Mobile Phones, Changing Rooms and Other Frustrations

Over a year ago now, my school decided to ban mobile phones. For the past 18 months, they have made us hand our phones in everyday. This was because a few students had misused them during school time. What I struggle to understand is this: why should we all suffer because of the actions of a small group? Couldn't just those pupils have their phones banned from school, and the rest of us be allowed to continue as normal?

Recently, my school have decided to do this in another area: changing room access. There were a few incidences in the changing rooms involving a small group of pupils. Instead of punishing those people alone, they decided to lock all changing rooms for the whole school day except for PE and before and after school. This limits all pupils access to lockers. Again, the whole school have been punished when only a few people miss behaved.

These are not the only examples. We do not have such a wide choice of break time snacks because some students were eating too many. Couldn't they keep the selection the same and just tell us we could only have one item each? We cannot listen to music on the coach going to school trips because some students would take photos and go on Facebook. When will the school realise that it is just not fair to punish the innocent because of the actions of others?

Does your school do this? Tell me your thoughts on the situation.

A Day At Science Live

GCSE Science Live is a day of lectures designed to inspire future scientists at GCSE level in London. Yesterday, a group from my school went to see it at the Apollo Theatre. 5 scientists and 1 senior examiner gave talks under the massive flying dragon above the stage, ready for the Wicked production that evening.

My favourite was Robert Winston, a biologist famous for his work on IVF treatment. He was very funny and entertaining. He told the boys that they had rubbish sperm! He also said that the fact our chances of getting pregnant were only 1in 5 per occasion was not an excuse to do it tonight! The other reason I liked him was because of his emphasis on gender equality in science.

Not all of the speakers were that engaging though. Another scientist, a palaeontologist called Richard Fortey, was a bit too passionate about trilobites, and insisted on telling us about every type in great detail, until a couple of people fell asleep. He was just like Ross Geller from friends. We were also told about the possibility of time travel (perfect for a Doctor Who fan like me), future space explorations and an alternative way to look at Chemistry.

I really enjoyed the trip and thought it was definitely worth the journey up to London, even if we did spend a little too long looking at fossils for my liking.

The Brit Awards 2016

Last night, I watched the Brit awards and loved it! Little Mix and James Bay both did amazing performances. Beiber was good too. I was not very impressed with Coldplay, their new song is not very exciting. Ant and Dec were great as always, I am really sad this is their last year doing the show.

Adele had a brilliant night, she won 4 awards, including one given from space! Her performance was good too. I did not like her second outfit much though, the one she wore in the first part of the show was way better. I agreed with almost all the awards last night, although I think Ed Sheeran should have got best music video for Photograph.

I really liked the David Bowie tribute as well. He has done so much for our music industry, I think he fully deserved that award. I thought Lorde's contribution was impressive too. She looks so different with straight hair though, I didn't recognise her.

Overall, it was a great night, although I am slightly disappointed that there was no celebrity-dragged-off-stage-drama this year. Did you watch the Brits?

Mothers Day Gift Ideas

It is not long now until mother's day, leaving teens with the task of finding suitable, original gift ideas that don't cost too much. No longer are we at an age when we can just rely on our dads to sort it out for us. So, to give you a few ideas, I have included my selection of gifts from around the web. They range from beauty parcels to personal keepsakes. All are under £20.

This case is full of sweet, fruity treats.
Superdrug, Was £30, now £15

This cute trinket can be attached to a bag or keyring.
Sainsbury's, £4

These 5 fab shades of nail polish make a perfect gift.
John Lewis, £12

This wooden star says it all.
Not On The High Street, £8

This bracelet is perfect if you want something a bit different
from your standard mothers day gift. I like the heart charm.
Not On The High Street, £12

The Worst Kind Of Homework

2000 words sounds a lot, doesn't it? Well, you have no idea quite how much it is until you try and write an essay of that length. Oh, and on the topic of a really long, slightly boring Victorian novel like Great Expectations.

