Napalm was used for destruction of a lot of land.

The US also used machines to demolish the landscape further. The most destructive being the Rome Plow. The machines were estimated to have cleared approximately 1,000 acres of land a day. Not only did they kill largenumbers of animals and plants but they also caused erosion which is still a big problem today.Today, Vietnam is one of the world’s poorest countries and it continues to suffer problems because of 6 million unexploded bombs.

Several organisations are trying to remove the bombs. Landmines, however, are not removed because the government in Vietnam refuse to accept responsibility.This type of destruction is what destroys our planet. Is this what we want to happen to our country or should we stop this. All this war and suffering leads to death and heartbreak. This is what humanity should be using the environment for. This is not a battle ground. This is the planet in which we live in and if we destroy this one there is nowhere else to go. Protect the world we have while we still have it.

International Environmental IssuesVietnam War

By Francis Lastrilla

In this article we are going to look closely at our dedicated eco warriors. We had the pleasure to have an in- depth interview with them to look in detail to see what the eco- warriors are doing to help our community and we can also see how this is improving the school.

In our school we have a small handful of people that are giving up their lunch times and coming to important meetings to try and help our community became more environmentally aware by putting up signs, setting up groups of volunteers to encourage recycling around the school. These are truly inspiring girls that are dedicating their time doing all they can to improve the environment.

These students have made a huge improvement to our community and are considered by many as 'heroic young ladies' of the school by doing so. As a community, what we want to achieve is a better schooling environment and a greener community. We interviewed some of our own Eco-warriors who were keen on getting their message across to students.

We asked them, what is your aim as Eco-warriors? “Our aim is to protect the environment. We want people to know that we must make our school more environmentally aware.

We then asked them how are you going to convince more people to help you in this? The students responded by noting various forms of campaigning and canvassing. The Eco Warriors will be running assembly for years 7&8 with the aim of introducing this to the wider school. The girls will create power point presentations to share with tutor groups as well as develop a range of posters to promote recycling. The Eco-Warriors want their work to get students to realise how their behaviour impacts in the environment of our school.

The �inal question we asked our eco- warriors were “could you tell us one of your ideas?” They replied by saying “To have a special gum bin in classrooms to prevent students putting gum under desks.”

The Eco Warriors have many ideas lined up to impact positively to our school environment. Though we have many issues still consider such as lights being left on, changes are slowly improving our school carbon print. Soon enough, everyone will be making a difference.

These are our eco- warriors. They are a bright bunch bursting with creative ideas that I think is perfect for our school. I encourage you all to stand up and support the Eco Warriors you can do this simply by recycling your rubbish!

Rachel Anderson

ECOWARRIORS

By

Our worldTo you this may be seen as a silly little rhyme But i tell you its important and I've contributed my time To say that this poetic soul Wants to tell the world that we all have a role To look after the world and all that dwelleth inside There are some simple rules which we must abide, Litter need not be left on the ground I assure you there are abundant quantities of bins around! Nasty fumes and smoke from cars are always polluting the air And quite frankly this needs to stop, to be honest it’s just not fair! We're destroying this beautiful place Very soon it could be the human race Before it’s too late you must make your choice If you're on our side the world needs to hear your voice.

By Jessica Anderson

From God to Man

Well done, I must congratulate you human race.You have made it this far, You still have your place. Your existence is a challenge; Your life is a game.You will finish in different places, Though you all started the same. See, there’s something you might not know, I happened to set a test.To separate the winners and losersAnd find the worst and the best.So I made a suitable arenaAnd rewarded you free will.You had all the right resourcesAnd yet you still decided to kill. There were clear rules and commandments, Things you could and could not do.I made sure you were readyAnd then I left it all to you.I made enough food for everyone, To teach kindness and sharing.Yet, a crying corpse is beggingAnd no one seems to be caring.Poverty appeared,You created starvation.You all could have helpedBut yet I saw no salvation.I even wrote a rule book,I said you shouldn’t take a life.Yet I watched the slaughtering of innocenceUsing a gun, a bomb, a knife. Money was printed, Forests and creatures cut down. Charities were created,But everything green was turned brown. Some did realise, Some even tried to shout outBut it was never enough to change things,At least now you will know what it is all about. I didn’t want to control you,You needed to learn from your mistakes.So, I could not intervene,No matter what the stakes.But all is not lost,The game is still going.I will give you one last chance,To change the evil you have been showing. Recognise the bad,Punish the wrong.That’s the only way to get,To the place you truly belong.

Contemplate every action,Know every sin.End your own evil,That’s the only way to win.

By Gabby England

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Beaverwood School for GirlsBeaverwood Road

ChislehurstKent BR7 6HE020 8300 3156

www.beaverwood.bromley.sch.uk