Mum is outraged after school calls her to pick her son up just 15 minutes after arrival for not wearing the right uniform

By
Monica Pop
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The coronavirus pandemic affected many business and families. Many people lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet and that changed the quality of their lives a great deal.

One mother from Bristol named Hayley Dainton is sharing a story that left her furious and enraged a lot of other parents who found themselves in a similar position. Namely, her 11-year-old son Oliver was overly excited to get back to school again, but his joy was short-lived as the school called his mom to come pick him up after just 15 minutes from his arrival.

When Hayley picked up the phone she expected to hear that Oliver settled in nicely, but instead, she was told how he couldn’t attend classes because he didn’t have the right uniform.

Oliver was wearing a black sweatshirt – instead of the official school sweatshirt, and white trainers instead of black shoes.

Hayley Dainton with son Oliver (Image: Bristol Live)

Hayley got really mad because she believes the school, Hanham Woods Academy in Bristol, should have been more considerate. She explained how the only store that sells the official uniform was closed for personal shopping because of the pandemic and only allows online purchasing. She added how she struggled to collect the money for the fancy uniform all summer and when she paid for it she was told it would be delivered within 10 days.

“Oliver was very smart, and I really tried to get him looking the part. He had a shirt, he had a black sweatshirt and he was able to borrow his big sister’s tie as she’s not back in til next week,” Hayley said. “It is a real struggle for parents on a budget to be able to afford this expensive school uniform and shoes, and I’ve been saving up as much as I could all summer.

The school offered Oliver another student’s uniform but he refused to wear it given the coronavirus.

“Most schools have relaxed their uniform policy until next term, as they understand the struggles parents have had with uniform orders because of the pandemic. My son has not got off to a good start at all, and it’s all down to being picked on about uniform,” she added. “He hasn’t even seen inside his classroom.”

Hayley, who is a mother of five, who all attend school, says it’s hard for her to get things sorted and the school’s rules aren’t making things easier for her.

Hanham Woods Academy’s principal Steve Kneller spoke of the incident and said the school is helping those parents who can’t afford uniforms if they ask for it. “At Hanham Woods Academy we pride ourselves on having high expectations, including smart appearance, and were delighted at how well our new Year 7 students arrived at the academy yesterday (Wednesday) and our Year 11 students today.

“Where families ask us for support with uniform, we do of course ensure that we offer support, including providing uniform for those most who need it.

“We look forward to welcoming all of our remaining students back to school next week – we are genuinely excited to see them.”

What do you think of this? Do you believe schools shouldn’t be so strict regarding following uniform rules during these hard times for the society?

15-year-old boy nearly blinded after being victim of bullying attack school fails to prevent

By
Monica Pop
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Bullying is a serious problem that has to be addressed with great caution as it may lead to children suffering terrible physical and psychological consequences their whole life. Being a victim of bullying results in low self-esteem, and parents of these children are not always aware what their kids are going through until it’s too late for something to be done.

Schools are trying hard to put a stop to this “phenomenon,” but as it turns out, some fail big in handling this problem, like the Merrill Academy in Derbyshire, UK, a boy named Nathaniel Dryden attends.

This boy has been the target of bullies most of his life. But it was in January of this year that things got out of control so much that Nathaniel ended up nearly losing his eye. Namely, as he was walking along the school hall one day, a boy punched him all of a sudden. The rest of the kids found that amusing, with one of them even filming the whole thing. Soon after, the video of Nathaniel being attacked was all over Facebook. That’s how his mom learned of the incident. She went to her son’s school and asked for the bully to be punished for what he did.

The principal assured her they will deal with the problem, but all they really did was suspend the bully for a few days. That’s when things turned even worse. The boy blamed Nathaniel for his suspension and decided to punch him again, but this time he did it so hard that Nathaniel’s glasses broke and a piece of glass ended inside his skin closely to his eye.

The injury was severe and blood could be seen all over the place. Poor Nathaniel was rushed to the hospital and doctors said he was lucky he didn’t lose his eye.

Nathaniel’s dad, Mike, said how his son is devastated and doesn’t want to get back to school again because he’s too afraid. He believes this all happened because the school, precisely the school principal, Paul Beedle, failed to stop the bullying and didn’t react properly the first time. He, on the other hand, assured Mike how the school dealt with the bully since Nathaniel ended up in the hospital with a huge scar.

Nathaniel’s parents don’t trust the school and asked from the police to investigate the matter. They are still investigating and no charges have been filed so far.

We honestly hope sweet Nathaniel will be able to put his ordeal behind and will be much happier in his new school.

