Posts Tagged ‘school’
History Of Hurling
While hurling is generally recognized as a Gaelic sport it should possibly be called a Celtic one. For the history of hurling is in fact older than the history of Ireland itself. It predates Christianity, arriving in Ireland more than three thousand years ago with the Celts.
The earliest references to hurling in Ireland is in early Irish laws dating back to the fifth century. Hurling played a prominent part in early Irish mythology. Legendary Irish heroes such as Cuchulainnt and Fionn Mac Cumhail and his Fianna are both written of as playing hurling.
Hurling is, in essence, a stick and ball game. The game is thought to be related to the games of shinty that is played primarily in Scotland, cammag on the Isle of Man and bandy that was played formerly in England and Wales.
The stick was, and indeed, still is called a hurley and the ball a sliotar. Early Irish lawn Law stated that the son of a r? (local king) could have his hurley banded in bronze, while others could only make use of copper. It was unlawful to confiscate a hurley.
The object of the game is for players to use the hurley to hit a small ball through the opponent’s goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is the same as three points.
The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or hit on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than three steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick and the ball can only be handled twice while in his possession.
The English occupation of Ireland led to many statutes prohibitting or restricting the playing of hurling as it diverted people from archery practice. The earliest of these goes back to the 13th century.
However, it was the Eighteenth Century that came to be known as the ?The Golden Age? of hurling as members of the Anglo-Irish landowning gentry often kept teams of players on their land and challenged each other’s teams to games for the amusement of their tenants.
Stories of colourful hurling games from this period continue to be gathered from contemporary Irish storytellers and newspapers of the era. The contemporary era of hurling In Ireland dates from the formation of the Gaelic Athletic Association formed in 1884 in Thurles, County Tipperary under the illustrious patronage of Thomas Croke, Archbishop of Cashel and Charles Parnell.
The 20th Century saw greater organisation in hurling. The all-Ireland Hurling tournament came into being along with the provincial championships. Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary dominated hurling in the 20th Century with each one of these counties winning more than 20 All-Ireland titles each. Wexford, Waterford, Clare, Limerick, Offaly, Dublin, and Galway were also strong hurling counties during the 20th Century.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on several subjects, but is currently concerned with London Olympics 2012 venues. Click a link if you are interested in 2012 London Olympics Volunteers.
The Nicknames Of English Football Teams
A review of the nicknames used by English football teams reveals a beguiling insight into English social history over the last 150 years.
All soccer teams seem to get a nickname, bestowed upon them lovingly by their loyal fans. Although in one very famous case – that of Manchester United – the nickname of The Red Devils was actually invented by the club itself as a marketing ploy, copyrighted and eventually the Red Devil himself was incorporated in the team’s coat of arms.
The derivation of the name may seem obvious, or may be lost in the mists of time or even not known today.
In many cases the nickname is derived from the colour of the team?s shirts. Obvious examples of these include:
Chelsea – The Blues Burnley – the Clarets Watford – the Hornets Preston North End – The Lilywhites Liverpool – The Reds Newcastle United – The Magpies Coventry City – The Sky Blues Blackpool United – the Tangerines Weymouth – The Terras Cambridge United – the Yellows Hull City – the Tigers
Other nicknames are far more prosaic in origin, being based upon abbreviations or contractions of the team?s real name. Examples of these cases include :
Middlesbrough ? Boro Rochdale ? the Dale Gillingham ? the Gills Wigan Athletic ? the Latics Queens Park Rangers – QPR Blackburn Rovers ? The Rovers Aldershot Town ? The Shots Shrewsbury Town ? The Shrews Tottenham Hotspur – Spurs Swansea City ? The Swans Woverhampton Wanderers ? Wolves
Location plays an important part in a lot of team nicknames
