On 27th August, the largest exam board in the UK, Edexcel officially releases the GCSE exam results to a large number of anxious children (not to mention their parents!!). If you have children in Spanish school you have probably left all of this behind you but nevertheless, you may have young adults in your household who do not know what to do in the future.

Not so very long ago if our expatriate teenagers wanted to stay on at school or college after the age of sixteen, unless they had fluent language skills then they had no alternative but to return to the UK. Some students, of course were entirely happy to complete their studies in Spanish whilst others couldn´t wait to get on the plane and return home. Nevertheless, for others who had settled in Spain, the prospect of going back was not a pleasant one and left them with the option of staying in Spain and foregoing their qualifications or moving away and losing touch with friends. It is a crying shame that some of these young adults now find themselves working in low paid, unskilled jobs over here much below their capabilities purely because they lack the qualifications that they need to progress in their chosen field.

Luckily this situation is rapidly changing and there are other options whereby young people have access to a whole host of qualifications without having to up sticks and move to a new town or country. It is never too late to turn your life around and learn new skills. Furthermore, thanks largely to a standardised qualifications grid, these skills are becoming internationally recognised.

Whilst Spanish qualifications might suit some pupils, others who would prefer to learn in their mother tongue or who wish to achieve a British qualification might want to look at alternative options. These qualifications are also a sound option for adults who wish to return to education whether this is to gain skills for work or purely for personal growth. Studying at a college of further education can improve your career options, enhance your social life and increase your self confidence and motivation.

There are two main routes open to you to achieve your desired qualifications: the first is the traditional method of GCSEs and A Levels. The second option is to gain skills through a more vocational route. Let´s explore the possibilities.

BTECs

BTECs are vocational qualifications providing a more practical, real world approach to learning and skills development but still underpinned by traditional teaching. BTEC qualifications can open doors directly in a chosen career path or develop further with Higher Nationals or a university degree.

Unlike A levels and GCSEs, BTEC Firsts and Nationals are assessed through ongoing coursework and graded assignments and there are no exams to take at the end. Assignments have to be checked by an external verifier to ensure that stringent quality standards are implemented and that a BTEC grade achieved in one centre is on a par with the same grade in another centre.

BTEC Firsts are a level 2 qualification which means they are equivalent to GCSEs whilst BTEC Nationals come in at level 3 which is the same as A levels. They can be studied on a full time or part time basis depending on the needs of the students and college.

A Levels and GCSEs

Regarded as essential qualifications by most employers, GCSEs and A levels are the cornerstone of many jobs and professions. A levels are recognised as the gold standard of the British education system and our abilities, even later in life, are still measured against them. Generally, full time students will study between 7 and 10 GCSEs over a two year period. However, GCSEs can be achieved in a year with intensive study and dedication. A levels are a two year course and when studied full time students can usually sit between 3 and 5 taking an exam at AS level after the first year and followed by the final A2 level exams in the second year. GCSEs and A Levels always require you to sit examinations and some also have an element of coursework which is also graded. When studying GCSEs or A Levels in Spain, you need to make sure before you start the course that your chosen school or college is an accredited examination centre and what the requirements are of both the centre and the examination board. If the centre is not accredited, ask them what provisions they will make for you to sit your exams somewhere else as you don´t want to be flying back to the UK at the eleventh hour. Fortunately a select few centres have the appropriate facilities to meet the exam board criteria and you should therefore have no problems finding somewhere suitable where you can complete your course and sit your exams in comfort.

Even if you have been studying in the Spanish system for a number of years and have fluency in Spanish, you might still wish to extend your skills base by adding a number of core GCSE subjects such as English, Maths and Spanish. This will definitely keep your options open when making career choices in the future.

The good news is, whether you are a school leaver needing to achieve qualifications to kick start a career or a mature student looking to broaden your horizons, you don´t have to move back to the UK. There are various options available right here on your doorstep and with the recession squeezing the number of suitable job opportunities both in England and Spain, what better time to pick up an extra qualification or two so you are armed with a portfolio of skills to catapult you into the career of your choice once the economic climate improves.

San Miguel International College of Further Education offers a wide range of study options to secure the long term future of young adults and mature students including BTEC Firsts, BTEC Nationals, GCSEs and A Levels. Special core packages are available for students in Spanish schools. You can contact us on 965 720 785.

Silly Riddles

Q: “What has one head, one foot and four legs? “
A: A Bed

Q: Did you hear the joke about the roof?
A: “Never mind, it’s over your head! “

Q: How many letters are in The Alphabet?
A: There are 11 letters in ‘The Alphabet’

Q: How can you spell cold with two letters?
A: IC (icy)

Q: What state is surrounded by the most water?
A: Hawaii (this is really just a trick riddle)

Q: “David’s father had three sons: Snap, Crackle, and ?”
A: David!

Q: “If you were in a race and passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in?”
A: 2nd place!