As for the Merrill Academy, parents believe they are obviously not doing most of the things right. Soon after the incident with Nathaniel took place, three students have been assaulted in a racist incident. Back in 2019, one of this school’s assistant professors was charged with sexual assault of a child and was jailed for nine months.

It looks like all this school is interested in is preventing students from violating the dress code. Sadly, if that is all they care for and put the real problems aside, students will feel insecure and unprotected.

Junior shag dancers win the first place with fancy footwork and dizzying spins

By
Monica Pop
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I guess we can never get enough of unique and vibrant shag dance routines that always make our day.

Well, this time we wanted to share with you a mesmerizing video of a shag dance by two teenagers who won the 2017 Grand National Overall Junior Shag Dance Championship.

YouTube Screenshot

Mack West and Trinity Davis were just 14 and 13 years old respectively when they stunned the audience at the competition and later the whole country.

The shag dance is really fun to watch and looks relatively easy, but that’s only because those performing it are not just talented but also spend a huge amount of time and energy at excelling their moves. It is believed that this dance style emerged and was very popular during the 1920’s and 30’s in the Carolinas. Later, during the 1950’s, it was something very often seen being performed on the Carolina beaches. However, after that period, shag lost its popularity up until the 1970’s when people turned to it again. It is a two-person, male-led dance with a basic step that allows much room for improvisation and imagination. In fact, the more creativity the shag dancers involve, the better their routine is.

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What Mack and Trinity had to offer was an incredible performance. It’s not surprising they ended up winning the competition. Besides the “classic” moves, they added unique steps.

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Some people commented on Trinity’s outfit saying she shouldn’t have worn pants so long because they couldn’t see her feet, but others say that only added to the beauty of the dance. The music they chose, Kelley Hunt’s 2002 celebrated blues hit “Queen of the 88s,” was the perfect choice for these teen shag dancers to show what they can with their bodies.

“…my oh my, they lit up the room. Bravo. And Bravo to their coach and parents. Nothing but good things should come to them in their dancing futures,” one person wrote. Their performance was light, effortless, and fun. And yes, Trinity wouldn’t stop smiling so we can say they enjoyed the whole thing as well.

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Take a look at their winning shag dance performance in the video below. You are going to love it!

Veteran disfigured by sniper in Iraq meets 5-year-old girl who volunteers for vets, calls her a hero

By
Kelly White
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Charities are a wonderful thing, and although most of us give to charity at some point in life, or even give our time volunteering to help, it’s rare we actually get to see the people that these charities help.

Temperance Pattinson has been helping charity organisations for war veterans since she was the tender age of three, but she too never got the chance to meet with a real war hero and have a chat, until this one day!
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Help for Heroes, the charity, wanted to raise awareness and had the great idea of letting Temperance meet a real life veteran, the very person who she has been helping, and many more like him! It’s an incredibly heart wrenching online series that’s called “Facing It Together”. So, to meet with Temperance was Simon Brown, a war veteran who was on tour in Iraq. Simon had no clue what to expect from the young girl, come charity worker, but he was very keen to share his storey and explain what it was about her selfless kindness, thought, and work, that was so well felt by the many soldiers in need. At the point that Simon was on Iraqi soil, and was shot by an enemy sniper, way back in 2006, he was in his mid 20’s. After the injury he was not able to provide for himself any more as he was almost completely blind. After over 20 surgeries and many hours under the knife SImon was finally able to return to a relatively normal life again.
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In a deeply emotive moment, Simon explained what had happened when he finally returned to England with his injury.

“When I came home I found out that I’d lost my sight and I had to rebuild my life after being told that I was going to be a blind man and leave the army.”

Temperance was not only unfazed by Simon’s appearance but she was completely drawn into his storey, it was evident that she really understood that this was someone who was not only a war hero, but who also needed our help desperately. Simon listened intently as Temperance told the story of why she decided to take part in the charity events.

“Even though I didn’t know any of the soldiers, I just thought that they did something for us! I thought I could give a present back to them by raising them money.”

Temperance just wanted to show her genuine support to the heroes who keep her safe and sound and hopefully it will inspire many more young people too!
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Watch their really amazing video yourself here:

Comedian Amy Schumer on her pregnancy, breastfeeding, and losing weight after giving birth

By
Monica Pop
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When it comes to Amy Schumer, you either love her or hate her. And while some say she’s a pretty cool person who isn’t afraid to speak her mind on many topics that are still considered a taboo, others say she sometimes crosses the line.

No matter which group you belong to, you have to agree that Amy causes stir with her honesty.

