Hi there and happy holidays

Just a few photos from the US and Happy Christmas to all of you if I don't
get on here again before the last day of school on Thursday.

This is us on the end of pier 39 with the famous Alcatraz prison in the background.






The Christmas tree in Union Square

Chinatown

Hello from San Francisco

Hello there everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the party on Thursday evening - I know I did.
I write from my friends' flat in San Francisco. We had a comfortable flight, if very long! This is my first time in America. and it's strange how familiar it is (from films, TV, similarity to Britain) yet how different. I haven't got used to the American accents everywhere yet.
It's now Saturday night here (Sunday morning there though I know) and we have spent today mostly catching up with the friends we are staying with. I shall write more in a day or two if you want to catch up with me.
To those of you that are with us for a while, I shall see you in January. To those of you that finish at the end of the week, good luck, keep in touch with us, and if you would like to be members of the blog so you can keep checking in with us, give you email addresses to your teacher or to the office, or email them to me at jackie@eckersley.co.uk

Jackie

Although it was raining we went to Ashmolean museum.We waited short time in front of the museum. Ground floor of museum has been more picture , arts and mummy.Mummy nested confins of DJEDDJEHUTYIU

SARA

Visit The Ashmolean Museum

Today is Wednesday.We went out of the school to The Ashmolean Museum this morning.Althought it was raining,we went to museum to see egippts,greece dynastic.Despite the fact bein interesting place althougt as rebilding.The museum success was due to they have famoues paintings.Due to we did not have enough time,we went back to our school.


Yasmini daudo Liza/Le Jin

MY DAY

This is Wednesday,the weather is not good.And i felt unhappy due to the rain.Despit the fact that the weather was raining ,i still went out of my home.After 25 minutes,i arrived at school.i thought we would not go out of school to ashmolean museum,however,Julia told me that we should get ready to the museum.I was so surperise.At last ,although the weather was not good,we still went out.When we saw the museum, and felt happy due to the museum was so big and great.I couldn't wait to see the view,however the door of museum was closed.About 5 minutes,it is time to go into the museum,i was interested in the pictures.

Li

MUSEUM IN OXFORD

This morning we went museum. However , the weather was very bad .
We went with Julia to know culture about the world .
We were visity the first floor and the grand floor . However ,the second floor was closed .
Despide the fact that we couldn't take pictures , I think someone took pictures .
I saw a lot of pictures about old world . However I liked only one .
The first floor I liked due to the fact that it was the most interesting .


ARTURO

Despite of having a little bit time, we saw a lot of paintures.
There was many post cards, however, we didn't buy anyone.
Despite the fact that taking pictures was banned,we took some pictures.
Despite the fact that we don't understand english very well,we learned a lot about the museum.
Although the second floor was closed,we saw a lot of sculptures on the ground floor.
Although we aren't experts in sculptures,we enjoyed a lot.
The second floor was closed due to the refurbishment.
Due to the fact that we didn't have time to saw the basement,we didn't see this area.
There were some people giving information,however,we didn't ask them about museum.
BORJA AND HECTOR.

We went yesterday to the castle Oxford .
The weather was very nice .
We went there about half past two on foot .
We were surprised the hill was closed on monday and we went to a gallery and we saw bronze sculpture of a dog very expensive about price £12000 oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were surprised prison became new hotel .
There are Spanish, Italian and American restaurants and there is a hotel .
According to information the castle is 1000 years old .

Yesterday we visited to The Castle Complex .The weather was sunny ,and we felt a little warm .The sky was pure ,and the birds were flying around the Castle .we went there on foot with our teacher. When we arrived there at 2:20 pm ,and there was a hill ,it is so tall ,and we must paid 1pound to climb the hill .Cross the hill ,we saw the prison which was building in ancient .we saw many diffrent restaurants , but the price in the menu was very expensive ,and the hotel dlooked very beautiful ,there were many rooms .Then we went to the exhibition gallery ,there were many paintings ,and we could go up staircases .To our surprise ,bronze sculpture of a dog sat on the ground ,it is lovely trip.

