On the last Saturday before the autumn half-term break, in October 2025, the class B1 classroom turned into a little tea room. The pupils made their own tea blends, helped themselves to biscuits and decorated cups for their tea. The photos show the children measuring out dried leaves with teaspoons, smelling the finished blends and pouring them into cone-shaped bags, and covering paper cups with colourful patterns.
The tea theme was no coincidence, as the lessons were devoted to the letter ‘h’. The Polish word ‘herbata’ (tea) comes from the Latin expression ‘herba thea’, meaning ‘tea herb’, and ‘herbatnik’ is simply a biscuit to have with tea. Both words are spelt with ‘h’ – a letter that in pronunciation we do not distinguish from the digraph ‘ch’. That is why many words with ‘h’, such as ‘hipopotam’ (hippopotamus), ‘harfa’ (harp) or ‘hulajnoga’ (scooter), have to be memorised. Tea itself has been a fixture in Polish homes for generations: it is often drunk with lemon, and in the past it was served in glasses with metal holders.
There was also some competition. In a group contest, the pupils listened to a story about Hubert the Hippo (Hipopotam Hubert) and wrote down all the words with ‘h’ that they heard. In a tale lasting just five minutes, there were as many as 37 of them. Every child in the class earned a prize.
After such an introduction, the pupils whizzed through their worksheets. The photos also show practice on LCD writing tablets, on which the children wrote words with the letter ‘h’. More photos from the tea-themed Saturday can be seen in the gallery.
