BSB School Magazine - December 2016

@BSB Vol 10 • Issue 1

THE BRITISH SCHOOL OF BUCHAREST MAGAZINE

December 2016

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FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

With the academic year well underway, I am delighted to welcome you to the online pages of @BSB. This edition as usual demonstrates the array of opportunities available to our students and our pride in the vigour with which they participate and contribute to the life at our wonderful school.

Philip Walters Head of School @philip_w

The importance we place on outdoor learning and experiences beyond the classroom from crèche through to our eldest students, is reflected via the many trips that have enriched our curriculum so far this year. It is also evident in the regular use of nearby forest, museums, parks, factories, markets and mountain ranges alongside the daily use of experiential learning within our campus which present our students with a quite remarkable menu of possibilities.

“students stretched and busy in valuable activities outside of the classroom will feel fulfilled and are more likely to achieve success in their academic examinations.”

Academic progress and ultimately examination success is still of utmost importance, as we strive to ensure that each student achieves results that reflect their personal best. Alongside many independent school colleagues and our teachers at BSB, I advocate that students stretched and busy in valuable activities outside of the classroom will feel fulfilled and are more likely to achieve success in their academic examinations.

There is an intrinsic link between the success of our CCA and Club programme and our continued success in the external senior school examinations of IGCSE and A level and ultimately in our students gaining places at their first choice universities. With 48% A* and A in the final A level exams last year – we have reason to feel confident that we are achieving our aims.

values of honesty, respect, self-control, equality, and concern for others, is difficult to measure but important to us. Daily evidence can be found in the interactions between our students and staff; our truly international student population ensures exposure to a variety of languages, and cultures which positively affects our mindsets. One should also look at part of the narrative of this term in finer detail. Beyond our PSHCE provision

Yet how does one measure success in the desire to educate meaningful values and the “whole person”? Our stated aim of developing an attitude of individual responsibility, based upon the

our children have benefitted and contributed to successful Harvest and Shoe box appeals; visits from Light into Europe Guide Dogs and trainers in assemblies; fundraising events for children’s oncology hospital provision and shelters for the homeless. Meanwhile anyone that was present in school in the second week of November would have witnessed superb assemblies. I was immensely proud of our Y6 students in particular as they tackled the most difficult subjects of conflict, bereavement, remembrance and the legacy of war in their assembly with the utmost maturity and sensitivity. This was evidence indeed of education of meaningful values and of great response and impact on our students.

It is a privilege to take on my new role at BSB and serve as part of our school community. I look forward to continuing to seek improvements and development as BSB moves forward in the coming months and years.

F R O M T H E H E A D O F S C H O O L 3

BSB House events and systems

by Helen Stevens

H

ere at BSB, the feeling of belonging and being part of the school community is paramount to our success; one of the ways we can ensure this happens is through our House system. Every child is allocated to be a member of the four houses: Olt, Arges, Danube and Mures; all named after rivers that run throughout Romania.

This year we are thrilled to reveal our new house crests which have been designed especially to represent the animals related to each of the four houses; Olt with an eagle, Danube with a snake, Arges with a bear and finally, Mures with a wolf.

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We have House and Vice-Captains, students from throughout the school , who represent each of the four houses and who will be vital to the smooth running and organisation of the house events scheduled to run throughout the year. We have already had a great start with the Inter-House Football competition, lunchtime quizzes, Shoot the Hoop event and various other House competitions. This year, our aim is to promote and hold more whole school house events so as to promote the house system across all areas of the school. It started off in November with our

very first KS2 and Secondary House assembly, which was a great success. We are looking forward to continuing this and, in time, involving children from both KS1 and EYFS. For every House event held, the children can earn house points through participation and success. House points are also awarded to children who display kind, respectful and outstanding character traits. These are collected and the totals announced regularly.

Currently, the results are:

House Points in Primary

House Points in Secondary

Olt - 65

Olt - 55

Arges - 85

Arges - 85

Mures - 70

Mures - 75

Danube - 65

Danube - 80

Overall House Points for the whole school

Olt - 120 Arges - 170 Mures - 145 Danube - 160

It has been a positive first term and we look forward to seeing how these results will change over the forthcoming year.

H O U S E S I N F O C U S 5

Arges House

Danube House

As the Senior House Captain of Arges this year, I have already begun to enjoy leading the members of the House to achieve their best. I began the year feeling a little bit uncertain about how well we would be able to build on last year’s success, but now, after a few months, the people in my house have become my friends and we work very well together. We have done extremely well already, because together with the Junior House Captain, Luca D., we have encouraged Arges members to join us in large numbers in competitions. Although we go in to win we are really proud to participate, because house points and house spirit are shown through participation. As a team we have done particularly well in Hoop Shoots and History Quiz, and we hope to win many more in the future, as Arges is #1 at the moment.

