Easter

About Easter

Jesus Christ died on a cross on a Friday almost two thousand years ago. Christians believe that on the following Sunday, Christ rose from the dead and, in doing so, proved that He is the Son of God. The day Jesus died and was buried is known as Good Friday. The following Sunday is Easter.
Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Son of God each year between March 22nd and April 25th (the first Sunday after the vernal equinox).

Religious celebrations include family gatherings and special Easter church services.


So where do the Bunnies come in?

In olden times, Christian monks were very good at explaining their religion to those who hadn't heard of God or Jesus. They almost always took symbols of significance of the people they were teaching and used those symbols to teach about God.



The timing of Easter was such that it coincided with the spring festivals of many pagan religions. (In northern Europe, the goddess of spring was Eostre -- some people say that Easter may have even gotten its name from this goddess).



These spring festivals celebrated the wakening of the world after spring. Luckily, this "awakening" went very well with the monks teaching of Jesus' resurrection! The ideas of the rebirth of spring were merged with the Christian teachings of Jesus resurrection to form the Easter holiday most of us know today.

Easter jokes
What do you get if you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?


Hot cross bunnies!



How does the Easter Bunny stay fit?

EGG-xercise and HARE-robics!



What's the difference between a counterfeit dollar bill and a crazy rabbit?

One is bad money, the other is a mad bunny!



Why did the Easter egg hide?

He was a little chicken!



Knock knock

Who's there?

Esther

Esther who?

Esther Bunny!



How many Easter eggs can you put in an empty basket?

Only one – after that it’s not empty any more!



Why shouldn’t you tell an Easter egg a joke?

It might crack up!


What’s yellow, has long ears, and grows on trees?

The Easter Bunana!


How can you tell where the Easter Bunny has been?

Eggs (X) marks the spot!


How did the Easter Bunny rate the Easter parade?

He said it was eggs-cellent!



How do you catch the Easter Bunny?

Hide in a bush and make a noise like a carrot!


What do you call a rabbit that tells good jokes?

A funny bunny!


What’s the best way to send a letter to the Easter Bunny?

Hare mail!


Why does the Easter Bunny have a shiny nose?

Because the powder puff is on the other end!


How does the Easter Bunny travel?

By hare plane!


How does the Easter Bunny keep his fur neat?

With a hare brush!


What did the rabbit say to the carrot?

It’s been nice gnawing you!



How do you know carrots are good for your eyes?

Have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses?


How did the soggy Easter Bunny dry himself?

With a hare-dryer!


How does a rabbit keep his fur looking good?

With hare spray!


What kinds of books do bunnies like?

Ones with hoppy endings!




I hope all Salterford Children have a safe and happy Easter and return after the holiday for an action packed summer term.

Sport Relief

Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries. At the heart of the campaign is the Sport Relief Mile.

What will you do for Sport Relief 2012?

In the past, many celebrities have completed awesome challenges to raise money for Sport Relief.

In 2006 David Walliams swam the English Channel to raise money for Sport Relief. He trained for 9 months with Professor Greg Whyte and was also helped by the "King of the Channel", Mike Read, chairman of the Channel Swimming Association. Walliams' feat was documented for a BBC programme called Little Britain's Big Swim.

Last summer, he swan 140 miles along the River Thames.

On 26 July 2009, Eddie Izzard began running a series of 43 marathons over 51 days for Sport Relief. On 15 September, Eddie arrived in Trafalger Square, marking the end of his 43rd marathon in only 51 days. He ran 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) a day, 6 days a week for 7 weeks straight, covering 1,166 miles (1,876 km) across the UK. Izzard raised over £1,152,510 for Sport Relief.


Puzzle of the week

The first 15 people to donate to a charity collection gave an average of £4.00 each.




After a further 50 people had donated, the average amount given by each person rose to £5.00.



What was the average amount donated by each of the last 50 people only?

Mothering Sunday

What is Mothering Sunday?
Mothering Sunday in the UK is the equivalent of Mothers' Day in other countries.

What happens on Mothering Sunday in the UK?

Mothering Sunday is a time when children pay respect to their Mothers. Children often give their Mothers a gift and a card.

Mothering Sunday church service
Many churches give the children in the congregation a little bunch of spring flowers to give to their Mothers as a thank you for all their care and love throughout the year.
When is Mothering Sunday (Mother's Day)?
Mothering Sunday (Mother's Day) is always the fourth Sunday of Lent

18 March 2012	6 March 2016
10 March 2013	26 March 2017
30 March 2014	11 March 2018
15 March 2015	31 March 2019

Why is Mothering Sunday on different dates each year?

Mothering Sunday is not a fixed day because it is always the middle Sunday in Lent  (which lasts from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Sunday). This means that Mother's Day in the UK will fall on different dates each year and sometimes even fall in different months.

Mothering Sunday has been celebrated in the UK on the fourth Sunday in Lent since at least the 16th century.

The History behind Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday was also known as 'Refreshment Sunday', Pudding Pie Sunday (in Surrey, England) or 'Mid-Lent Sunday'. It was a day in Lent when the fasting rules were relaxed, in honour of the 'Feeding of the Five Thousand', a story in the Christian Bible.

Roman Spring Festival

The more usual name was Mothering Sunday. No one is absolutely certain exactly how the name of Mothering Sunday began. However, one theory is that the celebration could have been adopted from a Roman Spring festival celebrating Cybele, their Mother Goddess.

