Natural and human disasters have countless after-effects. Two thoughtful assembly units from Christian Aid (key stages 2 and 3) explore some of them. After the Wave focuses on Sylvia, an 11-year-old girl in Sri Lanka who lost her home and some of her family in the tsunami of 2004. Peace on Earth? concerns 13-year-old Eduardo, whose village was destroyed by soldiers during the Angolan civil war. We learn about how relief work is organised, the choices that need to be made between desperate needs, and something of what it’s like to be directly involved.

Tel: 08700 787788

Email: orders@christian-aid.org

Country practice

Education packs introducing the Countryside Code to primary and secondary pupils are now available. Each comes with posters and photos, and a CD-Rom that includes a 10-minute film exploring young people’s attitudes towards the countryside. Children are invited to consider the impact of picnics and fires, to look at complex issues through the eyes of mountain bikers, walkers and farmers, and to respond to their experience of rural visits through maths, music and art.

Tel: 02476 853058

Email: countrysidecode@face-online.org.uk

www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk

You are what you eat

Teenage beefburger and chicken nugget enthusiasts may have second thoughts if they watch Eat This! This 20-minute videoDVD for pupils at KS4 is deliberately forceful in its aim of stirring debate and rousing consciences. Four young people with different views investigate where meat comes from, how animals are slaughtered and what our eating habits are doing to the environment. Accompanying booklets provide further information on animal welfare and vegetarianvegan diets, together with ideas for discussion and campaigning. Eat This! is available from The Education Department, Animal Aid, The Old Chapel, Bradford Street, Tonbridge TN9 1AW.

Tel: 01732 364546, ext 21

Email: education@animalaid.co.uk

Highway superhero

Cartoonist and comedian Philip Sheppard has created a “hero of the highway”. Lollipopman is normally an elderly man who helps children cross the road, but when he becomes a superhero, he flies through Middletown, making the inhabitants aware of traffic dangers, while fighting the villainous Scrappy Joe, his feline sidekick Fat Cat, and their nasty supporters’ club of rapacious rats and evil dinner ladies. His adventures are celebrated in bright attractive drawings, and there are more in the pipeline. The infectious humour is used to convey serious messages about road safety. Schools running road-safety campaigns are offered 250 free copies . Otherwise, Lollipopman is pound;4.99 from BAA Code Books, of which pound;4 goes to the road-safety charity Brake.

www.lollipopman.co.uk