Let’s go, Arges!

It is a pleasure to be House Captain of Danube this year considering how well the team is progressing. By attending all the various house events I have more of an aerial view of the members, and this allowed me to see how competitive Danube is. Everyone is making the most of their talents, for example our artists have won the first quiz of the year, and in these few months their effort is already paying off! Danube is in second place, not far behind Arges, and not stopping anytime soon!

Our house logo, the snake, represents just how smoothly we are advancing through the competitions. The individual acts of kindness and respect have also gained us a significant number of points, and this shows that anyone can improve our score just by being nice, being themselves. Danube right now is like a well-oiled machine, which just has to power forwards! Our Junior House Captain, Veani, and I are feeling proud of what Danube has achieved so far, and confident about the future!

by Luca

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by Sara

Mures House

Olt House

Hi, I am Emma and I am the Senior House Captain of Mures. I am so excited to be the Senior House Captain as I have been dedicated to my house for many years and it is an honour to lead them. So Mures this term, well this term has been surprising in both good and bad ways. It has been great welcoming in all the new Mures teachers and students to the team and it was great when we won the science competition! It is also great that we have started to have mixed primary and secondary house assemblies, it really helps us to feel like one big Mures family!

Anyone who has known Mures for a few years will know that we are meant to be the sporty team but unfortunately, Mures has not been the best with sports this term. We did not win the football house competition, which was very disappointing but our morale is still high and we hope that we will prove ourselves in other competitions, such as basketball, mastermind and of course sports day! I am really looking forward to the second term and its house competitions, and I am really looking forward to working closely with the Primary House Captains. Good luck Mures! We can do it!

After last years’ success, 2016 has seen the introduction of two new house captains for Olt. Cristina and Noa were appointed into the role as they displayed outstanding qualities and leadership skills. So far this year they have already shown amazing traits such as organisation, commitment and enthusiasm, all of which are essential to being a great leader. The term started off strong with huge numbers attending the art competition, resulting in 2nd place.

The focus this year is mass participation in all events. Our future success will depend on the support of all members of the house to attend lunchtime house competitions. With this in mind, I hope to see as many of you as I can at the house events to enable us to gain as many points as possible and build upon last year! Go OLT

by Emma

by Cristina and Noa

A note from our captains: Becoming house captain made me realise how important it is to cooperate with our team and be involved as much as possible. I’ve had great support from the Junior House Captain and I believe we’re a great team. We’re planning on motivating everyone to participate as much as possible so that we achieve our potential.

I’ve enjoyed seeing people turn up to the competitions during lunch time and seeing them work together made me feel very proud, just like when I first joined Olt in year 3.

Cristina Hello, my name is Noa, I’m from Y8 and I became house captain because I know we have a real chance of success. I’m going to make sure I do everything in my power to ensure that chance is not wasted. I will bring us to victory. Don’t stop and give it everything you’ve got, then keep going some more.

Noa

H O U S E S I N F O C U S 7

PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

The Parent Teacher Association

by Simon Lambert

The Parent Teacher Association at any school is an important link between the senior management and the wider community.

Last year we were fortunate to have had a dynamic leader of the PTA who galvanised action from all quarters for important events within the school calendar. Mrs. O’Keefe has moved on and is no doubt bringing the same enthusiasm to her children’s new school in Gran Canaria.

As the new management of the school looks to improve all aspects of the school we are determined to have a healthy discourse and relationship with Parents and are investigating ways to re-invigorate the Parent Teacher Association by making

it more inclusive with parents from all areas of the school as well as some teachers. In the past it has been driven by a few committed souls and if you think that you would like to take a greater role please do let us know. We are still on the hunt for a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and any other committee members who feel able to give some time to fundraising and organising the parent support for events such as the Artisan and Summer Fairs, student end of term parties and so on.

If you would like to get involved please get in touch with Mr. Walters or Mr. Lambert. All help is greatly appreciated and, hopefully, rewarding.

The winning team: Historians, scientists, KS2 teachers and an innovator

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Getting to know your TA

Irina Itu After reading this, your brain will not be the same. After reading this, you will have learned something about me that you didn’t know before and when you are learning something, your brain changes. How amazing is that?

I carry around with me the love of learning, together with the question “What have I learned today?”. Love of learning about the world, learning about myself, learning things that interest me and help me become the person I want to be.

The moment I started looking at learning from this perspective, it stopped being boring and directed by external factors and instead, started being fun, relevant and in my control. It started being about me and this came with a sense of understanding and empowerment.

That moment of understanding, the moment when new connections are created between seemingly unrelated pieces of information, is inspiring to me.

