EIFFEL TOWER - 31st MARCH 1889

The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. It was completed on 31 March 1889 and took two years, two months, and five days to build.

Who designed the Eiffel Tower?

Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel,

Why was the Eiffel Tower built?

The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution.

How tall is the Eiffel Tower?

The tower stands at 324 m (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-story building. It was the tallest structure in the world from its completion until 1930, when it was eclipsed by the Chrysler Building in New York City.

What is the Eiffel Tower made from?

The Eiffel Tower is built of pure iron.

CHANGING THE CLOCKS IN UK - 29th MARCH

In the UK, we all change our clocks and watches by one hour, twice a year. Last Sunday in March We add an hour and go onto what is called British Summer Time (BST). Last Sunday in October We put our clocks back one hour and adhere to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). At 1 am (01:00) GMT on the last Sunday in March we move our clocks forward by one hour for the start of British Summer Time. Summer time is from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October. 

 Why do we change our clocks?

We've been changing our clocks forwards and backwards in the UK since 1916. It's all to do with saving the hours of daylight, and was started by a man called William Willett, a London builder, who lived in Petts Wood in Kent (near our school). William Willett first proposed the idea of British Summer Time in 1907 in a pamphlet entitled 'The Waste of Daylight'. Willett had noticed that the summer mornings light was wasted while people slept, and that the time would be better utilised in the afternoon by putting the clocks forward. After campaigning for years the British Government finally adopted the system a year after Willett's 

 When do other countries change their clocks? 

 European Union - Most countries change their clocks on the last Sundays of March and October. North America and most of Canada on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. Egypt, Namibia and Tunisia are the only African countries who observe daylight saving. New Zealand and parts of Australia are the only countries in Oceania that currently put their clocks forwards and backward

WORLD THEATRE DAY - 27th MARCH

Created in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI), World Theatre Day is celebrated annually on March 27 by ITI Centers and the international theatre community. Various national and international theatre events are organized to mark this occasion, such as the creation and circulation of the World Theatre Day International Message through which, at the invitation of ITI, a figure of world stature shares his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. The author of the Message of World Theatre Day 2015 is the Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski!

World Theater Day Message 2015

The true masters of the theater are most easily found far from the stage. And they generally have no interest in theater as a machine for replicating conventions and reproducing clichés. They search out the pulsing source, the living currents that tend to bypass performance halls and the throngs of people bent on copying some world or another. We copy instead of create worlds that are focused or even reliant on debate with an audience, on emotions that swell below the surface. And actually there is nothing that can reveal hidden passions better than the theater.  

Most often I turn to prose for guidance.  Day in and day out I find myself thinking about writers who nearly one hundred years ago described prophetically but also restrainedly the decline of the European gods, the twilight that plunged our civilization into a darkness that has yet to be illumined. I am thinking of Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann and Marcel Proust. Today I would also count John Maxwell Coetzee among that group of prophets.

Their common sense of the inevitable end of the world—not of the planet but of the model of human relations—and of social order and upheaval, is poignantly current for us here and now. For us who live after the end of the world. Who live in the face of crimes and conflicts that daily flare in new places faster even than the ubiquitous media can keep up. These fires quickly grow boring and vanish from the press reports, never to return. And we feel helpless, horrified and hemmed in. We are no longer able to build towers, and the walls we stubbornly construct do not protect us from anything—on the contrary, they themselves demand protection and care that consumes a great part of our life energy. We no longer have the strength to try and glimpse what lies beyond the gate, behind the wall. And that’s exactly why theater should exist and where it should seek its strength. To peek inside where looking is forbidden.

 “The legend seeks to explain what cannot be explained. Because it is grounded in truth, it must end in the inexplicable”—this is how Kafka described the transformation of the Prometheus legend.  I feel strongly that the same words should describe the theater. And it is that kind of theater, one which is grounded in truth and which finds its end in the inexplicable that I wish for all its workers, those on the stage and those in the audience, and I wish that with all my heart.

Krzysztof Warlikowski

WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY - 23rd MARCH

This year, the theme is:

"Weather and climate: engaging youth."

Each year, on 23 March, the World Meteorological Organization, its 189 Members and the worldwide meteorological community celebrate World Meteorological Day around a chosen theme. This day commemorates the entry into force, on that date in 1950, of the WMO Convention creating the Organization. Subsequently, in 1951, WMO was designated a specialized agency of the United Nations System.

This video-clip was presented on the occasion of the World Meteorological Day 2011 (23 March) to launch the Puppet Planet Project. It is a UN initiative launched by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),  to promote climate literacy and the creative economy. The goal is to encourage action to address climate challenges, while promoting cultural diversity, sustainable development and the creative industries in developing countries.

