The British Broadcasting Corporation is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022, just as it faces the biggest threat to its existence. The Conservative government has announced the end of the licence fee paid by British residents to access the BBC for 2027. Without the licence fee, the BBC’s future as a public-service broadcaster, not dependent … Continue reading “Happy 100th Birthday to the BBC!”
The BBC is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year: founded in 1922 to produce radio programmes, it’s become a major British cultural force across TV, radio and increasingly digital platforms. This B1 resource has students use the BBC 100 website to find out about the corporation, its history, faces and voices, then prepare a podcast … Continue reading “100 Years of the BBC”
And in our series Your Students Have Talent, here are three excellent song lyrics written for Shine Bright Terminale Short File 20 Chicago Swing, considering how the city of Chicago uses music as a means of inclusion in a very multicultural urban space. Thank you to Lounès, Flavie and Rosalie for their excellent lyrics. Lounès: … Continue reading “Your Students Have Talent: Chicago Swing”
April 22 is Earth Day and its organisers are encouraging us all to “invest in our planet”, the theme of this year’s event. It certainly needs us all to pay more attention to its needs. Earthday.org and NASA provide lots information and teaching tools to engage students and offer practical actions to take. This 1-minute … Continue reading “Earth Day 2022”
Downton Abbey fans will be delighted to hear that there is a second film spin-off of the series about to release. Subtitled “A New Era”, it’s set in the Roaring Twenties and sees Lady Mary take over the day-to-day running of the estate from her father, and a film crew arrive to use the house … Continue reading “Times are Changing at Downton Abbey”
The Invictus Games for injured and sick military personnel and veterans was founded by Prince Harry, himself a veteran, in 2014. The Invictus Games 2020, the fifth edition, are finally being held from 6 to 13 April 2022 in the Hague, Netherlands. More than 500 participants from 20 countries will compete. As importantly, they will … Continue reading “The Invictus Games are Back”
The Earthshot Prizes website has great short videos on the five ecological challenges the prizes aim to tackle. They are perfect for class use, either picking a theme or having groups work on different videos and share information. The British Royal Foundation is awarding five prizes a year till 2030 for innovative ideas to help … Continue reading “The Earthshot Prizes: Working with Videos”
The British Royal Foundation is awarding five prizes a year till 2030 for innovative ideas to help the planet. The Earthshot prizes have been named in reference to President Kennedy’s Moonshot project which concentrated innovators’ energies on putting a human on the Moon in the 1960s. Prince William explained that the aim of the Earthshots … Continue reading “The Earthshot Prizes”
The Extinction Rebellion ecological movement first came to prominence in 2019 when after 11 days of protests it persuaded the British government to declare a state of ecological emergency. This twelve-minute-long film starring Emma Thompson is a fiction based on real events and was shot during the 2019 protests in an eco-friendly sustainable way. It … Continue reading “Extinction Rebellion Short Film”
Sir David Attenborough has fascinated viewers around the world for decades with his documentary series like The Blue Planet and Life on Earth. Now the 95-year-old naturalist is using his communication skills to try to explain the complex issues to be tackled the United Nations’ COP26 environmental summit in Glasgow from 31 October. Attenborough was … Continue reading “David Attenborough: People’s Advocate for the Planet”
