Primary schools could be told to remove some traditional subject-based lessons and replace them with “personal development” classes to encourage children to improve their social and practical skill. Parents, teachers and pupils, who took part in the investigation carried out for the biggest ever official review of the primary curriculum, argued that the number of subjects taught to very young people should be reduced.

    The review, being conducted by the government's school's director Sir Jim Rose, will consider how to redesign the primary school day to handle concerns that too many pupils leave primary school unable to read, write and do maths at the level expected of them. It will also address criticisms that pupils are expected to study so many subjects there is little time for creative learning.

    The 60 focus groups brought together 1,500 parents, pupils and school staff and is expected to heavily influence the thinking of the Rose review, which the government is promising to back. Instead of a broad range of subjects, pupils should study in-depth literacy and maths lessons alongside a more creative curriculum that encourages pupils to develop personal, learning and thinking skills, they say. Such lessons might include “healthy lifestyles, sex and relationships education, drugs and alcohol education”.

    “Child and personal development as priorities have been shamefully neglected in recent years in the rush to hit targets in the basics.” John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said, “The worst thing would be to evaluate child development through the current high stakes testing system. That would weaken the capacity of teachers to meet children's unique needs.”

    However, the shadow schools minister, Nick Gibb, said, “If lessons on lifestyle are given the same status as traditional subjects, it is the most disadvantaged children who will be worst affected.” “Children are not able to personally develop and succeed in the future if they don't have a grasp of basic subjects such as maths and English early on in primary school. Removing high requirement from the primary curriculum would increase the inequality gap between less well-off pupils and the rest.” Nick added. A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) said, “This is a summary of stake holder's view, not the views of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority or the DCSF, and has been submitted to Sir Jim Rose's review as evidence to consider.”

    During the cold winter days, there are some interesting festivals in the world. Look at the following ones.

    Harbin Ice and Snow Festival

    Place: China

    Time: January 5 to February 5

    People build incredible things out of ice and snow, decorating them with lights.

    The Carnival of Venice

    Place: Italy

    Time: between February and March

    One of the most beautiful festivals in the world, people wear masks and elaborate costumes to hide differences among classes, and there are contests for the best costumes.

    Holi Festival

    Place: India

    Time: late February/ March, on the last full moon day

    Hindus and Sikhs, in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka celebrate the main day of this incredibly fun 16-day festival by throwing colored powder and water at each other.

    Sundance Film Festival

    Place: Utah, the US

    Time: end of February

    The largest independent film festival in the US. Watch both feature films and shorts. You need to buy a ticket.

A

    In 1812, the year Charles Dickens was born, there were 66 novels published in Britain. People had been writing novels for a century—most experts date the first novel to Robinson Crusoe in 1719—but nobody wanted to do it professionally. The steam-powered printing press was still in its early stages; the literacy（识字） rate in England was under 50%. Many works of fiction appeared without the names of the authors, often with something like "By a lady." Novels, for the most part, were looked upon as silly, immoral, or just plain bad.

    In 1870, when Dickens died, the world mourned him as its first professional writer and publisher, famous and beloved, who had led an explosion in both the publication of novels and their readership and whose characters — from Oliver Twist to Tiny Tim— were held up as moral touchstones. Today Dickens' greatness is unchallenged. Removing him from the pantheon（名人堂） of English literature would make about as much sense as the Louvre selling off the Mona Lisa.

    How did Dickens get to the top? For all the feelings readers attach to stories, literature is a numbers game, and the test of time is extremely difficult to pass. Some 60,000 novels were published during the Victorian age, from 1837 to 1901; today a casual reader might be able to name a half-dozen of them. It's partly true that Dickens' style of writing attracted audiences from all walks of life. It's partly that his writings rode a wave of social, political and scientific progress. But it's also that he rewrote the culture of literature and put himself at the center. No one will ever know what mix of talent, ambition, energy and luck made Dickens such a singular writer. But as the 200th anniversary of his birth approaches, it is possible — and important for our own culture—to understand how he made himself a lasting one.

