Topical Tuesdays: Dreaming the Impossible – KS2 News Story and Reading and Writing Activity Sheet from The Week Junior

On 15 November 2020, British racing driver Lewis Hamilton won a record-equalling seventh Formula One (F1) World Championship.

The Formula 1 racing season is an enormous undertaking with cars and teams being transported to different tracks right around the world. That means it creates a great deal of pollution, not just from the cars themselves but from all the international travel.

Is it really worth the environmental impact? Or is that a small price to pay for the pleasure and excitement F1 brings to race fans around the world?

This resources pack includes a news article from The Week Junior newspaper about Hamilton’s achievement, alongside an activities sheet designed to get children thinking, talking and writing about what the story means to them.

Activities include:

• Debate whether F1 is really worth the environmental impact. Can the planet actually afford such a celebration of fuel consumption? Or is it a small price to pay for those who enjoy the sport?
• Lewis Hamilton said that his amazing achievement was “... for all the kids out there who dream the impossible.” Describe your own greatest ambition and how you think you could make it possible
• Lewis Hamilton wants to make the world a more inclusive place so that everyone has the same chance to succeed in their chosen field, regardless of their background or skin colour. Describe how you think you could make this happen, either as an explanatory text or as a persuasive letter to the Prime Minister
• Research another great sportsperson who has had to overcome disadvantages in order to rise to the top of their chosen activity. Describe the main obstacles that they faced, how they conquered them and what they ultimately achieved.

Find the entire series of Topical Tuesday resources to download here.

What is The Week Junior?

The Week Junior magazine looks at current affairs and helps children make sense of the world, provides context and clarity to complex issues, improves general knowledge and encourages discussion and debate.

To find out more about The Week Junior and to download its free resources, please go to schools.theweekjunior.co.uk.

This resource is part of the News Activities Archive collection.
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• News story
• Activities sheet