I think you can probably work out what my English homework is this half term. Personally, I think it is a bit mean to make us do that much work when we are supposed to be having a rest, although I would rather that than they make us try and get it done one night after school on a normal week.

We will probably all have to write a 2000 word essay at some point, and all I will say is this: Don't leave it to the last minute, they take much longer than you think! Oh and write it on a computer, you can go back and edit and it will count up the words for you.

Is your English teacher as evil as mine? Tell me about your holiday homework complaints in the comments.

Board Games

At school last week, we have been making board games in the theme of Great Expectations. This got me thinking about the board games I like to play. My favourites are probably the ones themed around TV shows. I currently love Doctor Who board games and Big Bang Theory Trivial Pursuits. I guess what makes these so popular is that they add a new and more interesting twist to traditional games. There are also many different versions of Monopoly, but I have yet to try any other than the original.

I also like alternative games like Creationary. Creationary is a bit like Pictionary, but instead of drawing pictures, you build models out of Lego. I have had it for quite a while now and have played it many times. It is really hard though! Some of the items on the easy cards are still very difficult to make out of Lego. Examples include ice cream trucks, giraffes and BBQ's.

What's your favourite board game?

The Jump - Daring Or Just Too Dangerous?

A few weeks ago, I blogged about how my cat was injured. Luckily, he has now made a full recovery. His cone has come off, his wound has healed and he is back to his normal badly behaved self. Last week, he even caught a mouse and left it under the garden table for us to find! I'm so pleased he is better.

Meanwhile, I have have been watching The Jump. The dare devil show has always had a couple of casualties, but this year it has reached an all time high. 9 people have been injured so far this series, ranging from mild but painful pulled muscles to broken bones and a series back injury. The problem is, normally the people who take part in these extreme sports are skilled individuals who have trained for years. This program sends complete beginners who's only experience in winter sports is a little recreational skiing and ice skating, on perilous courses designed for professionals.

I think the problem is that each year, reality TV shows feel the need to get bigger and better. With shows like The Jump, that is just asking for trouble. I think they either need to tone the show down dramatically, or drop it completely before anything more serious happens. Do you watch the jump?

Blue!

Blue is such a versatile colour, subtle for summer and winter, day and night. It is not so bright it puts people off, yet still colourful and goes with many different colours. There are so many shades of it as well, although navy seems to be particularly popular at the moment. I currently have bright blue nails! There is a lot of it in the shops, so here is my selection of blue from around the web.



This dress is simple but beautiful. I love the colour.
New Look, £22.99

This fab maxi dress might suit older teens.
New Look, £29.99

This simple, flowing top is good for the oncoming spring.
New Look, £7.99

I love the pale shade of this crop top.
New Look, £7.99

The dark blue creates a cool contrast on these lace ups.
Peacocks, £10

This clutch bag could be worn with the Navy dress.
Dorothy Perkins, Was £22, now £16.50

Normally, I try and limit these lists to more affordable items,
but I loved these shoes so much I couldn't resist adding them.
I really like the two tone effect and the thin straps.
Next, £48

Of course, you can also get blue denim items, but I have not included them here. I might cover those another day. Which of the items above is your favourite? Which colour do you wear most often?

A Night Of Dancing and Microbead Free Massages

I am now on half term holiday! No school for 9 days. Yayyyyyyyyyyyy! To celebrate, I went out last night with 2 of my best friends. We danced a lot and I sung Hold Back The River solo with the band from the Motiv8 group. Overall, we had a great time, the perfect way to forget about school.

We also got free hand massages with simple, natural ingredients you can use at home. They used a homemade honey and sugar scrub that is a great alternative to microbeads! It is much cheaper and more effective than using harmful plastic beads as well. Just mix a small amount of honey and sugar together and massage onto skin, then rinse off with water. Use sugar with larger, chunky granules for your body and more refined sugar for your face. Once dry, follow up with a good quality moisturiser.

Are you on holiday? How did you start weekend?