    India is an ancient civilization with rich cultural heritage (遗产), and its cultural heritage has something to do with all major religions (宗教)of the world. Here we take a look at some of the top heritage destinations in India.

    Sun Temple, Konark

    As the name suggests this temple is all about the power of the sun God. A huge chariot (二轮战车) drawn by seven horses and twelve pairs of wheels reflect（反映） the importance which ancient people placed on the power of the sun. The pictures of animals and humans give this place a special look.

    Churches Goa

    Goa is the only Indian state which was controlled by the Portuguese (葡萄牙人), so the scene in Goa is dotted with (点缀着) Portuguese style churches. Some of the famous churches include the church of Saint Catherine, church of Saint Augustine and church of saint Francis of Assisi. These churches show beautiful paintings and flower designs which make them a must visit.

    Ajanta and Ellora Caves

    These caves contain well designed paintings which are widely regarded as the most outstanding works of Buddhist religious art.

    Taj Mahal, Agra

    Built on the bank of the Yamuna River, it is an excellent building. The writing and paintings on the outside structure provide the finest examples of the outstanding style of buildings.

    Sanchi

    Sanchi is a UNESCO world heritage site with numerous Buddhist temples dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries.

    On your visit to India, be sure to visit some of these heritage destinations. An Indian journey is not wonderful without experiencing the beauty of these heritage destinations.

    Winters are cold in northern British Colunbia, a province of Canada. That's one reason why two girls become concerned about a number of homeless cats in their town.

    "My dad first saw this big cat problem…and he knew the man who had all the cats," says Vivienne Thompson. Vivienne and her friend Catrina Vanderwolf learned that the man wasn't happy about all the cats living around his home. They offered to help.

    Each day after school all winter long, the girls walked two miles to feed the cats. "We could see all their footprints in the snow and at first couldn't understand why they wouldn't let us get close to them," explained the girls.

    They contacted(联系)Valerie Ingram at the Lakes Animal Friendship Society, who told them that the cats are "feral." They belong to no one. Feral cats have little or no contact with humans in their entire lives. The large colony(群) of cats likely started with two stray(流浪的) cats who had a litter of kittens. Those cats had kittens, and before long, there were dozens of homeless cats.

To get the cat colony under control, the cats would need operations so that they could no longer have kittens. Vivienne and Catrina shared what they learned with their teachers and other students—and a project began! Grassy Plains School started raising money to pay for the cats' operations. Before long, local organizations and large companies agreed to help.

    Volunteers spent months humanely trapping the cats. Finally, all the cats had been operated on and returned to the colony.

"We were so happy to be a part of helping, to get to know the cats, to not see suffering anymore, only happy cats—and a happy man who feeds them on his step now," say Vivienne and Catrina.

    When Mackenzie Foy got the call from film director Lasse Halls telling her that she'd landed the role of Clara in the newDisney film The Nutcracker and the Fоur Rеаlmѕ, she said "yes immediately. "I was just excited to go on a new adventure," Foy told the Evening Standard. Indeed, when many actors and actresses choose to appear in films simply for the fame and exposure, Foy, the17-year-old US actress, does it for the "adventure".

    It's true that every movie Foy has ever been in is an adventure. In The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn for example, the then 11-year-old Foy plays a half-human-half-vampire girl who has a superpower. In Interstellar, then 14, plays the daughter of a scientist who travels across the universe to try to find ways to save human beings from destruction. And now, in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which will be released in Chinese cinemas on November 2, Clara is going on yet another exciting journey. This time, she allows a doll that her parents give her as a Christmas gift into a strange world.

    Foy likes excitement in real life, too. In fact, she has a first-degree black belt in tae kwon do( MY y ilÏ)."I am dying to do an action movie," she told VanityFair. "I can do my own stunts." And not happy with simply being in front of the camera, Foy dreams of trying something new one day. I want to be a director once I finish high school," she told the Evening Standard. "I want to make films that will make people end up looking at the world in a different way, so that they will feel inspired and learn something new."