Love working with children? Looking for an exciting new opportunity? Want to work on a friendly, fun and supportive team? This is what our team member Anna says about working at My Crèche:

     “It's the nicest place I've ever worked. Everyone is so friendly and we have so much fun working together. They give me opportunities to learn new things every day. They care about my personal development. Working at My Creche has enabled me to build relationships with the children as well as parents within the community which makes me feel so welcomed in the local area.”

    Conveniently located in the heart of Crouch End, London, N8, My Creche offers drop-in and pre-booked childcare for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years of age. We also provide after-school and breakfast clubs for children up to 8 years old. Our goal is to enable parents to pursue personal and professional activities when they need to, with total peace of mind knowing their children are being cared for in a safe and fun environment.

    We are looking for an enthusiastic and committed professional with excellent interpersonal skills, who is committed to ensuring the best outcomes and care for children. This is an excellent opportunity for a proactive individual to be a part of a fresh and progressive childcare concept and we welcome newly qualified professionals. We are a small and very supportive team with great training opportunities.

    The successful candidate will:

    Have a certificate Level 3 in Childcare and Education.

    Have experience working with children.

    Be an excellent communicator with strong people skills.

    Be energetic and able to multi-task.

    Salary: £16,500 — £19,000 per year depending on experience and qualifications.

    Full time (flexible work available) and 28 days annual leave.

    There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic trash in the world's oceans, and each year, 8 million tons of plastic are added to the figure. Though the oceans seem vast enough to stomach a lot of plastic, the level of waste is starting to reach a crisis point: According to a new report by the Ocean Conservancy, by 2025, the ocean could contain one ton of plastic for every three tons of finfish.

All these floating bits of plastic not only disrupt marine ecosystems, but they also poison the global supply of seafood. “It's reaching crisis proportions,” says Andreas Merkl, CEO of the Ocean Conservancy. “Plastic breaks down into small pieces that look like plankton and is eaten by everyone from plankton to whales.” Plastic acts as a pollution sponge in the ocean, so when wildlife swallow pieces, the plastic might as well be a poison pill.

    The new report calls for a focus on improving waste management systems in a handful of developing countries that are most responsible for the plastic leakage into the ocean. China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam contribute more than half of the oceans' plastic since their waste facilities hasn't kept up with rapid industrialization.

    On average, only about 40% of waste in these countries is actually picked up for disposal. But it's not just uncollected waste floating around-though that is three-fourths of the problem. The other quarter of the oceans' plastic came from post-collection activities. Even when a waste management company picks up waste to landfill it, poorly equipped landfills or illegal dumping mean that trash still ends up in the ocean.

    But how can countries stop the leakage of waste into the ocean? The Ocean Conservancy report suggests five “levers”: waste collection services, closing the leakage points within the collection system, gasification and burning of waste, and recycling facilities. The average waste ends up as litter. Just by expanding collection systems and plugging up their leakage points, the report says plastics leakage could by cut by 50% by 2020.

    It's not just an environmentalist's daydream. Coca-Cola and Dow Chemical, along with some other multinational companies have joined forces with Ocean Conservancy to fight ocean pollution. “We're committed to working toward a future of a plastic-free ocean. Companies don't make plastic with the intent of it ending up in the ocean, and we acknowledge the strong role industry must play in order to help eliminate ocean plastic waste by 2035.” Says Dow Packaging and Speciality Plastics' global sustainability director in a press release.

    Merkl emphasized that the countries can't recycle their way out of the problem. Only about 20% of the waste is valuable enough to be worth recycling: the rest, needs to be sent to sanitary landfills or waste-to-energy plants. “You have to concentrate on the fundamentals of waste management,” he says. And while building landfills and incinerators(焚化炉)across these developing countries might not be pretty, it's far more environmentally friendly than letting waste slide into the world's oceans.

    Watson entered Mr. Smith's office. The boss was a hard man. He fired people who didn't do well without giving them a second chance.

    “Watson,” said Mr. Smith, “this past year your department hasn't earned money. We're going to drop that department. It's finished. I'm sorry, —but you'll have to go.” “But, sir — if I just had a little more time. For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School.”

    “What's that!” said the boss. “Riverside! I didn't know you had a boy there. That's an expensive school for a man with your salary.”

    “I know, sir. But he likes it there so much! He's a star athlete and the best boxer in the school. The boys call him Champ there.”

    The boss sat perfectly still for a long time — a faraway (恍惚的) look in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he said, “We've got to close your department, Watson. But you'll take over a new job in another department. It means longer hours—maybe more pay. Now get out. You're here for life.”

