November/December  2022 2023

For some people on December 6 is a feast day that is meant to celebrate the man who is the precursor to Santa Claus. The notion of Santa Claus comes from this story. Indeed, the tradition is an homage to this early Christian bishop from the fourth century who had a reputation for secret gift-giving. Born in modern-day Turkey, the remains of Saint Nicholas, a man revered by Catholics as well as the Orthodox, are now enshrined in Bari, Italy. He is also the patron saint of Greece.  

For others Santa/Father Christma/Papa Noel or Pere Noel arrives on December 24th, usually via a chimney!

 🎄 "Christmas" Wintry  festivities 🎄

We interviewed some students and this is how some celebrate Christmas, and other wintry festivities. Click to listen to our students speaking in both English and their home languages. Do you celebrate Christmas, or another special event at this wintry time of year? Can you tell us how? Do have any family traditions with food or events? What is the meaning of Christmas, or your special event?

Vasileos and Harry Y6 Greek and English

Gabriella y5 Georgian and Russian and English

Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad

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What are common traditions for channukka?

Channukka lasts 8 days, and each day you get money, sweets or a present from your family. Your parents can’t wait for school to start again!

Also each day, you must light the menorah, the candle symbolising the 8 days of channukka and say a blessing in the meantime.

⬅️When you pray in Judaism, you must always wear a kippah.

hanukkah 2022 - Google Search

A common game to play on channukka is dreidel. There is a pot of candy. Each player gets a bit of candy, maybe 5, and then spins the dreidel. Each four sides of the dreidel has a Hebrew letter which tells you what to do with your candy. Here is a translation of the letters: first to get all the candy wins!

If you don’t have a dreidel at home, use this online one! 

dreidel - Google Search

Célébration de la Fête Nationale de Monaco 

National Anthem: Monaco - Hymne Monégasque [NEW VERSION]

Le drapeau de Monaco a été mis en place par le prince Charles III en 1881. Le rouge et le blanc sont les couleurs de la Famille Grimaldi. En effet, ces couleurs rappellent celles du blason de la République de Gênes, qui est le berceau de la Famille Princière.

Le "jour du Souverain" est traditionnellement fixé le jour du saint patron du Prince régnant. Rainier III s'est écarté de cette tradition en choisissant le jour de son&nbsp;sacre, le 19 novembre.&nbsp;En mémoire de son père, le Prince Albert II garde la même date, fixant ainsi le jour de la Fête Nationale Monégasque.

The holiday is the perfect opportunity to watch or play some winter sports including snow polo, skiing/snowboarding, ice skating and more.

Snow Polo St Moritz

Snow polo is similar to regular field polo but the share some differences, for example the equipment is different when tacking the horses to play; different horse shoes and different mullets.  This winter sport is played in the cold weather and in snow. 

Skiing is a popular winter Olympic sport but also played by people around the world. To ski you will need, proper skiing clothes, helmet and goggles, skis and poles. Skiing is an adaptive sport getting harder as you improve by moving up the coloured levels (green being easiest and black being hardest.

Iceskating can be difficult at first like most sports but once you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun. Tricks can be preformed as well as dance moves. 

For centuries, the Catholic Church has begun the season of Advent on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Fasting is not observed — unlike in the Eastern rite — and no canonical penalty has ever been imposed by papal decree for neglecting Advent. In 1963, the Second Vatican Council introduced minor changes to Advent, emphasizing it as a season of promise of Christ’s return. 

Catholics, as well as some over people, celebrate mass at midnight. The ceremony, held in churches throughout the world, celebrates the birth of Christ, widely believed to have occurred at night.&nbsp;While Catholic families throughout the world celebrate a Christmas Eve meal. The annual day commemorating the birth of Jesus is celebrated by all Christians who adhere to the Gregorian calendar. It is commonly celebrated by exchanging gifts and spending time with family. Although the date of Jesus’ birth is unknown, several factors contributed to the choice of December 25. Most notably, it was the day of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar. Saint Augustine, said the date chosen to remember the birth of Jesus was “on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.”

Advent begins a period that features several notable feast days on the calendar. The Christmas season as a whole stretches into early January with the Feast of the Epiphany. Below are nine traditions that Catholics celebrate to mark this very special time of year.    

click on the recipe links to find out how to make the dish.

Borscht with Polish dumplings

Christmas Pudding Recipe

Danish Christmas cookies recipe

Easy Mediterranean Greek Chicken Souvlaki

Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Bread)

Lilianna eats borsch at Xmas and Miss Minnis' family eat home made borsch on Christmas Eve, followed by nut wreath, then a chocolate log and Christmas pudding. Click on the links and see some more traditional recipes recommended by our interviewees.

Pepparkakor Swedish biscuits 

Classic Latkes for Hannukah

Khinkali Recipe (Georgian Dumplings)

Cooking an Easy Christmas Turkey with Jamie Oliver! 

