REMEMBRANCE DAY AT MARE NOSTRUM

Students of Year 11 (bilingual ) and Year 10 at IES Mare Nostrum have done a series of activities to commemorate Remembrance day . Their project on World War I is displayed in the hall of the school. It covers aspects such as : - causes of the conflict; - countries involved; - life at the trenches; - the role of women in the war; - main battles; - the war in the colonies; - consequences;

This morning they have attended an Assembly where they have heard a brief but interesting talk on mustard gas. Then they have recited "In Flander´s Fields" and some other poems in French and English with war as the central theme. The students have worn a red poppy they have made themselves. After that, one pupil has played The Last Post, and, at eleven o´clock, we all have kept a two-minute silence. To finish the act, music students played a tune with their instruments while year 10 students were singing "See the Poppies". Once again, many thanks for your kind collaboration.

Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day is also recognised as a special day for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month".

The first official Armistice Day was held on the grounds of Buckingham Palace on the morning of 11 November 1919. This would set the trend for a day of Remembrance for decades to come. The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields". These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

"In Flanders Fields" is written during the First World War by Canadian physician Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. McCrae performed the burial service himself, at which time he noted how poppies quickly grew around the graves of those who died at Ypres. The next day, he composed the poem while sitting in the back of an ambulance. The poem is as follows: In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

HOW TO MAKE A POPPY On Wednesday November 11th, at eleven o´clock we´ll pay tribute to the fallen by listening to the last post. We will also observe a two minute silence and read some famous poems on World War I. The "Last Post" is traditionally played to introduce the two minute silence in Remembrance Day ceremonies. It is usually ' played on a bugle. (In military life, 'The Last Post' marks the end of the day and the final farewell.) The sounding of "Reveille" (or, more commonly, "The Rouse"), ends the two minute silence, followed by the recitation of the "Ode of Remembrance." A poem called 'For the Fallen' is often read aloud during the ceremony; the most famous stanza of which reads: "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them." Fourth stanza of 'For the Fallen' by Laurence Binyon (1869 - 1943)

HALLOWEEN II

Boo! Ghosts and goblins were about.Mummies walked among us. Is there any doubt we had great fun at Halloween?

Pumpkins are the ultimate October icons -- the fruit of the month ( Yes, Pumpkins are a fruit.). Discover some of the Jack-O´lanters pupils created for the occassion.

We made the CUTEST halloween mummy costume — so easy!

What is Halloween without playing bobbing the apple?

And we proved that we know a lot of human bones!

A day to remember!

GUY FAWKES DAY

                 Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration which takes place on 5th November, primarily in Great Britain. Its history begins with the events of 5th November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London, and months later the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.

                Within a few decades Gunpowder Treason Day, as it was known, became the most important English state commemoration, but as it carried strong religious overtones, it also became a focus for anti-Catholic feelings. Puritans delivered sermons regarding the dangers of popery, while common people burnt effigies of popular hate-figures, such as the Pope in the celebrations. By the 20th century Guy Fawkes Day had become an enjoyable social commemoration, although lacking much of its original focus. The present-day Guy Fawkes Night is usually celebrated at large organised events, centred on a bonfire and extravagant firework displays. Settlers exported Guy Fawkes Night to overseas colonies, including some in North America, where it was known as Pope Day. Those festivities died out with the American Revolution. Claims that Guy Fawkes Night was a Protestant replacement for older customs like Samhain are disputed, although another old celebration, Halloween, has lately increased in popularity, and according to some writers, may threaten the future of 5th  November.




 WHO WAS GUY FAWKES?
 Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Fawkes was born and educated in York. His father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic. Fawkes later converted to Catholicism and left for the continent, where he fought in the Eighty Years' War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch reformers. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England but was unsuccessful. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England. Wintour introduced Fawkes to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters secured the lease to an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and found Fawkes guarding the explosives. Over the next few days, he was questioned and tortured, and eventually he broke. Immediately before his execution on 31 January, Fawkes jumped from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding the agony of the mutilation that followed.

GUY FAWKES´ MASK The Guy Fawkes mask is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605. The use of a mask on an effigy has long roots as part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations. A stylised portrayal of a face with an over-sized smile and red cheeks, a wide moustache upturned at both ends, and a thin vertical pointed beard, designed by illustrator David Lloyd, came to represent broader protest after it was used as a major plot element in V for Vendetta, published in 1982, and its 2006 film adaptation. After appearing in Internet forums, the mask became a well-known symbol for the online hacktivist group Anonymous, used in Project Chanology, the Occupy movement, and other anti-government and anti-establishment protests.

The government of Saudi Arabia banned the importation of the masks in May 2013, and said that it would confiscate any found on sale. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs stated that the mask is "a symbol of rebels and revenge", and warned imams and parents that "they could be used to incite the youth to destabilize security and spread chaos..." On 22nd  September 2013, Saudi religious police prohibited the wearing of the Guy Fawkes mask, the day before Saudi Arabia's 83rd National Day.


 LEARN MORE WHILE HAVING FUN


 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/games/gunpowder/index_embed.shtml