Yesterday was a fine day.We went to a beautiful castle together on foot.we saw a hill.It was one thousand years old.We continued going.Then we saw some ancient view.To my surprise I saw a prison.I saw a ancient hotel.There were many rooms in the hotel. thought it was very expensive.Near the hotel I saw some restaurants over there.I saw the menus there,I thought they were all expensive.I saw four people from Japan on holiday yesterday.Then we went to a gallery.I love bronze sculpture of a dog there .But it was very expensive.I was very happy yesterday.

VISIT TO THE CASTLE COMPLEX

Yesterday the weather was sunny and we went to the castle complex in Oxford. This castle was prison before, now in this area there is a hotel with some rooms and many restaurants.
In fact the tourist can choose numerous menu: Italian, Spanish, Japanese, etc. but the prices are very expencive.
Around the castle there is a hill and if you view and get up on you have to pay 1 pound. We went also to a gallery where you can to see a lot exhibition. There are a lot paintings and if you staircases you can to see bronze sculpture of a dog very ancient.
The visit was good because we learnt new things.

DEVILS ARE RETURNING

Hello everybody!!! I`m Pasqualino, do you remember me?? I wrote on the Senise`s blog last week, and they deleted me... oh xxxx them.... a very poetic writing deleted in that way....horrible!!! But I won`t be quiet... I just wont to talk sincerely about our holiday in Oxford.
It`s easy, isn`t it! It is my right. I know that maybe you`ll delete my message and perhaps also the blog, like the Senise`s one, but I`m trying. I will write in the name of freedom to writing.
Bye

Pasqualino Ermenelgildo D`addato

Yesterday we went to a fair. We were very happy, because Abdul paid for all of us.
This student is very generous. Fair's games are very expensive. But Abdul wanted to satisfy everyone.
Abdul and Prosper

hello .

Yesterday we visited a fair and the day very happy , We to get in dodgems and waltzers .It was scary, so I was scared .Some people went on the big wheel. They looked very happy.

There were many people and rides. I have never seen such a big fair, so I was very happy.
the fair we saw was very interesting .

We are happy because we saw a fun fair because it comes to Oxford every year for 2 days . We some ate candy floss and doughuts and popcorn and play big wheel and waltzers and dodgams .
It was crowded and noisy . The ticket's price was very expensive .Some games were frightening
but we were not frightened .This day was sunny.

An International Goodbye

Friday was the last day at Eckersley for a lot of our students who had been with us in August, and was basically the end of our summer season. So we had a fantastic international lunch to say goodbye to everyone.

BYEEEEEE

Goodbye to Eckersley after 9 months

Hi !! from Tariq (A2 class )

oh it's strange on Friday I'm leaveing the school !! I've been there for a long long time

I started studying here on 16/11/06 and I'll finish tomorrow on the 24/08/07 yeah nearly a year!!! you know it will be my best year I ever had in my life I've met alot of people from all around the world yeah like Joan ( I don't know how to spell his name ) , Gianluca , Bernardo , Broun , Silvia , Fanny , Anna , Victoria , patty ,, and I don't want to forget the nice Korean , Abdul , Antonio and alot of from Italy , Spain , Germany , France , Korea, Russia and of course Can ( his nikename biba ) , I don't want to foget same names please fogive me .

However , I want it to thanks very much jackie and every body work in this school ( sorry I don't know how to spell the names but U know it ) offf it's so diffcult to think that I'm not going to Eckersley on monday ??!!! tomorrow they will write ( we will say goodbye to - Tariq !! ) oh no i can't believe this (( finish - the end of about 9 months in Eckersley ) I love to thanks everybody all the teachers and of course Duncan .

what more to write and to say I had really nice time in Oxford

to be continue >>>>>>

Thank you everybody for everything ....

Tariq Alyamani

Saudi Arabia

23/08/07

mmm

The Eckersley Times

We have a new publication out in school. Today Class B published the first edition of a new magazine "The Eckersley Times" In it you can read about what's going on in school, some information about things to do in Oxford, and so on. We've printed up 9 black and white copies, one for each of your classrooms, one for the students room and one for the front entrance hall. So have a look at it today!! And hopefully class B (and other students who want to join them) will continue to produce this fantastic magazine to keep us all entertained.

