Ralph Fiennes at the Talanoa Talks

Going, Going, by Philip Larkin

I thought it would last my time—

The sense that, beyond the town,

There would always be fields and farms,

Where the village louts could climb

Such trees as were not cut down;

I knew there’d be false alarms

In the papers about old streets

And split level shopping, but some

Have always been left so far;

And when the old part retreats

As the bleak high-risers come

We can always escape in the car.

Things are tougher than we are, just

As earth will always respond

However we mess it about;

Chuck filth in the sea, if you must:

The tides will be clean beyond.

—But what do I feel now? Doubt?

Or age, simply? The crowd

Is young in the M1 cafe;

Their kids are screaming for more—

More houses, more parking allowed,

More caravan sites, more pay.

On the Business Page, a score

Of spectacled grins approve

Some takeover bid that entails

Five per cent profit (and ten

Per cent more in the estuaries): move

Your works to the unspoilt dales

(Grey area grants)! And when

You try to get near the sea

In summer . . .

       It seems, just now,

To be happening so very fast;

Despite all the land left free

For the first time I feel somehow

That it isn’t going to last,

That before I snuff it, the whole

Boiling will be bricked in

Except for the tourist parts—

First slum of Europe: a role

It won’t be hard to win,

With a cast of crooks and tarts.

And that will be England gone,

The shadows, the meadows, the lanes,

The guildhalls, the carved choirs.

There’ll be books; it will linger on

In galleries; but all that remains

For us will be concrete and tyres.

Most things are never meant.

This won’t be, most likely; but greeds

And garbage are too thick-strewn

To be swept up now, or invent

Excuses that make them all needs.

I just think it will happen, soon.

A Poem on Hope, by Wendell Berry

It is hard to have hope. It is harder as you grow old, 
for hope must not depend on feeling good 
and there’s the dream of loneliness at absolute midnight. 
You also have withdrawn belief in the present reality 
of the future, which surely will surprise us, 
and hope is harder when it cannot come by prediction 
anymore than by wishing. But stop dithering. 
The young ask the old to hope. What will you tell them? 
Tell them at least what you say to yourself.

Because we have not made our lives to fit 
our places, the forests are ruined, the fields, eroded, 
the streams polluted, the mountains, overturned. Hope 
then to belong to your place by your own knowledge 
of what it is that no other place is, and by 
your caring for it, as you care for no other place, this 
knowledge cannot be taken from you by power or by wealth. 
It will stop your ears to the powerful when they ask 
for your faith, and to the wealthy when they ask for your land
and your work.  Be still and listen to the voices that belong 
to the stream banks and the trees and the open fields.

Find your hope, then, on the ground under your feet. 

Your hope of Heaven, let it rest on the ground underfoot. 

The world is no better than its places. Its places at last 

are no better than their people while their people 

continue in them. When the people make 

dark the light within them, the world darkens.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Something just like this

“Something Just Like This”, a song about a relationship that 

doesn’t need to be superhumanly perfect.

"Something Just like This" is a song by American electronic music duo The Chainsmokers and British rock band Coldplay. It was released on 22nd February 2017 as the second single from The Chainsmokers' debut album, Memories...Do Not Open, and as the lead single from Coldplay's thirteenth extended play Kaleidoscope. "Something Just like This" was used as the theme for the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.

The song is written in the key of D Major and has a tempo of 103 beats per minute in common time. It follows a chord progression of G(add9)–Asus–Bm–Asus, and the vocals span two octaves, from G2 to G4.

The Chainsmokers: “Something Just Like This” is about a relationship that doesn’t need to be superhumanly perfect, an ordinary love, a love everyone deserves like the boy on the cover art whose childhood memories are now boxed up. Coldplay is one of our biggest inspirations and this song was an absolute dream come true to make. The song, for the most part, was created during our first meeting with Chris Martin. We found some chords that everyone loved and then Chris plugged a mic into the PA in the studio and freestyled for an hour. This song was the result. We’ve never seen a song written in such a stream of consciousness. It’s hard to maintain your identity when working with such an established artist but we feel this song is great balance between both us and Coldplay.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

The Start of the Rest of Your Lives

Don't let anyone rush you with their timelines

Alright, everyone looking forward, please.

