Chronicle +

CHRONICLE +

THERE IS SIMPLY TOO MUCH TO FIT IN ONE PAPER! WELCOME TO CHRONICLE +

BY MR ANTHONY VARDEN Welcome to the supplementary paper for The BJAB Chronicle.

In September a call for help was put out into the BJAB community. The response was phenomenal.

Articles from students, families, alumni and staff came flooding to our inbox almost immediately. In addition to the sterling work produced by the students of Journalism Club, there was simply too much to fit in one paper.

Our answer to this is Chronicle +.

This publication is exclusively online and contains the articles that we simply couldn’t fit into the printed BJAB Chronicle. Chronicle + is an in-house publication which can be found on our website and by scanning the QR code in The BJAB Chronicle.

Mr Retter, Mme Magré, the journalists and I all hope that you enjoy reading the bonus content contained in these pages of Chronicle +.

The front page of our main publication, The BJAB Chronicle.

Love By 3P and Miss Lauren Payne I was asked to do a reading at my best friend’s wedding in December. My class wanted to help me write a poem especially for the occasion all about what love means to them. It was so lovely, I thought I would share it here too!

Love is kindness, it’s wonder, it’s kind of funny.

Love is family, it’s when you REALLY like someone, it’s everywhere around us.

Love is THE BEST, it’s what makes you happy, it’s magical.

Love is important because it makes us feel nice, it stops us being mean to each other, it helps you have fun.

Love is important because it’s what makes a family, it creates a good world to live in, it helps us be better people.

You can show someone you love them by buying them a present, telling them a cool fact, smiling really nicely.

You can show someone you love them by getting them a dog (if they want one), by making them breakfast, by helping them with problems.

You can show someone you love them by hugging them when they’re sad, by giving them some of your chips, by showing them your true self.

Love feels like having a nap in a really soft bed. It feels like hot chocolate on a rainy day. It’s like going on a crazy rollercoaster!

Love feels like hugging a chocolate marshmallow ice cream. It feels like there’s magic in your tummy. It feels like you can do anything.

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BLEEDING HEART

by Sonia C, Y9 I stare up at my cracked ceiling. The water stains that look like animals shot and now rotting seem to have expanded since the last time I’ve been here. The yellow light bulb has filled with ants over time and now there are more ants showing than light. I turn my head around to a poster saying “the law of the jungle” with a deranged-looking monkey on it and purple curtains open, showing me the highly secured walls of the neighboring prison. The stack of books thrown against the window seems to amplify the urine colour of the walls.

I haven’t been back home since I started my new job as a waitress. Don’t live here, Clara said, standing near the open door she’s too tall for, making my apartment look even more miserable than it already is. I don’t want to let you leave here.

It’s not that bad, I had said. It’s far better than my first apartment in town with the water pouring in the living room and the infection of termites. Better too than my car, where I was forced to live briefly because I couldn’t pay my rent. And better than my parents’ house where I couldn’t sleep because of the screaming and fighting.

I throw my legs out of bed and I feel my body shivering. I take a last look out of the window, the park outside is already crowded, and I can almost smell the dead looking ducks swimming in the canal. The neighbourhood seems agitated today; women with burkas on their head rush to catch the bus and the homeless are already starting their begging for money at the crosswalks. As I leave the apartment in my work uniform I take a last look behind me, and leave a bit of cheese for the mouse that visits sometimes.

I go to the diner on my way to work, where Clara and I always go in the morning. I watch her drink her spiked green tea and draw the world outside. Her sky is full of lighting. Her sun is full of warmth. I watch her turn the bar man on while I stare at the city. Sometimes I draw too, sometimes I just stare.

It has been so long since I walked to work from my apartment that I’ve forgotten how to get there. I get lost. I always pass near the most beautiful tree in the city, you find it hard to believe that this place is full of the insane and the desperate and the lonely. Violent assault happens almost daily. Rape, stabbings and shootings are easily seen in this neighborhood.

I opened the door of the restaurant, falling on my way in. I always saw the restaurant as a world of sounds. From the tinkle of the door to the glasses touching each other making a ting sound over to the bar.

“You’re late, nearly lost the god damn job” my boss said. “Next time you’re late, I’ll make sure you come back from where you started. The cat house”. My boss was standing at the bar looking at me. Jerk, I think to myself. He’s an old man, used to own a farm. The other waiters were men, and the only other girls in the restaurant are there to get business. Those girls were the popular type in high school, rotten to the core.

“I’m sorry, I got lost”. I stiffened a bit. I take off my coat full of lice, and I pull my hair. I started my job. This restaurant is full of entitled idiots waiting to be served.

I see a hand raise up, and I hear a man at table three snap his fingers. He’s trying to call me. He’s a jerk, I hear my mind say. Never trust jerks, Clara said to me once, the only piece of advice I followed in my life. I rush forward to that table.

The man was wearing a costume that seemed expensive. He starts looking at me carefully. He stared at my black messy hair and my blue eyes, at my dirty uniform, and at the fake delighted smile to hear his command. I hear him muttering before he starts talking.

“You are going to serve me?” the man looks suspicious and surprised almost.

I really want to scream at him, but I keep it on the inside. “Yes, I am going to serve you, is there a problem with that?”. He looks horrified, almost as if he’s going to cry.

