The European Union: visit and presentation by Cristina Laso to 1º bachillerato

This week the pupils in 1º bachillerato have been lucky enough to receive a visit from Cristina Laso, who works in Brussels at the European Union Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. On a brief visit home to Spain from her regular work in Brussels, Cristina, the relative of several past and present pupils of this school, came to give us a passionate overview of the EU, both in its origins and its present-day relevance.

She started by giving us a fun quiz with questions about the EU's official languages, its population, and how it can help us when travelling or using our phone abroad. Then we learned about how the destruction and poverty caused by the Second World War inspired the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community, leading to further treaties and an expansion of competences, leading to the EU that we live in today.

Finally, to illustrate that the EU is not simply an anonymous, distant political machine with little impact on our lives, Cristina invited a pupil to look through her handbag and take the objects for all to see. Our use of each object (whether a pen, purse, mobile phone or driving licence) is possible thanks to EU legislation or supervision: for example the Euro, our single currency that we use all over the continent, or the laws concerning food safety, medicine production, or other consumer rights.

Cristina's passion for the European project really came across to all the attendees, and we all learned a lot of interesting things. Hopefully now we all feel that the European Union is a little closer than it was before. Our thanks go to Cristina, and we hope she can make a return visit before too long!

Link: the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety

Living in a boarding school in the UK

At this time of year the schools in the UK are on their 'half term' break: a holiday of one week, or two weeks in the case of boarding schools [internados]. This week our school has welcomed back a number of its pupils who are spending a year studying in the UK. Javier, a pupil who is spending 'Year 8' (1ºESO) in the UK, has written an account of his life in a British boarding school.

My English Experience (Javier, 1ºESO):

I'm very happy to be in England. My school is called Vinehall and it's to the south-east of London, near Hastings. I'm lucky because it's in an area where it doesn't rain a lot. The dorms [dormitories] and boarding staff are on the first floor, and the front office and the classes are on the ground floor. The school does have a second floor, but it's only for staff.

The people in the school are very kind and they always treat me very well. We have 'gappers' [students taking a sabbatical year to work] that look after us when classes end. My best friends are called John, Zackary, Justin and Shasha and I share a dorm with them. Our dorm is called Mouse Hall and we don't get very good marks because we are a bit disorganised.

We do a lot of sport, such as rugby, football, and at night I have half an hour to play my favourite sport, basketball, which I play with the gappers or an American boy called Nicholas. I'm very excited and happy with Vinehall School.

A typical day in Vinehall:

7am	get up
7.30am	breakfast
8.15am	classes start
12-12.45pm	lunch
4.30pm	classes finish
4.30-5.30pm	clubs (sports, cookery, photography and more)
6pm	dinner
6.30pm	homework
7pm	sports/free time
7.30pm	shower
8.30pm	bed time
8.45pm	sleep

Technology quiz (2ºESO)

Here is some more technology-based content from 2ºESO, in the form of some well-researched quiz questions. To do the quiz, leave your answers in the comments section, below.

1. What nationality was the first dog that travelled to space? (José Luis and Eloy)
a. Soviet
b. Chinese
c. American
d. Canadian

2. Who invented the plane? (José Luis and Eloy)
a. Arville
b. The Wright Brothers
c. Shakpuj
d. Turner

3. When was the flush toilet invented? (Laura and Elena)
a. in the 12th century
b. in the 15th century
c. in the 19th century
d. in the 20th century

4. What did Thomas Edison invent? (Laura and Elena)
a. the computer
b. the light bulb
c. the paint brush
d. the calculator

5. Who invented dynamite? (Laura and Elena)
a. Alexander Graham Bell
b. Benjamin Franklin
c. Thomas Edison
d. Alfred Nobel

6. What did James Watt invent? (Álvaro and Lucas)
a. the steam boat
b. the hot air balloon
c. the rotary steam engine
d. the windmill

7. What invention caused many deaths while being tested? (Álvaro and Lucas)
a. the ladder
b. the parachute
c. dynamite
d. the computer

8. Which is the most used smartphone application? (Carla and Alicia)
a. Facebook
b. Whatsapp
c. Google Maps
d. Tuenti

9. Firefox, Chrome, Safari and explorers are all types of ... ? (Carla and Alicia)
a. Google applications
b. Web browsers
c. Editing and publishing software
d. Databases

10. Which company is designing a self-driving car? (Carla and Alicia)
a. Mercedes Benz
b. Apple
c. Google
d. Ferrari

Rugby World Cup 2015

In Spain most people have no idea that it's happening, but in Britain and many other countries at the moment, many fans are following the Rugby World Cup. This week's 1ºESO group have been investigating to find out more about this sport and the championship.

History of the Rugby World Cup (Alejandra, Blanca & Carlota)

The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Since the first tournament, six others have been held at four-year intervals. The most recent tournament was held in New Zealand in 2011, and was won by the New Zealand All Blacks. The 2015 tournament is currently being held from the 19^th of September 2015 till 30^th of October 2015 in England and Wales.

