Christmas Blog Writing Competition

Last chance to take part in the blog writing competition! It's open to anyone in Years 10 - 13 and can be on any political or historical subject. The deadline is the end of school on Monday. We would love to read your entries!

Twelfth Night - or is it?

Happy Twelfth Night! Or is it the Twelfth Day of Christmas? Or neither? It's definitely Epiphany (or 3 Kings Day) but there is some confusion about whether we should traditionally take down our Christmas decorations today or yesterday. Here's is the Guardian's take on this, and here are the thoughts of the editor of History Today. One tradition associated with the day was the baking of a cake with a single bean inside it. Whoever got the bean was king for the day, and everybody had to do what he or she said. Nonsuch HP approves of any tradition to do with cakes, so get baking everybody!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of our readers! We hope you have had a relaxing break and are ready for 2011. Don't forget that the closing date for the blog, castle and film competition is next Monday 10 January. Details can be found here.

Christmas Competitions

Nonsuch HP is pleased to announce its Christmas Competitions! Nonsuch students with time on their hands over the Christmas holiday have an opportunity to take part in a series of challenges, with glory and prizes at stake. There are 3 categories:

Year 7: Castle Building. Year 7s are invited to construct a castle in one of 3 categories:

• Motte and Bailey


• Stone Keep


• "Super" Castle (Any design of castle you like, but still identifiably medieval, and preferably not too Disney-influenced!)

There are only a few rules. Please don't make them too big (ie you should be able to carry it by yourself), and don't make it out of any material that might rot or smell. We would prefer you not to make it out of Lego (as that is basically cheating) but Lego figures /knights / siege weapons are allowed to populate it.

Years 8 and 9: Film-making. Year 8s and 9s are invited to make a short film based on one of the topics they have learned this year. So Year 8s could make a Tudor drama about Anne Boleyn or Lady Jane Grey and Year 9s could make a film on the theme of the British Empire or the Black Peoples of America. Please can these be no more than 5 minutes long and submitted on a USB stick or a CD-Rom to the department office.

Years 10 - 13. The senior students are invited to write a blog post for Nonsuch HP. It can be on any political or historical topic, perhaps concentrating on recent events and developments or even taking Christmas itself as a theme. It should preferably include links to other websites of interest and be illustrated with a suitable picture or diagram. Please submit your entries by email to a history or politics teacher, and we aim to put most of them on the blog. There will be separate categories for GCSE and A-Level students and the winners will be given the opportunity to be regular contributors to the blog.

The closing date for all entries is 3.30 on Monday 10 January. Best of luck to everybody, and if you have any questions, please get in touch with the History and Politics department, or leave a comment here.

Christmas Competitions

Christmas Competitions are coming to Nonsuch! Stand by for further news...

Advent Calendars

History Today have created an advent calendar which will include daily entries on the most significant historical moments of the year. There is also an interesting article on advent calendars themselves. Apparently the tradition dates back to Germany in the 19th Century, when people counted down the days to Christmas by drawing lines of chalk on their doors. The first printed calendar, with 24 different windows to open, probably appeared in the early 1900s, also in Germany, but chocolates didn't turn up until the 1950s!

PS: Here is an online calendar (about Christmas traditions and fascinating facts) that you may enjoy - although it is really pitched for primary school students...

Merry Christmas

Nonsuch HP would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very happy new year. If you would like to learn more about the history of Christmas and its traditions, check out the History Channel's website, which includes information on subjects as diverse as the Christmas Truce during World War 1, the Roman celebrations of Saturnalia which were "adapted" by the Christian church to mark the birth of Jesus, and the story of Rudolph, who is 70 years old this year!

Origins of Santa

You have probably seen the irritating adverts associating Coca-Cola with Santa Claus. However, History Today reports that a rival drinks company, White Rock, began using images of the jolly red and white chap in 1915, 20 years earlier than Coca Cola. More images here.

In other Santa news, claims have been made that St Nicholas of Myra, the Turkish Bishop considered to be the inspiration for Father Christmas, may be buried in, of all places, Ireland. Apparently crusaders removed the Saints body for its protection, briefly buried it in Italy, and then transferred it to the Cistercian Monastery in Jerpoint, County Kilkenny. So if you want to see Santa, don't fly off to Lapland - cross the Irish Sea instead!