“I demand another waiter” I look at him confused. I am not a stranger to this request in this restaurant. I’ve heard this multiple times, mostly by mothers and their kids. I know already that I shouldn’t say: why? Because the person will come up with millions of reasons why he does not want to be served by me. I already know what I have to say: I am deeply sorry for the misunderstanding there has been, excuse me.

“No” I say. Words start flying out of my mouth. I am as surprised as he is. My anger starts taking the lead. No, I do not want to be seen as an inferior human to all the rich people. No, I will not be calling one of the man or the other girls. No, I deserve as much as they do to be respected.

I stop myself before it gets worse. Before I start screaming in the restaurant and smashing plates. The man rises from his seat and slaps me, he looks at my tearing eyes and walks away before I could excuse myself. I follow him to the bar realizing he’s talking to the boss. I am hiding behind the man, but my boss gives me eyes filled with anger. After a long talk where they both called me by names like whore, bitch and Jesus that girl is a tart, the man leaves and I get fired.

When I arrived at the appartement, I couldn’t stop crying. The siren on the street resonated in my ears and I go to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. On the fridge, there is a note saying, “there’s food inside, I knew you’d need it, XOXO Clara”. I smile as I open the fridge and take out the Chinese food she has made me. I sit in front of the computer searching for new jobs. When I take my eyes off the screen, I can see a note glued to the mirror of my bathroom. I stand up and I walk over to see what it is.

“One day, I’ll arrive at the Arts university, and I will have a wealthy future.”

I glance one more time in the mirror, looking at my bad mascara. My eyes are full of tears again, before I realized my dream had been broken by this inequality.

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A STUDY OF WOLVES

TEGAN AND THE ENCHANTED LAND

BY EMMA M, YEAR 2 Would you like to learn more about wolves? Read on to become a wolf expert!

BY MARINA S, YEAR 3 Inspired by ‘Leon and the Place Between’ by Angela McAllister One dark evening, Tegan and her friends Chrissie and Alice approached a stripy, red circus tent surrounded with magical bright stars. While the children sat down on the soft, green grass, their tummies were filled with butterflies. Exhilarated, they couldn’t stop staring at the stage! Suddenly Alice asked “is magic real?”

“I only think it is tricks!” replied Chrissie.

“Well I don’t care if you don’t believe. I do!” exclaimed Tegan firmly shaking her head.

At that minute, acrobats and jugglers appeared onto the stage. The performers flipped and jumped. Up and over, higher and higher! Then, they disappeared in thin air.

Wolves are found in Europe, Asia and North America. They can live in forests, desert, mountain, tundra, grassland.

Wolves live in groups called packs. Wolves live in a temperate place so they can be cosy.

Wolves eat meat because they are carnivores. They eat moose, rabbits, deer and salmon. They eat 90 Kg of meat in a single day.

They have 2 types of fur. One type of fur is strong in water.

Another type of fur is strong in cold places. They have dense fur. They have 42 teeth because they can munch the meat. They have very good sense of smell. They have very good eyesight.

BY LUIGI M, YEAR 2

Have you ever wondered what the size of a wolf is? Read There was a loud HUSH from the crowd. The curtains my non-fiction book to find out. Did you know wolves live gently swished from side to side. Purple smoke appeared in cold places? onto the stage. POUFF! The Magical Abracadabra came out of nowhere.

Habitat “Who will touch my magical key?” exclaimed Abracadabra. Because wolves are found in Europe, Asia and North America they can live in forests, deserts, mountains, Tegan knew it had to be her. tundra, grasslands, towns and cities.

Anxious, Tegan nervously stepped onto the stage and Diet approached the magic key. If she touched it, she might Wolves eat deer, rats, fish, rabbits, mice and birds. Wolves disappear forever! She took a deep breath and reached eat meat because they are carnivores. Wolves eat 90KG of out… food each day.

Tegan tumbled down, faster and faster. BUMP! She found herself on soft, green grass. Curious, Tegan gazed around Physical features to find a world of adventures, in a world of wonder, a Wolves’ smell is 100 times better than ours. Wolves are world of magic! grizzly. Wolves have dense fur in order to keep themselves warm. Because wolves have big ears which means their Birch trees towered over her. Brown, red and golden hearing is so good. leaves swayed in the wind. There were brownies gathering for a meeting next to toadstools. Friendly fairies majestically soared in the sky.

Tegan was amazed! In a blink of an eye, a golden red carpet flew past her.

“Hello!” greeted a little boy. “Welcome to The Enchanted Land!”

“Thanks,” replied Tegan. “What is this place?”

“This is the place where magic takes you. The place between worlds,” said the boy.

At that moment, an elegant ginger cat jumped onto Tegan’s lap. Tegan was delighted.

“She was never called back by the magician,” remarked the little boy.

“Oh,” muttered Tegan.

Suddenly Tegan heard a booming voice echoing around her. “Teeeegan come back… come back.”

With nobody controlling her, she began floating up, up, up into the air. A stretch of light came towards her and in a blink she was sucked up.

Tegan rubber her eyes in surprise. She was back on the stage. The crowd applauded wildly.

