2010 Wales Schools Debating Championships

CEWC-Cymru (Council for Education in World Citizenship - Cymru) is Wales’s foremost national charity working directly with young people and teachers on matters of global citizenship.  As well as organising a programme of educational events for students, they provide training and resources for teachers and specialise in developing skills of thinking, communication and working with others.  They arrange an annual schools debating championship in Wales.  This competition is open to all students in Wales. Each secondary school or college is allowed one team of 2 speakers. 

Regional rounds take place from 29 September to 14 October 2010 with one winning team selected from each region.  Topics for the debates, which take place in English, are sent to competitors in September, along with a copy of the Debating Handbook. If you’re new to the competition, don’t worry! They also organise Debate Training Days to help students understand what is required.  The quarter- and semi-finals of the tournament take place in early November and the Final on 19 November. The champions will represent Wales at the English-Speaking Union’s International Schools Mace Final in May 2011!.  All competitors have a chance of being selected to represent Wales at the 2011 World Schools Debating Championships in Dundee, Scotland. (To be eligible for this, they must be under 19 on 16 August 2011, and available from 16 to 26 August to participate.)  The first round in Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot will take place at Bishop Vaughan Catholic Comprehensive School in Swansea on 1st October 2010.   Vist www.cewc-cymru.org.uk for a booking form and more information.  Note there is a cost for entering the championships.

Be a Great Plant Hunter! 

It's a brilliant time of year to be out of doors and spotting the signs of nature all around us.  Become a great Plant Hunter like Charles Darwin.  Darwin observed nature closely and you can do the same.  Go to Kew Gardens www.greatplanthunt.org and join in the Great Plant Hunt Week 17th to 22nd May.  Find out about collecting specimens, finding and naming plants as well as going on a Thinking Walk.  Upload your photos and find out what phenology is.  Did you know 2010 is the Year of Biodiversity declared by the United Nations.  Biodiversity is all life on Earth i.e. plants and animals.  It's our chance to do somehting about the ever increasing number of endangered species.

Are you ready to become an Eco Warrior? 

Then click on the links below and find out more!
Did you know that:

In the UK we use 13 billion steel cans each year.  If we stacked them on top of each other, they would reach the moon – three times!

Ancient woodland takes 400 years to grow and 25 minutes to destroy

Energy saving lightbulbs last up to 12 times longer than ordinary lightbulbs and can save up to £100 in electricity over the lifetime of the lightbulb

A 1 kilowatt solar home system will generate approximately 1,600 kilowatt hours per year in a sunny climate (receiving 5.5 hours of sunshine per day) and approximately 750 kilowatt hours per year in a cloudy climate (receiving 2.5 hours of sunshine per day

A Boeing 747 return flight from London to New York consumes about 100 tonnes of kerosene
A 2006 study at the University of Chicago concluded that a person switching from a typical American diet to a vegan diet with the same number of calories would avoid the emission of 1,485 kg of carbon dioxide (co2) equivalent per year

Geothermal heating is used to heat 87% of homes in Iceland

WEBSITES

WASTE and LITTER

www.ollierecycles.com

ENERGY

www.generationgreen.co.uk/GamesRoom/

www.coolkidsforacoolplanet.org

WILDLIFE

www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk

www.uksafari.com

www.naturedetectives.org.uk

AROUND the WORLD

www.globalgang.org

www.kidzzone.cafod.org.uk

GENERAL ENVIRONMENT

www.ypte.org.uk

www.jointhepod.org

BEING HEALTHY

www.foodafactoflife.org.uk