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This good-looking comedian and actress first caught the attention of the wide public after she landed her show, Inside Amy Schumer, on Comedy Central in 2013. Two years later, she had her film debut in Trainwreck.

Despite being successful at what she does, Amy is also a feminist who inspires many women from all over the world. She’s been one of the few actresses who spoke openly of the struggles of pregnancy and breastfeeding as well as losing weight after giving birth.

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She and husband Chris Fischer welcomed their first baby into the world in 2019.

Throughout the whole time, Amy made sure she shared lots of photos of her big belly so many waited the arrival of sweet baby boy Gene Attell Fischer with anticipation.

In fact, while pregnant, Amy was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, a form of extreme morning sickness. She shared her journey with her fans and spoke of her ups and downs. She even shared a video on Instagram just to highlight the severity of her condition which led for her to be hospitalized a couple of times during her pregnancy.

Once the little bundle of joy came into her life, Amy faced a challenge many mothers have a hard time responding to; breastfeeding.

She knew this topic bothered many, so she decided to break the stigma around it and asked moms not to feel guilty if they fail breastfeeding their little ones. For some moms it works just perfectly, for others it requires extra effort, and that’s fine.

“I had a lactation expert; he [baby Gene] didn’t latch, and I just didn’t feel that push to make that happen. I pumped for the first month or something and then I was like, not for me, this is not for me, I didn’t want to do it,” she said in an interview with the Informed Pregnancy podcast.

“I really encourage women — there’s so much pressure to breastfeed but really, it’s all in your head. Some people absolutely love it and I’m so happy for them but it was bumming me out. Once it occurred to me that I could stop, I was like, ‘I’m going stop.”

Just five weeks after giving birth, Amy posted a photo of her because she wanted other moms to know that it’s perfectly okay not to bounce back to their old selves and their pre-pregnancy bodies right away.

“I just rejected it right away because it seemed so unrealistic to me. I remember posting pictures afterwards, [and] I was still wearing my hospital underwear because I stole every pair I possibly could. It’s so hard to have a baby, and then after, you have to take care of the baby. Even though I had a baby nurse — I had all the possible help you can have — it’s still really hard,” she told Buzzfeed.

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Here’s what I’ve been up to this week. I was hospitalized for 5 days with a horrible kidney infection. I want to give a big thank you to the doctors, the bad ass nurses also my husband who’s name is, i want to say, Chris? and my sisters Kimby and mol who have been by my side the whole time. I wanted to share this with you because this is sexy as hell but mostly because I was meant to go to London for the opening of I Feel Pretty and my doctors have told me that’s a no go. I’m really disappointed selfishly to miss this trip because I love London and Europe in general and all the great people (food) there. But I need to put my health first. I am so grateful for all the support the movie is getting. I hope people check it out in England and everywhere else in the world. It’s sweet and fun and you will walk out feeling better. Which is something I hope to feel soon too.

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Luckily, she got help from her friend Serena Williams.

”I also was lucky enough to talk to Serena Williams on the phone. She was patient with herself, and she’s the one who had to get back to playing tennis. So between my friends and the promises I made to myself, I was like, ‘I am in no rush.’

“It’s now 14 months later, and I’m still in no rush. Someone could think that I’m in my second trimester. I’m not even joking. I really don’t feel any shame about that,” Amy said.

We are sure what Amy had to share about her pregnancy and the period that followed helped many moms cope with the challenges easily. We do need more women like her who remind us that after all, we are just human beings and we are allowed to feel fragile every now and then.

Baby girl born with strange lump on her neck – mom snaps photo as it grows bigger and bigger

By
Monica Pop
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With the joy of welcoming a baby into the world comes a dose of fear of whether everything would be okay with the bundle of joy.

When 21-year-old Paige Franks gave birth to her baby daughter Mila, she noticed how the girl had a strange lump on the back of her neck. This made the young mother worried sick. No matter how much she wanted to believe it wasn’t anything serious, the thought that the lump could be cancer obsessed her.

“I thought she had cancer. You see a lump and you just assume. I was in bits and in tears. For the first few weeks I thought she was going to die. It was really scary.”

So, the first thing Paige did was bring sweet Mila for a check up. The relief came when doctors told her there was nothing she should be worried about. It turned out the lump, that already grew to the size of a tennis ball, was a birthmark.

This surprised Paige who has never heard of or seen such a birthmark before.

According to the doctors, Mila had a congenital hemangioma which is a result of tangled blood vessels that grow under the baby’s skin.

