May

Gardening and garden centres

Eurovision

School Half Term

Spring Bank Holiday

May Day Bank Holiday

We will cover

Let’s talk weather!

May Day Bank Holiday falls on the first Monday in May.

People celebrate the warmer weather and the coming of summer.

Maypole dancing is a popular tradition.

Young people dance around a Maypole and sing traditional songs.

May Day Bank Holiday

May

In some villages a May Queen is ‘crowned’ queen for the day.

Morris dancing is a traditional type of dancing, which is popular throughout May.

The dancers usually wear bells and scarves attached to their clothing and carry wooden sticks that they strike together in time to the music.

May Day Bank Holiday

May

For many, May Day has a very different meaning.

It is the International Workers’ Day.

Marches take place in major cities, particularly London, to celebrate and demand rights for workers.

May Day Bank Holiday

May

Spring Bank Holiday falls on the last Monday in May.

In some areas the Spring Bank Holiday is the day people race down a steep hill following a large round cheese.

Spring Bank Holiday

May

The Spring Bank Holiday is usually tied to Half Term in most schools and colleges.

In the Nottinghamshire area, most schools break for the week on the last Monday of May.

School Half Term

May

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The contest, broadcast every year since 1956, is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world.

Eurovision

May

The live final is usually held on a Saturday evening in May.

Flamboyant and unusual acts attract large audiences from all over the world.

In fact, every year an estimated125 million viewers watch the Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision

May

Probably the most well-known Eurovision winner is the Swedish group, ABBA, who won in 1974 with their song Waterloo.

The UK last won in 1997 with Love Shine a Light by Katrina and the Waves.

Eurovision

May

Arguably, Britain is at its most picturesque in May. The threat of frost has receded and nature is in full bloom.

Gardening is a very popular pastime and even those with no garden may add a pretty hanging basket or window box to brighten their homes.

Gardening and garden centres

May

Around this time of year, a trip to the garden centre is essential to stock up on bedding plants from begonias to fuchsias, geraniums to petunias.

Gardening and garden centres

May

Garden centres don’t just sell plans. Nowadays, it's not unusual to find a bookshop, garden wear, accessories and furniture, as well as play areas for children.

Even the least green-fingered among us can enjoy meandering around a well laid out store, rounding off the trip with a nice pot of tea in the café!

Gardening and garden centres

May

May brings flocks of pretty lambs,Skipping by their fleecy dams*.

Let’s talk weather

May

From ‘The Months’, a poem by Sara Coleridge, 1803 – 1852.

*dam: female parent of an animal, especially of domestic livestock.

Here are some common words and phrases associated with typical May weather: rain

Let’s talk weather

May

light shower heavy shower patchy rain

There’s a chance of light showers.

There will be patches of rain

That was a heavy shower

Here are some common words and phrases associated with typical May weather: wind

Let’s talk weather

May

breeze wind

There is a nice breeze.

It’s another windy day.

breezy windy

Here are some common words and phrases associated with typical May weather: sun and sky

Let’s talk weather

April

sunny bright clear dull

What a sunny day.

It’s a bit dull today.

It’s a nice clear day.

The weather’s a bit overcast.

overcast cloudy

Here are some common words and phrases associated with typical May weather: temperature

Let’s talk weather

April

hot warm mild cool

It’s a scorcher today. (hot)

What a lovely warm day.

It’s turned a bit cooler today.

It’s too cold for me today.

coldhotter warmer milder cooler colder

The end