Questions: What do you like about horse show jumping? How high are you jumping? How many times do you ride in a week? How many years do ride?

A bit of history The first recorded show jumping competitions in the world were held in 1864 in Dublin, Ireland, as part of a trial horse show. Who invented show jumping? Italian rider&nbsp;Federico Caprilli, sometimes known as the "father of modern riding," changed all that when he developed the "forward seat" position that's now used universally. In this position, riders lean forward instead as they begin a jump, conforming their posture to their horse's movements during the jump.

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Christmas Eve For some people, such as historically Christian countries,  is very important. You would normally have turkey and A lot more delicious food. Other traditions May have different  food on Christmas Eve People who are Very festive (me) Start to put up their Christmas tree in November! A good amount of people have hot chocolate When it starts to get colder.

History of Christmas Trees

Christmas trees are very popular most people do put them up early December or late November. A lot of people like to decorate Christmas trees and put up lights. It’s a very enjoyable festivity to do with your family.

Christmas in Provence.docx

Christmas crackers are very enjoyable to pull with your family also on Christmas Eve . Sometimes you can receive toys that are very small or other items - the pressure of it is very exciting to see who will win!

The History of Christmas Crackers

Page 04: Editorial Section 1: In November Page 06: La Fête Nationale de Monaco Page 08: La Fête des Lumières Hindoue Page 10: Why we celebrate 11th November Section 2: Meet Our Primary Teachers and some Grade 8 Students Page 12: Our Teachers Page 16: Grade 8 Presentations Section 3: Sport Page 18: Show Jumping Page 20: Basketball Page 22: The World Cup Page 24: Winter Sports Section 4: In December Page 26: Chanukka Page 30: Christmas Movies Page 34: Christmas Celebrations Page 44: Traditional Winter Celebration recipes Page 46: Our journalists

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This year it will be celebrated December 18th to 26th!

Chanukkah is a festival celebrated by Jews all over the world. It is celebrated by both Sephardical (oriental/middle eastern) Jews and aschkenazi (Europeen) Jews although they have different traditions and food.

All Jewish people around the world have different channukkah food. European and American Jews eat latkes (fried potato cakes) and bagels. Moroccan Jews eat&nbsp;svinge&nbsp;– a fried flour variation with chocolate, halva, sugar, or jam. Iraqi Jews feast on&nbsp;sambusak&nbsp;(a chick pea pastry) and an often-fried dumpling called&nbsp;kubbeh. Spanish Hanukkah dishes include&nbsp;cassola (sweet cheese pancakes), buñuelos (puffed fritters with an orange glaze), keftes de espinaka (spinach patties), keftes de prasa (leek patties) and shamlias (fried pastry frills). But everyone eats challah bread. It is the main dish.

The Story of Hanukkah

‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’: what are the lyrics and who wrote the carol?

ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY: We wish you a Merry Christmas

Dear Readers, Welcome to our Winter edition of The Explorer! Snuggle up and enjoy finding out about traditions during November and December, from some of our 50 nationalities of students, watch some of our recommended movies and cook up a storm with our favourite recipes. All that remains in the old English tradition is to WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Il Est Né (He is Born) - traditional French Christmas carol

Chers Lecteurs, Nous vous retrouvons pour notre numéro de décembre de l'Explorer! Dans ce numéro, vous apprécierez les différents articles autour des traditions de fin d'année, un partage représentant les 50 nationalités de nos étudiants. Vous trouverez également nos recommendations de films et de recettes alléchantes. Nous vous souhaitons de belles fêtes de fin d'année et un Joyeux Noël !

La Fête des Lumières Hindoue

La fête des lumières, appelée Diwali, Divali ou Deepavali, est célébrée dans la communauté indienne. Deepavali signifie «&nbsp;rangée de lampes&nbsp;» en sanskrit.

C'est une période de fête durant laquelle il est de tradition de s'offrir des cadeaux et de porter de nouvelles tenues et bijoux.

Cette fête a plusieurs significations selon les régions d'Inde mais traditionnellement elle raconte le retour du victorieux dieu Rama sur le démon à dix têtes Ravana. Rama rentre à Ayodhya et n'a qu'à - selon la légende - suivre les lampes à huile pour retrouver le chemin et rentrer à la maison.

Dans tous les cas, les Hindous s'accordent sur le fait que Divali est la fête la plus importante, celle qui marque l'entrée dans la nouvelle année.

La date de Divali change tous les ans. Les festivités durent  cinq jours, dont le troisième est le plus important. En effet, il est consacré à Lakshmi, la déesse de la fortune, de la prospérité et de l'abondance.&nbsp;

La magie de Diwali, la fête des lumières hindoue

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A Boy Called Christmas | Maggie Smith, Henry Lawfull, Kristen Wiig | Teaser Trailer | Netflix

A boy called Nikolas sets out on an adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves. He took with him a headstrong reindeer.

