A Forecast and a Puzzle

- by Davi Rodrigues -

     Instead of writing like an astrologist - which I'm not even willing to be -, I decided to make a horoscope prediction more interesting. Each clue has a hint of the answer in the form of an idiom or colloquial usage of an English word. Have fun, and have a nice July. Those who can, of course, because there are quite some bad predictions here.

1             2             3                               4   5                                     6                                                         7                           8                                                                     9                                                           10

ACROSS1. July is a very important month for this sign, they might get a little CRABBY no near their birthdays. 2. In July, your GLASS will be half empty. 4. Except for your friends and family, this month is going to be a fine kettle of FISH. 6. Except for a few money problems that will be solved by the end of the month, your July is going to be fit for a KING. 8. Love and money will be ok, but this sign will really have a hard time finding BALANCE in their relationships. 9. This guy is going to be a little anti-social in July. Be careful not to look like your evil TWIN. 10. These guys are very likely to hit the BULL's eye in July.

DOWN1. Because July is their opposite birthday, things might be getting their GOAT this month. 2. Regarding money, for this guy, July will come in like a lion, and go out as a LAMB. 3. In all aspects, this sign can spend July SHOOTING for the stars. 5. It's going to be a hard month, but your friends and family will take the STING out of it. 7. In your love life, it's time to stop being a PRUDE and do something unexpected.

Education is for everybody! Inclusive education in the U.K

    

BY CAROLINA PINHEIRO

     The word "inclusion" is widely used, and sometimes we do not realizes its important meaning. If you work with education, or has contact with a student with disability this word importance cannot be unclear.

     People with disabilities use the word "inclusion" to refer to their right to receive proper treatment, without limitations, segregation or restrictions of any kind, in every circumstances and places. In education, inclusion is an approach to educating students with disabilities, without segregating.

     To apply an inclusive approach means to avoid segregation towards disabled students, eliminating aspects that make learning more difficult for these students.

Throughout history, people with disabilities were segregated and separated from normal life in society. Children and young people were often segregated in special schools, or were excluded from the educational system. These segregated or excluded children and young people many times did not receive the same education as non-disabled children.

Many approaches started to occur in order to give individuals with disabilities the same education as the rest of the society. The most know approaches are segregation (separating the person with disability from the society in special institutions), mainstreaming (to educate a disabled student part in a regular classroom and part in a special classroom, depending or his or her abilities and impairments) and inclusion.

           Legislation in the UK prohibits discrimination in education and supports inclusive education. The UK also has obligations under international human rights law to provide inclusive education for all children.

The main laws relating to disability discrimination and to special educational needs in education are:

Equality Act 2006 (PDF)

Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (PDF)

Disability Discrimination (Public Authorities) (Statutory Duties) Regulations 2005, SI No. 2966

Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001

Education Act 1996

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

In education, inclusion differs from other approaches because of its intentions. An inclusive institution focus on including students with disabilities in the regular classroom all the time. Also, there is not a curriculum, or method, for non-disabled students and a special curriculum, or method, for students with disabilities. The curriculum and pedagogical methods are adapted so that all students can attend to one single class-room.

     A successful inclusive education is not simple to achieve. To reach success many structural and methodological changes are required. These changes take form the physical structure of the school building to the formation and training of the professional in the school ¾ this includes the teachers, the janitors, the coordinators, everybody that will have contact with the non-disabled students and with the students with disabilities.

TYPES OF INCLUSION

     Inclusive education has two types:

·    First, the regular, or partial inclusion, in which the student with disability attends to a regular classroom part of the day ¾ and is treated as all the other students ¾ and receive special services, that his or her disability may require, outside the classroom ¾ in a resource room. This type of inclusion is very similar to integration and mainstreaming, although the ideas and philosophies behind them are different.

·    The second is the FULL INCLUSION. In this case, all students are integrated, and special education is rather a service than a place. Changes are made in the curriculum, daily activities, classroom structures and other sectors, instead of removing the student with disability from the classroom to offer him these services.

