AROUND ICS
We have had an E-Safety Day and Book Week. This had been quite busy. A few teachers (Mr Edward, Ms Alex, Ms Gaby, Mr Will, Ms Tyfany, and Ms Annalise) were dressed up as book characters. Surprisingly enough, there were no students who dressed up. I think that the students forgot. One activities include book characters were on a boat that needed less weight. Mr Edward was Willy Wonka and he had a box of chocolates as part of his costume. There was also a tea for celebrating 100 days of 100% attendance and I was one of the people that got to go to the tea because I did not miss any school days. Sadly, I do not have any pictures for examples from last year, but I can tell you. So, what happened is that there was a mystery about a book that got stolen from the library and students had to enter a competion to inviestigate what teacher stole it. It was in the PE cabinet and the teacher that stole it was Mr Piotr. The winner of the competion was Alba and her friends.
WORLD WIDE NEWS
In most cases, the top ranking employees of most corporate hierarchies are male. Too often, females are prevented from reaching the top because corporations do not want to risk having pregnant employees, since they would have to take time off from work for OB/GYN appointments, maternity leave, etc. ‘The Glass Ceiling’ is a metaphorical barrier, preventing women from improving their position and status in the workplace. Ann Morrison illustrates the effect of the Glass Ceiling, ‘... so subtle that it is transparent, yet so strong that it prevents women from moving up the corporate hierarchy’. However, there has been an increase of employed women in the United Kingdom, from 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013.
Entrepreneurship has become an increasingly popular industry. It is estimated that around 550,000 people in the United States alone become entrepreneurs every month. Unfortunately, a mere 36% of business owners worldwide are female, and the business industry is still perceived to be more suitable for men. When people think of Muslims, this belief is usually enhanced since one of the most common stereotypes about Muslim females is that they are oppressed and they lack freedom. In reality, 50% of all Muslim entrepreneurs are female, which not only defeats the stereotype that depicts Muslim women are powerless individuals, but also brings all women one step closer to smashing the ‘Glass Ceiling’.
Sabah Nazir, founder and director of Islamic Moments.
In 2004, Sabah Nazir founded the business, Islamic Moments, which exclusively designs and produces stationary and greeting cards with Islamic themes. In addition to the business’ unique target market, the fact that their products are made using materials that are derived from sustainable forests enables Islamic Moments to stand out in the industry. The business is extremely successful, and is receiving a lot of attention from the media due to the fact that the founder is both female and Muslim. In addition to the response from the media, there has also been a positive response from customers. It is common for customers to say, ‘I wish these products were available when I was younger!’ when seeing products from Islamic Moments.
Being Muslim myself, I was quite content when I found out about this business. The attention that Islamic Moments receive from the media helps eliminate the negative stereotypes and social stigma that are associated with Islam. According to Tahir Mirza – the founder of the pioneering event, Muslim Lifestyle Expo –, ‘the stereotype of Muslim women stuck in the kitchen and carrying out household chores are long gone.’
After interviewing Sabah Nazir via email, I was able to learn a lot of things including what motivated her to become an entrepreneur. Nazir states, ‘... after the birth of our third child, I started researching into various business ideas as I knew that working for somebody else wasn’t for me. More importantly, like many Muslim women, I wanted to be in control of my working hours so I could be there for my husband and children.’ Like Nazir, many entrepreneurs make their career decisions based on the fact that they do not want to work for other people, or because they would like to spend more time with their family.
I was quite surprised to learn that Nazir says that she was not concerned about what others would think about her choosing to become the founder and director of her own business, considering the fact that business is considered to be ‘a man’s world’. On the contrary to these ubiquitous yet cynical beliefs, Nazir says, ‘no such thoughts ever entered my mind due to the fact that I was raised by parents who instilled within me a passion to work hard and the ability to pursue my dreams. It’s the same ethics that I follow today. If you are passionate about something and determined to achieve your goal, you don’t let the negativity bother you.’ I find this to be quite inspirational, and it is something that all those who have aspirations that they don’t think they can reach should keep in mind.
Here is some of the advice that Nazir gives to those who are looking for a career as an entrepreneur:
-
If you are thinking of embarking in the world of entrepreneurship or have a product or service that you are passionate about, I would suggest you do some background research.
-
Join business networking groups, attend relevant workshops and talk to local businesses for advice on market trends and conditions.
-
One of the biggest blessings for a start up can be a mentor who will guide you through the startup process.
A lot of other businesses are beginning to modify its products in order to fulfil the demands of the Muslim population, since they have begun to notice the economy’s reliance on Muslim consumers. According to the BBC, ‘three million Muslim consumers contribute about £21bn a year to the economy,’ in the UK alone.
Although I am biased, I think it’s fair to say that Sabah Nazir, among other hardworking women, are helping us eliminate discrimination and sexism by defying stereotypes.
Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/280212
http://www.feminist.org/research/business/ewb_glass.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37798677
http://www.prowess.org.uk/facts
By Aryam, DP1, 2/3/2017
CREATIVE WRITING
Mystery Month
The sun feels so warm,
Like buttered popcorn,
So I give the sun cream can a shake.
For spring has arrived,
Let the bees out their hive
And have them chase winter away.
The grass shines, so green.
Waving like wheat,
In a midsummer's night stream.
Wake up hibernators,
You can go to sleep later,
And come enjoy what today brings.
The flowers are blooming,
The fungi is grooming,
Nothing is rotting away.
The birds are flying back,
Eggs are being hatched,
A newborn is coming today.
The farm life is beauty,
Especially in the spring,
Where miracles happen real fast.
The farmer there hoots,
Got lots to do.
The warm weather's back at last.
The children run wild,
It feels very mild
For there's ovals everywhere it seems.
A long eared conejo
Just came by their homes
And left them all glorious sweets.
The scattered happy youngsters
All look among-sters
For 3D squashed circles are seen.
Not just plain white,
But gorgeously painted
Vermillion, scarlet, chartreuse and Lime green.
The sun sinks low now,
Everyone's in bed now,
Dreaming away all in peace.
Month 5 is soon coming,
Still connected to spring time
One third of the year has now taken leave,
So can you guess which month am I describing?
April
By: Robert
The Birds Sing a Lullaby
The Birds sing a lullaby
The Clouds dance
Seduced in the ritual of rain
Down came the moon spirits
Down then came the star that wasn't a star at all.
A relic of misdirection
A relic of the forgotten
The lamp in the drawing room
The lamp fixated to Point A
The lamp watching its owner's slumber
Once illuminating the locales where it had been placed, dark
The lamp's slumber had come to ruin organised activity
Entropy's birth
Panic Swarmed
The iconic black taxi ,once bearing the hallmarks of a culture,representing an employment.
His employment,
Her employment,
An employer.
A pawn of the economy,
A moving contraption of a grandiose masterpiece
The Black taxi.
Dormant
It's passengers, the passenger's passengers
Shadows.
The birds have sung their lullaby
By: Callaghan
ART
MUSIC
iTunes top Videos
Art expresses emotions and feelings. In the art platform of music, you can express this not only by the tune and the lyrics but by the music video as well. Today I will be talking about the top music videos (according to iTunes).
1.Enrique Iglesias - SUBEME LA RADIO
Enrique Iglesias is a world famous singer/songwriter who’s known for his Spanish songs. The video for Subeme La Radio is set on the streets of Cuba where he is having a party with his friends. The song has quite the part tune to it as well as the lyrics that can be noted by the title that translates to “Turn up the Radio”. The song is extremely catchy and has that latin dance feeling to it that Enrique Iglesias always manages to add to every one of his songs.
Now obviously,we couldn't have a top list without a love song. This song is about how one will support the other in love. The video is quite nice with some dancing scenes and scenes of the two singers singing. The song itself is really catchy even though the lyrics are quite sad andextremely powerful.
This song and as many other songs of Ed Sheeran’s is quite slow,not loud nor quiet but has that catchy beat that makes it understandable why this got such a high rank and so many views. The song also has somewhat a positive message about one's image though in the video we see Ed as a boxer with his girlfriend.
This song is in Korean / English and it gives you quite the confidence boost though when you translate the lyrics you might be quite surprised as to how metaphorical it all actually is. It sends a positive message and is extremely catchy though it is a loud, fast song. The video also has a lot of work in it which can be seen by how artistic it all is and how complicated the choreography is. Throughout the whole video, we see all 7 members and backup dancers dancing in an extremely professional way. I personally love this song the most and the video even though it’s not necessarily my style. In the full music video ranking, they are also mentioned in 18. place for their song “Spring Day” which is the total opposite of “Not today”.
There are obviously more songs that can be mentioned. I highly recommend checking the top music videos on iTunes occasionally because you might find some really interesting songs/videos that you might have never have searched for and you can be surprised by what good music and videos there are out there.
Csenge MYP4
SPORTS
Unbelievable!
WOW, that is all we can say for the round of 16 of the champions league. We have seen the best ‘Remontada’ (comeback) in world football from the best team in the world FC Barcelona V.S PSG. After the 4-0 from PSG on the first leg, on the second leg we saw something completely different. Barcelona that on the first leg couldn’t even touch the ball, on the second leg it happened but for PSG. Another specific player who even didn’t touch the ball on the first leg and on the second leg scored to important goals and the most important assist in his life was Neymar who eventually got the man of the match. Although Sergio Roberto scored the winning goal on the 97th minutes, Neymar was the one who gave to him and eventually was the best player on the pitch. The other teams that qualified to the quarter final of the Champions league are: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Leicester City, Juventus, and Atletico Madrid. Even though those teams played really well. No one can compare it to the match between Barcelona and PSG at the Nou Camp.