    Watson got out, with surprise on his face. Then the boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk. It was Herbie's last letter from Riverside School —written a few days before he died. He had read it over and over again with sick pain. The letter read:

    I can't say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were. I guess it's the same everywhere when you're a cripple (跛脚的人). But don't worry about me, Dad, They've got a good chemistry department here. And there's one boy here who is really great. He's a track star and boxing champ (冠军) and just tops in chemistry.

    The boys call him Champ. He made them stop throwing my books around. And he knocked a boy down who hit me. He is the best friend I ever had. Dad, when I grow up, I want to do something for Champ. Something big — that he won't even know about.

Your son,

Herbie

    Today, I made the time to listen to a person new to me, who I met was parking my car, “Perfect”, he said as he walked by me as I checked how considerately I parked. He was a clean cut gentleman sharing his feelings about his grown kids, parenting mistakes he is aware of, while expressing a realization to slay clear of destructive addictions.

    I listened patiently and kindly. He seemed quite comfortable with me, in need of some treatment letting go of his thoughts and emotions. After talking for a while, I had to go inside, and I asked him to wait on the sidewalk and I'd be right back with some gifts for him. He was so receptive all along, and I could feel the desires of his heart. I returned to him with bookmarks. I encouraged him, also, with a couple of inspirational thoughts to live by: To focus on what you want — how you want to feel and how you want to live and experience life.

    This experience is a good thing to me, meeting this gentleman as I am experiencing the challenges of trying to be a positive encouragement to my daughter Angel in fighting her illness. I know Angel has the desire too, although in a different way and at a different level in her growth.

    I've received little to no reaction from Angel about the positive encouragement of the family. On the other hand, this gentleman paid attention. Some of this, of course, is the big age difference, I imagine. Anyhow, I extended myself in friendship to have a walk and talk with my daughter early tomorrow morning, so as to be a curing support, and it feels good for me, too — although far outside my usual comfort zone.

    This player is neither the answer to Bafana Bafana's goal-scoring problem, nor holds any hope of being in the national team for the World Cup. But Mmane Koko trains every morning and is now used to playing soccer. She said, 'Before I can do my domestic(家庭的) jobs, I go to train every morning. This helps me keep my body healthy. I started exercising after my doctor told me that exercising can keep my body healthy.'

    Mmane Koko, aged 66, said if she had been exposed to soccer at an earlier age, she would have become a top South African striker and could have stolen the limelight from Noko Matlou, who helped South Africa achieve its best ever result in the African women's soccer cup. She encourages young people to start playing sports early and to continue into their old age as it helps to lower blood pressure and prevent obesity(肥胖症).

    She added that because soccer is not only about exercising, but also helps one to put bread on the table, it could make a difference socially. She also says soccer is a business and that clubs these days pay generously. Therefore if the young take sports seriously, they can make a living out of it. But this can only happen if our government participate in developing sports and building stadiums for future generations.

    Exercise does us a lot of good as Mmane Koko says. We can live longer and feel better through exercise. It gives us energy surprisingly enough! Regular exercise reduces our risk of all kinds of disease. It can help us relieve stress and anxiety, increase our endurance(耐力) and sleep better. Exercise can contribute to our mental well-being and helps treat depression. So if you want to stay fit, keep on exercising to keep your body healthy.

    Italian Joseph Caspar Mezzofanti was said to have spoken more than 38 languages fluently at the time of his death in 1849, a skill that would have been useful in today's globalized economy. Unfortunately, when it comes to the high school Spanish lesson in the decades, most people nowadays have remembered that there is nothing more complex than "Donde esta la biblioteca". So we set out to uncover what's involved in learning a foreign language and which methods work best.

    Some advertisements say that some language learners believe they're just a 15-minute audio tape away from becoming UN interpreters. But experts say these get-fluent-fast programs are a complete sham." Actually, there is hardly a shortcut that can do that," says Dekeyser, a professor of second language acquisition at the University of Maryland." The only way to learn a language is to make quite a bit of effort on a daily basis."

    Many experts agree that the ideal learning method for language learners really depends on the individual." Find the method that works for you and stick with it," says Simcott, a polyglot who has professionally worked in over 14 languages at once for the British Foreign Service." If audio works for you, do audio. If you like taking classes, do classes. But remember to keep practicing every day."

    However, not all people are created equal. Some may have talent for language learning, but it doesn't mean they can passively await fluency. "Practice is an effective learning method," says Davidson." The more time that you spend during the day speaking your second language, the better at it you're going to be."

    Learning from multiple people is also a good way, especially when you are attempting to cultivate a native accent. "When you are exposed to a lot of people, you get a much better sense of what the sound of a word is supposed to be," says Davidson. "You avoid exposing yourself to what could be features in one individual's speech patterns."