Good morning, Year Elevens, today’s assembly is about the start of a journey. The start of the rest of your lives. In 2 years’ time all of you will be finishing your A Levels. In 3 years’ time you’ll be studying across the world, studying at the university of your choice. In 5 years’ time you’ll have started your careers. Many of you will be in this room working for the top institutions across the globe. You will then get married, you then may buy a house. In 10 years’ time your life will be set for you. In 15 years you’ll be 30 and from then on your path, your life will be set.

I’m sorry, Mr. Headmaster, let me tell you why that approach may fail you. I know people who graduated at 21 and didn’t get a job until they were 27. I know people who graduated late at 25 and they found work immediately. I know people who never went to university, but found what they love at 18. I know people who found a job straight out of college making decent money, but hate what they do. I know people who took gap years and found their purpose. I know people who were so sure about what they were going to do at 16, they change their mind at 26. I know people who have children but are single, and I know people who are married but had to wait 8 to 10 years to have children. I know people in relationships who love someone else. I know people who love each other but aren’t together... So my point is everything in life happens according to our time, our clock. You may look at some of your friends and think that they’re ahead of you, maybe some of them you feel are behind, but everything happens at their own pace. They have their own time and clock and so do you. Be patient. At age 25, Mark Cuban was a bartender in Dallas. It took till 32 for J.K. Rowling to be published for Harry Potter after being rejected by 12 publishers. Ortega launched Zara when he was 39. Jack Ma started Alibaba when he was 35. Morgan Freeman got his big break at 52. Steve Carell only got his break after 40 years old. Virgin was started by Richard Branson at 34. Getting your degree after 25 is still an achievement. Not being married at 30 but still happy is beautiful. Starting a family after 35 is still possible, and buying a house after 40 is still great. Don’t let anyone rush you with their timelines. Because as Einstein said, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that’s counted truly counts.” And this is the most important thing, I want you to be able to create meaningful, purposeful, fulfilling lives for yourselves, and learn how to use that to make an impact and a difference in the lives of others. That, will be true success.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

The Hole in the Road

So often, we follow the same habits of mind over and over again... But imagine if you started just noticing, being more aware of your surroundings...

It's hard to change something that you can't see. This story demonstrates that awareness is the first step toward positive change, in our minds, and in our lives. It's great motivation for your meditation practice, and the perfect reminder to ... look out for that hole!

Stop and think just for a moment... for you, in your life, what is that hole?

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Ilas Cíes: treasured islands, by Oliver Balch

(Reproduced from The Guardian)

Illas Cíes are home to one of Spain’s finest beaches, but have no cars, no hotels and visitor numbers are strictly limited

As with all the best adventures, we never actually intended to go to the Islas Cíes. The beaches of northern Galicia were our destination. Well, they were until my wife clicked her weather app and saw blanket rain for a week. Suddenly we weren’t going north after all.

Travelling up from Portugal, we had got as far as the industrial port city of Vigo, which has a sunnier climate than northern Galicia. Without delay, we hit the internet in search of a plan B. One option kept popping up: the Islas Cíes (Illas Cíes in Galician) off the west coast. The images looked amazing: crystalline waters, tree-lined coasts, forest-covered mountains and white beaches.

All the same, I wasn’t convinced. For one, I had never heard of them. Second, was a near-uninhabited archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean really where we wanted to spend our holidays? There were no cars, no nightlife, no hotels and nothing to stop my kids landing up in Newfoundland should they happen to get swept out by the tide.

Metaphors, mathematics & the imagination, by Roger Antonsen

Mathematics is about finding patterns, representing patterns, making assumptions, and changing perspectives. In this talk, Roger Antonsen highlights the importance of these aspects of mathematics and builds a bridge from metaphors and mathematics to empathy and the imagination.

Roger Antonsen is a researcher, author, mathematician, logician, and computer scientist. He has a PhD in Computer Science and Mathematics, in the field of mathematical logic and proof theory, and he is the author of the book «Logical Methods: The art of abstract and mathematical thinking» (2014).