     A proper education is a right of all children, and all children also have the right to receive this education in a school near their home, not mattering if the children or youth has a disability or not.

     The U.K government promotes officially the inclusion in schools since the 1980s. Inclusion, however, is not so common or simple as we wished. Some schools still feel, and in fact many are, not prepared to properly enroll and teach students with disabilities. Aspects like the building structure, proper equipments and special training of the employees are necessary to give a student with disabilities the education he or she deserves.

     Also, a student with disabilities will not necessarily  have a special educational need. However, some adaptations in the curriculum will be necessary at some point, so that all the students, not just those with special needs, will use all their potential.

      For more information access: http://www.csie.org.uk/inclusion/education-disability.shtml

      For video and interviews access: http://www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/videos/martynrousetheinclusiveclassroom.asp

Understanding the National Curriculum

BY CAROLINA PINHEIRO

     If your children study in the U.K, what will they learn at school? U.K school curriculum is very interesting, but… what is a curriculum by the way?

WHAT IS A CURRICULUM?

     In education, the school curriculum is the set of courses and activities offered by a school or university. In the U.K, there is a National Curriculum implemented for maintained schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland private schools do not follow the National Curriculum. The curriculum is made for primary and secondary schools.

     The National Curriculum includes: the subjects taught; the skills, know ledges and understanding required for each stage; the attainment targets and expected progress in each subject; how the progress of the student is reported.

LEGISLATION

     The school curriculum follows the Education Reform Act from 1988. This document is probably the most important document regarding to education in the U.K. This document introduced the National Curriculum, the Grant-maintained schools, the Local Management of Schools, the City Technology Colleges, the “Key stages”, also, the parents became able to specify the school they preferred for their children, the word “degree” usage received more control and the Academic Tenure was abolished.

     Another document regulating the Curriculum is the Education Act 2002 which states a few aspects relating to Education in general. Regarding the curriculum it states that This section has no associated Explanatory Notes

the curriculum for a maintained school or maintained nursery school, or for any funded nursery education must promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

    

HOW THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM IS ORGANIZED

     The National Curriculum is organized in four key stages, which are blocks of ages:

•   Key Stage 1: ages 5-7 (years 1-2)

•   Key Stage 2: ages 7-11 (years 3-6)

•   Key Stage 3: ages 11-14 (years 7-9)

•   Key Stage 4: ages 14-16 (years 10-11)

     Each key stage and subjects have a programmed of study, which is a set out of what will be taught to pupils in each stage. The stages also have the attainment targets. Attainment targets are the expectations of the skills, knowledge and understanding that the students should have by the end of each key stage.

     In key stages 1, 2 and 3 pupils will learn art and design; design and technology; English; geography; history; information and communication technology; mathematics; music; physical education and science; religious education;

     Key stage 4 is regulated by the Lear Education Act 2002. At the key stage 4 students study a mix of obligatory subjects added to a subject in each of the entitlement areas offered: mathematics; English; Science (physics, chemistry and biology); Information and Communication Technology; Physical Education; Citizenship. The students should also choose one subject in each of the four entitlement areas:

·         ARTS: Arts and design; or music; or dance; or drama; or media arts.

·         DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY: design and technology

·         HUMANITIES: geography; or history

·         MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE (MFL): any modern foreign language specified in an order made by the Secretary of State.

·         Schools must also provide RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, SEX EDUCATION and CAREERS EDUCATION.

     As we can see, Britain has a very complete curriculum for all ages. Also, some changes in the curriculum are being introduced. These changes want to give teachers more flexibility and freedom to plan their lessons. The changes also want to give students more guidance about their future by the age of 16.

 I hope the "school curriculum" subject had been clarified here. And do not forget: When looking for a new school for your children, be informed about the curriculum (if it is a private school) and if the curriculum follows the law (for maintained schools). It is your children’s future!

