26/03/2014 Newsround

It's Wednesday the 26th of March, Ayshah here. Coming up on this

morning's Newsround. I'm happy he's doing it but I'm sad he's gone.

We hear from a front line family about missing their Dad fighting in

Afghanistan. It's all blue in Manchester as City

thump their local rivals 3-0. First up though - many of you in

England and Wales will be off school today as thousands of teachers go on

strike. Members of the National Union of Teachers aren't going into

work today in protest over changes that the government wants to make to

their pay, and how much they work. The government says by not going to

work teachers are damaging children's learning, but the union

says they've been forced into it, because talks about the issue were

not working. Next, people in the armed forces

often move around for their job and can get sent away for months at a

time to fight in war zones abroad. For families left behind, it can be

a worrying time, but modern technology helps to stay in touch.

We've been to see three girls whose dad is away in Afghanistan with the

Royal Air Force to find out what life is like for them.

Sisters Emily, Kiera and Lucy and are used to their dad working away

with the RAF, but sometimes life in a military family is hard. My dad is

in the RAF and right now he is in Afghanistan and it's around by

Pakistan and Iraq which are desert places. And his job is he makes sure

the runways are safe before certain planes fly off from certain places

and he has meetings with people about it and he has to make sure

we're all safe back here. I'm proud of him but I just wish he was here,

that's the thing, so I'm happy that he's doing it, but I'm sad that he's

gone. It's hard to cope when he's away. Lucy and Keira have got their

charts and things they look at and it shows like where abouts he

actually is and things like that. The girls can keep in touch with

letters, phone calls and video chats. Their dad Matt even managed

to make an appearance at Christmas dinner, despite the fact he was in

Afghanistan. On Christmas day, we definitely tried not to look at the

down side of things. We tried to be really happy, and we were actually

really lucky to get through to him, because some families couldn't get

through to their mums or dads in Afghanistan because of the amount of

people using the internet. But even with the help of technology, the

girls say missing their dad and worrying about him is difficult. I

don't really like watching the news because I don't really want to see

what's happening there if something's bad happened. So that's

what makes me upset as well, if he's going to get hurt or injured.

When they're feeling upset, the girls pull together to cheer each

other up. I tell them not to worry because he'll be home soon.

Now at last the waiting is over. Dad Matt is arriving home early from his

tour, but the girls don't know he's back so soon. Surprise! It's all

right, you don't need to get up. And there's a special 15-minute

programme all about children from military families right here on CBBC

this afternoon. That's front line Families, a Newsround special at

5.30pm. Space news now, and we have liftoff.

The 07:25 26/03/2014 blasted off in spectacular fashion last night from

its launch pad in Kazakhstan. One American astronaut and two Russian

cosmonauts are on board. An engine problem has delayed their arrival at

the International Space Station, but NASA say that the crew are in no

danger. They're expected to arrive on Thursday night.

Sport now, and Manchester City sit just three points behind leaders

Chelsea in the Premier League, with two games in hand, after a 3-0 win

over their rivals United last night. A goal from Edin Dzeko within the

first minute of the game set the tone for a one-sided contest at Old

Trafford. He picked up another in the second half before Yaya Toure

sent the Blue half of Manchester wild in the dying seconds.

But there was more bad news for Arsenal, who could only manage a

draw away to Swansea. A Mathieux Flamini own goal left the final

score 2-2. Arsene Wenger's side are fourth in the table, six points off

top spot. And Everton are hot on the Gunners'

heels after a slick 3-0 win away at Newcastle. England's Ross Barkley

ran from within his own half to score the first goal for the

Toffees, sending them fifth in the table. That's all from me, See you

in around 30, when we'll hear from one of England's best footballers of

the last decade, Mr Frank Lampard, on how he's trying to get kids

excited about reading.