Through numerous and creative talks, shows, courses, and projects, he combines science, mathematics, and computer science with entertainment, philosophy, and visualizations. In the last years, he has given hundreds of popular science talks, with titles such as "Logic and Games", "Experimental Mathematics", "Coding, Understanding, and Mathematics", "Playing with the Infinite", "Deterministic Chaos and Cellular Automata", and "30 Mathematical Mysteries in 30 Minutes". Presently, Roger works at the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo as a researcher, lecturer, and science communicator. His vision is to communicate science differently, to inspire creative thinking, and to remove the common misconceptions about mathematics and computer science.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

It's never too late

Crazy dreams don't have an age limit. Just ask Marjorie, a late bloomer.

Listen to this videoclip and fill in the blanks:

______________ said I was ______________ to run my first __________ at ______, but that's the ____________ thing about _____________ old: I can just _____________ not to hear _____________.

It's only crazy until you do it: just do it.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Art, Geometry and Mathematics... by a fish!

A tiny Japanese pufferfish creates a grand sand sculpture of mathematical perfection on the featureless seabed by using his fins to dig furrows. He uses this to attract the attention of passing females...

... To attract a female fish, the Japanese pufferfish will work 24 hours a day, for an entire week in a row, to create the most stunning sand art. This most incredible video from BBC Earth gives us a glorious look at nature and fish in particular. After watching this video, people will hopefully look differently not only on fish, but on any other animal species and treat them more kindly.

And now, ESO students, enjoy David Attenborough's mesmerising voice and beautiful accent: it is an utter pleasure to learn from each and every of his carefully chosen words.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Oldies Goldies: Supertramp's "The Logical Song"

"The Logical Song" is a 1979 song performed by the English rock group Supertramp. The song was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Breakfast in America (1979), in March 1979 by A&M Records. "The Logical Song" is Supertramp's biggest chart hit in both the United States and their native United Kingdom. "The Logical Song" rose to No. 7 in the UK and No. 6 in the US Billboard chart.

A perfect example of combination of great lyrics, beat, and instrumentation in a 1979 hit that is constantly ranked in the “top 100 best rock songs”. The song, not unlike others in that period, is a scathing criticism of British school and education at the time: the lyrics have been said to be a condemnation of an education system focused on categorical jargon as opposed to knowledge and sensitivity.

"The Logical Song" was written primarily by Roger Hodgson, the lyrics based on his experience of being sent away to boarding school for ten years. It was a very personal song for Hodgson; he had worked on the song during soundchecks, and completed the lyrics and arrangement six months before proposing it to the band for the album. In 1980, Hodgson was honored with the Ivor Novello Award from The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters for "The Logical Song" being named the best song both musically and lyrically. "The Logical Song" also has the distinction of being one of the most quoted lyrics in schools.

Hodgson has said of the song’s meaning: "'The Logical Song' was born from my questions about what really matters in life. Throughout childhood we are taught all these ways to be and yet we are rarely told anything about our true self. We are taught how to function outwardly, but not guided to who we are inwardly. We go from the innocence and wonder of childhood to the confusion of adolescence that often ends in the cynicism and disillusionment of adulthood. In 'The Logical Song,' the burning question that came down to its rawest place was 'please tell me who I am,' and that's basically what the song is about. I think this eternal question continues to hit such a deep chord in people around the world and why it stays so meaningful."

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful

A miracle, oh, it was beautiful, magical

And all the birds in the trees, well, they'd be singing so happily

Oh, joyfully, oh, playfully watching me

But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible

Logical, oh, responsible, practical

And then they showed me a world where I could be so dependable

Oh, clinical, oh, intellectual, cynical

There are times when all the world's asleep

The questions run too deep

For such a simple man

Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned?

I know it sounds absurd

But please, tell me who I am

I said, now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical

A liberal, oh, fanatical, criminal

Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're acceptable

Respectable, oh, presentable, a vegetable

Oh, take, take, take it, yeah

But at night, when all the world's asleep

The questions run so deep

For such a simple man

Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned?

I know it sounds absurd

But please, tell me who I am

Who I am

Who I am

Who I am

Who I am

'Cause I was feeling so logical

D-d-d-d-d-d-digital

Yeah, one, two, three, five

Oh, oh, oh, oh

Ooh, it's getting unbelievable

Yeah

B-b-bloody marvelous

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non commercial purposes only.

