The Women's Institute is urging supermarkets to do more to help consumers reduce their home food waste, after a survey of its own membership showed widespread confusion about “best before” and “use by” labeling(标签) on packaging.

    Its new analysis of products on supermarket shelves found that “once-opened” instructions were often contradictory and often failed to make clear whether they were a guide to food safety or quality. Only 45% of 5,000 WI members surveyed understood that best-before dates were a sign of food quality, while 26% did not understand that the more important use-by dates were a decisive guide to food safety.

    In its report on food waste, the WI said supermarkets were “potentially contributing to home food waste by leading customers to buy more food than they need, and giving conflicting and confusing on-pack information that leaves customers unsure about how long a product remains safe to eat in the home setting”. The 42-page report is part of the WI's ongoing campaign to reduce food waste. To underline the point about conflicting information, it cites(引用) a can of Sainsbury's own-brand sweetcorn advising consumers to eat it within one day of opening, while a similar tin from Waitrose gave consumers two days to finish it. Green Giant sweetcorn, however, has no specified date for eating once opened.

    Marylyn Haines Evans, chair of the Women's Institute's public affairs said: “WI members are some of the more informed members of society about food and cookery, but they are still confused about food labelling and 'once-opened' information. So we would like supermarkets to extend the amount of time that consumers have to use a product in their homes by making all of their once-opened instructions on product packaging consistent, and completely remove once-opened instructions on products where food safety is not an issue.”

Guided Walking Week  April 2016

Dates: April 30th-May 7th 2016

Location: Abdet, Costa Blanca

    A week of guided walking in the mountains around Abdet. Highlights include the climbing of Valencia's highest summit (Sierra de Aitana), traveling completely around the impressive Puig Campana, and several explorations in the Sierra de Aitana. Ancient trails lead through spectacular canyons( 峡谷 ) to abandoned settlements situated high in the mountains. You will discover the snow trader routes which lead from the incredible snow holes high in the mountains down to the villages and towns on the coast. These years, golden eagles have made a return to this area, and you may also see other animals—wild goats, foxes, wild pigs and red squirrels.

    As part of the week you are invited to help clear some local walking paths. This involves clearing collapsed walls and rocks, cutting back fallen trees. This is of course optional and is just for half a day, it's actually great fun!

Price:$499

Includes:

● Accommodation in the beautiful mountain village of Abdet

● All food-good home cooking

● Beer, wine, soft drinks

● Snacks and post walk treats

● Packed lunches & drinks(except café/bar visits)

● Expert guiding

● Photos/Videos of your days in the mountains

● Airport pick-up/return $25 each way(fly to Alicante)

● Single room supplement $75

To book or get further information, please contact info@abdet.com.

New Zealand Education

Compulsory Education

Compulsory education starts at age 5 and ends at age 16.

Class Size

The number of students in a class is 30 students.

Classrooms

    Students from Years 5-8 stay in the same classroom for most subjects and move to other classrooms only for specific subjects. In Year 9, students take some courses With their homeroom class and some optional classes with students from different classes. Starting from Year 10, students no longer stay in the same classroom most of the time. They go to different classes according to their own choices and abilities.

Term Dates

    A school year starts in January and ends in December. There are four terms in a year. Each term is about 10 weeks.

Class Schedule

    School starts at around 8:30 and ends at 15:15. There are only five periods a day and a period is about an hour long. In the morning, around 10:30, there will be a 20-minute break when students usually have some snacks during this time. There is a lunch period at around 12:40 for about an hour.

Teachers

    Teachers have to teach students of different year level at the same time. Most teachers teach students from at least three to four different year levels. Besides, quite a number of teachers teach more than one subject. This is because the fact that many courses are optional.

    It was New Year's Eve. Everyone in the city was getting ready for the three-day celebration, including the gardener of the king's garden.

    There was a large group of monkeys living in the garden. They always followed the advice of their leader, the monkey king.

    The gardener wanted to celebrate the New Year's holiday, just like everybody else, so he decided to hand over his duties to the monkeys.

    He went to the monkey king and said, "My honorable friend, would you do a little favor for me? New Year is coming. I wish to celebrate it. So I must be away for three days. Here in this lovely garden. There are plenty of fruits and berries and nuts to eat. You and your subjects may come and eat as much as you wish. In return, please water the young trees and plants while I'm gone."

The monkey king replied, "Don't worry, my friend! We will do a terrific job! Have a good time!"

    The gardener showed the monkeys where the buckets were kept. Feeling confident, he left to celebrate the holiday. The monkeys called after him, "Happy New Year!"

    The next day, the monkeys filled up the buckets, and began watering the young trees and plants. Then the king of the monkeys addressed them,"It is not good to waste water. Therefore, pull up each young tree or plant before watering. Inspect（检查）it to see how long the roots（根）are. Then give more water to the ones with long roots, and less water to the ones with short roots. That way we will not waste water, and the gardener will be pleased!"

    Without a second thought, the other monkeys followed their king's orders.

    Meanwhile, a wise man was walking by the garden. He saw the monkeys pulling up all the lovely young trees and plants, measuring their roots, and carefully pouring water into the holes in the ground. He said, "Oh foolish monkeys, what do you think you're doing to the king's beautiful garden?"

    They answered, "We are watering the trees and plants, without wasting water! We were commanded to do so by our king."

    The man said, "If this is the wisdom of the wisest among you — the king — what are the rest of you like? Intending to do a worthwhile deed, your foolishness turns it into disaster!"

    Water is very important to living things. Without water there can be no life on the earth. All animals and plants need water. Man also needs water. We need water to drink, to cook our food and to clean ourselves. Water is needed in offices, factories and schools. Water is needed everywhere.

    There is water in seas, rivers and lakes. Water is found almost everywhere. Even in the desert part of the world, there is some water in the air. You can't see or feel it when it is a part of the air. The water in the seas, rivers and lakes is a liquid, the water in the air is a gas, and we call it water vapor (蒸汽).

    Clouds are made of water. They may be made of very small drops of water. They may also be made of snow crystals(结晶体). Snow crystals are very small crystals of ice. Ice is frozen water. It is a solid. There can be snow and ice everywhere in winter.

    Water may be a solid or a liquid or a gas. When it is a solid, it may be as hard as a stone. When it is a liquid, you can drink it. When it is a gas, you can not see or feel it.

    Thanks to exchange programmes an increasing number of young students are following educational courses in foreign countries. The Erasmus Programme, which started in 1987, is a European Union student exchange programme. It provides opportunities for young people from Europe to study in a foreign country for shot An intercontinental version of the programme, known as Erasmus Mundus, has existed since 2003, providing non-Europeans the opportunity to study in Europe.