“Wow,” gasped Alice staring at Tegan. “How on Earth did you do that?”

“Can we do that too?” asked Chrissie.

The cat gave a meow.

“You can, you just have to believe,” Tegan replied with a smile

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SHACKLETON’S JOURNEY: THE GREAT STORY OF SURVIVAL Issue #10

Sir Ernest Shackleton, who was a member of Captain Scott’s famous Discovery Expedition, set out to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. His brave crew of 27 men set sail on the Endurance on 8 August 1914. His epic journey was the last exploration full of peril, adventure and above all, endurance.

Before he went on his mission to Antarctica he used to live in Kensington, West London. Shackleton went on various missions in order to earn money and to buy clothes and food. Shackleton had a decision to choose 27 men from the 5000 men that applied for the job.

Frank Wild kindly helped Shackleton to choose all the men to be hired for different jobs. For example, Leonard Hussey was the expedition meteorologist and Frank was the ship’s captain. The men also took 69 dogs as well to carry their stuff. It was hard to name 69 dogs in one day, but they managed.

The Endurance was a famous ship from Norway. She was constructed from Norwegian fir, oak and greenheart. The Endurance was designed for harsh polar conditions. She was a very unique ship.

She could also break through pack ice.

The Endurance was the strongest wooden vessel in the world. Her keel was made up from four sandwiched pieces of solid oak totaling to a thickness of nearly 2.2 meters. A platform was placed under a wooden extension at the front of the ship so that they could film the expedition.

They were setting sail from Plymouth to Buenos Aires. Shackleton waved goodbye to his town and set off.

Shackleton was at the wheel and others were pulling ropes. He shouted, “Open the sails!” The dogs were barking madly whilst the ship went up and down.

Newspapers say they were up against the challenge of nature. They stopped at Buenos Aires to do last minute shopping and get more food and coats gloves etc.

“Here we go again setting sail, but this time for South Georgia!” They finally arrived at South Georgia. But Shackleton was eager to leave, they soon left for the South Sandwich Islands. Everybody was happy and Shackleton had high spirits and the boat was good as gold, not a crack. They finally arrived at the South Sandwich Islands. After a day they left for Antarctica. The crew was happily working like never before. They could smell the cold and… they arrived in Antarctica!

With all of Endurance’s might, she struggled through the ice, trying to free herself from the powerful pack ice.

Despite her best efforts, she didn’t have the power to break the ice like she did before. The crew had to evacuate a couple days later and had to sleep overnight in a camp. The perilous journey far behind them was a different story. The ship eventually moved but a couple days later she got stuck again and had to try as hard as she could. Unlike last time, she didn’t have the fortune to escape the ice. Endurance sank dramatically to the bottom of the Weddell seabed. Now that the Endurance was gone, they had a change of plans. The crew’s new plan was to survive.

After, the crew evacuated the Endurance they made a camp in the ice, in Antarctica. They did a lot of activities like cooking, reading, repairing kits, drying clothes. The crew members were hunting to find fish and penguin. In difficult conditions, Shackleton still made an effort to celebrate the leap year. They cared about everyone in the crew including the dogs so they built igloos for the dogs, so they could be warm. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a sea leopard attacked a man but Frank Wild shot him. Shackleton made his decision, he said, “We could escape in the boats, but we have to leave the dogs behind because there’s no space or food for them.” They shot the dogs because if they left them right there, they would die really painfully.

Sailing was dangerous because the waves were too foamy and the ice was too thick. Tired, the men clung together for warmth as snow fell quietly.

However, the three boats had to go as far as they could. There were killer whales around the boats. Shackleton now decided to make a dash for Elephant Island. Dehydrated and hungry, each man ate and drank until they were full. However, their troubles were not over yet and a cruel blizzard set in for days. The conditions were harsh and lots of the members suffered from frostbite, injuries caused by exposure to extreme cold. After 16 long months, they finally reached Elephant Island. Knowing that they would not be rescued by a passing ship, Shackleton decided to take a crew of five men on one of the lifeboats and make the dangerous journey to South Georgia. It took them ten days to cross the treacherous Southern Ocean.

When Shackleton arrived on the other side of South Georgia he realised he had

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to walk faraway. He told his men only three had to go on the hike. So, the men started walking. They knew it would take a very long time and they knew it would take days and nights of nonstop walking.

Finally, exhausted, they reached the top of the mountain and they slid down on their bags going faster and faster. When they reached the Stromness whaling station they went to ask for help. “But,” the man asked, “who are you?” He couldn’t recognise them because the three men were broken. Finally, he opened his mouth. “I am Shackleton,” he spoke hoarsely. Then the man let them inside and gave them plenty of food and water.

After weeks of waiting finally luck arrived. Shackleton came paddling and rowing across the icy sea with a big smile on his face coming to rescue his crew. The crew was happy to see Shackleton. Shackleton just arrived in time to rescue his crew as they were weak and starving. Frightened and worried about to be trapped in the ice, Shackleton had his crew hastily rushed aboard suffering from extremely cold weather. The crew agreed to honour and remember 30 August for the rest of their lives. The crew was exhausted and happy to be alive and agreed to go to South America. Shackleton had the same amount of crew as before they left from London. They were rescued by a steamboat named Yelcho and the crew was welcomed warmly in Punta Arenas, Chile.