 

Heiress apparent? Possible changes in the laws of succession

     

BY CAROLINA PINHEIRO

If  Prince William and Kate Middleton first child is a girl, she might become heiress apparent and the Queen of the U.K in the future

     On 28 October 2011 some proposals were made to the 16 leaders of the Commonwealth countries in which Queen Elizabeth II is head of state. The changing of some points in the ancient laws of succession is the subject of the proposals. The changes proposed were: to replace the male-preference primogeniture for absolute primogeniture; change the law that excludes those who marry a Roman Catholic of the line of succession; and to give the limit the requirement for those in line to the throne to acquire permission of the sovereign to marry. But before understanding the importance of these changes, we have to understand how the succession to throne of the United Kingdom works.

               

     The order of succession is the order of how members of the Royal Family in the order in stand in line to the throne. The succession in the U.K works under male-preference primogeniture. So, the throne passes for the sovereign descendants, in order of birth. The male- preference means that, if a sovereign first child is female, the princess will only become queen if she does not have any brothers.  The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is the eldest daughter of King George VI, who had no male descendants.

    

     The person who will become king or queen after the sovereign is called "heir apparent" if male, and "heiress presumptive" if female. When King George VI became king, Queen Elizabeth became heiress presumptive.  A princess in the U.K is considered heiress presumptive because this condition may change at any time, if a male descendant is born. The heir apparent position cannot be displaced, except with a change in the laws of succession.

    

     Until this moment, the Prince Charles, elder son to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, is heir apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom. In the U.K. the heir apparent receives the title of Prince of Wales.

    
To read more about the laws of succession and their history, click on this link!

    
     On 28 October 2011 a discussion on the proposal of changing the laws of succession started. The proposals were made by the present Prime Minister David Cameron. These changes will apply to the descendants of the present Prince of Wales. This means that, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge first-born child is a girl, she will become Queen of the U.K in the future, with no risks of losing her position to a younger brother. About the proposals the Queen said that “It encourages us to find ways to show girls and women to play their full part.”

    

     About the need of the members of the Royal Family to ask the sovereign permission to marry, it is expected that this requirement is limited to only a small number of the close relatives of the Sovereign.

     The present Prime Minister David Cameron stated: "The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man, or that a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic - this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become." When asked about the need of the monarch to Protestant, a law that will remain, Cameron said “Let me be clear, the monarch must be in communion with the Church of England because he or she is the head of that Church.”

   

 The next step is to receive the approval from 14 of the 16 realms. The legislation are being analysed to see which parts of the legislation will have to be amended. After the legal process is complete we will know if the changes are official.

Sport Popularity - Anderson dos Anjos

Ranking sports’ popularity

And the silver goes to... 

WHICH sport is the world’s favourite? The answer, football, feels so self-evident that it is barely worth a post. But what about the world’s second favourite?

In 2005 England was in the thrall of a glorious cricketing summer. That year’s Ashes series, a biennial battle in which Australia used to thrash England (before gloating about it insufferably), was going to the wire. Five wonderfully close Test matches had brought the country to a standstill. (It even knocked The World’s Favourite Sport off of the back pages for a while.)

Out of curiosity, I checked out the American press to see whether news of this parochial clash obsessing England had made it across the pond. It was with pride that I saw that it had made the New York Times (if I remember correctly), albeit in a report so hidden away that it seemed surprised to be found. The article stated—casually, with no supporting evidence—that cricket was the “world’s second most popular sport”. The next day I saw the claim again, equally unsubstantiated, in the British version of the Times.

I was reminded of this recently by a comment on our inaugural Game Theory post: “After soccer/football, what is the world's SECOND most popular sport?...I heard it may be cricket, but controversy abounds.” It got me wondering how one defines a sport’s popularity.

The first definition that leaps to mind is the number of people watching it on television. But does one measure a single sporting event, or the number of people who watch a game over the year?

The only time a billion people have watched a single sporting-related event was the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, according to futures sport+entertainment, a consultancy. In fact it is the most-watched TV programme of all time. Still, I don’t think a cutesy Chinese kid lip-synching a sickly song about how the world is one happy family really counts as sport.

