The World’s Biggest Assembly on the BBC

On Tuesday 8 May BBC World Class will be hosting the World’s Biggest Assembly on the BBC. They want your school to be involved!

For 24 hours schools across the world will take part in this truly global event, giving young people a voice in the build up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The World’s Biggest Assembly will take place on the BBC website and BBC World Service will broadcast live programmes from schools around the world during the day.

But you don’t have to be on air to take part. BBC World Class will provide teachers’ notes for the assembly. The theme of the day is what matters to young people, and an opportunity for schools everywhere to share their view of the world.

BBC World Class wants young people to discuss and debate their news – it could be anything from a global issue like climate change to something as simple as a teacher who is retiring.

You can involve as many pupils as you like – it could be a class, a year group or the whole school taking part at the same time.

You will be able to interact with the BBC and the world via email and social media, so check in throughout the day to hear what other schools are talking about and get your school’s voice heard.

Pass your assembly on to another school to form a relay. You could join forces with other schools in your area, or send a message to a partner school in a different area via text or skype.

Any school, from anywhere in the world – no matter how big or small – can take part.

Email worldclass@bbc.co.uk with World’s Biggest Assembly in the subject header to tell them what you are planning so they can share your plans with other schools ahead of the big day.

* If you are interested in being featured online, then BBC World Class is looking for a number of different schools to take part. Please email worldclass@bbc.co.uk explaining why you would like your school to feature

from the BBC World Class website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldclass/

A Load of Nonsense!

We at SoundAffects loved this programme recorded with children’s writers Michael Rosen and Philip Ardagh with help from an audience of children in Bristol. Listen up for your favourite nonsense poems, prose, limericks and tongue twisters, with a few nonsense sounds thrown in to bring out the flavour..http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dhrn1#synopsis

Let me tell you about Burma

Aye Mon is eleven years old and lives in Sheffield. Her family is from Burma. 

I was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, on the border with Burma. There were lots of Burmese refugees there. We had a house made of bamboo.

Burma is a really fun place but it can also be dangerous because sometimes police and soldiers come barging in. Like burglars, they come to your house and ask for gold or stuff. If you haven’t got it, they kill you.

My family had to leave Burma because my dad was a soldier and it wasn’t safe to stay. I’ve still got family in Burma – my aunty and my dad’s parents. My grandpa has died. I really want to see my grandma as I’ve never met her. I feel a bit sad as we’re all separated. Like one part’s in Burma and I’m in Sheffield, in England. And my other family is in United States.

Me and my family were given sanctuary to come to Sheffield, in the UK. I can’t remember leaving Thailand. I think I was four or five. In Sheffield I live with my mum, my dad, my brother and sister. And my fish – they are my pets.

Our language is Burmese. I speak English but I also speak Burmese. I speak better English than my parents. When I first went to school it was a bit hard for me because I couldn’t speak English that well then. People just asked me questions and I couldn’t answer them. When I tried to, they couldn’t understand me. I learned by copying what they were saying.

Sometimes my parents wear traditional dresses from Burma. They’re really nice and really really bright.

When I grow up I would like to stay in England, but for a holiday I would like to go back to Thailand and Burma. Sometimes people think I’m a bit different. I don’t feel different, I feel a bit British but I really feel Burmese.

Young People mark World Aids Day

 

World Aids Day

Today is World Aids Day and 14 young people are getting the chance to visit the House of Commons, meet members of parliament and tell them what they think should happen next in the fight against HIV and Aids.

These students are part of a global awareness raising campaign by HIV360° which seeks to change attitudes and get young people’s voices to policy makers regarding the issue of HIV and Aids. December 1st is the culmination of this campaign.

HIV360° is an interactive youth education project that raises awareness on HIV and Aids, improves understanding by connecting young people around the world and gets them to work together and take action.

Delivered on Rafi.ki - an online learning community – the World Aids Day campaign was launched to encourage young people and their teachers all over the world to create a “call to action” – submitting their ideas about what they think should happen next in the fight against the pandemic.

Young people from countries all over the word including Estonia, the USA, Indonesia and South Africa have taken part in the campaign and told policy makers what they think needs to be done to fight HIV and Aids.

To help teachers involve their students, HIV360° have created a World Aids Day Activity Pack full of ideas to run a campaign.

To find out more about HIV360° visit: www.v3.rafi.ki/HIV360 and to see some of the Calls to Action presented by young people as part of the HIV360° campaign click here. HIV360º is funded by the European Union and run by Gemin-i in partnership with The African Pulse.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/2011/dec/01/world-aids-day-teaching-resources

Welcome to SoundAffects

This is the exciting new blogsite for SoundAffects. We are a small charity with a big goal: to link children across the world through the powerful medium of audio.

We are creating an easily accessible and regularly updated sound archive to include children in every continent, talking about the important aspects of their lives.

Negede Woitto girl, northern Ethiopia

Watch this space for more developments! In the meantime, if you fancy sharing your story with us, we’d love to hear from you!