Q: What is the center of gravity?
A: The letter ‘V’!

Q: What English word has three consecutive double letters?
A: Bookkeeper

Q: “What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?”
A: A penny!

Q: The turtle took two chocolates to Texas to teach Thomas to tie his boots. How many T’s in that?
A: There are 2 T’s in THAT!

Q: “What goes up, but never comes down?”
A: Your age!

Q: What gets bigger and bigger as you take more away from it?
A: A hole!

Q: How many months have 28 days?
A: All of them!

Q: Can you spell rotted with two letters?
A: DK (decay)

Q: How many books can you put into an empty backpack?
A: One! After that it’s not empty.

Q: “Which weighs more, a ton of feathers or a ton of bricks? “
A: “Neither, they both weigh a ton! “

Q: Does your shirt have holes in it?
A: “No, then how did you put it on?”

Q: What starts with a P and ends with an E and has a million letters in it?
A: Post Office!

Q: When does a cart come before a horse?
A: In the dictionary!

Q: What is full of holes but can still hold water?
A: A sponge!

Q: “What has two hands, a round face, always runs, but stays in place?”
A: A clock!

Q: Where does success come before work?
A: In the dictionary!

Q: What breaks when you say it?
A: Silence!

Q: How many peas are there in a pint?
A: There is one ‘P’ in a ‘pint’.

KID’S NEWS

A Balanced Food Plate

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is serving Americans a new plate. To help consumers better balance their meals, the USDA and First Lady Michelle Obama announced on Thursday that the government is throwing out its familiar but complicated food pyramid. The pyramid had been used to represent nutritional guidelines. It will be replaced by a symbol that the USDA hopes is easier to understand: a food plate.

“When it comes to eating, what’s more useful than a plate?” Mrs. Obama said Thursday during a news conference unveiling the new icon, called ‘My Plate.’ The USDA, which provides nutritional guidelines to consumers, first introduced the food pyramid icon in 1992. The USDA revised the symbol in 2005 to reduce the significance of grains and include exercise. Many nutrition experts had criticized the pyramid-shaped guide. It was too complicated for people to easily understand when making food choices, they said. So the USDA partnered with Michelle Obama and her “Let’s Move” campaign to better show consumers how to build a healthy meal. The Let’s Move initiative aims to “put children on the path to a healthy future.”

“This is a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods that we’re eating,” the First Lady said at the conference. She emphasized the importance of having a kid-friendly nutrition symbol. “Children can learn to use this tool now and use it for the rest of their lives,” she said.

The plate icon is a colorful circle graph divided into four sections representing fruits, vegetables, protein and grains, plus an additional small circle on the side for dairy. It illustrates that half your meals should be fruits and vegetables, a little more than a quarter should be whole grains and a bit less than a quarter should be protein, plus a small amount of dairy.

The symbol also serves as a reminder to control portion sizes and to consider various options for each category. Nutritionist Toni Bloom is the co-founder of Funfoodle, which provides hands-on food and nutrition education to kids and their parents. Bloom told TFK that the icon’s simple message, such as a clear emphasis on fruits and vegetables, makes it practical and effective for families. “I like how ‘clean’ the plate is,” she said. “There are no foods pictured on it, just words that represent a food group. This subtly suggests that any food can fit as long as it is portioned correctly and is a food that can clearly fit into a food group.”

On the MyPlate website, the USDA provides a tool to determine more specific serving sizes based on your age and health. Other dietary guidelines from the USDA’s include eating whole grains for at least half your grain servings, choosing low- or fat-free milk and water over sugary drinks; and selecting soups, bread and frozen meals with lower sodium, or salt, levels.

The Secret Language of Dolphins

Scientists are studying wild and captive dolphins to decipher their secret language.

Here’s a conversation worth talking about: A mother dolphin chats with her baby…over the telephone! The special call was made in an aquarium in Hawaii, where the mother and her two-year-old calf swam in separate tanks connected by a special underwater audio link. The two dolphins began squawking and chirping to each other.

“It seemed clear that they knew who they were talking to,” says Don White, whose Project Delphis ran the experiment. “Information was passing back and forth pretty quickly.” But what were they saying? That’s what scientists are trying to find out by studying wild and captive dolphins all over the world to decipher their secret language. They haven’t completely cracked the code yet, but they’re listening…and learning.

In many ways, you are just like the more than 30 species of dolphins that swim in the world’s oceans and rivers. Dolphins are mammals, like you are, and must swim to the surface to breathe air. Just as you might, they team up in pods, or groups, to accomplish tasks. And they’re smart.

They also talk to each other. Starting from birth, dolphins squawk, whistle, click, and squeak. “Sometimes one dolphin will vocalize and then another will seem to answer,” says Sara Waller, who studies bottlenose dolphins off the California coast. “And sometimes members of a pod vocalize in different patterns at the same time, much like many people chattering at a party.” And just as you gesture and change facial expressions as you talk, dolphins communicate nonverbally through body postures, jaw claps, bubble blowing, and fin caresses.

