Winner: Sinhala and Tamil New Year

The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is a very important festival. It is a cultural festival celebrated by Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus, being the only occasion where the two communities celebrate the occasion.

The houses are cleaned before the dawn of the New Year. At the auspicious time, people wear new clothes and light the hearth and partake in the first meal with family members.

The milk rice and other sweetmeats are then shared with neighbours, a good opportunity to forgive and forget ill-feelings with others.

Udama Tharumuthu Jayasuriya, Grade 8C, St. Lawrence’s Convent, Colombo 6.
 

Winner: History of English

The history of the English language began with the arrival of three teutonic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th Century AD. These tribes are the Angles, the Sazons and the Jutes who crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and Northern Germany.

Old English is an early form of English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants living in parts of what are now England and Scotland, between the mid 5th and the 12th century.The major use of English language is as a commercial language. There are many advantages such as making international trade easier and more understandable.

The number of words in the English language is 1251098. This was estimated by the Global Language Monitor on January 1, 2014. The English language passed the million word threshold on June 10, 2009.

There are about 200 countries and out of them only a few countries use English as their first language such as USA, UK and a part of Canada. There are countries which use English as the second language. They are South Asia, Singapore and Bangkok.

Methmi Tharushidi Weerarathne, Grade 8, I-GATE College, Thalawathugoda.
 

Winner: Honesty

Honesty is the best policy. We all should be honest to everyone. If someone is dishonest we should teach him what is good and bad.

When Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) was studying at high school, Giles, a school inspector visited the school. During his inspection tour, Gandhi’s class was given a spelling test. Giles asked the students to write down five words. One of the words was ‘kettle.’ Gandhi spelt it incorrectly. The teacher noticing the mistake wanted to help him, signalling to him to copy the word from his classmate’s slate, but Gandhi didn’t copy the word. He was the only boy who could not spell the word ‘kettle’ correctly.

M.S. Shaheeka Shireen, Grade 7A, Royal International School, Kegalle.
 

Winner: The best helpers

The best helpers are my family members. My parents brought me up with the help of my relations such as my grandparents, uncles and aunties.

They laid the foundation for my future by admitting me to a good school to receive a good education. So, it is my duty to study well. I am now 14 years.

My principal and teachers help me in my studies and show me how to behave and get along in society.

As children, we live and grow under our parents’ care, or sometimes under those who take the place of our parents. They treat us like the greatest treasure they have.

We can certainly grow up to be good citizens. We must remember that we have a lot of responsibilities to our loved ones and society in general.

M. T. Dilhan Samantha Fernando, Grade - Science 2B, Jennings International College, Nainamadana.
 

Winner: Trees help us

There are very important resources for man and animal since ancient times. Trees provide timber to make furniture and construct buildings.

Birds and animals find homes in trees. In ancient times people made full use of firewood and used it for medicinal purposes.

Flowers give fragrance and add beauty to nature. Trees give shade, reduce the heat and keep the environment cool.

We all should conserve this valuable gift of nature.

A.A.M. Ansam, Grade 9M, BT/BC/Al-Juffriya Vidyalayam, Eravur.
 

My Pet

My pet is a dog, Jaky. It sleeps and plays with me. It likes to eat bones and rice, and barks at me always. I like to play with my lazy dog.

E. Chethiya Abhishake de Silva, Grade 5, Southgate International College, Meetiyagoda.
 

The Dark Years of Mandela

Nelson Mandela is recognised and respected as a great national leader in South Africa who fought against Apartheid. As a result of these struggles he was imprisoned for 30 years. During this period Mandela wrote his autobiography 'Long Walk to Freedom' and the 'Dark Years' is a short story from it.

The short story is named the 'Dark Years' because of the bad experiences he underwent during these years with regard to his family. First it was his mother's death and then it was the arrest of his wife Winnie Mandela, and then the accidental death of his son Thembi. Mandela was not permitted to attend their funerals as he had to suffer in prison. Later he became the President of South Africa and it is clear that he may have followed Mahatma Gandhi who was a non-violent leader.

W.D. Shanika Rasangi, Grade 11, NCEF Buddhist College, Mulleriyawa,New Town.
 

School Sports meet

Last Friday, we had our school sports meet. It was an enjoyable day where my friends and I displayed our talents in sports.

There are three Houses in our school, Ares, Hermes and Zeus. I am in Ares which is the best House in our school. The sportsmeet started at 2.00 p.m. The Western band and Eastern band of our school welcomed the Chief Guest. The children took the oath and then the sportsmeet began. Many children took part in athletics and some won and others lost. The march past was the last event. I participated in the march past as one of the team members of Ares House. We won the march past and were also the winners of the sports meet.

It was a day of fun and joy. I was overjoyed when we won the sports meet. I am looking forward to the next sports meet to display my talents further in sports.

Ashen Hewavithana, Grade 8E, The International School, Galle.
 

The importance of water

Water is essential for the survival and existence of all living organisms, including humans. It is a basic need of all living things. About 70 percent of the human body consists of water. Water is used for bathing, cooking, washing, drinking and cleaning. There are many sources of water such as rivers, lakes, ponds, tube wells, wells and rain. Water helps to maintain a consistent body temperature and absorb nutrients from food. Water enables substances to move within the body.

Water is a natural resource and a large amount of water is used in agriculture. A large amount of water is also needed for many industries such as chemical industries, papermills, steel mills, petroleum refiners and fertiliser. Water is used to extinguish fires, clean streets and for sanitation. Water is very important because we cannot live without water.

F. Nabiha Inthikab, Grade 6, Ikra International College, Colombo.