VIDEOCONFERENCE SPAIN-IRELAND

 








ON MAY THE 5TH OUR STUDENTS HAD THE LAST 
VIDEOCONFERENCE WITH IRELAND.  IT WAS FUN TO HEAR THE IRISH KIDS SINGING AND TALKING TO THE SPANIARDS ABOUT HOBBIES, FOOD, SUBJECTS... AND WE HAD THE NICE CHANCE TO SEE AND TALK TO CLAIRE. 

videoconference Italian-Polish

On the 29th April 2010 there was a last videoconference between the Italian
and the Polish students.
It was really nice to see and speak to David and his pupils.

The students introduced themselves and talked about their likes and
dislikes, their freetime activities, thei school, their holiday.
It was a nice experience for them all.
Arianna

Sant'Agata Celebration in Sicily

THE FESTIVAL OF SAINT AGATHA IN CATANIA

St. Agatha is Catania's patron saint and is celebrated in February from the 3rd to the 5th with one of the largest religious processions in Italy.

Agatha lived during the third century AD, when Sicily was under the Roman Empire, and was the daughter of an important rich local family. She was very religious and dedicated her life to God.

She became a martyr when she refused the advances of the Roman proconsul Quintian, who was in love with her. He arrested her. He thought that when faced with torture and possible death she would give in, but Agatha refused to abandon her faith, not even after being sent to prison and tortured in the attempt to change her mind.

One of the torture she was inflicted, was that she had her breast cut off.

It is said that after she returned to prison, the Apostle Peter appeared to her and healed her wounds. The following day she was subjected to new tortures, but an earthquake from Mount Etna shook the town and terrified the people.

In the end, she died on the 5th of February 251 AD.

Since that day, the saint protects the city and its inhabitants: just a year after her martyrdom, a violent eruption was miraculously stopped by holding up a veil that had belonged to the unfortunate girl. According to legend, the veil stopped the flow of lava.

People in Catania are particularly devoted to Saint Agatha. When the city is threatened by a possible eruption of the volcano Etna, they take the relics of Saint Agatha on the mountain in a procession asking for a miracle to stop the lava flow.

It is no wonder then that the city of Catania, at the foothills of Europe's largest volcano, dedicates its most important religious festivity to St. Agatha.

The procession begins on the 4th of February.

At dawn, after a special mass, the St. Agatha statue, which houses her relics, is placed on the ”fercolo”, a silver carriage and pulled by around 5,000 men.

The huge festival lasts for two days and two nights during which the procession goes around various areas of the city. More than a million people follow St. Agatha.

Many of them carry gigantic heavy candlesticks, some of which are wonderfully decorated. There is also a huge fireworks display at the end and you can buy sweets based on centuries-old recipes.

Celebrating Feria de Jerez in Wales

On Thursday the 13th May the children and staff of Tynewydd Primary celebrated the Spanish Festival of Feria de Jerez. Below is a clip of the festivities that the children took part in.

Welsh Playground Games

Oranges and Lemons
This is a game based around an old children's song, called 'Oranges and Lemons', about the sounds of church bells in various parts of London.
This is how it is played
Two children form an arch with their arms. They determine in secret which of them shall be an 'orange' and which a 'lemon'.
Everyone sings the 'Oranges and Lemons' song (see below).
The other children in the game, take turns to run under the arch until one of them is caught when the arch falls at the end of the song.
The captured player is asked privately whether they will be an 'orange' or a 'lemon' and then goes behind the original 'orange' or 'lemon' team leader.
The game and singing then starts over again. At the end of the game there is usually 'a tug of war' to test whether the 'oranges' or 'lemons' are stronger. The game is similar to 'London Bridge is Falling Down'.
Oranges and lemons,Say the bells of St. Clement's.You owe me five farthings,Say the bells of St. Martin's.
When will you pay me?Say the bells of Old Bailey.When I grow rich,Say the bells of Shoreditch.
When will that be?Say the bells of Stepney.I'm sure I don't know,Says the great bell at Bow.
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
Chip chop chip chop the last man's head(The arch comes down tapping one player)

Red Letter
A person is picked to be the leader. He stands with his back to the rest of the players who stand 10 metres back from him. The leader calls a letter of the alphabet (for example “a”). If a players's name contains that letter the player can move a step forward. The number of steps forward depends on the number of that letter in his name. The leader continues calling out letters until someone reaches the leader.

Skipping Rhymes

I had a little puppy His name was Tiny Tim I put him in the bathtub, to see if he could swim He drank all the water, he ate a bar of soap The next thing you know he had a bubble in his throat. In came the doctor, (person jumps in) In came the nurse, ( person jumps in) In came the lady with the alligator purse (person jumps in) Out went the doctor (person jumps out) Out went the nurse (person jumps out) Out went the lady with the alligator purse (person jumps out)

I like coffee, I like tea, I like (person's name) to jump with me. (That person joins the first person so that two are now jumping. )One, two, three, change places, seven, eight, nine, change places, etc. (until the pair missed. The two change from right to left each time they said "change places" and all would keep track of who got the highest number before missing.)

The rhyme starts with the rope being swung back and forth, not over
Blue bells, cockle shell
Easy ivy over
Swing rope over head on over and continue in normal rope swing.
Oh no, here comes Miss Blackwellwith her big black stickNow its time for arithmetic
One plus one is?(jumper responds) Two
Two plus two is?(jumper responds) Four
Four plus four is?(jumper responds) Eight
Eight plus eight is?(jumper responds) Sixteen
Now its time for spellingSpell cat.(jumper responds) C-A-T
Spell dog.(jumper responds) D-O-G
Spell hot.(jumper responds) H-O-T
When the jumper finishes spelling HOT swing the rope as fast as possible till they mess up.