Just over 100 years later, in 2022, in a dark, freezing, gloomy sea, the current was swirling. There were scary, petrifying fish. Ten metal shiny drones dived into the hazardous sea. It was a dark, violet ocean surrounding them.

The crashing waves bumped the frosty icebergs. A seabed of rocky sand lay beneath the water. Ten minutes later, the cameras pictured an immense wooden object. It had a word written on it in bold: Endurance. A group of plants surrounded this huge artefact. As they went closer, the drones saw royal, detailed crockery and rifles. They say you have not the rights to take a piece of the ship. That would be disobeying the rules. This was a great discovery. The people that were seeing this ship were out of breath. Can you imagine seeing an antique that was used by one of the most famous crews on the planet?

Shackleton said, “We have achieved what many said was impossible.”

IGCSE

BY BENEDETTA R., YEAR 7 IGCSE stands for International General Certificate of Secondary Education. A GCSE is the General Certificate of Secondary Education and they are highly valued by schools, colleges and employers. The IGCSE is recognised as the international equivalent of the GCSE, the qualifications which all students in the English education system earn at age 16.

There are many subjects that you can study for this qualification, these include subjects like extra Science and a second humanity.

At BJAB, you choose your IGCSE options in Year 9 and begin studying them in Year 10. It’s really exciting to be part of a growing school where we get to be trailblazers!

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AN INTERNATIONAL LIFE

BY LUCILLE HUTTY This is not the first time I’ve emigrated to another country.

Belgium is my third country of residence, but recently, I found myself having to stop and think of what to say when people ask me “where are you from?”.

I was born in the Philippines and was old enough when I moved to the United Kingdom to retain a significant part of my Filipino culture and background. I love Philippine mythology, I can speak two Filipino dialects, I have a small Filipino twang when I speak English, I crave Filipino food and I get real a real hankering for rice whenever my husband and I go on holiday.

Not the European version of rice like risotto or (God forbid) the English rice pudding. What I mean is the East/South-East Asian version of rice: cooked in a rice cooker (none of that boil-thenstrain technique), steaming hot, fragrant, slightly sticky and served in a meal exploding with fatty, sweet, spicy, sour, and umami flavours. I’ve just revealed my slight obsession with food, but there’s no shame in that! Amongst all the things you miss when you move from your country of birth, it’s the food that allows you to connect to your roots. It reminds you of birthday parties you attended, summer holidays spent in the countryside, visits to grandma’s house, and Christmases spent with cousins.

I remember the evening after arriving at my university hall of residence; someone shouted, “They’ve opened the dining hall!

C’mon, it’s tea time!”, and I was very impressed! They are serving tea – the drink – before we have our meal! But no, when you go far enough up north in the UK, words start to take a different meaning. Tea is no longer just the drink; tea is also the meal you have in the evening. I spent four years in higher education and in two different universities. This was also when my life started to expand beyond my circle of Filipino friends and sushi restaurant colleagues. I couldn’t say that I was becoming “more British” at this point, but maybe I was even if I don’t really know what this means. I started to watch British soap operas and reruns of Only Fools and Horses on television due to the influence of the people I shared a house with. It was at university that I ate my first Christmas dinner (but not on Christmas Day). Do these count?