Kevin Alavy, the director of futures sport+entertainment, says that “broadly speaking, the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics are by far the two most-watched sporting events, with the UEFA European Championships ranked third. There’s then quite a large gap to…the FIA Formula One World Championship, NFL Super Bowl and the IOC Winter Olympics.”

So where does cricket fit in? By these figures it seems preposterous to advance it as the world’s second favourite. However, the number of people watching its showpiece, the World Cup Final, is wholly dependent on whether India has made it through. It would be of little surprise to me if, in a non-Olympic or World Cup summer, this year’s final between India and Sri Lanka—in Mumbai—was the most-watched sporting event in 2011.

Yet I don’t think these one-offs are a good indicator. In 2008, the second-most watched sporting event (not featuring cutesy kids and the like) was a volleyball game between China and Cuba. I’ve accidentally sat through a baseball game on television. But I’m not a fan and I don’t want my name chalked up alongside it when awards for popularity are handed out.

Which leaves us with the notion of “regular” viewers. Here, cricket might be a viable contender for second. What is important is not that it is a global sport—very few countries give a hoot about it—but that it is phenomenally popular in two places, India and Pakistan, whose combined population makes up over a fifth of the world’s total. In contrast, American football attracts little attention outside the United States, which has just a quarter of India’s population.

Rugby in Ireland - Anderson dos Anjos

Rugby in Ireland

Out yonder waits the Saxon foe

WHEN the Irish rugby team takes the field against England on March 17th in London, there will be all the prospective buzz of a classic St Patrick’s Day clash against their old enemy. The Irish have been soaring lately, reaching the quarter-final of the sport’s 2011 World Cup, and they are now recognised as a ferocious force in world rugby.

Apart from their attacking flair though, the Irish team that runs out in its famous green jerseys will be showing off one of the great quirks of world rugby, and indeed of world sport. In international rugby, the constituent parts of the British Isles play as separate teams: England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. When playing in Europe’s Six Nations tournament, of which the March 17th game is a part, the four teams play against each other, as well as France and Italy, between January and March every year. However, several of the Irish players are not in fact citizens of the Republic of Ireland, but rather of the United Kingdom. For the Irish rugby team—as well as the country’s less successful field hockey and cricket teams—is made up not just of players from the Republic, but from Northern Ireland as well.

In many other sports, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland field separate teams, or Northern Irish sportsmen and women play for the British team. In football, for instance, north and south have only ever united once, in 1973, calling themselves the Shamrock Rovers All-Ireland XI, to play a friendly against Brazil in Dublin. Otherwise, there is one team for Northern Ireland and another for the Republic. The Irish rugby team, on the other hand, has always represented the whole of Ireland, in defiance of the sometimes bloody political history between them. Proud Ulstermen, loyal to the British crown, have for decades been happy to pull on the green jersey of Ireland and shed sweat, and sometimes blood, for the Irish (sporting) cause.

No one seems quite able to explain why. Some say it is a question of social class, that the “Troubles”, as the sectarian fighting of the late 20th century was euphemistically known, were always more of a working-class concern. Rugby, with its middle-class roots, rose above it.

The sport is not immune to historical sensitivities. At the team’s home games in Dublin, the Irish national anthem, “The Soldiers’ Song”, is sung by the home team in Gaelic. Its third verse contains the phrase “out yonder waits the Saxon foe”. But when the team faces said Saxon foe in London—and whenever Ireland play away from home, for that matter—the anthem is not sung. In its place is a specially composed song, “Ireland’s Call”, that is considered a compromise, allowing the Northern Irish players on the team to sing an anthem not so laden with the baggage of history. Some team members choose not to sing one, some don’t sing the other. Trevor Ringland, a Northern Irishman whose father was a policeman in the old Protestant-dominated Royal Ulster Constabulary, says that even though his “Britishness…can accommodate Irishness”, he never sang the Soldier’s Song in Dublin when he represented Ireland in the 1980s. “It’s the anthem of the Republic of Ireland, not the island of Ireland,” he says.