And by the way guys - why is it so incredible that I was dancing at the social evening?

OUR VISIT TO THE ASHMOLEN MUSEUM

On Friday 17th August, we went to the Ashmolen Museum with our teacher Julia.
We visited the different floors. In the ground floor we looked a different vase, statue and small model the museum. Ozer liked the vase because of the colour, black, drawing. Romina liked the small model of the museum because it was very interesting for her studies in architecture.
On the first floors we looked a different painting, ceramic and jewellery.
In this floor, Ozer favourite painting was The Hunt in the Forest panel by Paolo Dono and Romina favourite painting was Blue Roofs by Plablo Picasso.
On the second floors was impossible to enter because closed but next year can see English glass, Pre-Raphaelites and Dutch still life.
In finally was possible bought a postcard and sovenier.

Ou Visit to the Ashmolean Museum

On Friday 17th August, we went to the Ashmolean Museum with our teacher Julia.
We are very happy, because the Museum is very interesting. Arom bought many postcards in the shop. She’d like to write to her family in Thailand.
Then there were many students to go there. They asked the staff what facilities does the museum offer.
Next the Museum staff explained it: café, education department, talks…
At first, we went up to the first floor and asked someone what is the best painting. The Museum staff answered us what is our favourite.
Finally we chose the Forest Fire. The painter is Piero di Cosimo.
We preferred it because Romina said this painter is Italian.

Sister Agnes

I wanted to let eveybody know that I heard from Sister Agnes in Africa. She is fine, she's in Kenya in a place called Makuyu. She is working with orphans and sick people. I'm sure she will do a fantastic job and that we wish her all the best. So Sister Agnes, if you read this, Good Luck and Best Wishes!

Quiz Night

Hi everybody!

How was the quiz night last night? Dorothy said she really enjoyed it. I hope you all enjoyed meeting Edd, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him at our social events. It' s a pity I couldn't make it, but I was singing in a band (!) and cooking dinner for guests. As if that wasn't enough, my landlady came to visit...... anyway, I'm glad the quiz was a success and I'm sure we'll be having some more :>

CD ROMs for practising your English

What a shame nobody came to my computer session this evening.
But just for all you budding computer boffs out there (and I know there are a few of you) we are now prepared to lend out some of our CD ROMS from upstairs. You can only borrow them for a few days, but we have CD ROMS for all levels full of English language exercises and games for you to use on a computer in the schoolor at home. Just ask Jackie if you want to see any of them and how they work.

We also have a new programme installed on the first computer on the left as you go in the computer room. At the moment we only have a single license, so it's only installed on one computer. It's the Advanced Pronunciation In Use CD ROM. It's full of exercises to practise some of the more difficult features of pronunciation like getting the stress right and not over-pronouncing sounds that we tend to swallow in English. You can listen and record yourself too and compare the sound. There's also an interactive phoneme chart that shows you how to make different sounds, with a different graphic for male and female voices (we do sound a bit different from each other!!) Again, if you are not sure how to use it, just ask Jackie for some help.

weather stories

It seems we were incredibly lucky with the weather in Oxford yesterday. Yes, I know it rained and yes Iknow it was pretty miserable for the end of June, but if you look at what it was like around the rest of the country I guess we should be thankful.









Thinking about weather in general made me think about one winter in Istanbul when it snowed really heavily several times over a period of about 3 weeks. At the time I was living on the Asian side of the city and working on the European side out near the airport. It was quite a distance but the journey was relatively easy as there was a catamaran which did the crossing in about 30 minutes - but it only ran if the weather was OK!
Otherwise I had to get a ferry across to the other side and then take a train - a journey of about an hour - or take 2 buses - again about an hour and the buses didn't run as frequently as the ferries or trains. One particular morning it had snowed really heavily in the night and was also rather foggy. This meant that the catamaran wasn't running and neither were the ferries. And also not a bus to be seen! And of course it was a morning when I was teahing at 9 o'clock and really had to get into school. Luckily for me, there were 2 other people heading for the same catamaran and we went together in search of a taxi - rather expensive maybe but at least there were 3 of us. Then of course the taxi driver had no change, and neither did I. All I had was a 50 million lira note (about £20). But this couple were so kind. They paid my taxi fare, took my school address and said they would drop in for the money but they never did. So I got a free ride to school and met some really nice people.

