Abingdon School Open Day

    The Open Day this year will be on Saturday, 1 October 2011. The Open Day is for all the family, with activities and displays(展示) about all aspects(方面) of the school. All the teachers, students and parents will attend. The day starts at 9:30 a. m. and finishes at 2:30 p.m.  You are welcome to arrive at any time during the lessons in the morning and afternoon. Please read the outline of Open Day events.

    If you can't come to the Open Day, that's all right. There are many other chances(机会) to visit Abingdon School

    St Helen School and St Katharine School Open Day will be on the same date, so you can also visit those two.

    Parking at the school on the Open Day may be limited(有限的), so you can also park your cars in Lotus Supermarket's car park.  It's just a three-minute walk away.

The map of Abingdon School can be found on the school website-www. abingdon. edu.

Royal Engineers Museum

Events

Playing with apps on smart phones is very common among young people. Let's try some special apps and enjoy them.

    Most teens need more than 9 hours of sleep each night. But about 1 in 4 teens has trouble in sleeping. Lack of sleep can affect everything from our feelings to how well we focus on tasks like studying. It can also influence sports performance, increase our chances of getting sick, and may lead to weight gain in some people.

    How can we get the sleep we need? Here are some ideas:

    Be active during the day. Get at least 60 minutes of exercise a day. Physical activity can decrease stress and help people feel more relaxed. Just don't work too close to bedtime because exercise can wake you up before it slows you down.

    Say goodnight to electronics. Experts suggest using the bedroom for sleep only. At least shut everything down an hour or more before lights out.

    Keep a sleep routine. Going to bed at the same time every night helps the body expect sleep. Creating a bedtime routine can improve this relaxation effect. Reading, listening to music, spending time with a pet, writing a diary or doing anything else can relax you.

    Expect a good night's sleep. Instead of worrying that you won't sleep, remind yourself that you can. Say "Tonight, I will sleep well." several times during the day. It can also help to practise breathing exercises or gentle exercises before bed.

    Everyone has a sleepless night once in a while. But if you regularly have trouble in sleeping and you think it's affecting your mood or performance, talk to your doctor.

After a relaxing weekend, children have to go back to school on Mondays. For parents, they should do something helpful (有帮助的) to let their children get to school on time.

Let children take a good shower. It's good for children to take a shower before they go to bed. It can not only help them sleep well but also save time next morning.

Ask children to go to bed early. School starts at 8：00 a.m. So please let your children go to bed before 9：30 p.m. Your children should (应该) sleep for about nine hours every day. This is quite important because they have to get up early next day.

Make a good breakfast for children. Breakfast can help children study better (更好的) in the day. It can help students listen to teachers carefully (细致地) and think well in class. Also, it's good for their health.

Getting to school on time is very important for your children. So please help them. If you can do the things above (以上), they will study and live happily.

What did people do to communicate in ancient times? Here are some very interesting answers to this question.

Alphorns（阿尔卑斯长号角） were once used to communicate in the mountains in Switzerland. They are very long and they are very heavy, too. So, alphorns are hard work to blow. Then why use them? Well, they make a loud sound which travels much further than the human voice. Herdsmen（牧民） used them to call cows in the distance for milking. At sunset, alphorns were also used to send a message down to villagers that all was well. These days, they're mostly used as musical instruments.

The people of La Gomera, an island in Europe, have their own special way of sending messages from mountain to mountain. They use a whistled（口哨） language called el silbo, which comes from their language Spanish. Whistling can be heard within five kilorneters, which means it can be used across much greater distances than shouting. El silbo can be used for all kinds of messages, including greetings and announcements. El silbo is used a lot less than it used to be, but primary school students in La Gomera have to leave it.

Did you know it 's also possible to send messages without making a noise? This is called visual communication, and it includes the use of flags and even smoke. Long ago, soldiers along the Great Wall of China used smoke as a warning. If they noticed the enemy from their signal（信号） tower, they lit a smoky fire. When soldiers in other towers saw the smoke signal, they lit fires, too. In this way, messages about the enemy's arrival could travel as far as 800 km in just a few hours.