Sunderland – The Black Cats (named after the Black cat gun battery which was located on the banks of the River Wear) Bournemouth – The Cherries (the stadium was built on the site of a cherry orchard) Carlisle United – The Cumbrians (Carlisle is in the county of Cumbria) Bristol Rovers – The Gas ( their old ground was located next to the gasworks) Torquay United – The Gulls (Torquay is beside the sea) Tamworth – The Lambs ( the team plays at The Lamb Ground, named after a local pub) Grimsby Town – The Mariners (Grimsby is on the coast) Rotherham United – The Millers ( the pitch is called Millmoor) Sheffield Wednesday – The Owls ( they play in an area of Sheffield known as Owlerton) Kettering Town – The Poppies ( their stadium was constructed on a poppy field) Blackburn Rovers – The Riversiders (their site is built on the banks of a river) Bolton Wanderers – The Trotters (in the 19th century the ground was located next to a piggery)
Other nicknames are derived from local occupations or industries:
Sheffield United – The Blades ( local links with cutlery manufacture) Burton Albion – The Brewers ( Burton is a major centre for the brewing industry ) Hereford United – The Bulls (from the local cattle industry) Wycombe Wanderers – The Chairboys ( local furniture industry) Northampton Town – The Cobblers (from the local boot and shoe industry) Yeovil Town – The Glovers (local links to the glove making industry ) Luton Town – The Hatters (Luton was for many years a centre for the production of hats) Crewe Alexander – The Railwaymen ( Crewe was constructed as a railway town
Finally, a short assortment of some of the more amusing, bizarre and obtuse derivations:
Charlton Athletic – The Addicks ( A corruption of the ward ?haddocks? after a neighbourhood fish and chip shop) Norwich City – The Canaries ( Norwich was a leading centre for the breeding of canaries. The team subsequently adopted the green and yellow of the Norwich Canary as their playing strip) Hartlepool United – The Monkey Hangers (During the Napoleonic wars the citizens of Hartlepool allegedly hung a monkey thinking it to be a French spy) Bury – The Shakers (The first Chairman of the club, J T Ingham said before a local derby game against Blackburn ?We will shake them, in fact we are the Shakers?) Peterborough United – The Posh (A previous manager of the team is reputed to have said ?We are looking for posh players for a posh team?)
We hope this look though the history behind the nicknames of English football teams has been amusing and informative.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with London Olympics 2012 venues. Click a link if you are interested in 2012 London Olympics Volunteers.
School Fund Raising
Many schools have to engage in fund raising because of a shortfall in government funding. This shortage of sufficient government funding will only get worse given the cutbacks that the governments of the world have seen fit to enforce in order to help resolve the financial crisis brought about by the collapse of so many financial institutions.
It is commonly known as the banking crisis and it is being used as an excuse for cutting the funding of government departments like schooling and health care. You will become able to judge how hard your local schools have been hit by the amount of school fund raising in your region.
A conventional method of school fund raising is the selling of goods from a catalogue from door to door. Typically, school children are given the catalogues to take home and to take around their neighbours. Those who sell the most often win prizes.
The season of school fund raising mostly starts when the kids go back to school in the autumn after the summer break. If the schools in your area have been badly hit by the cutbacks, you may have dozens of kids knocking on your door attempting to sell you over-priced knick-knacks.
However, some schools strive to be more inventive in their fund raising, because fewer and fewer people are prepared to pay way over the top for spare plugs, wrapping paper and scissors.
Some of these innovative approaches include selling sandwiches, pizzas, hot dogs, barbecued chicken and cookie dough. Other ways are to hold a bring and buy sale or a fair with sideshows, stalls, bingo and a bouncy house. Raffles are also popular methods of raising money for schools as long as the prizes are worth winning.
Although school fund raising is a nuisance for parents, it is a necessary evil, if the school is to meet its obligation to provide children with a decent education. One decent method of increasing money is to publish a monthly school magazine. Kids and teachers can write pieces and stories for the magazine and a committee of students and teachers could edit and compile it.
It is a decent idea if the head teacher gives a report in each issue. Local businesses can be approached to buy marketing space and the magazine can be sold for a small amount. This will provide a regular and fairly stable monthly income and every parent will want one as will other individuals who live in the environs of the school.
The difficulty of underfunding is a big one and it will not be going away any time soon, however, families are suffering from the financial squeeze as well so schools ought to shift their focus while trying to raise money. People definitely do not like to feel obliged to purchase over-priced rubbish because it is children who are flogging it – it is a form of moral blackmail.