I'm sure you all have stories about things that happened to you because of the weather. Maybe at home or maybe in England. It would be nice to see some of those stories on this blog. I look forward to reading some of them.

this weekend

Don't have anyhting to do this weekend? Well here are some ideas:

The weather isn't expected to be great, so maybe the cinema is a good idea. You could go and see "Pirates of the Caribbean:At World's End", "Shrek the Third" or "Ocean's 13" at the Odeon cinema, or if you've already seen these you could try "La Vie En Rose" at the Phoenix Picture house, new out today. It's a biopic of the French singer Edith Piaf. For a review of the film, click here

You may have seen Bernard's notice about an art exhibition on at the North Wall Arts Centre on South Parade - very close for those of you in Dover House. It's an exhibition of paintings by the artist Fuster, also known as Picasso of the Caribbean. If the pictures Bernard put up are anything to go by, they are vibrant and colourful and definitely worth a look. If you want to have apeek online before heading down there, have a look at the online gallery

There's a family fun day at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College on Oxpens Road (opposite the ice rink). There is live music and a barbecue there as well as lots of stalls and things to try out. Click here for more information

Of course if the weather does turn out nice you could go swimming at Hinksey Pool on Lake Street (just up Abingdon Road - a stroll down from the city centre)

Just a couple of ideas. There are plenty of other things going on. Write up here and tell us all what you get up to.

Thanks for jackie

thank you for the yesterday and for the nice night .

And I hope you will do it again .

abdul

Fast Food Restaurants in Oxford

The fast food restaurants in Oxford near Eckersley School are kef , MAC Donald’s which sell good food and cheap if want to eat chicken or beef OR drink , coca cola or eat ice creamer
My favourite is MacDonald’s because you can buy good chicken.

AHAMED ABD ALAZIM ABDALROUF.SUDAN

The Head Of The River

This pub is on Abgington Road.This pub is next to the river.if you want, you can watch the boat race some Saturdays. In this pub, you can drink something and eat food.This pub cooks very delesious steak.If you want go to this pub.You can be relaxed.I think this pub inexpensive.i think you must try.you will be glad.

CAN ATAY :D

Different types of restaurant in Oxford.

There are many types of restaurant in Oxford. If you want different food visit Oxford. The restaurant are in Oxford city centre. The prices are all different.
Here is list of some restaurant in Oxford.

Pub ; All Bar One
Lebaness ; AI – Shami
English ; Copa
Greek ; Greek Taverna
Chinese ; Hang Chow
Spanish ; La Plaza – Tapas Bar
Tandoori ; Moonlight Restaurant
French ; Pierre Victoire Bistrot
Indian ; Qumins / Saffron

I'll visit Copa this weekend because I wonder what English food is like.

A Fantastic Evening

preparing the food



The finished product



Traditional Korean dress









Everyone helped themselves to the food



and then we all tucked in!!!












Thank you everyone for doing such a good job of tidying up



But the biggest thank you of course goes to head chef Mi Sun and all her helpers in the kitchen.

Korean Night menu

In case you are wondering what we are going to eat tonight at the Korean evening, here is the menu:

2 types of kimchi. This is a spicy dish made of fermented vegetables.


















Bibim Bap - a dish made with rice and vegetables, served with a chilli paste.















Galbi - a beef stew. There will also be a vegetarian version of this for people who don't eat meat.













Mandoo - a korean dumpling made with tofu.













potato pancakes but I can't find a picture of these

See you all there and look at this page again tomorrow to see some more photos of what we did

should we charge for museums?

I saw a story in the newspaper today that the conservative party think we should start paying to go in state museums. That would mean that you would have to pay to go in the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Ashmolean for example. They say that the museums are finding it difficult to meet their costs and so should be allowed ro charge an entry fee. However, the article says that since these museums became free 6 years ago, attendance has incrased considerably, in some cases more than doubled. You can read the article on page 2 of The Independent, and maybe it's in the other newspapers too.
What do you think? Do you think it's better for some people to pay so that these museums can provide a better service? Or do you think they should be free for everyone? In some countries I know that big museums are free only on certain days, for example Sundays. What happens in your countries?