After completing my master’s degree, I made a big move to the eastern-most town in England. At the start, I rented a room which was only a stone’s throw away from my office. It was a different routine to being a student; I had my first professional job, I had bills to pay, I was starting to save up for a first house with my now husband, and I was part of a weekly pub quiz team. Living in that part of the country was also very memorable. I still remember the awesome sunrises that we Moving to the UK felt like a big change, but at the same time, it could see from the front window of our little apartment with a didn’t. I went to a new school where I didn’t need to wear a sea view, bike rides and camping trips with friends and walks uniform and the school day ended at 3pm and not 5pm. I had to along the beach with an ice cream in hand. Have you ever seen speak English every day, and while I was fairly confident in the start of a rainbow? Well, I have, through the same sea view English courtesy of the English-based education I received in the window. I was tempted to run out of our apartment to check if Philippines, I unfortunately had to navigate the Birmingham or there was indeed a pot of gold at the base of the pier! It was Brummie accent (if you’re old enough, watch the show Peaky also during this time when I went back to the Philippines to Blinders to hear what this sounds like). Life at that point was volunteer with a UK-based charity that helped a small viewed through a different lens: the novelty of Poundland and community monitor and establish a small Marine Protected Argos; having four seasons instead of two; knowing the Area. There was no question in my mind that the Philippines difference between a bus and a coach; and most importantly, was the country I wanted to volunteer in. The six weeks I spent the fact that custard cream biscuits are the bees knees! My doing that activity has to be one of the memorable things I’ve funniest memory of my early days living in the UK was the first ever done. Where other volunteers and I stayed was very basic time I bought a sandwich from the school canteen. As a caveat, and life was very simple but regimented. We took turns of course I’ve had sandwiches in the Philippines, and I knew preparing breakfast; we cleaned the common area together; we that the sandwich was invented because the Earl of Sandwich spent a lot of time learning about fish, corals and other didn’t let the need to eat interrupt his game of cards. However, invertebrates; and we had to walk to a nearby spring to wash sandwiches there are usually served square: no cutting in half due to the broken water pump in our accommodation. We also and definitely no cutting diagonally and served in trianglehad Saturday night quizzes and karaoke, a tree filled with shaped packaging. So, back to the story: I took both halves out fireflies a few meters away from our accommodation and of of the packaging and bit through both at the same time – a big course, we had front seats to the glorious underwater world mouthful! This girl whom I befriended had to tell me that it’s ok only accessible with the use of SCUBA diving gear. We had to eat them one by one. Sheesh…I felt silly, so I proceeded to Sundays as our rest and recreation day. Some Sundays were wash it down with a big gulp of some blue artificially-flavoured exciting, some were not. It ranged from going on trips to see fizzy drink. Not good; it tasted like cold cough medicine. whale sharks to going to the next village to get a haircut and buy basic supplies like soap. As I was fluent in the dialect Even though we were “abroad”, it was not completely alien for spoken in the area, I got to experience it slightly differently me. My parents had a big group of Filipino friends; nurses and from the other (western) volunteers. I spoke to the locals about their families who are also starting a new life in a new country. their lives, about how life used to be before the designation of There were many potluck parties, so life didn’t feel so foreign. I the protected area. The absence of a language barrier enabled still addressed those who were older than me as “auntie”, them to opened up to me a little more. Some of them were “uncle”, “big sister”, or “big brother”. I was the oldest amongst involved in dynamite and cyanide fishing, but now worked to the Filipino kids in that big group. This was highlighted when we patrol the area to ensure that no illegal fishing occurred. I also put the film Finding Nemo on the television on my 18th birthday spoke with one young woman whilst we did laundry by the to entertain the younger ones (yep, the age gap was that spring. Noticing that she was washing children’s clothes, I asked much…). I got a job in a little sushi restaurant staffed mostly by if those belonged to her siblings. She said no and that they were Filipinos, so I was able to practice my (really bad) Tagalog with the clothes of her three children. The eldest was just about to them. It felt like another family. Then I went to university, far turn four whilst the youngest was only a few months old. She away from Birmingham. I was already fairly independent, but was tired and worried because her husband was away fishing. that was a different kind of independence. This independence Maybe it was village gossip, or it could have been my accent, was one that needed me to be far from home. but she knew that I wasn’t a local even though that was the first time we met. She asked about what it was like to live abroad and if it is true that the water “there” lightens your skin. I said “unfortunately, it’s due to the lack of sun for 5 months of the year”.

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Fast forward to the middle of 2017: my husband and I moved to another part of the UK to be nearer to his family. We no longer needed to spend 8 hours driving along the most boring road in the UK. This time we lived in the countryside in the north of England and we were far from the sea. We were near farms, sheep, horses and large green fields. We no longer attended pub quizzes because they started too late for our liking. During our first winter in this new place, the so called “Beast from the East” arrived March 2018. It snowed nonstop for about three days, and the snow we received there was more than all the snow I’ve seen since I moved to the UK. Somehow, it snowed a little more than usual there, so much so that buying a proper snow shovel proved to be a wise decision in the years after. The other seasons came and went and just before the pandemic officially reached England, we received news that some family members were moving to France for retirement. We were happy for them and excited for ourselves. Holidays in France, how great would that be?! The lockdown then presented a great opportunity to start learning French. I wanted to do more than just being able to order un croissant et un café au lait, s’il vous plaît. For me, learning another language was more appealing than trying to maintain my own sourdough starter. In a way, learning French helped me get through the pandemic.

Working from home meant I had time in the morning to learn instead of travelling to the office. It also meant I had something to look forward to. We finally were able to visit these relatives in the autumn of 2021. It was this trip that made my husband and I ponder about a retirement outside of the UK for ourselves. But then we also thought, why wait until retirement?

We don’t have to wait until pensionable age to experience another life in another city, in another country. Life in the UK wasn’t bad, but I was longing for another experience. I’ve moved to another country before; surely, it’s not a bad idea to do it again as an adult. So we thought about it, really thought about it.

It involved lists of countries we could go to, lists of pros and cons, spreadsheets, decision trees. We weren’t doing it on a whim. We wanted to do it right and make sure that the decisions we made were made together. Because of incessant planning or because of a roll of the universe’s dice, we knew by December 2022 that we were moving to Brussels.

We (my husband, cat and me) left the UK on a soaking night of the 26th of July 2023. It felt like we were sneaking away, driving along a street occupied only by the patter of rain. We locked the front door, said goodbye to the house, the street, the village, and the city we called home for just shy of six years. I was sad; it felt like I was leaving 20 plus years of a life that started when that Lufthansa flight landed on the Birmingham airport runway. At the same time, I was excited. This move felt different to the one I made with my parents when I was sixteen.

I am by no means fluent in French after three years of studying the language, so I’ve been attending these sessions called tables de conversation. It’s where anyone can come to practice their French through conversation, or maybe for others who just want to meet new people in a new city. Everyone I’ve met in these sessions have come from all over the world: Colombia, Tanzania, Peru, India, Algeria, Madagascar, Romania, Czechia, the Netherlands. At the start of each session, we all introduce ourselves. At first, I wasn’t really sure of what to say, but I decided to say, Bonjour, je m’appelle Lucille. Je viens du Royaume-Uni mais je suis née aux Philippines. The part about where I’m from and where I was born both need to be said.