Siblings Kate and Teddy Pierce hatch a scheme to capture Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. When the plan goes awry, the kids join forces with a somewhat jolly Saint Nick and his loyal elves to save the holiday before it's too late.

THE GRINCH | Official Trailer (HD)

The Christmas Chronicles | Teaser [HD] | Netflix

The green Grinch decides to ruin Christmas for the cheery citizens of Whoville. Reluctantly joined by his hapless dog, Max, the Grinch comes down from his mountaintop home and sneaks into town to swipe

Everyone knows that, each Christmas, Santa Claus delivers presents to every last child on Earth. What everyone doesn't know is that Santa accomplishes the feat with a very high-tech operation beneath the North Pole. But when the unthinkable happens, and Santa misses one child out of hundreds of children.

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS - Official Trailer - In Theaters 11/23

Miracle on 34th Street - Trailer (HD/SD) (1994)

An old man going by the name of Kris Kringle fills in for an intoxicated Santa in Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day parade. Kringle proves to be such a hit that he is soon appearing regularly at the chain's main store in midtown Manhattan. When Krigle…

The Muppet Christmas Carol | Original Trailer [HD] | Coolidge Corner Theatre

The Muppets perform the classic Dickens holiday tale, with Kermit the Frog playing Bob Cratchit, the put-upon clerk of stingy Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine).

We interviewed Vasileios and Jimmie Y6 about their basket ball skills. Click on the links to hear the interview and find out more about the AS Monaco basketball team, and watch the highlights of the Serbia v Italy game, starring Nikola Jokic.

FULL HIGHLIGHTS OF NIKOLA JOKIC 🇷🇸 | EuroBasket 2022

AS Monaco Basket U21 team basketball

AS MONACO  BASKET BALL

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We interviewed some of our teachers and asked these questions: What is your home country? What are your hobbies/likes and dislikes? Where have you travelled? How many languages do you speak?

My home country is Ireland. I like swimming , reading, motor sporting and gaming. I have travelled to Italy and I speak English, Irish, Italian and a little French.

Why do we celebrate Remembrance Day on November 11th?

Remembrance day is celebrated on November 11th as an annual remembrance ceremony to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the war who risked their lives to save and protect their country. To remember the soldiers people wear poppies to support to the Armed Forces Community. Remembrance Day was first observed in 1919 throughout the British Commonwealth. It was originally called “Armistice Day” to commemorate armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.—on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Who celebrates remembrance day?

In pictures: How the world celebrated VE day in 1945

World leaders commemorate Victory in Europe Day

Internationally, Remembrance Day is recognized by France and countries of the Commonwealth&nbsp;that include India, Kenya, Australia, Barbados, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Saint Lucia, and South Africa, among others.

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Mrs H.Duncan

I was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Most of my family still live there, so I travel back quite often. It rains rather a lot there but this means it has luscious green fields everywhere. It is a beautiful country! In my spare time (although, as a teacher, I don't have very much of this!), I like to read. I also like watching films by the fireside on cold winter nights. I like to travel, to walk in the mountains and to swim, and I try to make time for a trip to the gym a few times each week. My younger sister lives in New Zealand so I have visited these beautiful islands. I spent a summer as a student working on the east coast of the United States and was able to explore all the way from South Carolina up to Niagara Falls and on to Toronto. Otherwise, I have visited mostly European&nbsp;countries. My younger daughter currently lives in Madrid, so this is currently my favourite place to visit! I speak English fluently (this is my native language). I speak French quite well (I studied this at university and have lived in France now for&nbsp;many years) and I studied German at school. I also understand a little Italian and Spanish (although I mix them up with each other). While at university, I studied Dutch and Turkish - I love these languages but, unfortunately, I don't remember them so well anymore as I haven't practised them for a very long time.

Hi, my name is Luka Modric and I come from Croatia🇭🇷

Hi, my name is Sadio Mane and I come from Senegal 🇸🇳 and I play in Bayern Munich

Every four years, a football World Cup is launched. This year the World Cup is placed in Quatar. At the beginning, they put the qualified teams from each country into groups of 4. There are 8 groups in total and there are 32 countries or teams that compete in the cup.

Did you know that at the last World Cup in 2018 France won it and beat Croatia in the finals 4-2!?

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Year 5 C were lucky enough to have presentations from three Year 8 students, Isabella, Artur and Gia, who had developed work on their passions: staying healthy through fitness and diet; skin care and also football: dribbling skills. If you'd like to know more about these topics, click on the buttons for the full presentations.

Gia Skin Care

Artur: Football and Dribbling Sklls

Isabella: Working Out and Diet

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