HELLO FROM YEMEN

It seems as if you had really good time. I'm very sad because I’m not there and didn’t taste Korean food and Dadi’s spicy noodle dish, but I’m having a good time too with my family and friends. I miss the school and all of you. I hope you have a good time as I do here in Yemen. I've been to many cities in Yemen in a short time with my friends and the weather here is fantastic.
Finally I want to tell you something it could be funny.
When I was with my friends I was holding my friend's hand which is normal here in Yemen and I told him about what they think in England and he was laughing a lot.
Anyway have fun everybody and let's keep in touch.
See you in 2 weeks

Hazem

International Food

yesterday in the school some students cooked food in the kitchen in the school I liked Korean food Dadi cooked beef it was good food Elena made cake I happe with school thankyou to all the students

Ahamed

Yummy Yummy

Wow, what a great taste experience we had yesterday! Although I don't eat meat, I still had a really delicious "meal" of French salad (great dressing!) and Anita's "chips" which I thought were lush. And then of course there was the Russian cake- my boyfriend liked it too!

Thanks so much for your cooking everybody!

Jane

international food

Yesterday we ate international food.I like it because students used spices in all the food.We learned about new food.I had a fun time.Dadi's food was very spicy after some students went to hospital :).....really all the food was delicious...Well done to every


CAN ATAY

Korean Food Night

Tickets are now on sale for the Korean Food Night on Wednesday next week. Only £2.50 per person, but please buy them as soon as possible so we know for sure that you're coming and make enough food. I saw yesterday how hungry you all are!

Mi Sun started the preparations yesterday by making the Kimchi. It has to sit for a week for the taste to develop, so that's what the smell is in the Students' Room.

Some pictures of the preparation just to whet your appetites!

Cooking with Elena

Yesterday afternoon/evening we all had a great time cooking (and then eating!!) with Elena.

Sister Agnes cooked a chicken curry - mild but really tasty.



Anita roasted some pork steaks with vegetables and some potato slices. She thought it was too salty but everybody tucked in.



Justine made a salad with olives and mozzarella cheese. Mmmmmm!



Dadi made a very spicy noodle dish that blew the heads off a few of us!!!



And Elena and her helpers made a fabulous honey cake. So delicious that Jane took a piece home for Neil.


And we mustn't forget Carlo's ice cream, courtesy of Haagen Daasz. By the end he was drinking it out of a mug.



Overall a really delicious spread.



Lots of rush to clear up and get out of school by 5.30.



Thanks all of you - I certainly had a good time. I hope Can didn't get too many cramps at the gym afterwards.

We Love Eckersley

Today in the lesson we talked about our perfect day
Ahmed :go to shopping and go to park in evening go to restaurent and eat Italian food
John: my perfect day i like pub,walk around oxford ,night club and that's all..
Abdual: my perfect day: I like play football and shopping and picnic

Theatre trip

I'm trying to get a group together to go and see "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde at the Burton Taylor Theatre next week. As the Korean food night is on Wednesday(I hope you're all looking forward to that!!) I thought Tuesday night might be the best night to go. Tickets are £8 each and the show starts at 7.30 so we could meet outside school at 7.15.
As an extra incentive, 2 of the cast are willing to come into school and do a workshop, which would help you to follow the play when you go to the theatre and would also be fun in itself.
It actually isn't a hard story to follow. It's a romantic comedy set in England in Victorian times, and revolves around the story of 2 young men who tell lots of lies but keep getting caught out by them in the funniest possible way. There are also 2 beautiful young women who the 2 mean are in love with (of course!!) and a mother (the terrifying Lady Bracknell) looking out for her daughter.
Come and see me if you would like to go and I shall organise some tickets.

Does and should the media present news or opinions?