Silence

What it takes to climb the world’s first 9c? Let’s find out in Silence, a movie by Bernardo Giménez. It shows what preceded the afternoon of September 3rd 2017 when Adam Ondra, a professional rock climber and currently one of the best climbers in the world, made a little piece of climbing history.

If you work hard, you may fail;

if you don't work, you have already failed.

The harder I work, the luckier I get.

The only secret to success is work, hard, relentless, daily, stubborn work. Nothing comes easily nor effortlessly, nothing comes for free — not even to the best students, the best artists or top-ranked sportspeople. If you want to succeed in whatever endeavour you take up, the only way is through work: there's no shortcut. If you fail, if you fall, you've got to stand up and fight...

... just as Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma, two of the best climbers in the world, show in these videoclips. Of course, Ondra and Sharma have been gifted by nature, no question about that, but their talent would be completely useless without their work ethics, without their persistence and determination... not to mention careful, conscientious, thorough previous planning and organization, leaving as little as possible to chance and improvisation.

Take a look at the very last shot in the first videoclip when the camera is moving away from the cave and notice how small Ondra is, how small and insignificant all of us are when compared to nature... If you want the best in any walk of life (at school, at sport, at arts, friendship or love), first you've got to give the best.

Take a look now at the second videoclip and count how many times each climber fails and falls down. And what happens? They don't give up, they don't quit, they don't surrender... they try again! And again and again and again! That's the only recipe, that's the only prescription, that's the only way.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

2018/19 Exam Schedule for ESO 2, 3 & 4

Exam schedule for the 2018/19 schoolyear

ESO 2, 3 & 4 Students,

This is your exam schedule for the 2018/19 schoolyear (you can also find a calendar of exams, deadlines and other events at the bottom of this blog):

Please note that all exams and dates are subject to change. PBL's and other tests dates to be confirmed.

DIAGNOSTIC TEST

ESO 2 – Friday 21st September

ESO 3 – Wednesday 19th September

ESO 4 – Wednesday 19th September

1st Term

UNIT 1

ESO 2 – Monday 15th October

ESO 3 – Tuesday 16th October

ESO 4 – Monday 15th October

UNIT 2

ESO 2 – Friday 9th November

ESO 3 – Friday 9th November

ESO 4 – Wednesday 7th November

UNIT 3

ESO 2 – Monday 3rd December

ESO 3 – Wednesday 5th December

ESO 4 – Tuesday 4th December

2nd Term

UNIT 4

ESO 2 – Monday 14th January

ESO 3 – Tuesday 15th January

ESO 4 – Monday 14th January

UNIT 5

ESO 2 – Friday 8th February

ESO 3 – Friday 8th February

ESO 4 – Wednesday 6th February

UNIT 6

ESO 2 – Friday 8th March

ESO 3 – Friday 8th March

ESO 4 – Monday 11th March

3rd Term

UNIT 7

ESO 2 – Friday 5th April

ESO 3 – Friday 5th April

ESO 4 – Monday 8th April

UNIT 8

ESO 2 – Friday 10th May

ESO 3 – Friday 10th May

ESO 4 – Wednesday 8th May

UNIT 9

ESO 2 – Friday 7th June

ESO 3 – Friday 7th June

ESO 4 – Monday 10th June

FINAL REMEDIAL EXAM

ESO 2 - Thursday 13th, 10:45

ESO 3 - Friday 14th, 10:45

ESO 4 - Monday 17th, 10:45

Alternative Math - Short Film

A well meaning Maths teacher finds herself trumped by a post-fact America.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

The power of 'yet'

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Who?

We would like to know who the pirate girl is:

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

"To Parents", by Christine Jones

As a teacher, what are things you wish you could tell your students’ parents?

