Think about our planet

Thinking about our planet has become more urgent than ever before this winter. Nothing is like it used to be. There are storms, high temperatures, snow in countries where they didn´t have it in the past. The part of our curriculum is speaking about the environment. That is why I was very glad, when I learned about the Competition on line on this topic.

We have taken a part in the competition organized by the EU on www.futurenergia.org

Students from sekunda A, tercie B and sekunda B have discussed the topic about separating rubbish, using alternative resources of energy, such as the sun, wind and water and saving the electricity.

We talked about the way how we can help ourselves. We should have a shower instead of a bath more often. We should turn off the taps when we are cleaning our teeth. When we are not watching TV, we should switch it off. We can separate paper and so we will save the trees. Trees are very important for our life. They control the weather. They clean the air. We should use the alternative ways of energy, they are clean. They do not pollute the air. We can see that the greenhouse effect is still more and more affecting our lives. There are stronger storms. In summer we have extremely hot days with no rain and in winter it is either quite warm or the snow comes in such a big amount that it causes terrible problems to all the people. On one hand the polar bears are dying because of melting ice in the North Pole and on the other hand, there are too many deer and other wild animals in Czech woods, which are destroying young trees because of the mild winters.

The children have drawn posters and they have created some slogans.

We hope that also other students and children will take part in this competition and will think about this serious topic. Nobody wants to live in the polluted and destroyed environment in the future. We cannot live without electricity, so we have to look after it better. I must say that the children have worked with a big enthusiasm.

eTwinning projects in 2006-2007

etwinning projects in our school in the school year 2006/07

In this school year 76 students from the junior Grammar School in Ceska Lipa are working on five international projects. The school was very successful last year and we won two second prizes in the National Competition of the etwinning.

Prima B has started a project called Neighbours with their Slovak friends from Grammar School in Puchov. They are beginners in the international projects but they are doing very well and they are good at using ICT tools while they send emails to their partners. We combine three languages in this project. Czech/ Slovak/ English. It is good because there are topics which would be too difficult for the children and it is also good to practice the language of our neighbours.

Sekunda B has a large project with two other schools. One is from Poland and the other is from the town Braga from Portugal. Before Christmas all those students exchanged Christmas cards and we also sent a sound file/ a Christmas song in English. The project is called Cyber friends and will finish at the end for the school year.

Sekunda A is working on the project based on the curriculum of three subjects. Music, Art and English. The project is called Music helps us live. It is a music project with our best friends from Greece from Kavasila High School. Students introduce some of the folk songs. They illustrate each song by different techniques and they translate the songs into English. The project is accompanied by a large photogallery and Music file with MP3 pieces of music. At the beginning of the school year we sent all the new partners a film about our school, made by the students.

Kvarta A has a project with the students from Malta{ G.P. Agius de Soldanis, Girls Secondary School} and the students from Cyprus{ Linopetra Lyceum} The project is called Do you know me? and is based on Geography, History and CE.

The winners from the last year kvarta B have just started the project with Lithuania {M. Balinskio Secondary School.} and it is called New friends- new pictures of Europe and it is based on the project from the etwinning Culture in the box. The final work from this project will be a presentation of the groups of students about Lithuania and the students in our partner school will work on the presentations about the Czech Republic.

We have also sent some of our partner schools DVD with the Christmas concert of our School choir from December 2006.

We hope that all our projects will be successful and the students will like them. The total number from all the schools involved in the projects is 188.

Three Kings- 6th January

On January 6th we celebrate Three kings. It is the day when volunteers, usually children, dressed as three kings go carolling. They are sent by The Czech Catholic Charity and all the collected money is given to old, ill, lonely people or the people who do not have any home.
This charity event is very popular, especially in villages where there are more religious people, and the children write with white chalk on the door K+M+B 2007. The capital letters stand for the names of the three kings who came to little Jesus and brought him presents.

In Moravia this celebration is much bigger that in Bohemia. There are not only carolling children but also
adults dressed up as those kings riding horses or camels throught the villages.

The last days of christmas holidays in Greece. The feast of Epiphany or "Theofania"

On 6 January , every year , there is a religious holiday in Greece. All the shops , civil services, schools are closed to celebrate the Feast of Epiphany or “ Theophania or Fota” as it is called in Greece. Theophania means manifestation of God. Theophania commemorates the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River and the divine revelation of the Holy Trinity.
This very day a long procession is formed after the religious service in churches, and follows the road that leads to water- the sea, river , lake, or even reservoir. In the front of the procession are the cherub icons, then the priests dressed in their best holiday clerical clothes, the VIPs and all the people of each city , town village. In most cities and towns the procession becomes more elaborate with the addition of music and military contingents.
At the end of the sanctification ceremony, the priest throws the Cross into the water, thus blessing the waters. Then, young daring men dive in the icy water to catch the cross. The one who will bring the cross up to the surface will be lucky and healthy for the whole year.On 7 January, Greeks celebrate st John ( Ioannis in greek). It is the name day of almost half of the men’s population, in Greece. When it is the name day of someone , there is a custom to visit that person . The women of the house prepare delicious dishes , sweets ant treat the guests. People drink , sing and dance at homes and clubs.In Greece, the name day of a person is something important . 7 January is the last day of Christmas holidays and housewives clean the houses and keep the Christmas tree ( the artificial ones ), the decorations , the colourful lights for the next Christmas holidays. Students do their homework , prepare their schoolbags so they are ready to start school again.