Thank you for generous grant
Konichiwa! My name is Erin and I am a pupil in Burnside Primary in Glasgow, Scotland.
I am writing to you because in our class we have been learning lots about Japan and more importantly, we have been learning about Sadako’s story and the importance of it.
We have also learnt about other things such as the nuclear bomb that hit Hiroshima in 1945 and how to make sushi.
One of my favourite things that we did in our topic was making paper cranes. They are so fun to make and I make them almost every day.
Even though I have a lot of fun making paper cranes, the reason I like them most is because they have a great meaning to them and they are a sign of hope and peace.
Our class have been learning lots about Sadako’s emotional story.
The story is just heartbreaking to think about, and it is even more heartbreaking thinking about being in Sadako’s shoes and being in her position.
This young girl’s story is so inspirational and it has been shared around the world in a lovely way in respect of her.
I think her story is important for people to know because it teaches people from around the world to be grateful and thankful for everything they have.
It is also important for people to know because it makes them think about war and how dangerous it can be.
In memory of Sadako, her story and her life, we very kindly ask you to hang our very special paper cranes in the Hiroshima peace memorial in respect of this young girl. Erin Anderson Burnside Primary School
My name is Katie and I am a primary seven pupil at Burnside Primary. Our class has been studying Japan and we have all found it very interesting.
Recently we have learnt all about Sadako and her story so we decided to all make paper cranes for the Peace Memorial. I am writing to tell you about our topic and the paper cranes we have made.
We have been studying Japan since March and have learnt a lot so far. We know lots about Tokyo city, Japanese traditions, culture and food.
We even made sushi roles and learnt how to use chopsticks. We also did Japanese art.
We used pastels and paint to create Hokusai’s Great Wave and also painted a cherry blossom tree against a sunset background inspired by the Japanese landscape.
Last week Fumi and Yushin came to visit us from Japanese Matsun Glasgow. They told us about Taiko drumming and taught us some Japanese songs.
Other things we have learnt about include natural disasters, Japanese language and school routines.
Our teacher, Miss Edelsten, recently taught us all about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
She also told us about Sadako and her story.
We know that Sadako survived the bomb dropped on Hiroshima but ended up being diagnosed with Leukaemia from radiation poisoning.
Sadako believed that if she made over one thousand paper cranes she would get better.
She made over one thousand but sadly she died.
Sadako was buried with her one thousand cranes and her friends from school wanted to make a difference so they got a statue put up of her in her honour.
Now people go and hang up paper cranes round the statue in memory of Sadako and to represent peace.
I think that Sadako’s story is very important because it represents peace and it teaches us how war can affect people.
We all made at least two cranes for the memorial and we would love it if you would hang our cranes up in the Hiroshima peace memorial in memory of Sadako. Katie Booth Burnside Primary School
Open letter on loss of autism service
Dear Ms Sturgeon (First Minister), Mr Jukes and Mr Freeland (chief executives of North and South Lanarkshire).
I enclose this petition to ask the Scottish Government, North Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council to work together to fund the Scottish Autism Lanarkshire One Stop Shop which is based in Motherwell.
It closed its doors on Friday due to the Scottish Governments funding ending and neither North or South Lanarkshire Councils being willing to continue the joint funding together to keep this panLanarkshire service open.
This petition has been signed by the autism diagnostic team, social workers, speech and language therapists, CAHMS, occupational therapists, teachers, paediatricians and many more professionals from Lanarkshire.
These professionals have also written to the two councils asking for the funding to continue as this service is vital.
How does this fit in with the Autism strategy for Scotland, a clear aim of which is to ensure consistent services across the country?
The failures in Lanarkshire have set services back years, and there is no indication of this being remedied in the short, medium or possibly even long term.
The strategy is already in its fifth of ten years but you would hardly know from the perspective of a family affected by ASD in Lanarkshire.
No one seems to be accountable for the direct detrimental impact this is already causing autistic people. This service must be saved. Thank you Karen Noble via email