WORLD WATER DAY - 22nd MARCH

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres.   When a billion people in the world already live in chronic hunger and water resources are under pressure we cannot pretend the problem is ‘elsewhere’. Coping with population growth and ensuring access to nutritious food to everyone call for a series of actions we can all help with: follow a healthier, sustainable diet; consume less water-intensive products; reduce the scandalous food wastage: 30% of the food produced worldwide is never eaten and the water used to produce it is definitively lost! produce more food, of better quality, with less water. At all steps of the supply chain, from producers to consumers, actions can be taken to save water and ensure food for all. And you? Do you know how much water you actually consume every day? How can you change your diet and reduce your water footprint? Join the World Water Day 2012 campaign “Water and Food Security” and find out more! World Water Day and One Drop team-up to create new game! The World Water Day Team have joined up with One Drop to create a new game which teaches you how much water is needed to create your meal, while ensuring that you get the nutrition you need.

                            

ST JOSEPH'S DAY - 19th MARCH

Saint Joseph's Day, also known as Fallas de San José, honors St Joseph, the Virgin Mary's spouse. It is held annually on March 19. This date is also known as Father's Day (Día del Padre) in many areas in Spain.

Some people attend special church services to honor the life of St Joseph. St Joseph's Day also celebrates fathers. Many people make a special effort to visit their father or father figures. Some people also take fathers or father figures to a restaurant or give Father's Day gifts.

Fallas (or falles) are constructed, displayed and ceremonially burnt in many towns and villages in the autonomous community of Valencia, including the city of Valencia. Fallas are elaborate scenes made of papier-mâché and cardboard. One is chosen by popular vote each year to be preserved in the regional museum. The rest are burnt during fireworks displays in the evening of March 19.

The tradition of constructing and burning fallas arose at some stage in the Middle Ages. Carpenters burnt broken pieces of work and remnants of wood collected during the winter to celebrate the spring equinox. At some point, the fires were moved to St Joseph's Day as he is the patron saint of carpenters.

Ninots and fallas are important symbols of Saint Joseph's Day in Valencia. Ninots are figures made of papier-mâché and cardboard. They are carefully constructed and usually life-sized or larger. A group of ninots based on a particular theme is assembled into a falla. A falla is a collection of ninots to make a scene depicting a story or situation. It is usually filled with firecrackers and fireworks.

The theme of a falla may be political or touch on controversial or taboo issues in Spanish society.

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY ACTIVITIES

Here you have activities about Saint Patrick. Have fun!

SAINT PATRICK'S QUIZ

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY QUIZ 2

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY QUIZ 3

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY SYMBOLS

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY TREASURE HUNT

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY READING

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY UNSCRAMBLE

PAST CONTINUOUS

Use of the past continuous

Activities

Click here and do the exercises: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

 

MOTHERING SUNDAY - MARCH 15th

Mothering Sunday - The UK's version of Mother's Day - 15th March 2015

What is Mothering Sunday?

Mothering Sunday in the UK is the equivalent of Mothers' Day in other countries.

What happens on Mothering Sunday in the UK?

Mothering Sunday is a time when children pay respect to their Mothers. Children often give their Mothers a gift and a card.

When is Mothering Sunday (Mother's Day)?

Mothering Sunday (Mother's Day) is always the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Why is Mothering Sunday on different dates each year?

Mothering Sunday is not a fixed day because it is always the middle Sunday in Lent (which lasts from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Sunday). This means that Mother's Day in the UK will fall on different dates each year and sometimes even fall in different months.

Mothering Sunday has been celebrated in the UK on the fourth Sunday in Lent since at least the 16th century.

The History behind Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday was also known as 'Refreshment Sunday', Pudding Pie Sunday (in Surrey, England) or 'Mid-Lent Sunday'. It was a day in Lent when the fasting rules were relaxed, in honour of the 'Feeding of the Five Thousand', a story in the Christian Bible.

THE DAILY COURANT

On the 11th March 1702, Britain’s first newspaper – the Daily Courant – began publishing from rooms above the White Hart pub in Fleet Street. It was more like a leaflet than a newspaper as it was just a single page with two collumns.

Fleet Street

Publishing started in Fleet Street around 1500 when William Caxton's apprentice, Wynkyn de Worde, set up a printing shop near Shoe Lane.

Fleet Street was the home of the British press until the 1980s. Most of the major national papers were located here. Since the digital printing revolution, most have moved, and only Reuters remains. The Times and The Sun moved to Wapping. The Guardian went to the Isle of Dogs, and the rest went to London’s Docklands.

Fleet Street is named after the Fleet River, one of the many rivers that now flow beneath London's streets to the Thames.

Who was WilliamCaxton?

William Caxton was the first English person to work as a printer and the first person to introduce a printing press into England.

MAKE YOUR OWN PIZZA