The third Monday in January is often referred to as ’Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year! However, the online resource ‘The Day’ raises awareness that the same date is also known as Martin Luther King Day, using civil rights as its Theme of the Week. It also redresses the balance with other interesting articles, including the headline ‘Found! Light at the end of the tunnel’. This highlights whether the week ahead could mark a positive change for the world, referring to the Covid vaccine roll out; the inauguration of a new president in America and better news for climate change as China pledges to become carbon neutral by 2060.
‘The Day’ enables readers to keep up to date with the latest significant news events from around the world through its coverage of topical concerns and sensitive handling of challenging issues. In an era when it can be difficult to distinguish between reality and fake news, ‘The Day’ aims to report the truth with balance and reason in carefully researched articles which are informative and thought-provoking. It has features under all the National Curriculum headings and a Search Box to access an archive of hundreds of relevant stories, in addition to covering topics such as climate, conflict, technology and society. It even has a weekly quiz and is well worth checking out during lockdown using the link on the Springfield VLE.
In other good news, in addition to the existing ebook provision from the School Library Service, pupils in England will be able to have free access to books online via a virtual library on the internet classroom Oak National Academy. This was set up with the National Literacy Trust and is aimed at increasing access to e-books and audio books until February half term, providing a book by a featured author each week. The first of these books is ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’ by popular author Jaqueline Wilson and is available to access free from 17th January 2021.
https://library.thenational.academy
Mrs Williams, Librarian