Brussels is such an international city, that it’s not uncommon to meet others who have had a similar life path to me. True enough, others in these sessions have spent years in other cities in other parts of the world; all with a story to tell.

MY FIRST DAY AT BJAB

BY OVEE S, YEAR 7 I joined the British Junior Academy of Brussels (BJAB) this year, in September 2023. I was really excited to be part of the BJAB community and to attend my first day there.

I felt ready for Y7. Making friends can be hard so there was some anxiety. My heart was jumping up and down in my chest when i reached the door. What if no one likes me? Once reaching the door, I saw Mr. Retter smiling and greeting other students. This warm welcome made me feel more confident. He asked if I was excited for my first day ever in BJAB. Without hesitating, I said “yes. I entered the school and saw lockers. But which one was mine? I didn’t know because none of them had any names on them! I understood that perhaps for now I should keep my bag with me when going to the playground. I went straight to the playground to see all the other students. Fortunately, I already knew a few people from outside school and we had a lovely chat about our holiday and how excited we were to be in this new school.

Suddenly the playground went quiet and all the students had their hands in the air. Miss Cowx had hers raised too – I thought this must be in place of the school bell? Miss Cowx told us where to go and we lined up with our new classes. I quickly understood that there were two different Y7 classes; one called 7G and one called 7H. Sadly, I was separated from my two other friends, but it was okay as I saw it as an opportunity to make new friends and I knew I would see them at break and lunchtime. My class followed Mr Hutty who kindly told us where our lockers were located. I chose mine next to the door, as I felt that it would be easier to reach. We then followed Mr Hutty to the Maths room and we introduced ourselves. Mr. Hutty did the same. He also shared school expectations in terms of learning and behaviour. We also did some teambuilding games which I really enjoyed as it helped getting to know the other members of 7H. I was really excited as we received an iPad to use at school for schoolwork etc. It was the end of our first two hours at BJAB We were then directed to our lockers where I went to put all of my stuff and took my snack box. I met my friends, and we shared all the great activities we had in the morning. Twenty minutes later, break time was over. English was next with Mrs. Norris. She asked us to write a letter to her about one of the topics on the board. Time flew quickly and I liked having as chance to share my knowledge with my new English teacher. Following English we had our first Maths lesson with Mr. Hutty and one more time it went fast. Before I knew it was lunch time, I discovered Miss. Angela’s delicious meals. Even though I had my own lunch box, the smell in the canteen was really good. Finally, to finish the day we had golf. However, nobody knew what golf was about on the first day therefore we all brought our PE kit. So, Mrs. Cuigniez introduced golf to us. I really enjoyed this time to finish the day.

Looking back, I wished the day lasted longer, as the first day of BJAB was great fun and I was really excited to return the following day.

Right now, in Week 8, I think I am doing well. I am confident and I have made a lot of new friends. I am looking forward to the lessons I am going to have in the future and the trips I am going to join.

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MY FAVOURITE SUBJECT ART

MATHEMATICS

BY MARTINA L. S. , YEAR 6

BY ERIK L., YEAR 6

I like Art because it is calming. It gives you this marvellous feeling of relaxation. Another thing I like about art is that it is not competitive – everyone can succeed in many different ways.

The hot seat… The moment everyone was waiting for, had finally come. Would we win or not? Screeches of cheering flowed through my ears, shivers raced down my spine… Instantaneously questions were fired out at me, just like a catapult would. It was the moment to represent my whole school and I knew it was my time to shine. And that of course in no other subject than the complicated maths! Yes, Maths is my favourite subject.

When I was little, I enjoyed gazing at the night sky. One day, my parents saw I was bored so they gave me a piece of paper and a pencil, then my imagination started to flow. I drew people, flowers and many Kawaii-inspired doodles. That is when I first began developing my love for Art.

“What is the square root of 49?” – “7!”

“If a train leaves at 11:15 and travels for 2.5 hours, when will it arrive?” – “11:15 or 11:50?!” (I asked) – “11:15” – “13:45!”

When I left Spain and I came here to Brussels, I could not believe my eyes: statues, artworks and many other things. Miss Whittaker and Miss Grey have shown me how Art is not just a drawing, but it is also creativity and knowledge. They inspired me by how it is not a pencil or a brush you have to use, but your imagination. Many thanks to my wonderful teachers at BJAB who have helped me improve over my time in here.

And 20 similar questions in 3 minutes...

What brought me to this exact situation? You may be wondering.

Well, in order to get to this moment, we (our group of four from Y5 and Y6) had to practise non-stop for many weeks. There was only one child from every school who could compete on the hot seat on that particular day, and that time the person was me!

ENGLISH

A big accomplishment of mine is my cracking times tables work last year. Level 10 was certainly the hardest level out of all of them since you needed to do 100 questions in just three minutes to move up. I completed it in three attempts. The first week I succeeded in doing 98/100, second week 99/100, and in the end, after a miserable three weeks of waiting I FINALLY got 100/100…

My success rate quickly shot straight up until an altitudinous barrier arose – level 18. After much hope and belief in myself, I sadly did not proceed to continue onto level 20. I was a little disappointed but I was still happy about my achievement.

