Safer Internet Day by Chhaya 6G

Safer Internet Day is in February every year. It is to remind everyone (children and adults) to be aware of the internet. Even though using the internet can be amazing, you have to be cautious of how you use it and what people do on the internet (for example, hacking).

This year, on Safer Internet Day, all the children learned about Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is fascinating - it is the simulation of human intelligence processed by machines, especially computer systems. AI can also be programmed to recognise objects, solve problems, complete tasks, make decisions, play games, and even learn a new language. AI can do things other electrical objects can't; they can even do things that humans do, but not everything. AI is used in everyday life, and a lot of people don't know it; for example, when you are playing a two-player game by yourself with the computer that is AI and when you are watching television and it is recommended that AI suggests what you should watch by looking at what you have previously watched. 

Children were made aware of how some people use AI for the wrong reasons, like using AI to bully others. Using AI to bully is called deepfake; for example, use deepfake to edit a photo or video of someone else. 

Students made posters with interesting facts about AIs like: What is AI? Where do we find AI? What does AI do in life? How to use AI properly? These posters were then displayed in our classrooms. 

The next day, all classes went to an assembly hosted by Mr Best. The assembly was much more fun than other assemblies, and it was all about safer internet day. Mr Best made one child and one member of staff/teacher stand up and come to the front of the large hall. There were around four to five adults and four to five children at the front of the hall. They all had flashcards/papers and had a small quiz - all about the video we watched: BBC Live Safer Internet Lesson. There were different scenarios and questions with different options labelled with letters from the alphabet. Most of the questions were easy; however, there were also some tricky questions. At the end of the assembly, everyone looked satisfied and pleased with that day's assembly.

To summarise, on Safer Internet Day, we learned about what AI is and how it is used. We made posters and had a very entertaining assembly hosted by Mr Best. The Safer Internet Day was very good this year (much more fun than other years), and a lot of students (in my personal opinion) enjoyed it a lot. It was the best Safer Internet Day yet.  

Wallace Collection by Jaswini 6G 

The Wallace Collection is a fascinating and entertaining museum that welcomes visitors from all over the world.

Year 3 went to the Wallace collection and said it was huge. There were more than two floors. They did loads of fun activities together on their trip. 

During the visit, the students engaged in some fun activities. First, they participated in drama scenes. Then, they were asked to draw a Greek myth called Athena and the Olive Tree. This activity was made even more exciting as they were given metallic coloured pencils to use, which some students had never used before. Along with that, the students got to see many cool portraits of Ancient Greece and Greek gods.

They were informed about a family known as the Wallace Family, who owned and resided in the Wallace House. As the Wallace family could not decide who to give their house to, they ultimately decided to donate it to England.

There were about three tour guides, and the one who showed year 3 around the most was called Mark. There were a lot of rooms there, so Mark decided to take them to the first room on the first floor. On the first floor, the students did some learning and then made the biggest monster that they could make while Mark had his eyes closed. 

After doing that activity, they had some time to go to the best room in the Wallace collection - The Armoury room. In The Armoury room, year 3 did a test about finding some of the clothing/objects that they used to wear or use. There was a second Armoury room and there were some tools that they used to use back in the olden times. 

Everyone ate their lunch in the lunchroom of the Wallace Collection. They ate in the lunchroom for half an hour. 

Year 3 saw a picture that had a prince called Prince Perseus saving a princess called Princess Andromeda. Everyone found the portraits that were stuck on the wall as a display for the children to see very interesting. 

During their fantastic trip, one of the highlights for the Wallace family was when Alice, one of the staff members, gave them a tour of their house. She also took the year 3 children from RGJS around and taught them about the history of the Wallace family, who were one of the wealthiest families in England. 

The Year 3 students had an incredible trip filled with fun activities that even the teachers enjoyed. According to them, it was an amazing experience. They had a lot of fun together and the activities were very cool. They found the Greek myths to be super interesting.

Year 5 Local Kingsbury Walk by Carla 5S 

The walk was fun - let me tell you what we saw! 

We saw some amazing parks. They are very much worth visiting, and it does not take a lot of time to get there - so if you want to have some fun and do not know what to do, go to Roe Green Park or any other local park in Kingsbury! 

Even though we didn't go on this trip to look at flowers, some of us made observations of the fantastic variety of flowers and blossom trees. In my opinion, the amount of blossom trees made it feel like May - when all the flowers and blossom trees bloom, and it is sunny and warm outside. 

Do you want to see a stunning house built by a famous man? Yes! Who? It was Ernest Trobridge. Wait, you do not know who he was? He was the first architect to build a house made of cobblestone and iron. Incredibly, we have such a famous person's house in our local area! The houses all looked different and unique, which made the road look diverse. 

Want to see a beautiful view? Well, continue to climb to the top of Buck Lane - you will have the opportunity to take several beautiful photos for your phone gallery and have a great experience! 

We looked around Kingsbury High Road and realized that it was extremely crowded with shops, restaurants, libraries and many other businesses. It is a road full of things to do and places to go - either if you're hungry or want to buy something you may need or want. 