'Opinion and fact should be clearly divisible. The truth is, a large part of the media today not merely elides the two but does so now as a matter of course. In other words, this is not exceptional. It is routine. The metaphor for this genre of modern journalism is The Independent newspaper. Let me state at the outset it is a well-edited, lively paper and is absolutely entitled to print what it wants, how it wants, on the Middle East or anything else. But it was started as an antidote to the idea of journalism as views, not news. That was why it was called The Independent. Today it is avowedly a viewspaper, not merely a newspaper. The final consequence of all this is that it is rare today to find balance in the media.'
Tony Blair, speaking yesterday as quoted by today's Independent newspaper

You can read the whole story in the paper or online


This is from the front page of today's Independent, which you may have seen in the entrance hall or in class. Tony Blair's view is obviously that the Independent (and maybe other newspapers as well) are presenting their own point of view on things rather than the news itself. He also seems to be suggesting that readers are not able to separate out what is fact (news) and what is just opinion.
I feel that most people know exactly what they are reading and how to understand it, and that the media generally presents a reasonably good mixture of fact and views. I may not always agree with the views of a newspaper but I think I can recognise that it is just the writier's opinion.
What do you think? Should newspapers just print news or should they also print views? Can you recognise when reading a news story in English what is fact and what is just opinion? And do you think the media in your country is similar to in Britian or different? I'm interested to know what you all think.

A fantastıc Fish Restaurant Idea

We are on the way back to Istanbul now, and fly back to the UK tomorrow, but I thought I would let you know about a wonderful fish market where we aqte the other evening. Fethiye market has 2 sections: the first is just an ordinary fruit and veg market, the other section was the fish market, but since we were last there it has been transformed. The market stalls are still there, selling their fish, but all around there are now fish restaurants. The idea is you buy your own fish from the stalls, bring it to the restaurant and they do everything else for you. For 5 Turkish Lira (about 2 pounds) they clean and cook your fish however you want it and give you garlic bread, salad and a special sauce to put on the fish. You can also buy traditional Turkish starters, desserts, drink....And if you aren't sure what fish to choose the waiters will go and help you with your choice.

Do you know of any places with unusual ways of eating like this?

See you all on Monday

A Rainy Day In Turkey

Yes, it's raining again today. But what does that mean exactly? Well this morning was bright and sunny. We met up with some Turkish friends and had spinach pancakes for breakfast. It was so hot in the market that Battal was sweating!! Then we went back to their house (a beautiful 4-floor villa by the sea with a pool and a huge garden) and sat on the balcony. Then the rain started. But not like rain in Oxford. It was still lovely and warm and the rain just freshened the air. Now the sun is out again and we are about to have a barbecue. Lamb chops and chicken wings!! Life is pretty good even in the rain.
What are you all doing?

HI to Jackie from Oxford

How are you??
I hope you are having a good time in Turkey. It's really interesting to read about your holiday and what you doing there, especially the match. It’s very funny.
I’m not interesting in football so I can’t say what they should to do!!!!!.
I want to tell you a little bit about the filming on Saturday. It was really funny and interesting. We put on smart clothes. Because the teacher told us when she met us, whereas the other students put on normal clothes!!!!. I don’t know why she told us to do that perhaps because we are young.
When we got to the university press we were laughing all the time and, because we looked stupid. Anyway, the filming was good, funny and a little bit boring because we were doing it many times.
However, we were patient because we were looking forward the 50 pound!!!!!!!.
I hope you will enjoy the rest of your holiday and see you soon…

Hazem

Turkish Football

Hello everyone

I thought I would write about what's in the news in Turkey rather than what I'm doing. I'm sure it gets pretty boring reading about me sitting in the sun and doing nothing!!
On Saturday there was a lot of trouble at a Turkish football match. Fenerbahce, who had already won the league the week before, were away to Galatsaray, who were in third position with a chance of moving into second and going to the Champions League if they won the match. Should be a good match you think? me too. But right from the start the Galatasaray fans were throwing things onto the pitch. For example, as 1 Fenerbahce player was taking a corner, about 20-25 bottles of water were thrown straight at him. The pitch started to look like a battle ground. As the water ran out they started ripping out the seats and throwing them, and eventually somehow they were throwing fire bombs. The referee did eventually stop the match for 20 minutes but then started it again, and the trouble never really stopped. Fenerbahce won the match and Galatasaray lost their chance of Champions League football next season, but no decision has yet been made on the punishment.
What do you think? How should the club be punished and what can be done to stop this kind of hooliganism in football?