BY ALEXANDRA L., YEAR 5 I love many subjects, but if I really need to choose one favourite, it will most probably be English. In my opinion, English is the only subject which combines the structure and logic I love in Maths and Science with the creativity and freedom of expression from Art, Drama and Music. The grammar and punctuation provide the structure whilst the vocabulary, powerful adjectives, verbs, adverbs, nouns and everything which makes your speech engaging provides the creativity. I also love using metaphors and personification where I can apply my imagination and sense of humour.

Perhaps my favourite thing about my favourite subject is simply writing. I love creating my own stories and imagining new worlds. I am absolutely fascinated how authors like J.K. Rowling can write their novels. I write my own stories and maybe one day you’ll be reading them!

SCIENCE

BY HIYA S., YEAR 8

Another reason why Maths is my favourite subject is due to the fact that so far I have learned things quite quickly; for example, if I don’t know how to do something, I am usually able to get the hang of it within the next ten minutes. Even though most of the time it comes easily to me, there are also times when I find it challenging – but thankfully in a good way. It makes my brain work and I like that!

In conclusion, I have been engaged a lot with Maths in my life. The thing that helps me is that my brother is in Y8 so I get to study with him too. Overall I believe that Maths is an amazing subject and I will learn a lot more about it in the near future.

“…IT ALLOWS ME TO EXPLORE THE MYSTERIES OF THE WORLD.”

As a secondary school student, I find Science fascinating and particularly engaging. Science is an immense field of study, giving endless opportunities to explore the wonders of our world. From the simple study of cells in animal and plant cells to the full body dissection exploring the complicated ways by which the human body functions.

Science provides explanations and reasoning behind the phenomena we encounter daily and answers all my questions about the world immediately, whether the question is if we live at the bottom of the Earth, then why don’t we fall off?, Why do we dream? or even How did life begin in the first place?. All these questions will get you thinking or aggressively pulling your hair out. THIS is what I love about Science. The way it makes you think, really questioning what you know. Science gives me the chance to apply my knowledge into practical thinking, and the moment something clicks during lessons, it feels like I am on top of the world.

I love every single Year 8 Science lesson. The order of the science lab rules and the thrill of writing down hypotheses, conducting experiments, and analysing results and thinking how did that anomaly get there?

One of my favorite topics in Science is exploring the future - especially if it has anything to do with artificial intelligence. Talking about AI, imagine a future with these bewildering inventions, which can do anything, anytime, anywhere. For me, thinking about this sends an excited shiver through my body, which links to our brain. When I thought of AI, why did my brain send a signal to my body to shiver? See, this is what I am talking about!

In conclusion, Science is my favourite subject because it allows me to explore the mysteries of the world, develop thinking skills, contribute towards societal progress and gain a deeper understanding of our existence. The thrill of discovery, excitement of experiments and the practical applications make Science an exciting subject to study.

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DRAMA

SCIENCE

BY VEDANT K., YEAR 5

BY AMELI A., YEAR 7

One of my favourite games to play in Drama goes like this: pupils are divided into groups of three. One group member then describes their summer vacation whilst the other players act it out. This doesn’t only work for the summer holidays as every day gives us a fresh opportunity to play another round with tasks such as describe your day or describe your weekend.

One of the most exciting parts of Drama for me is using our imaginations to make up our own games. It gives us the chance to be creative and use our imaginations to their full extent.

Other pupils wish they could do activities like this for every Drama lesson.

Je n'ai pas vraiment de matière préférée car je n'aime pas comparer les choses mais si je devais en choisir une qui me passionne ce serait les sciences surtout la biologie car la biologie joue un rôle important dans la compréhension des formes de vie complexes impliquant les humains, les animaux et les plantes.

Comprendre ces détails complexes de la vie aide les humains à comprendre comment prendre soin d’euxmêmes, des animaux et des plantes de la manière appropriée. La biologie aide les individus à comprendre l'interaction entre l'humanité et le Drama is a fun subject across the year groups. Year 8 were put monde. Elle développe également des intérêts pour la in groups and had three lessons to produce a murder mystery with cross-cutting and freeze frames. Year 7 have been studying vie des organismes vivants dans le but de les the musical Matilda and have made freeze frames for different préserver. scenes. They have also acted out some scenes with words from the musical.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

BY MALACHI C., YEAR 9 For me, this is a difficult choice. I actually like most of the subjects that I study. My absolute favourite, though, is undeniably Physical Education (PE). Whilst learning about PE you learn about a huge range of different things including dieting, protein consumption, fitness and competitive sports.

Let’s say you were never to take part in a PE lesson, would you exercise at home? Would you be fully aware of your strength? I think every dream is possible in PE. It’s what makes outstanding athletes, whether that be through football, rugby, tennis, athletics, dance… the list goes on. If you think about it, you could relate every subject that you study at school to PE. In Science, you learn about the skeleton and proteins. Maths is involved in everything from the calculations of distances to the trajectory of javelins whilst huge sporting events go down in history – which we study, in History!

