Remember Remember 5th November kids poem11.02.12

No 5th November input for all children from Foundation through KS1 and KS2 is complete without reading this poem.  Remember Remember poem for your Smartboards with a few images to hold the children’s interest.  Enjoy!

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Aphrodites Boutique Hotel Lake District Review07.01.10

view of garden at Aphrodites Boutique Hotel

If you are considering staying at Aphrodites Boutique Hotel in the Lake District, I’d suggest you get yourself to the best shrink you can afford. Fast.

The photo to the right shows the garden. Pretty special, right? The hotel say they are in the middle of improvements so the stack of broken pallets and bits of polythene are an artistic statement you’ll surely appreciate.

Broken window in luxury suite

If you like to eat from dirty tableware, you’ll love the organic restaurant. The tables are packed so tightly together, you may have to breathe in and walk like a crab to get seated, but once you’re jammed in prepare yourself for a culinary vision – tablewear encrusted with the previous occupents’ spills. Mmmmm!

But the excitement doesn’t end there. If you pay an extra £10 per couple on top of the extortionate £160 you’ve already forked out, you are allowed … wait for it…sausages and bacon!

Fancy slipping into your slippers and towelling robe then taking a dip in the spectacular pool advertised on their web site? You might need to rethink your foot wear. It’s a 15 minute hike away – to someone else’s far superior lakeside hotel. What fun!

On your return it’s time to slip into that hot tub. Bliss! The people above have a direct view of you and insist on waving at you every 5 minutes. Bet you wish you’d packed your trunks now.

Dancing-Fountain Lake Windermere

When you eventually mange to scurry back inside behind a strategically placed holly bush leaf, remember to draw the curtains. It might be hot and stuffy in your room because the broken windows don’t open, but it’s better than having more guests peer in at you from the garden. They’re a friendly lot, I’ll say that for them.

Now it’s evening. You’ve been waiting for darkness to fall so you can watch the ‘dancing fountain’ hand in hand with your loved one. Imagine your excitement when you see the brown water and limp water jets. Honestly, it doesn’t get any more romantic than this.

attractively stained bedlinen

You’ve had such a wonderful day, what with the manager being rude at every opportunity, but it really is time to slip into that 4 poster bed you went without groceries for a month to pay for. How luxurious! How soft! How stained! And the effect of the gold spray paint against the ornate carvings? It’s a bit thin in places but very professional if a 4-year-old did it. The perfect end to a perfect day.

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Gemini Stars01.13.10

dangler-can-delete-webNote missing jewel bottom right arm

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Kate and Gerry McCann: case rightly in meltdown09.18.09

Surely Kate and Gerry McCann did not kill their daughter, Madeleine. I just don’t believe that anyone could be so selfish as to sedate their child just so he or she could enjoy an evening out. Likewise it can’t be possible that they could go to the tapas bar and pretend everything was fine if they had accidentally overdosed her and she was already dead. No parent could be so cold-blooded.

I think all Kate and Gerry are guilty of is neglect. Yes, they shouldn’t have left the children alone, but how many of us have worked in a garden while a little one snoozes with the front door unlocked, or left a sleeping child in an unlocked car?

Have you?

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Understanding your child’s school report07.07.09

Yvonne contacted Familynatters when trying to understand her child’s report.

Dear Lorna

Can you help me understand what a level 2a is in literacy and 2b in numeracy?  My son is coming to the end of year 3 and I’ve just received her school report.

Well, Yvonne, a 2A is the expected achievement level for a child about to finish year 3.   Your son has therefore achieved the expected level in literacy but not quite in numeracy.

level expected year achieve

W  (working towards)

1C

1B

1A end Y1

2C

2B end Y2

2A end Y3

3C

3B end Y4

3A end Y5

4C

4B end Y6

4A

5C

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What do levels mean in school reports?07.07.09

Sometimes parents are given attainment levels on their children’s school reports.  But what do they mean?

Basically levels are a description of what your child has achieved. Teachers expect children to achieve a level 2 by the end of year 2 (age 6 – 7), and a level 4 by the end of year 6 (age 10 – 11). Each level is split up into 3 sub levels. C is the lowest sub level, B is the middle and A is the highest.

Currently formal assessments are carried out at the end of Y2 and Y6 in the form of SATs for numeracy, reading, writing and science. W stands for working towards.

level expected year achieve

W

1C

1B

1A                                          end Y1

2C

2B                                          end Y2

2A                                          end Y3

3C

3B                                          end Y4

3A                                          end Y5

4C

4B                                          end Y6

4A

5C

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What is a trillion?03.23.09

1 Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000 (a thousand billion) 13 digits

1 Million = 1,000,000 (a thousand thousand) 7 digits
1 Billion = 1,000,000,000 (a thousand million) 10 digits (although some people say 100 million)
Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000 (a thousand billion) 13 digits
Quintillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (a million trillion) 19 digits
Sextillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (a thousand quintillion) 22 digits
Nonillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Ahhhhhh!

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What is a billion?03.23.09

1 Billion = 1,000,000,000 (a thousand million) 10 digits (although some people say 100 million)

1 Million = 1,000,000 (a thousand thousand) 7 digits
1 Billion = 1,000,000,000 (a thousand million) 10 digits
Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000 (a thousand billion) 13 digits
Quintillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (a million trillion) 19 digits
Sextillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (a thousand quintillion) 22 digits
Nonillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Ahhhhhh!
Centillion: 1 followed by 303 zeros

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James smoothes things over01.31.09

Last night I told James I didn’t feel like going to the Pampered Chef party a neighbour had invited me to. “I’m tired and I’ve got toothache,” I wined. “But I’ll have to go because that sounds so lame.”
“I’ll help you,” James volunteered, taking one eye off Sky Sports News. “I’ll go round and smooth things over.”

Ofcourse I should have known better. I really should have phoned up and been honest. But weak as I am, I sat back and waited for James to come back… and waited… and waited.

Five hours later I woke up to hear someone falling over the wheelie bin, which wasn’t anywhere near our front door. Then James banged on the door before he tried the handle and fell through it.

“I’ve really helped you out this time,” he slurred, the buttons on his fly undone. “Three hours I spent at that tupperware party sitting next to a load of lezzers. The food was rubbish and they ran out of tinnies, but don’t worry, I’ve brought you back a souvenir. Fuck knows what it is, but I doubt they’ll miss it.”

Yes, he really smoothed things over for me.

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How is corneal warpage treated?01.18.09

The best way to treat corneal warpage is to stop wearing contact lenses and allow the conreas to heal themselves. Depending on what kind of lenses you have been wearing, your age and how badly they were warped, it may take anything from a week to many months for them to stablise. Some doctors and opthamologists recommend you attend their clinic for regular topography checks during this time. They’re looking for the cornears to regain a normal shape and as this happens your prescription may change, sometimes worsening.

Some people worry about how they are going to manage in this time, but often they find that the blur they used to complain of when wearing spectacles improves rapidly once contact lenses aren’t used at all. The important thing is not to cheat by thinking you can wear contacts for just a few hours and it not effect the healing process.

An increase in astigmatism at this time sometimes occurs, but this is not really a deterioration because it was only hidden by the warpage.

When vision has stablized your opthamolgist may prescribe new contact lenses, refractive surgery, implants or continued use of glasses.

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