Back to School

Hi everyone! It sounds like Jackie's having a great time in Turkey- all that sun and socialising :> It's really good to see you all again. I had a really good holiday, the weather was perfect for me- their "winter" in South Africa is about 20 degrees centigrade and a bit wet and windy...but we had lots of sunshine too. I saw lots of animals and birds I'd never seen before and went horseriding which was fantastic- Western style like a cowgirl!

I'm doing Jackie's job for the next two weeks, so feel free to come and see me if you want to talk about anything, or just for a chat.

Have a good week everybody

Back Again

Hi there everyone

Here I am back online again. We are now on the south coast and enjoying the sunshine eventually. The day we arrived it was blowing an asolute gale and you couldnt walk down the street without something blowing in your eye. We had to put our sunglasses on and looked complete idiots!! Yesterday it was a bit overcast so we caught up with some old friends and just hung out but today it looks as if the clouds are blowing over so we are going to get some serious sunbathing and swimming done.
I understand that Gianluca Tariq and Hazem have become film stars for Oxford University Press. What did you have to do boys? Write and tell me about it.
See you all soon

Next Installment

Hi there everyone. I get online again and write to you all.
We have been in Istanbul for 3 days now and I have been all over the city seeing all my friends and Battal's relatives. I have had some good evenings with friends and tried all the food and drink I've been missing!! I visited a school in Istanbul yesterday that has just become a member of Quality English like us. Look for the notice in reception if you aren't sure what it is.
Tomorrow we fly down to the south coast and some real heat. Istanbul is hot but also very humid so I've been melting a little bit. We shall now have a good rest.

Looking forward to hearing all your news about everything.

from Jackie in Turkey

I have now arrived in Turkey and the weather is wonderful!! The plane landed on time in glorious sunshine and the heat hit us as we disembarked.
We were both really tired after travelling all night - an overnight bus to Luton airport and then 3 hours or so wait at the airport before we got on the plane - but after a shower we felt awake enough to go and visit Battal's sister Hatice, who has been undergoing treatment for throat cancer. Luckily she seems to be OK now, ıf still speaking very quietly, and it is really good to see her.
We travel down to the south coast on Saturday and are looking forward to some good lazing around on the beach and lots of swimming.
I´m hoping you will all keep in touch with me on the blog while I´m away from school. Tell me all about the film on Thursday adn where you go for artweeks and what Bernardo does on his last night!!!
Happy blogging all of you and see you in June.

Watch this space

Macmillan Dictionary Launch

Are you interested in winning a balloon ride across Oxford?
Macmillan publishers are holding a competition to launch their new dictionary in May. The launch will take place in Radcliffe Square in Oxford (the square where the Radcliffe Camera and Bodleian Library are)on Thursday May 12th at 5.30 pm and a group from school will go down together. At the launch hundreds of balloons will be launched, and if you want to enter the competition your name can be attached to one of them. The name on the balloon that travels the furthest will win a ride in a hot air balloon over Oxford. The launch will take place on the same day in Sao Paolo, Beijing, Bucharest and Madrid, and the balloon that travels furthest of all of these races will win a round-the-world air ticket!! Great prizes eh? The competition is free: all you have to do is give your name to Jackie and then turn up for the balloon race on the day. Everyone who goes down will also get a bag of goodies from the publisher for free. There will be some posters up around school soon, but if you want to know more just come and ask me.

Final update on Red Nose day

In case you're interested, we raised just over £150 from the lunch and the raffle. Add to this the money that went to buy the noses and it makes almost £200. Congratulations to all of you and thank you again for helping to make it such a big success.
Have a look at the pictures of Yazid before and after he shaved off his beard. I can't see any difference - do you think he was just pretending to shave?

