United Nations calls for united front against hunger on World Food Day

With nearly one billion people still suffering from food shortages around the globe, the world must take a united stand against hunger, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on October the 16th  in honour of the date of the founding of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in 1945.


The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of hungry people in the world is a pillar for achieving all eight of the globally-agreed targets with a 2015 deadline, Ban said.
"When people are hungry, they cannot break the crippling chains of poverty, and are vulnerable to infectious diseases," the secretary-general said. "When children are hungry, they cannot grow, learn and develop."
This year alone, Ban said, millions have been pushed into hunger by the earthquake in Haiti, the drought in the Sahel and floods in Pakistan, while the twin food and financial crises continue to affect the world's most vulnerable.
He highlighted the need for global cooperation -- bringing together governments, intergovernmental organizations, regional and sub-regional bodies, business and civil society groups -- to combat hunger.
"Increasingly, their approach is comprehensive," Ban said, covering all aspects of food security, ranging from small farms to feeding schoolchildren.

For more information follow the links below:

Some progress made and some suggestions for the future - including an audio report on the issue

Hunger in Focus: India's Hungry Women and Children Remain a Major Problem

Report Says Hunger Costing Poor Countries Billions

UN Says Global Hunger Remains 'Unacceptably High'

Google news search results about hunger on world Food Day 2010 (search dated Oct 16th)

Ban Ki-Moon speech on World Food Day 2008

Resources being used at 1.5 times the rate nature can replace them

The Earth's population is using the equivalent of 1.5 planets' worth of natural resources, but the long-term decline of animal life appears to have been halted, a WWF report shows.

The latest Living Planet report, published today by the conservation group, also reveals the extent to which modern Western lifestyles are plundering natural resources from the tropics at record levels.

The report shows shows the impact of living off the planet's "savings": in the last 40 years human consumption has doubled, while the Living Planet index – measuring the decline and increase of thousands of species on land, in rivers and at sea – has declined by 30% overall, and by a massive 60% in the tropics.

Click the title for a full report from The Guardian newspaper

The map below shows ecological footprints across the world. The darker the green, the bigger the ecological footprint.
Click the map to be taken to the WWF site for a full report and a short video

Year 10

Thank you for all pupils who worked hard and behaved well on the trip Monday and Tuesday. We now have data that we can use for our controlled assessment which will begin next week. This week your teacher will talk to you about the fieldtrip and how to approach your work.

I have in my possession one pair of wellington boots and a pair of girls black boots. If you didn't collect these from the coach please come and see me at some point (or they're going to end up in lost property)

Map of the world

Click on the map to be taken to a site where you can see the world presented in lots of different ways, depending on what you choose to look at. You can have a map that shows you population, military spending, broadband access, aid and energy consumption - it really is quite interesting!

Year 10 trip to Wales - weather update

Hopefully you're all packed and ready to go - don't forget to bring a pen and pencil with you. The latest weather report is that it will be dry and a little sunny with some patchy cloud, with top temperatures of around 16 degrees. So that sounds pretty positive and good weather for getting into a river - but be aware that the weather could change suddenly, so still come prepared for rain!

Click on the title to be taken to the local newspapers weather forcast.

Further advice about what to bring is a few posts down.

Attention Year 13! Colonialism and Neo-colonialism

Your current topic of Superpower Geographies is constantly in the news. Make sure you keep up to date with the changes in power and relationships that are taking place.

This week Nigeria have been celebrating 50 years of independence from their former colonial power - Britain. But how has the last 50 years been for Nigeria? Have they made advances since gaining their freedom?
The link below is for an article about the independence of Nigeria and is worth a read:
Guardian article on Nigeria's 50th year of independence from Britain

And here's another article, from today (2nd October 2010) about the new form of colonalism - in this case China's growing relationship with Africa. China has now overtaken the USA as Africa's number one trading partner. They are more than happy to deal with some of the countries Western countries frown upon (Zimbabwe for example). Read the article by clicking the link below:
Independent newspaper article on China in Africa

Look at the podcast section and you will see more useful information, in a form that you can listen to.

If you click on the title of this post you will see a blog by someone about China and India's battle for supremacy in China. There are 4 parts to to, follow the links at the end of each article.

Year 10 fieldtrip to Wales - October 11th and 12th, 2010

Our fieldtrip is fast approaching and here are some final bits of information:


1. Rooming: Your teacher should have told you about the rooming and how many people there are in each room - get your lost of names to either your teacher or Mr Bains as soon as you can. Make sure the names of those on your list do not appear on other lists, discuss the matter with your friends fully!


2. What you need to bring with you: Bedding and such like are provided. You need to bring the following -
Toiletries (for washing, cleaning and smelling nice - for example a toothbrush or some soap or deoderant)
A towel
Clothes - a long sleeved top (in case we do any evening activities), layers of warm clothing (rather than one big jumper, it is better to have layers that can be removed if you get warm and added to if you get cold). If you have Wellies and waterproofs you should bring them. You are likely to be asked to get into the river to measure it! a change of footwear - you may find one pair get wet. Jeans aren't geat if they get wet as they stick to you, so think about suitable bottoms. Keep the shoes sensible - don't bring high heels for example. If you've got hats and gloves you may wish to bring them (remember, we're going to Wales in October!).
Pencil case, with the proper equipment (pen, pencil, ruler etc)


3. Food - Dinner will be provided (it is essential that tell us of any allergies etc on the medical form so we can warn the centre) on Monday and you will get breakfast and lunch on the Tuesday. You should have a good breakfast on Monday morning to set you up for a day of travel and work!You may wish to bring snacks.


4. Expensive items: If you bring ipods, games, camera's and other expensive items, you do so at your own risk. The school nor the centre will be responsible if anything is damaged or goes missong. My advice is not to bring expensive items......you're only away for one night and I'm sure you can live without such things!


5. Bag search: A reminder that your bags will be searched for items you shouldn't be bringing before we leave (alcohol, drugs and weapons! I'm sure no one will be bringing any of these items, but it's best to be safe and have a quick look!). We expect you to behave well when we're in Wales and remember that you are collecting information for your controlled assessment - work hard and properly!


6. GET TO SCHOOL FOR 7.00AM ON THE MONDAY!
This may seem very early for some of you, but we need to make a quick and early get away in order to get all our data collection done once we're in Wales. We will be back about 7pm on the Tuesday and you are expected to come to school as normal on Wednesday. You will not need a day to recover as it's only a short trip. You must catch up with work missed from other subjects - it is your responsibility to make sure this happens.


If you click on the title, you will be taken to the website of the Kingswood, Colomendy Centre.

Welcome back

Welcome back to school. Hopefully you have had a good rest and are ready to start working again! The blog has had some new information put on it, but will constantly be changing, with the latest Geographical news and advice/tips on how to do well in your studies.

Year 9 will be faced with an entirely new approach to their lessons and should look at the tab at the top of the page for more information.

GCSE students can find out more about their course using the tab at the top of the page as well as looking along the left hand side of the blog. The same applies for A-level students.

There are a collection of podcasts available (see tab at top of page), though these are mainly aimed at A-level students.

If there is anything that you wish to see on the blog, please mention it to your teacher and we'll see what we can do.