Black Jumper Day
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A black jumper shows everyone that you are big and important!
Today, I will tell you about “black jumper day” , and we will meet the English expression “to leave for” somewhere.
In a podcast a very long time ago, in November 2006, I told you that most English children wear a school uniform to go to school. My daughter, who is 15 years old, goes to a girls secondary school. [Sorry – I say “11 years old” in the podcast, but this is wrong. It should be “15 years old”]. She has to wear a dark green skirt or trousers, and a white blouse and a dark green jumper.
She is in year 10 at school. In year 11, the girls sit their GCSE exams. GCSE stands for “General Certificate of Secondary Education”. After their GCSE exams, the girls leave the secondary school to go to sixth-form college, or to a further education college, to continue their studies or to learn practical skills. By tradition, in my daughter’s school, the year 11 girls are allowed to wear black jumpers, instead of dark green jumpers. They like their black jumpers, not because the jumpers look beautiful, but because they show everyone that year 11 are the senior girls, the most important girls, in the school.
However, the year 11 girls do not have to come to school any more. From today, they are on “study leave”, a time when they can stay at home and work and revise for their GCSE exams. Some of them, of course, use “study leave” as a time to go shopping or have parties, but perhaps we had better not talk about that.
This means that, from today, the year 10 girls are the most senior girls in the school. It is now their turn to wear the black jumpers, to show the rest of the school how big and important they are. They have looked forward to this day for weeks. They have all searched the local shops to find a black jumper in a style which they like. And today, they have all left for school, wearing their new black jumpers.
They have “left for school”. That means, they have left home to go to school. Here are some more examples. Do you understand what they mean?
- At eight o’clock, Kevin leaves for work.
- At half past eight, Harry leaves for college.
- George has left for a meeting with some clients.
- Sarah has left for lunch.
- At the end of the day, Kevin will leave for home.
- Tomorrow, Joanne will leave for her mother’s (ie she will go to her mother’s house).
- George has a business trip to America. On Thursday, he will leave for New York.
- The train leaves for London in 10 minutes.
- And, of course, the girls leave for school wearing their black jumpers.
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Comments (25)
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15 October 2009
hi, mr peter
I´m Margot from Chile
thank you for this website
easy to read and understand thanks alot for help.
It is very good way to learn english
Thank you!
29 August 2009
hi, mr peter thank you for this website
18 August 2009
hi, Mr. peter, I'm Sinhalese. i started learning English. It's helpful to me to know real pronunciation
Thank you very much.
Romesh
11 August 2009
Hi: mr peter
I would like to tell you thank you so much for this Education.
it's very great to me. I'm start to learing English by myself and god is bless you anytime but it was very hard learing now with peter no promblem easy to read and understand thanks alot for help.
30 July 2009
hello :
Again congratulations for the podcast. It is very good way to learn english and to understand more english people.
I like very very much…
Have a nice day everybody!!!
Pilar (girona , spain)
30 June 2009
Hi .thanks for your lessons because my favourite hobby is readingenglish stories and iwant to improve my language.Good bye
18 June 2009
thanks you very much for your lessons.It's needful for us to study.Okay I must study your lessons everyday.
Regards,
Ko Ko
10 June 2009
Dear Peter,
thank you for your useful lessons. Thanks to them my English comprehension and vocabulary have improved!
Bye
Lidia
9 June 2009
Hi…Mr.Peter,
It is my first time here. I would like to say that your's podcast help me a lot.(I'm brazilian)
Congratulations for the excellent work!
9 June 2009
Being an English teacher myself, I already understood the expression "to leave for", but I agree with the others you have some great examples here. What I DID learn, however, is what a jumper was! haha. Never knew…
9 June 2009
Hello, Mr Peter:
I'm glad to be told about what schoolgirls of Britain wear when they're about to leave the school only after sitting the important exam for GCSE, and they want to show their ego that they're going to become a true adult by wearing black jumper!
i'm waiting for your new lesson next week.Have a good week!
9 June 2009
When I was at school at USSR’s time, we had to wear a school uniform too. For the first three years, it was a dark brown dress and a black apron for girls. On special occasions (for national holidays, for example) we had to wear a white apron instead of black one. And we had a small star badge with Lenin’s face to wear at the left side of the apron.
9 June 2009
Hi, Peter
This is my first time I write for you. I'm very grateful for your English lessons. It's very important for me, because I'm improving my English, and I feel it's becoming more fluent. I like the English language very much, especially literature. Thanks a lot.
8 June 2009
Here, in Italy, there is a debate whether restore school uniforms. Some people, usually the Left, oppose this idea because it reminds the years of fascism. I don't think so. I think that school uniform makes students really… uniforms, i mean no class differentials.
8 June 2009
Here, in Italy, there is a debate whether restore school uniforms. Some people, usually the Left, oppose this idea because it reminds the years of fascism. I don't think so. I think that school uniform makes students really… uniforms, i mean no class differentials.
6 June 2009
High quality podcast! And the British accent is so epic. Thank you for your work. I will leave you now for a walk ! :-)
6 June 2009
Hello,Peter I am Thai student.I am studying in the advanced english class but I am not very good at listening and writing.Thank you for your podcasts.They help me to practise my listening skill so much. Good bye.
6 June 2009
Hi!
I am a Japanese.
You are a very interesting man.
You made me smill.
So I am listening to this podcast.
Thank you!
Good bye!
4 June 2009
Hi!
Thank you very much for your help. I'am a french man, and your podcasts are very interessi,g for learning english language.
Bye
3 June 2009
Hello,
Thank you very much for all your work. You are very interesting, and the little stories are often funny. So we listen them with attention and pleasure.
Véronique
2 June 2009
Hello !
Thank you for this podcast ! The British schools sound great ! Could you make a podcast about the word "Display" please ? Even with a dictionnary, I don't understand what it means !
2 June 2009
Welcome again Mr Piter !!!
at least :)
Thank you for your next podcast, excellent subject.
Kris
2 June 2009
Hello!
Thank You for more examples "to leave for"! Very good idea, I understand at last!
Bozena
1 June 2009
Hi, Peter
It is a bit late for me so ı will leave to sleep in ten minutes:)
in addition I hope U will not leave for summer holiday as early as U did last year:( bucause learning egnlish with your help is very easy.
stay well
1 June 2009
Hello mr. peter ,
First of all , I would like to say thank you very much for this great work .
Secondly , I would like you to tell us more about "English Education System"
Thank you again ,
Thunder