By Christine Jones, Middle School Science Teacher

(Reblogged from Quora)

I wish I could hand out the following wish list to parents of my middle school students:

1. PLEASE take the cell phone away after 9:00pm. They are texting and looking at YouTube all night long. They aren't getting enough sleep.
2. Please check your child's grades online, and look at the report cards. Don't ask what they can do to improve their grade the last week of school. It's too late.
3. Please return our phone calls. If we are calling, it's important. We don't have time to waste calling for no reason, and we need your help.
4. Please stop saying "my child would never lie to me". Kids lie. It's normal.
5. Please don't assume we dislike your child if they get reprimanded at school. If they fail a test, get a detention… we are trying to correct behaviour. It's not personal.
6. I am trying my best every day. I do this job because I love it, and I wouldn't want to do anything else. I would appreciate your support. Telling your child to respect their teachers is a great way to help.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Summer 2018 Remedial Task

ESO Students,

Here is your 2018 summer remedial assignment:

• You should solve the activities of the vocabulary, grammar and writing pages in each unit (pages 1, 3, 4, 5 and 8 in every unit)
• You should also complete the three revision sections found at the end of every three units in your student's book: review A (units 1, 2, 3), review B (units 4, 5, 6) and review C (units 7, 8, 9).

Use an A-4 sized notebook to copy the formulation or wording of every activity and underline their key words. Then, translate that wording into Galician/Spanish and solve the activities.

This assignment is NOT COMPULSORY. You do not need to hand in your homework as it will NOT ADD ANY POINTS AT ALL TO YOUR SEPTEMBER MARK. However, we would like to advise you to prepare these activities if you want to be successful in your September remedial exams.

----------- ooo O ooo ----------

This is your English exams schedule for September 2018:

• Monday 3rd September, 9.00 - 10.15 - ESO 4 Remedial Test.
• Monday 3rd September, 16.00 - 17.15 - ESO 1, ESO 2 and ESO 3 Previous Years Remedial Tests.
• Tuesday 4th September, 10.15 - 11.30 - ESO 1 and ESO 2 Remedial Test.
• Wednesday 5th September, 10.15 - 11.30 - ESO 3 Remedial Test.

Have a very nice summer and... good luck!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Best 2018 Graduation Speech, by Andrea Martínez

This year's best graduation speech is by 4 ESO A student Andrea Martínez, who has not only written a nice farewell address, but she delivered it in style and graciously, with fine pronunciation, intonation and stance, and with remarkable composure and serenity.

As usual, this student is the chosen one to speak on behalf of his classmates at the 4 ESO graduation ceremony to be held at 1 pm on Thursday 21st June.

HAPPINESS and PRIDE

Welcome parents, family, guests and teachers. Thank you for being here on this important day.

Today is a day of happiness and pride. First of all, congratulations to all of you, classmates and friends, for being here today, for having spent all these years studying, having lessons and working hard to have a good future and improve your learning and your life.

  

I came to this school in 2006 in the second year of kindergarten. On my first day, that day when all of us were wearing our red sweatshirt, our blue trousers and our checkered apron. Some of us were crying because we didn’t want to say bye to our parents. And today, on our last day at this school, we will cry again because we will not want to say bye to Labor School. That day, the kindergarten first day, the day that no one remembers, is the day that has marked us. We didn't even know it yet, but on that day our student career started at Labor School.

During our first few years here, we learned the Little Einstein´s dance to make a spaceship take off and not to talk when the teacher wasn't in the classroom and a classmate used to write names on the board.

At the end of kindergarten, we had the first graduation of our lives and we started Primary Education, another day of happiness and pride. Primary will be always the best time of a student career. When you are in Primary you don´t have to study much, you don’t have many problems or worries and your life is always fun. You draw a picture every week explaining what you did on your weekend, you listen to the Christmas Lottery live, you learn verb tables, multiplication tables, tables, tables and more tables. We did mathematical competitions during the lessons, we did the 'Baker Game' in PE, we took part in an amazing athletics competition with other schools (where we won just one trophy, but it doesn´t matter). There, we also learned the importance of sharing thanks to María Aguiño's and Ana Collazo's "700 kilos Goal". Primary ended with the goodbye to some classmates and the arrival of others. But we stayed together in the same classes and in the same groups.

But you continue growing up and you move on to Secondary Education. You are now in the last part of your time at school, you will have now 8 different teachers and you will have to start working harder than before. You have been seeing those people, who seemed very serious and some a little unfriendly, for years during the breaks, and now they are your teachers. Now you take lessons in the older students' building, that white and green building. 

The first day of Secondary comes. This day is your first time entering the Secondary building with the other Secondary students and you find yourself waiting to go upstairs in this crowded hall and surrounded by people as tall as a tower. In our first few years here we started with the Galician definition pages, with the DIN A5, with Candido's scary tests written in black ink on his graph paper. We took up French, a strange language, Word, Qkad, and Sketchup exams, Cooper tests, irregular verbs tests and all the presentations in public. Here we had the flute tests that shook our pulse. And we started the Olympic teams.