The Rugby World Cup has been held seven times, with Australia, South Africa and New Zealand each winning it twice. The other winner was England in 2003. England is the only nation from the northern hemisphere to have won the tournament.

Year	Winner
1987	New Zealand
1991	Australia
1995	South Africa
1999	Australia
2003	England
2007	South Africa
2011	New Zealand

The history of women´s rugby

Women's rugby union is a sport identical to the men's game with the same rules, same sized pitch, and same equipment. However, it has a history which is significantly different, due to various social pressures, and the self-image of rugby union in general. As a result, this history has been largely hidden until comparatively recently, although the game is gaining a higher profile thanks to international tournaments and financial investment. Women have their own Women's Rugby World Cup. England are the current champions.

The haka

The haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance, or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. The New Zealand team do this dance before their matches, and we think it is very aggressive but it's very cool.

The laws of rugby (Paco)

Struggling to follow what is happening on the pitch in rugby? Read below and start to understand some of the basic rules and terminology of the game:

Scoring: a player who puts the ball down over the opposition team's line scores a 'try', worth 5 points. The resulting 'conversion' is worth 2 points if the ball is kicked over the 'H'-shaped goal posts. Other kicks (a penalty and a drop-goal) are worth 3 points.

Forward pass: players are not allowed to pass the ball forward to a team-mate.

Knock on: if a player drops the ball forward or loses possesion of the ball and it goes forward, a scrum is awarded to the other team.

Scrum: the 8 forwards of each team push against each other to win the ball. This is a very famous and unique part of rugby.

Tackle: a tackle occurs when the player carrying the ball is held by one or more opponent and brought to the ground and the ball touches the ground.

Foul play: the offending player is penalised, possibly sent to the sin bin for ten minutes or even sent off.

Interview with Gareth (Fernando & Pablo)

We interviewed the teacher Gareth to find out more about his love of rugby.

What team do you support?

My favourite club is my hometown Cardiff Blues and my national team is Wales.

Who is your favourite player?

My favourite player is Mikey Rayer (Cardiff and Wales), who played when I was teenager. My favourite player today is George North (Wales).

How many years have you been playing rugby?

I played when I was a child and stopped playing a few years ago. I have also been a coach and referee but now I am only a fan.

Who is the best team in Europe?

In Europe the club champions are Toulon (France) and the Six Nations champions are Ireland, but Wales are higher in the world rankings. We'll see what happens in the rest of the World Cup, as Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France are through to the quarter finals. England, the host nation, have sensationally failed to pass the group stage.

Why do you like rugby?

In Wales it is the national sport and I think it is the ultimate team sport. It combines skill, speed, power, team play and fitness .

Do your daughters like rugby?

They are still very young but when I am watching rugby they shout "come on Wales!" Maybe they will play rugby or another sport in the future.

Gareth' rugby information and links

Invictus is a very good film that depicts the famous South Africa Rugby World Cup of 1995 when the legendary Nelson Mandela awarded the trophy. It encapsulates the passion of the occasion and the rugby scenes in the film are quite accurate too.

http://www.xvhortaleza.com/

Are you interested in trying rugby? XV Hortaleza Rugby Club, Gareth's club, is near the school and has teams for boys and girls 5 years old to adult.

See the legendary New Zealand haka in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebZVMc0NKZs

For action from this Rugby World Cup check out the YouTube channel, which has match highlights and other interesting and funny videos https://www.youtube.com/user/irb

Rugby information with a Spanish flavour http://www.marca.com/mas_deportes/rugby.html

Landforms

In the English Workshop with 3ºESO we are studying certain aspects of physical geography at the moment. As we've been looking at landforms (features on the earth like mountains, rivers, islands, peninsulas etc.), the pupils were asked to think of a beautiful or spectacular place they have visited and tell us about it. Please read their entries and comment below on somewhere you have been, either in Spain, or elsewhere in the world.

Picos de Europa, Asturias (Teresa & Sofia)

We went to the Picos de Europa in Asturias and we climbed a mountain called El Sueve. There were lots of rivers and a valley. From the top we saw many villages and the coast of Asturias. It's a very green area because it rains a lot. We liked it very much – it was so pretty. In Asturias there are also a lot of beaches, so we saw many types of landscapes.

Tenerife, Canary Islands (Nicolás & Fernando)

This summer we went to the Canary Islands, an archipelago situated in Spain. In Tenerife there is a volcano called El Teide, the highest mountain in Spain. We made a day trip and the guide told us some very interesting things about the volcano and its beautiful national park, where you can see a large basin and amazing rock formations. On the way down to the coast you can see pine forests, palm trees and even views of other islands in the archipelago.

Gibraltar (Inés & Carmen)

Gibraltar is a strait between the south of Spain and north Africa. It links the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Gibraltar has a very big mountain called El Peñón,"The Rock of Gibraltar", which is famous for its monkeys. In the landscape there are some trees but it's not a very green area.