UNIT 2: School is not only learning

A famous English secondary school

Listen

Some schools in Britain are very famous, usually because they have a lot of history. Take Eton College, for example. It's a public school and it’s over 570 years old! Students start when they are 13 and finish when the are 18. Eton is a boarding school. That means that the students live in the school. Only boys go to Eton.

At the moment, Eton is popular with the British Royal family. Prince William and Prince Harry are old Eton students. Royal families from Africa and Asia send their children to Eton and a number of British Prime Ministers are ‘Old Etonians’. And some fictional characters are old Eton students too - the secret agent James Bond, 007, for example. You need a lot of money to study at Eton. The school is expensive. It costs approximately £30,000 a year to study there.

Tradition is important at Eton. The students and the teachers wear a special uniform which is very formal. The students don’t call the teachers teachers, they call them beaks. All the students study Latin for a minimum of one year. The classes are often small; they have just ten students in some lessons. 30% of the students go to Oxford or Cambridge University when they finish their studies at Eton.

Sport is very popular at Eton. They play normal sports, but they also play games which only exist at Eton - one is called the Eton Wall Game. The Eton Wall Game is a very physical type of football. Actually, Eton is one of the first schools in the world to play football. It's interesting that another popular sport comes from an old English public school. The name rugby comes from Rugby School. The first written rules for this sport came from Rugby School in 1870.

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Clubs and activities

Listen
Clubs meet at 4:30, right after school.

Clubs and activities:                               

Art club

Are you keen on painting? Then, join us! We work in groups and learn how to draw and paint. We also go on trips to art museums.

Meetings: Wednesdays and Fridays

Drama club

Are you good at acting? Our drama club is the club for you. We write and present our own plays! We also go to the theatre a lot!

Meetings: Mondays

Sports club

Do you want to have fun? Go cycling, swimming and windsurfing with us, or play football, basketball or baseball in one of our teams!

Meetings: Tuesdays

Computer club

Are you interested in computers? Learn new programmes, use our PCs to do your homework and play the best computer games ever!

Meetings: every day

Book club

Are you fond of literature? Read exciting novels, talk about them and exchange books.

Meetings: Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays

Music club

Are you mad about music? Then join one of the bands in our club and let the good times rock.

Meetings: Fridays

Photography club

Are you interested in photography? Come to our club, print your own pictures and meet people who love photography!

Meetings: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Answer the questions:

How many clubs are mentioned?

What club(s) meet(s) once a week?

What club(s) meet(s) twice a week?

What club(s) meet(s) three times a week?

What club(s) meet(s) daily?

What time is Music club open?

What sports do students do at the Sports club?

In which club do people work in groups?

Where do people from Drama club go?

What are the advantages of Computer club?

Which  clubs would you like to join and why? (Use the phrases: be keen on, be good at, be interested in, be fond of, be mad about)