Red Nose Day

We had a great day yesterday for Red Nose Day.
Red Nose Day happens every 2 years, and is a day organised by the charity Comic Relief to raise money for poor people in Africa and also in the UK. The first Red Nose Day was in 1985 at the height of the famine in Ethiopia. All over Britain people have parties and events to raise money, and in the evening BBC have a huge comedy programme and people are encouraged to phone in and promise money.
At Eckersley we organised a pasta lunch. The Italian group leaders from the Lavello group cooked an enormous amount of pasta with a delicious tomato sauce. Students paid £1 to get a bowl of this pasta. We had decorated the room earlier with red balloons and some posters, and put out long tables all around the students' room. For a few days beforehand, Jackie had been going around classes selling raffle tickets and we drew the winners. There were lots of different prizes. Some beautiful glass ear-rings from Chile, donated by Nicole, were chosen first. Sean's name was pulled out but he wasn't there so Tariq chose a 40-minute English lesson for him. Somebody said that this was really a punishment and not a prize!! But Mizuki was very happy with her lesson, and chose Luke as the teacher to give it. Afterwards she said that this was really good value - she bought a ticket for only £1 and got a one-to-one lesson. The other thing we did to raise money was that Yazid decided to shave off his beard and moustache. He got people to sponsor him to do it, and we took photos of before and after!At the end of the day everybody helped with washing up and with putting all the chairs back in the classrooms. Thank you all for helping to make it such a good day.
Overall I'm not sure how much money we raised - I was too tired yesterday to count it all. I'll let you know!

Red Nose Day - March 16th

Have you heard of Comic Relief? You may have seen something on TV.
Comic Relief is a charity set up by British comedians to raise money for people in need in Britain and overseas, especially in Africa. The money is raised in many ways, but every 2 years there is a red nose day, when people all over the country wear red noses and do stupid things to raise money. This year, red nose day is on March 16th.
At Eckersley, we will be doing some different things to raise money.
We'll be having a pasta lunch. Instead of giving it you for free, this time you will have to pay £1 for your plate of pasta, but remember the money is going to a good cause. We would also like you to bring in cakes and sweets etc. to sell to each other, again with the money going to charity. Drinks will be provided by the school, but we'll have a collection if you want to pay something towards them.
We'll also be selling red noses. Staff will come to school in red noses, and red clothes or BIG clothes (the theme of red nose day this year is The Big One). We'll be selling red noses in school, or you can get them from lots of local shops. We'll also have a raffle. You can buy a ticket, and then you ight win one of several fantastic prizes!!
Ask you teacher if you want to know more about red nose day and comic relief. Or if you have any questions why not post them up to the blog?

Thank You

Hi, thank you for the school to give us this blog and I hope it will be useful for us.

TAREQ

Magazines

Have a look at the new magazines in the Students' Room next to the TV. For example:

Foodie: a magazine all about food and drink in the Midlands. There is an interesting article about a bakery in Banbury. It talks about how the traditional methods of bread-making are dying out and this bakery is trying to maintain them. You can get their bread at the farmers market in Gloucester Green on Thursdays twice a month.

Now: a magazine focussing on style and celebrity gossip. I have to admit, I don't really like magazines like this, but I know some of you do. After all the hype in the press about Britney Spears, you might enjoy reading the interviews with her family and friends.

Q: a music magazine. My interest was caught by the article called "100 ways to get free music"

in Britain: A tourist magazine of Britain. This edition has an article telling what to do in a short break in Oxford. Has some great pictures too.

TV Choice: Just in case you want to know what's on TV next week.

Enjoy reading. If you read something interesting and want to write about it, then I look forward to reading what you have to say.

Welcome

Hello there everybody. Welcome to the Eckersley Students Blog. I hope that you will all get writing up to this blog and sharing your experiences of Oxford. I'm sure you're all wondering what you can write about. Well, here are just a few ideas:

- post links to any websites you know for studying English
- write about places in Oxford or London you think other students would like to know about
- write reviews on books you read from the library
- give your opinions on any issues. These could be things you discuss in class, or things you read about in the newspaper or watch on TV
- film or theatre reviews
- tell us about things happening in Oxford

You can also comment on things that other students have written.
And of course you can continue to look at the blog and post to it after you leave Eckersley. That will give you a way of keeping in touch with everyone you meet here.

Happy posting