Roe Green Village was one of my favourite things to visit because it's special to Kingsbury. The houses are a part of a conservation area, which means you cannot change the outside of the houses, only the inside. Roe Green Village is also amazing because the houses have kept their design ever since they were built. But Roe Green Village is not just amazing because of that, Roe Green Village is also full of nature, and every single house has at least four plants either near the door or in the garden. The amount of wonderful and awesome things in Roe Green Village is startling, and it makes you realize that such a small village can mean so much and be more surprising and beautiful than you think. 

In the afternoon, we were to return with some clipboards and papers, but after a few minutes, it started to rain. With the rain slowly getting heavier, our teachers decided that the papers would get all wet and ripped if we continued (some people forgot their coats), so we returned to class, where it was all dry and warm. Because of this, we didn't get a chance to go and do the last part of the trip, so we did it virtually on a computer. I know it's way more boring, but what else could we do? 

That was our experience for the trip and some of my observations and opinions about it. Thinking about the whole trip, made me realize that Kingsbury is more than just a small district in London; it's an amazing community and it caters for everyone.     

It's worth the walk and time! Some may think this sounds too good to be true, but it is. 

TfL Workshop by Alessia 6R

On Friday, 22nd February 2024, year 6 had a TfL (Transport for London) Workshop. The person in charge of the workshop was named Nadia, and we talked about how to go on the London Transport safely and responsibly. 

First, we started talking about zip cards and how you get one. You can get a zip card from age 11-15 (you have it for four years). You use it to get on buses and trams for free and half-price on the tube. You pay £15 to get it and can save up to £5000 on public transport. A zip card includes a picture of you, your name and the expiry date. 

We talked about cycling to school - there are three things you need to check before going on a journey on your bike - A, B and C. A - air pressure, you have to check if your wheels are stiff enough to drive over any obstacles; B - breaks, just in case you are going down a hill or suddenly have to use the breaks, you can make sure you can; and C -chain, you want to make sure that your bike cycles properly.

Afterwards, we talked about walking and how sometimes it can be faster than taking the bus, uber or car; this is because sometimes, in vehicles you will have to stay in traffic or wait 10 minutes for the bus to come or stop at a red light. Walking is also a better alternative to using vehicles because you can be more aware of your surroundings, and it is healthier for you. 

We watched a video called You vs You - which showed going on the bus can be slower or not as good as walking. The video showed that on the bus, you will sit down, relax and not be aware of your surroundings, but if you walk, you will know everything that is going on around you; therefore, you will be a bit safer. It also showed the route that two girls had to do - walking and taking the bus. It concluded that it is sometimes better to walk because you can avoid all traffic and waiting times - so you can get home faster. In the video, the girl left her bag on the bus, and a man saw it and told the driver, explaining why we should not open bags or boxes we see on public transport because you never know what is in there. It finished with a talk about walking from and to school and its pros and cons. 

Afterwards, we watched a video called Contagious, and the moral of the video/story was to be sensible on public transport, especially tubes or trains. The video started with a group of naughty kids going on the tube. They were doing naughty things, such as stopping the escalator and pushing everyone around. When they finally got on the tube, they decided to change carriages while it was moving; all the kids except one named Lovelle. Lovelle hesitated, but her friends made her do it. While Lovelle was switching carriages, she fell on the train tracks under the tube; all her friends got off and ran to get help. They went to the nearest help point, but it was out of service, so they went to security - it turned out to be too late.

At this point, we talked about help points and how it has two buttons and a fire alarm. Nadia gave us different scenarios and tested us to see if we would know what button to press. The green button is for emergencies, the blue button is to get information if you ever need it and the fire alarm is to pull if there is a fire. If the help point is ever out of service, a staff member of the tube station will be in front of it. 

We also talked about how to be careful at tube stations and why it is important to not stand too close to the tracks: you could drop something valuable in the tracks, or you could get pushed in, but if you stay against the wall, you cannot get pushed, or if you drop something you will only drop it on the platform. There are also three places to not stand on the bus and why: the first is you can stand in the disabled/pushchair places, but if there is, someone on the bus who has to use that area don’t stand there; the second place you can't stand is on the stairs because if the bus suddenly hits the brakes, then you will fall over or almost fall over (you're not supposed to stand there just to be safe and to keep everyone else safe); and finally, you should not stand where the little wall in front of the stairs upstairs is to prevent squashing others when people are going through that area. 

Nadia went on to show us some pictures and asked us what was wrong with them. In one picture, two people were shouting at each other - that would annoy and irritate people. In another picture, two boys were physically fighting and making a scene - which would also make people irritated and annoyed. In a different picture, a man was putting his legs in between two sets of chairs - which would block people from getting on and off the bus. And in the last picture, a girl was drawing on the windows - which is illegal, and you will get fined around £1000 because you will have to replace the whole window. Of the things just mentioned and in addition, smoking, swearing and/or vandalism aren't allowed. We were made aware of what to do if we see someone doing something bad on the bus - you are supposed to leave and ignore or tell the bus driver the situation because you don’t know how the person is going to react. 

Lastly, we watched a video of a boy standing very close to the road when a group of boys knocked him over onto the road, and then the bus driver had to brake instantly. This showed us to not stay too close to the road and that you should stand far away or against a fence or a wall.