Moments of glory or hours of tedium - the World Cup means different things to different people but few until today saw it as a class in citizenship education.
For some it's a game, or others more important than life or death, but for the dedicated teacher it's a learning opportunity.
Birches Head high school in Stoke-on-Trent said it would drop its strict uniform policy forbidding flags and badges during the proceedings so pupils could fly the flag in support of David Beckham and the lads.
Headteacher Karen Healey said the ban "upsets the kids, that's why we have changed it," she said.
In a letter to parents she declared: "The World Cup is perceived in this school as a learning opportunity to support the development of citizenship education."
With the BNP active in the area it is easy to see why a school would ban the St George's flag, but the school is by no means alone in wanting a bit of World Cup glamour to rub off on them.
Earlier this week the Institute of Physics claimed "Physics can improve your football" and revealed a Brunel University academic's research about long throw ins which conjured up a mental picture of Gary Neville calculating angles and forces on the touchline as the fans yelled at him to get on with it.
Said Dr Nick Linthorne: "By plotting a graph for the range versus several angles, we were able to calculate the optimum angle of release to be 30 degrees. Of course the angle will vary for each player, as they have different strengths, but for most players the optimum launch angle is calculated to be between 25 and 30 degrees, which agrees with what we see from players on the pitch."