Scientists think dolphins “talk” about everything from basic facts like their age to their emotional state. “I speculate that they say things like ‘there are some good fish over here,’ or ‘watch out for that shark because he’s hunting,’” says Denise Herzing, who studies dolphins in the Bahamas.

When the going gets tough, for instance, some dolphins call for backup. After being bullied by a duo of bottlenose dolphins, one spotted dolphin returned to the scene the next day with a few pals to chase and harass one of the bully bottlenose dolphins. “It’s as if the spotted dolphin communicated to his buddies that he needed their help, then led them in search of this guy,” says Herzing, who watched the scuffle.

Kathleen Dudzinski, director of the Dolphin Communication Project, has listened to dolphins for more than 17 years, using high-tech gear to record and analyze every nuance of their language. But she says she’s far from speaking “dolphin” yet. Part of the reason is the elusiveness of the animals. Dolphins are fast swimmers who can stay underwater for up to ten minutes between breaths. “It’s like studying an iceberg because they spend most of their lives underwater,” Dudzinski says.

Deciphering “dolphin speak” is also tricky because their language is so dependent on what they’re doing, whether they’re playing, fighting, or going after tasty fish. It’s no different for humans. Think about when you raise a hand to say hello. Under other circumstances, the same gesture can mean good-bye, stop, or that something costs five bucks. It’s the same for dolphins. During fights, for example, dolphins clap their jaws to say “back off!” But they jaw clap while playing, too, as if to show who’s king of the underwater playground.

“I have not found one particular dolphin behavior that means the same thing every time you see it,” says Dudzinski. “If you like mysteries and detective work, then this is the job for you.” And who knows—maybe someday you’ll get a phone call from a dolphin.

A 16-year-old has become the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest.

16-year-old George climbed the infamous mountain with thirteen other climbers and completed the gruelling and dangerous trek in six weeks. In the past, over 200 people have died trying to climb the mountain in the Himalayas. This is not the first time George has embarked on such an expedition. The keen climber also climbed Kilimanjaro when he was 11 years old.

A survey has revealed that 73% of kids want to learn life-saving skills.

A special Report revealed an increasing number of school children want to learn life-saving skills and now a survey has revealed that 73% of kids are on board with the idea. As a result, The British Heart Foundation has asked the government to include life-saving skills on the national curriculum.

7 Lost Egyptian pyramids, ancient settlements and tombs have been spotted from space.

Archaeologist Dr Sarah Parcak made pioneering discoveries using satellites more than 400 miles from space with powerful infra-red cameras. The images from the satellites not only show pyramids, but underground buildings, tombs and over 3,000 ancient settlements. The authorities in Saqqra, Egypt were not interested in Dr Parcaks findings, however, after initial test excavations they now believe this to be one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt.

Should Children under 13 be able to use Facebook ?

At present, children under the age of 13 are unable to use Facebook, by American law. Many believe disallowing younger users from using the site helps prevent online bullying. However, the social network’s founder, Mark Suckerberg, has said that he believes children under the age of 13 should be allowed to use the site, as it can be used for educational purposes.

Silly jokes

What do you get if you cross a skunk and a pair of tennis rackets ?

Ping pong !

What do you get if you cross a pudding and a cow pat ?

A smelly jelly !

What do you get if you cross a pig and a box of itching powder ?

Pork scratching !

What do you get if you cross a bear with a freezer ?

A teddy brrrrr !

What do you get if you cross a computer with a vampire ?

Something new fangled !

What do you get if you cross a tin opener, a vampire and a cricket team ?

An opening bat !

What do you get if you cross a cow with a grass cutter ?

A lawn mooer !

What do you get if you cross a ice cream with a dog ?

Frost-bite !

What do you get if you cross a helicopter with a cornish pasty ?

Something pie in the sky !

What do you get if you cross a pair of dogs with a hairdresser ?

A shampoodle and setter !

What do you get if you cross a shoulder bag with a Mallard ?

A ducksack !

What do you get if you cross a dinosaur with a dog ?

Tyrannnosaurus Rex!

What do you get if you cross a football team with a bunch of crazy jokers ?

Mad jester United !

What do you get if you cross a Viking and a detective ?

Inspector Norsel !

What do you get if you cross a large computer and a beefburger ?

A big mac !

What do you get if you cross an overheating large computer with a beerburger ?

A big mac and fries !

What do you get if you cross a hat factory and a field of cows ?

A pat on the head !

What do you get if you cross a mouse and a bottle of olive oil ?

A squeak that oils itself !

What do you get if you cross a jogger with an apple pie ?

Puff pastry !

What do you get if you cross a detective with a cat ?

A peeping Tom !