During all these years, there have been times of distress; there were happy moments too and goals achieved in group. A group that wouldn't exist without you, teachers and parents. Thank you, teachers for putting up with our foolishness, for being so patient with us and for being more than teachers, friends and parents.

And parents, what can I say? We owe you a lot: all your support and unconditional effort every time you had to explain something to us over and over again, or help us organize our study time, or if you had to pay for coaching lessons or revise lessons with us. You have to know it was worth it.

This school has made a family from us, a big and strong family, both students and teachers. This family is now 13 years old; even if someone has joined in later, the link is very tight too.

Today, a day of happiness and pride, is the day when this period ends and the future starts, when our time at Labor School ends and a new period called high school starts.

Everything in life comes to an end and this speech too. And now we will make promises like… nothing is going to change, we will meet every month and we will chat most days. But life moves on and we have to move on too. This is not just an ending: this is a new beginning too. I hope you all have all the best of luck in the future. Not being together does not mean forgetting what we have lived and shared.

And there is one thing that we can promise. That when we walk past one of us down the street, we will think that this person was with us at Labor School and we will remember all the important and happy moments that we enjoyed with them in the past.

Today is a day of happiness and pride... Enjoy it! Thank you everybody and congratulations and all the best, my friends!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only

STEM Week 2018

STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

STEM Discovery Week 2018 is a joint international initiative that invites projects, organisations and schools across Europe and around the world, to celebrate careers and studies in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Xúntase a Orde do 23 de maio de 2018 pola que se aproban as bases e se convocan axudas para a realización de actividades formativas STEM en lingua inglesa, STEMweek, no ano 2018, en réxime de concorrencia competitiva, destinadas ao alumnado dos centros docentes sostidos con fondos públicos.

• O prazo para a presentación de solicitudes será dun mes, contado a partir do día seguinte ao da publicación desta orde no Diario Oficial de Galicia.
• 
  

Orde do 23 de maio de 2018 (DOG)Extracto da Orde do 23 de maio de 2018 (DOG)

Heart of a Lio

Don't give up on your dream because when you have a dream to chase, nothing can stop you. Glory only happens when you sweat for your dreams.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only

How I see it: Vigo

Sam Pilgrim and his friend Tom were out in Spain for a contest and decided the best way to check out our town of Vigo would be to go for a thrash around on their bikes!

The weather was absolutely amazing and the vibe of Vigo is really awesome, and there weren't too many angry people this time! He will make sure to get back to Spain very soon because it was awesome and "Espanyol" is fun!

But make sure you don't try these dangerous tricks and always, always, always respect the law, the traffic signs and lights, and follow every rule: safety first!!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Labor Space Tour 2018 - It's a Celebration!

Labor's Living a Celebration!!

We are celebrating at Labor School. As you already know, on Friday 25th May we are holding our traditional open-doors festival day and theme celebration: The Space this year!

Everybody is welcome. Have fun!

In the meantime, take your time to relax, learn and enjoy this most interesting videoclip featuring music by the geniuses Monty Python:

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

April Come She Will 2018

At LEZ we have posted 2 songs by Simon Garfunkel: I am a rock and 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night. We give you now another of their masterpieces, 'April Come She Will.' Whatever happened to poets and musicians like them?

April, come she will

When streams are ripe and swelled with rain.

May, she will stay

Resting in my arms again.

June, she'll change her tune,

in restless walks she'll prowl the night.

July, she will fly

and give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,

the autumn winds blow chilly and cold.

September, I'll remember

a love once new has now grown old.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

April Fools' Day 2018

April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is a day celebrated in many countries on April 1st. The day is named for the custom of playing practical jokes and hoaxes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbours, or sending them on a fool's errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. Traditionally, in some countries, such as the UK, Australia and South Africa the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool". Elsewhere, such as in Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Russia, The Netherlands, and the U.S., the jokes last all day.

Daylight Saving Time 2018

Daylight saving time (DST)—also summer time in several countries, in British English, and European official terminology—is the practice of advancing clocks so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn.

