Ryan Jessiman

FPT Humanities at Charleston Academy, Highlands. All views are my own.

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 16! Tomorrow we have the Christmas Quiz 🖊️ the idea of a quiz dates back to the 1800s but Christmas quizzes became more popular in 1970s and are now a common activity in the lead up to Christmas!

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 15! With Christmas Day fast approaching, many people are starting to travel. It’s estimated that 24 million cars will be on the road in the UK today! 🎄🚗

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 14! As we saw at the Christmas lunch yesterday, Christmas songs are hugely popular and well known. The oldest Christmas based song is the Wexford Carol, which dates back to the 12th century!

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 13! Turkey is traditionally associated with Christmas Day but in Japan - following a marketing campaign in the 1970s - KFC is eaten. The Christmas buckets include items such as chicken, salads and tiramisu and are booked in advance 🍗

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Days 10 and 11! Not forgotten yesterday but a 2 for 1 deal today! In recent years, the famous Boxing Day sales have started earlier, with many retailers offering sales pre Christmas 🛍️🎁🎄

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 10! Two of the sweets most associated with Christmas - candy canes and gingerbread - originated in Germany in the 1500s and 1600s. Candy canes were given to children and gingerbread was used to decorate churches 🎄

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 9! Following Rural Skills’ latest crop of potatoes, it’s interesting to note that Britain is likely to eat 250 million roast potatoes over Christmas. Don’t think the Rural Skills garden can keep up with the demand 🥔

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 8! As it was PJ day today, it’s relevant to share that the first Christmas pyjamas designed for the whole family were available in catalogues in the 1950s!

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 7! Nearly 33 years ago, The Muppets Christmas Carol was released in cinemas. In 2023, the Guardian named it as the greatest Christmas movie ever made 🎄

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown Day 6! Since the late 1960s, there has been a gingerbread model of the White House sitting in the State Dining room for Christmas. Below is the 2025 house (which is not eaten!).

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Humanities Christmas Countdown: Day 5!
Did you know that hanging a stocking became a Christmas tradition popularised by the 1823 poem “The Night Before Christmas”.
This has since evolved into us wearing a wacky range of festive socks!

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Day 4 of the Humanities Faculty Christmas Countdown! Today, Mrs Macleod has shared that the first documented Christmas tree was in France in 1539 but the tradition of decorating trees is believed to have begun in Germany 🎄early trees were decorated with candles, fruit and nuts.

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Day 3 of the Humanities Faculty Christmas Countdown! Today, Mrs Holden’s Travel and Tourism class have shared that the most popular tourist destinations at Christmastime are NYC for the Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree and the Nuremberg Christmas markets in Germany ✨

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Day 2 of the Humanities Faculty Christmas Countdown! Today’s fact is from Mr Shepherd:

“Christmas Island is an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. It was named Christmas because it was discovered on 25 December 1643 by Captain William Mynors.”

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Welcome to the Humanities Faculty Christmas Countdown, where we will share a Christmas fact each day🎄 first is Mr Jessiman, who let us know that 12m Christmas jumpers are sold in the UK each year!

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

S5/6 pupils at Mock COP 30; a great opportunity to hone debating skills and engage with the international climate discussions by representing countries as global negotiators. Well done to those involved - you were fantastic!
UNCRC Articles 6 and 13.

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

This week S3 History have been building trenches during their study of World War One.

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Geography Fieldwork Trips:
This week our Senior Phase Geographers have been out doing essential fieldwork to support their coursework along the Moray Coastline.

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

S6 pupils visited St Andrews University to experience student life - they attended lectures, toured the town and met with staff and current students for advice on uni life and applications. A great day!

[Charleston Academy Humanities Faculty @CAHumanities]

Higher Geography classes have been learning about coastal environments ahead of their field trip to Moray coastline for their assignments. Today, they reviewed their knowledge of caves, arches and stacks with cake before annotating them and marking each other’s work - well done!