Sport Relief Bake off

The celebrity bake off is back again, this year for sport relief. As you know, I am a big fan of the Great British Bake Off, but I love Sport Relief Bake Off even more. Why? Because when things go wrong in the main show, you feel sorry for them, but when it's the celebrities, it's just so funny!

Between last week's body boarding cake decorated with a very deformed man, to the previous episode's collapsing trophy cakes, there have been plenty of laughs so far. There have been some very good bakes as well. Samantha Cameron (wife of the prime minister) made some very professional canapes and there have been some spectacular cakes in the showstopper challenges.

Tonight, the show would normally be on again at 8pm on BBC1. However, it is not on because of a football match (boooo!), so we will have to wait until next week. Will you be watching?

Work Experience

All teens will end up doing some kind of work experience during their school or college years. I am yet to do mine, as I am still only in year 10 and at my school we do it in year 11. As I want to be an author or a designer, my dream placement would be in a publishers or design studio. I would also quite like to work with environmentalists. However, these positions are probably very hard to come by and I am not sure what other, more common positions appeal to me.                                                   
That is the problem with work experience. At our age and skill level, we are very limited in what we can do. If your chosen career is some thing that is suitable for work experience, that's great, but if it isn't, then your placement will probably have little relevance to what you want to do in the future. For those people, is there much benefit to work experience? Apart from having a better idea of what it is like to work (which people like me who often go in to work with our parents know a lot about anyway), there are few other benefits. There is no real point in spending a week in a Supermarket if you want to be a performer.

What about people who don't know what they want to do? How do they pick a placement? They will probably also end up in a basic position. I know that all positions develop your understanding of a work place environment, but I think most if not all of the skills learnt on irrelevant work experience could be learnt on your first Saturday job. I think if they want the scheme to be effective, they need to convince more companies to give work experience placements. This wider choice would mean more people got a relevant and useful placement.

Do you know what you want to do for work experience? What do you think of the system?

The Change in Cadbury's

Cadbury's have always been my favourite make of chocolate. I really like the Finger of Fudge, Flakes, Caramel bars and Marvellous Creations, but you cannot beat a simple Dairy Milk bar. However, since they have been taken over by an American company, their chocolate has changed.

First, they took the milk out of the cream eggs. How can it be Cadbury's Dairy Milk without milk? After many complaints, they changed it back, but with less milk than before. Now, though, I think their other chocolate has changed. It seems sweeter and less creamy, as if they have taken out some of the milk and replaced it with sugar. They no longer use the "glass and a half of milk" slogan any more. The are still nice, but do not taste as amazing as before. Have you noticed a difference?

I am very upset that an American company has come along and changed Cadbury's. American chocolate is horrible, so why change ours if ours tastes better? Do they really think we won't notice?  Do you love Cadbury's? Are you as annoyed as me? Tell me your thoughts in the comments.

Say No To Microbeads

Microbeads are a big issue at the moment for both environmentalists and beauty companies alike. They are often found in cosmetics as they make good exfoliators and are cheaper than the natural alternatives. They are also found in some toothpastes. However, they are so small that when they go down the drain they cannot be filtered and end up in our water ways. They then absorb toxins in the water. They are eaten by fish and make their way up the food chain, until they can even end up on our plates. This cartoon I found on the Greenpeace website shows the problem.



The silly thing is, most beauty experts think microbeads aren't even benefical. Natural alternatives are much better. The beads are such an issue that president Obama has banned them from being used in the USA. If you want David Cameron to do the same, there is a petition on the Greenpeace website. Click here to sign the petition.

For more information on microbeads, watch this video:

1 Year Of Blogging

It was one year ago today that I first started this blog! I first started it as something to do when I was bored, but it has become a way to express my opinions and practise my writing skills (I want to be an author when I am older). As it has grown in popularity, it has also become a way for me to connect with other students in my school, some of which I do not normally talk to. My posts have changed too, I now blog about a much wider variety of topics than I used to.

In this time, I have had over 6000 pageviews from over 15 different countries. Thank you to all of you for being a part of this.