The best way to raise money for schools is to provide value for money. So, if you have to organize school fund raising, give out catalogues by all means, but make them decent ones or make your own in conjunction with a large, local department store; put on a Christmas pantomime, nativity play or/and carol service; in the warmer months organize public events like bazaars, fayres and bring and buy sales and publish a monthly school magazine all the way through the year.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several subjects, but is now concerned with the bouncy castles for sale. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Bouncy House Rentals
Why Must We Have To Pick Between Children And Bus Drivers
The time has come for school bus drivers to let go of their personal privacy. This is so the well being of their passengers will be assured. They need to reveal mental and physical health issues to their company. They also have to agree to undergo random drug testing and register the medications they are on. These recommendations were written by Judge Bruce Fraser in the fatal accident investigation report on the death a young person in 2007.
The nine-year-old schoolgirl was killed in a school bus accident on October 18, 2007. The school bus driven by Louise Rogers swerved into a parked gravel truck then slammed into a power pole. This event killed the girl and critically harmed three additional children including her sister. All four are studying at Mountain View Academy but shared a bus with Third Academy at the time.
In his report, John Fraser also wrote that there was no suggestion that the driver did it on purpose. It cannot be explained why the bus driver drifted onto the shoulder where the truck was broken down. Later on it was known that Ms. Rogers had recently been hospitalized for mental health problems. To aid with her condition she was prescribed sleeping pills and antidepressants. However, tests revealed that the level of these drug treatments had been low in her system on that day.
The design of the school bus involved might have also aggravated the accident. Judge Fraser wrote that the bus was designed so that the passenger portion extends past the cab or engine section. This adds to the danger of the passengers because their bodies are exposed outside the motor of the vehicle, consequently escalating the danger. This is a design error that is frequently found in smaller buses which has to be given consideration.
The recommendations presented by the judge received positive responses. Aside from those that were formerly described, he included an additional suggestion. Bus drivers who went on leave due to mental or physical issues must be required to present a report. This has to be issued by a health professional, stating therein whether the person is in shape to resume work.
There are proposals that encourage bus drivers not to use hand-held devices. This includes, but not restricted to, cellphones and musical devices while on duty, especially while driving. News has spread that there is already a draft of a new legislation banning all hand-held devices behind the wheel.
The incident taught a lesson that all schools ought to establish stricter standards in the hiring of school bus drivers. There should be a method for assessing the mental health of potential drivers. It is very vital to establish whether these problems will affect their driving. The safety of children under their charge while on the bus should be protected.
We try to protect our kids. We let them out of our view at school. But we must not let them out of our view on the Internet. Keep them safe by using an Anonymous Proxy to hide where they live.
8th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas
There are many different 8th grade science fair project ideas that you could use for your next assignment, these are used depending on the type of project that you wish to create and they are basically categorized in the sciences of physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, social sciences and environmental sciences. Each of your projects should have a guideline of how to use it and how to prove its efficiency. You should know that many interesting actual projects have developed from good ideas for science projects.
The best part about a science fair project is that you may have your very own group of science fair topic ideas and then you just need to select one and start working on a project that will allow you to compete in this activity that have formed part of education for a long time. A very good method for acquiring 8th grade science fair project ideas will be described in the next few lines if you’re interested in understanding the basics of a science fair project.
The first thing that you should do is to pick one topic of the classification which was stated above, and once you have accomplished that you need to select one of the different subtopics that can be applied to the general topic that you just selected. It is very interesting to ask yourself a question about how things work, and if there are some questions that you cannot answer then those are very good ideas for science projects.
Another good technique for selecting science fair topic ideas will be to read the newspaper and watch television, see what interesting aspects of life are developing nowadays and try to explain them on a science fair project. That way you will get outstanding 8th grade science fair project ideas and with them you will be capable of winning a wonderful prize. And you will have an excellent group of ideas for science projects.
Keep in mind that for selecting the best 8th grade science fair project ideas your selection must be not only a great question, but a successful project also implies that you would be giving the answer by performing an experiment. So it is very important that you prepare yourself with all of the needed materials once you have reduced to one selection from your complete group of good ideas for science projects.
Try to make the project by yourself, ask as little assistance as you can and you will feel that your 8th grade science fair project ideas were incredible and that you accomplished everything by yourself; it will leave you with a sense of accomplishment that cannot be equaled if you win with the help of others.
Science fair projects involving model rocketry are sure to be a crowd pleaser, and usually only require a basic understanding of how rockets work.