DIFFICULT TO CHOOSE!

BY ROISIN D.B., PARENT That is a very good question. What I really liked was PE. Not only was the teacher great but I also got the chance to try out new sports. While the school had many teams for different sports, my favorite was basketball. We trained every morning before school and also after school. I was a forward. I played in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior teams and continued to play after I left school. I also had the chance to be a referee.

Playing basketball allowed me to travel around Ireland to many matches with my friends. In PE we also did hockey, tennis, gymnastics and badminton.

Grâce à l’étude de la biologie, les pathologistes comprennent le corps humain, les fonctions de divers organes, la manière dont les maladies affectent le corps et les moyens de contrôler efficacement les maladies. Les vétérinaires doivent étudier la biologie pour apprécier comment les animaux fonctionnent, y compris les animaux marins et les créatures terrestres.

Les environnementalistes s’appuient sur l’étude de la biologie pour comprendre comment les actions de l’homme affectent son environnement et les écosystèmes des autres êtres vivants.

L’étude de la biologie est le fondement de toutes les caractéristiques de la vie sur Terre. En plus de créer des solutions aux défis auxquels de nombreux organismes vivants sont confrontés, elle ouvre la voie à des inventions et des découvertes qui améliorent la qualité de vie. Sans étudier la biologie, les humains ne réaliseraient probablement jamais à quel point le maintien d’une écologie saine est importante pour eux-mêmes, pour les animaux et pour la vie végétale.

Cela permet également aux agriculteurs d’élever des races uniques de plantes et d’animaux.

Je suis passionnée par la biologie car mon métier de rêve est d'être neurochirurgien. Les neurochirurgiens participent à la prévention, au diagnostique et au traitement des troubles du cerveau, de la colonne vertébrale et des nerfs. Ils traitent et gèrent également les affections qui affectent le flux sanguin vers le cerveau. En plus d'effectuer des opérations, ils peuvent participer à la rééducation d'une personne après un traitement.

A BJAB, les rêves deviennent réalité ; tous les professeurs sont très gentils et, quand les gens voient la biologie comme un simple cours, moi, je la vois comme ma passion !

On the academic side, I really enjoyed Biology. No class was ever boring as we discovered the living world around us. Learning about how the human body functions and about other living organism lets us understand about the world we are in and how it is forever changing. Biology opens a lot of doors to thinking about other issues such as the environment, health, agriculture and nutrition. Biology can be a class without walls, it can allow you to have outdoor learning and experiences.

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SCIENCE

BY OVEE S. YEAR 7 My favourite subject is Science. A lot of people like it, but I think that it’s the best subject! There are fun experiments, there are science fairs and much more. Who doesn’t like carrying out experiments? Another fun thing about Science is that you rarely already know the facts that you learn in your lesson – there’s a surprise every day. Did you know that our eyes blink around twenty times a minute - that’s over 10 million times a year! Fascinating, right? Well, there are thousands of facts that you probably don’t know, and it’s very surprising when you learn them.

I was so surprised by one experiment that we did in Science I also did it at home to show my parents. We made a substance called oobleck. It was so fun because when we put our finger into it, it acts like a liquid and if you poured it on your hands, it still acted as a liquid, but if you poke it or stab it with your finger, it acts as a solid! It’s very simple to make. All you need is cornflour and a few drops of water. Add the cornflour to a cup and mix small amounts of water slowly until it looks like a liquid, then have fun!

Our first topic this year was all about cells. We learnt about the meaning of organelle, the functions of different organelles and many more. We also learnt that there are some organelles that plant cells have but animal cells (like ours) don’t. During this topic, we went “cell speed dating”. Mr Varden gave us a specialized cell and we had to explain all about it to other people while the other people explained all about their cells. We had to tell the name, the job, where the cell lives and draw a diagram and additional features of the cells. I was a red blood cell whose job is to carry oxygen around the body. Amongst many other things, I learnt the word biconcave, which means it’s curved on both sides – a bit like a donut shape. In one of our lessons, we used a light microscope! That was the first time I saw cells up-close in real life I could tell you about many more fun, exciting and engaging Science lessons from BJAB but we simply don’t have the space!

ART

BY BENEDETTA R., YEAR 7 My favourite subject is Art. The reason for this is because it inspires me to be who I really am. Art inspires me to be free when I am drawing or painting. Art has made me discover so many different ways to show my feelings. Art can be creative or specific. It can be a type of work to help you release your anger or another feeling.

Over the years, Miss Whittaker has told us about the shades the ways you can draw upside down. For STEAM week we did still art which is a type of art in which you look at tomatoes or something else and we would draw it and then we would colour it in with pastels Miss Grey used to be our Art teacher a couple of years ago. She was very funny but also strict. We studied painting techniques and textures. Since 2021 Miss Whittaker was the new Art teacher she has taught year 7s about gradients and how to draw in outstanding ways - we've drawn realistic bugs, beetles and butterflies!

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WHITTAKER’S WONDERS THE FOLLOWING WORK IS DESCRIBED IN THE BJAB CHRONICLE, PAGE 2. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR OUTSTANDING ARTISTS IN YEARS 7 – 9 WHOSE WORK IS DISPLAYED HERE!

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