Mother Church

As Christianity spread, this date was adopted by Christians. The epistle in the Book of Common Prayer for this Sunday refers to the heavenly Jerusalem as "the Mother of all us all", and this may have prompted the customs we still see today.

It is known on this date, about four hundred years ago, people made a point of visiting their nearest big church (the Mother Church). The church in which each person was baptised.
Cathedrals are the 'mother church' of all other churches in an area ('diocese'). Canterbury Cathedral is pictured below.
People who visited their mother church would say they had gone "a mothering."


Things a mum never says

Well, if Timmy's mum says it's OK, that's good enough for me.
How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?
Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too.
Just leave all the lights on. It makes the house look more cheery.
Let me smell that shirt. OK, it's good for another week.
Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I'll be glad to feed and walk him every day.
Don't bother wearing a jacket - the wind-chill is bound to improve.
Bedtime is just a general time to shoot for. It's not like I'm running a prison around here.
I don't have a tissue with me - just use your sleeve.

HELP
The school has ran dry!  The jokes have run out.  We are in desparate need of laughter.  Please send Mr Britten your jokes.  Think how much happier we all could be!

Puzzle of the week
What number should replace the question mark?

The World Education Games

The World Education Games is the exciting event for ALL students around the world. It runs from 6-8 March, involving 5.5million students from over 200 countries and territories. Practice opens on 1 February. This is the global challenge to get ALL students (4-18 years of age) excited about learning, and to give the top students in each school an opportunity to see how they measure up against the best.


The format is:

The Games are now open for Practice

6 March - World Spelling Day

7 March - World Maths Day

8 March - World Science Day
 
Students are given their own personal online Games centre, from which they can participate in all 3 events from school and home.
Students are matched in real time with up to 3 other students of similar age and ability in exciting live challenges. For maths and spelling each challenge lasts 1 minute. For science, each challenge lasts 1 to 3 minutes depending on the number of participants in a challenge.
Students earn points for correct answers, with their personal tally growing as they complete the challenges.
Each event has 50 challenges in total, meaning students can complete each event in around an hour either in a computer class at school, and/or from home. Science may take 2 hours to complete. This can be done in separate sittings over the 48 hours of each event.
 
http://www.worldeducationgames.com/

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual event in which fair and ethical trading values are celebrated. The concept was pioneered by the Fairtrade Foundation in the United Kingdom, and held firstly in 1997 in Scotland directed by Barnaby Miln. Its national launch was on 12 February 1997 at Augustine United Church on Edinburgh's George IV Bridge by Lady Marion Fraser, chairman of the charity Christian Aid. She broke a bar of fairtrade chocolate to launch the event.




It turned out to be a highly successful campaign to get every supermarket throughout Scotland to stock Fairtrade products. Supporters of Christian Aid Scotland, SCIAF, Traidcraft, Oxfam and the World Development Movement were sent by Barnaby Miln a list of 85 supermarkets in Scotland's cities and larger towns, and encouraged during the Fortnight to go and ask for Fairtrade products.



Fairtrade fortnight spread to the rest of the United Kingdom the following year. Today, Fairtrade fortnights are celebrated in several countries, most notably Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Pancake Day!

What is Pancake Day?


Pancake Day in the UK is also known as Shrove Tuesday, and is celebrated as Carnival and Mardi Gras elsewhere in the world. Enjoyed on 21st February 2012, it falls just before Lent, and was traditionally a day of fun and feasting before the fasting during 40 days of Lent.




Joke of the week

Waiter, waiter, will the pancakes be long?


No sir, round.

Puzzle of the week
Throw three darts at this board to score 20.




Every dart hits the board and no dart falls out.



How many different ways are there to score 20?

Week Beginning 6th February

Safer Internet Day 7th February
This year, Safer Internet Day (SID) will take place on Tuesday 7 February 2012 and will be centred around the theme Connecting generations and educating each other, with the slogan: "Discover the digital world together... safely.
About Connecting Generations
This topic looks at the reach of the online world across all generations and cultures and encourages families to work together to stay safe online. Whether you are 5, 40 or 75 years old, whether you use the internet once a month or several times a day - each person has something different to bring to the table that can help shape our online experiences and our understanding of online competences and safety. We all have a role to play in ensuring that every child is safe online.

Today our offline and online worlds are strongly connected, from families communicating via webcam with relatives and friends abroad to children doing their homework online. The online world is a unique arena where people of all ages can learn together and from each other, especially regarding online safety. Tech savvy youngsters can teach their elders how to use new technologies, while grandparents can draw on their life experiences to advise younger generations on how to stay safe online, as they discover the digital world together.

 
Puzzle of the week
 
What is the four-digit number in which the first digit is one-third the second, the third is the sum of the first and second, and the last is three times the second?
 
Joke of the week - Ready for next week!
 
What did the boy squirrel say to the girl squirrel on Valentine's Day?


I'm nuts about you!



What did the girl squirrel say to the boy squirrel on Valentine's Day?

You're nuts so bad yourself!



Knock knock!

Who's there?

Sherwood

Sherwood who?

Sherwood like to be your valentine!



Knock, knock

Who's there?

Pooch

Pooch who?

Pooch your arms around me, baby!