Choosing what flag to play under also required special accommodations. The team has taken the unusual step of flying two separate flags: the Republic’s tricolour and the traditional flagof the four ancient provinces of Ireland, in a nod to the Northern Irish players’ sensitivities.

In other sports, the absence of a united Irish team and the right of all Northern Irish to claim an Irish passport has forced athletes from Ulster to make difficult decisions. In the 2008 Olympics, where all the constituent parts of the United Kingdom play as a single team, Wendy Houvenaghel, a cyclist, won a medal for Britain, while Paddy Barnes, a boxer, secured one for Ireland. Rory McIlroy, who as the world’s top-ranked golfer is Northern Ireland’s most successful sportsman today, seems to be having trouble making up his mind. He represented Ireland in the 2009 World Cup of Golf, but says he will probably switch to the British team in the 2016 Olympics.

Irish identity today is much more fluid than in the past, and the sectarian and religious conflicts of old are fading. Mr Ringland says he does not want a united Ireland. But he does wants to keep building bridges across the divide, and says the Irish rugby team exemplifies that process. “While the rest of Ireland was tearing itself apart, rugby was doing it right,” he says. “It’s a different way to do politics, in which nobody dies.”

Folklore Calendar

Facts about June Customs, Sayings and Traditions
June marks the beginning of Summer in the northern hemisphere and the month of the Wimbledon tennis tournament in England. June is the sixth month of the year and takes its name from the Roman goddess Junno, the goddess of marriage. For this reason, June has always been looked upon as the best month in which to marry: Married in the month of roses - June Life will be one long homeymoon. Sera monath (Dry month) was the name the Anglo-Saxons gave to the month. The Red Rose The flower for June is the red rose. The red rose is the symbol of: love (Red roses are the most sought after flower for a Valentine's Day gif) England and is worn on St George's Day. Lancashire the British Labour Party. The rose also has a special importance on Midsummer's Eve . Weather-lore, beliefs and sayings 'A calm June puts the farmer in tune' 'June damp and warm, does the farmer no harm'. It is claimed that summer doesn't start until the elder is in flower. Festivals and Traditions Well Dressing At different times during June there are ceremonies called 'well dressings'. Springs and wells of fresh water that come from the underground streams have always seem to be magical things, so some wells are honoured with decorations. The decorations consist of branches of greenery and amazingly beautiful pictures made of flower petals and moss. Trooping the Colours The official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II is marked each year by a military parade and march-past, known as Trooping the Colour (Carrying of the Flag). Trooping the Colour will take place on Saturday 13 June 2009 on Horse Guards Parade. Events begin at approximately 10am and the parade starts at 11 a.m. (lasts approximately one hour). or The longest day (Summer Sol The longest day of the year is 21 June or 22 June. It is the day when the sun is at its most northerly point and this is why it is "the longest day". In Wiltshire, there is a circle of huge stones at a place called Stonehenge, and hundreds of people go there to watch the sun rise on 21 June. These stones have stood in Wiltshire for thousands of years and no one knows how they got there. They are not local stone and so whoever placed them there had to somehow transport them over several miles. Midsummers Day The middle of summer comes after the longest day and it is a time associated with witches, magic, fairies and dancing On the eve of Midsummer's Day, many bonfires used to be burnt all over the country. This was in praise of the sun, for the days were getting shorter and the sun appeared to be getting weaker, so people would light fires to try and strengthen the sun. Midsummer's Superstitions Roses are of special importance on Midsummer's Eve. It is said that any rose picked on Midsummer's Eve, or Midsummer's Day will keep fresh until Christmas. At midnight on Midsummer's Eve, young girls should scatter rose petals before them and say: Rose leaves, rose leaves, Rose leaves I strew. He that will love me Come after me now. Then the next day, Midsummer's Day, their true love will visit them.    Published by Michelle Hamine from projectbritain.com