Graduation Speech: ESO 4 2017-18 3rd Term PBL Assignment

ESO 4 Students,

This is your PBL assignment for the 3rd term. All of you have to WRITE and DELIVER your GRADUATION SPEECH.  You have to imagine you are going to stand in the school Assembly Hall before your teachers, classmates, parents and guests at your ESO graduation ceremony (to be held on June 21st) and deliver your speech, which must be at least 350 WORDS LONG.

The best student will be offered the chance to deliver his or her speech at your graduation ceremony... in English!! Of course, he or she will get extra points in the final mark for that effort.

Labor Walk of Fame 6.2

Our best students of English during the 2nd Term have been:

Spring 2018

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What is your gift?

Notes to Strangers

You have a gift. What is it? Everybody is unique. Everyone is gifted in some way or another. Do you know what your gift is? If you don't, it is never too late to start searching for it. Find your gift, start working hard on it, pursue it, develop it. Be the best version of yourself you can be.

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Father's Day 2018

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St. Patrick's Day 2018

St. Patrick's Day is a global celebration of Irish culture on or around March 17. It particularly remembers St Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the fifth century. 

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in many parts of the world, especially by Irish communities and organizations. Many people wear an item of green clothing on the day. Parties featuring Irish food and drinks that are dyed in green food colour are part of this celebration.

It is a time when children can indulge in sweets and adults can enjoy a "pint" of beer at a local pub. Many restaurants and pubs offer Irish food or drink.

Derby Days: Galicia

Derby Days: Galicia | Spanish Football As You've Never Seen It Before

Derby Days is back with a bang as we take the entire series to Spain to discover the incredibly unique rivalries that make up this obsessed football nation! First up is Galicia in the north west, made up of a people who live their life, their football and their derby like no one else.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Asperger

February 18th, International Asperger's Day. Can you feel it (too)?

Asperger is a show that visualizes the emotions of people with Asperger, a condition of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Krister Palo is a 15-year-old student at the International School of the Hague who just happens to have Asperger's syndrome. In his talk, he shares misconceptions about people with Asperger's syndrome, and breaks down some of these popular stereotypes and assumptions.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Get out of your own way

Blessed are the arrogant
For there is the kingdom of their own company
Blessed are the superstars
For the magnificence in their light
We understand better our own insignificance
Blessed are the filthy rich
For you can only truly own what you give away
Like your pain

The Biblical verses Matthew 5:3-11, otherwise known as the Beautitudes, were a series of eight blessings recounted by Jesus on the Sermon of the Mount through the gospels of Matthew and Luke:

Decimal(isation) Day 2018

Decimal Day (15 February 1971) was the day the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies.

The old system

Under the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence, the pound was made up of 240 pence (denoted by the letter d for Latin denarius and now referred to as "old pence"), with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings (denoted by s for Latin solidus) in a pound. Especially in an era before widespread computer use, monetary calculation, such as adding up sums of money, was more complicated than with a decimal currency. Tourists were also confused by coins such as the 'half-crown' (worth two shillings and sixpence, or one eighth of a pound). The loss of value of the currency meant that the penny, with the same diameter as the U.S. half dollar, was of relatively slight value (the farthing, worth one-quarter of an old penny, had been demonetised in 1960).

Changeover

Under the new system, the pound was retained but was now divided into 100 "new pence", denoted by the symbol p. New, different coinage was issued alongside the old coins. The 5p and 10p coins were first introduced in April 1968 and were the same size, composition and value as the shillings and florins circulating alongside them. In October 1969 the 50p coin was introduced and the old ten-shilling note was eventually withdrawn, in November 1970. This reduced the number of new coins that had to be introduced on the day and meant that the public was already familiar with three of the six new coins. Small book were made available containing some or all of the new denominations.

Decimal Day itself went smoothly and did not even form the lead story the following day in most national newspapers. Criticisms included the small size of the new halfpenny coin and the fact that some traders had taken advantage of the transition to raise prices. Some used new pennies as sixpences in vending machines.

Now let's hope some day in the near future traffic signs and capacity measurements (for example in petrol stations) in the UK, Ireland and other English-speaking countries will also be decimalised. Shall our eyes see that change? At LEZ we are afraid we won't...

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.