Wikipedia

Paige, however, wanted to make sure everything was going to be just fine, so she would measure the lump and would always be extra cautious when Mila was around people. She feared those who wanted to touch her and carry her could touch the lump and even rupture it by mistake so before going out, Paige always wrapped the lump in cotton wool.

“It was like another head. One of my friends joked that it could have been a twin but obviously it wasn’t,” Paige said in an interview.

Over the next couple of months, the lump started to shrink. Eventually, it disappeared completely.

We are very glad everything turned for the best for Mila and her mom at the end.

This Singer’s Version of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” Is Enchantingly Beautiful

By
Monica Pop
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Whether you are a fan of country music or not, the name Patsy Cline sure rings the bell. This woman’s out-of-this world vocal skills made her one of the best female singers and her hits are still sang by many artists. However, not many can achieve her greatness and the smoothness with which she brought her music out to the world.

“I’ve Loved and Lost Again,” “Walkin’ After Midnight,” and “Crazy” are just some of the hits that reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides charts.

Source: Wikipedia

But, no matter how much we argue against anyone ever getting even close to Patsy’s voice and the manner of interpreting her songs, a woman named Casi Joy proved us wrong. Her performance of “Crazy” has already been seen by more than 85,000 people and the resemblance with Cline is uncanny.

Many agree that even her movements remind one of those of Cline. After the video was shared online, Joy was dubbed the modern-day version of Cline and the smoothness in her voice only confirmed her undeniable talent.

Source: YouTube Screenshot/Casi Joy

What people couldn’t help but notice is that the song is delivered in the same sad and touching manner Cline used to sang it. It’s obvious this woman sings from the heart and that might be one of the reasons why her video spread like a wildfire.

Source: YouTube Screenshot/Casi Joy

The piano music and the warm atmosphere in the background only added to the overall experience. “I’m really critical when it comes to covers of this song and this one absolutely rules,” one person wrote. “This is the best cover song of Patsy Cline I have heard yet,” another added.

Source: YouTube Screenshot/Casi Joy

Honestly, we have to agree, because this rendition truly is the best we’ve ever stumbled upon and we had to share it with you. Take a look at it in the video below.

Carpenter lives frugally his whole life, spends his savings to fund poor students’ college

By
Monica Pop
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Many people live by the belief that every single day should be spent like it’s their last and spend all the money they earn on luxury and good stuff. There are also those who live frugally and believe in saving money for some better times. One person who belonged to the latter is a man named Dale Shroeder. Those who knew him describe him as a thrifty man who earned his fortune by hard work only. 

Shroeder worked as a carpenter for the same company his whole life and managed to save a lot of money. In fact, when he retired he had $3 million in his bank account. 

He wasn’t stingy, nor mean, he was just used to the life of saving. 

But then, the question that bothered him was where he could spend all the money he earned throughout the years. Unable to clarify his thoughts, he decided to contact a lawyer and ask for advice. 

The lawyer told him that in case of his death, everything he had would go in the hands of the government because he never got married and didn’t have any children or relatives. 

This humble man didn’t like that idea only because he was convinced that the money he had could be used more wisely. 

When asked by the lawyer why he even saved that amount and didn’t actually spend it on things he liked, Shroeder shared with him his life story.

It turned out that this man’s family was very poor and he never got to attend college because his parents couldn’t afford it. That’s when he promised himself that he would do everything in his power to give his kids the chance to go to university. Sadly, as he didn’t have any children, he had no idea what to do with the savings.

The lawyer, however, knew exactly where the money should be spent. He told Shroeder that he can set up a fund for kids who desperately want to continue with their education but have no chance to do so because they simply can’t afford it. Shroeder was thrilled by what he heard and his answer to that idea was a resounding yes. 

The scholarship fund was activated after Shroeder’s death in 2005 and from that moment on more than 33 students from his home town were given the chance to attend college and make their dream come true. 

Among all these young people is a girl named Kira Conrad. She comes from a poor family with just one parent and three sisters. 

Kira always wanted to become a therapist but she knew that wasn’t possible despite being an excellent student. 

Just when she quit on her goals, someone called her on the phone and told her that Shroeder’s foundation is covering the expenses of her studying. She was over the moon and couldn’t believe that because of a man who passed years ago she will be given the chance to pursue the career she always dreamed of. 

The only condition the beneficiaries of Shroeder’s fund should fulfill is put some money aside for other children in need once they become successful people. We believe that’s fair enough. 

Take a look at the whole story of the man who restored our faith in humanity. Rest in peace Mr. Shroeder, you are a hero and an inspiration. 

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