Smart conversations, interacting with and listening to passionate and conscious people are some of the things that bring me energy. Travelling, reading and listening to acoustic guitar solos also inspire me and add to that energy which I express through art – drawing and painting, and through projects that bring value, both to me and to other people.

Just recently I have finished reading Ken Robinson’s “The Element - How finding your passion changes everything” and one of the quotes that have resonated deeply with me is: “We all shape the circumstances and realities of our own lives and we can also transform them. […] Our attitudes to events and to ourselves are crucial.”

To me, that is strongly linked with this love of learning I was talking about at the beginning. So, I ask you as well: What have you learned today?

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BSB CONGRATULATES

Congratulations to Tudor for taking part in October in the World Rookie Tour in Modena, Italy.

Tudor turned in a great performance and we are very proud that he took part in the first urban rail contest in the history of the World Rookie Tour.

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Congratulations to Lena for competing in “CSI� international competition at Regatul Cailor from Adunati Copaceni. We wish Lena good luck in her show jumping career!

Congratulations to Emma for winning the Silver Cup at Riposta International Fencing Tournament in November

Congratulations to Philip for being a medalist at the Cross Country competition this term. Well done!

B S B C O N G R A T U L A T E S 11

Introducing

Aine Staunton

Alice Allsop

Dia daoibh (which means Hello in Irish), I am delighted to have joined BSB in August this year as the new Head of English in secondary. I come from a small county in the west of Ireland that is incredibly green and beautiful because it rains all the time. Typically when I escaped to university I managed to upgrade to the rainiest city in Ireland, lovely Limerick.

I feel very privileged, as I have managed to travel and work all over the world, living in Sweden, New Zealand and China before moving to Romania. I have had a very warm welcome here and am I pleased to say that it already feels like home.

Unbelievably I am an avid reader, shocking I know, so over the course of the next year I aim to try and read one hundred books – any and all suggestions are greatly welcomed.

Having moved to Bucharest two years ago, I am excited to now be teaching at BSB. I am passionate about Geography and Romania, with its amazing landscape and wonderful people is a great place to explore as a Geographer. Before coming to Romania, my husband and I spent six years teaching at an international school in Egypt. We left Egypt having experienced both the Arab Spring and the birth of our daughter! My two young children now attend BSB and love their time in Crèche and Preschool. I am proud that they are having their first educational experiences here at BSB as the students, staff and parents are all so welcoming. When I am not teaching I enjoy running the BSB Toddler Group and exploring Bucharest with my kids.

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Andrew Foord

Charmaine Foord

Born in Tanzania, I spent most of my childhood growing up around the world. After my A levels I left full time education and worked in Outdoor Pursuits as an Instructor for five years, specializing in watersports such as kayaking, canoeing and rafting as well as various other outdoor activities.

I returned to full time education in the early 90’s and completed a Sport Science Degree (BSc Hons) from Staffordshire University, followed by a PGCE in Physical Education and Science from Surrey University, I am currently finishing my Masters of Arts in Educational Technology from Michigan State University.

After teaching in UK for a few years, my wife and I moved to Kuwait for four years where I taught PE at Gulf English School and then on to South Korea where I was Head of PE for nine years at Seoul Foreign British School. We now continue our adventures as a family at BSB, enjoying the beauty of Romania.

I arrived in Bucharest in August with my husband and two children having spent the previous nine years in Seoul, South Korea. I have been fortunate in being able to combine my passion for teaching with my love of travelling. During my teaching career, I have taught all age groups from Reception to Y9. I also spent some time working at an outdoor learning centre teaching field studies and outdoor pursuits, as well as spending the past two years specialising in students with English as an additional language and Learning Support. I am grateful to have taught such a wide age range, as it has given me a complete picture of education starting from the beginning of the school journey through to children becoming confident, independent learners. I am excited to be back in Europe and teaching Y6 at BSB.

I N T R O D U C I N G 13

Cheryl-Anne Deckker I’m Cheryl-Anne Deckker and I am very excited to join BSB as a Y4 teacher. My last post was in Shanghai, China, where I lived for two years teaching Y6. Prior to that, I spent 8 years teaching across KS1 and 2 in various parts of London. I find Bucharest fascinating; the buildings are beautiful, and there are so many green spaces! I am an Art and Design specialist who loves to read, and I try to combine these interests with other subjects to make lessons creative and fun, as well as purposeful. This year, I feel I have a lot to look forward to – a dynamic new school, a fabulous class and a vibrant city to explore. I am absolutely delighted to be a part of the BSB team, and very much look forward to being part of a great community!

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Chris Baker Hello! My name is Chris Baker. I am a Biology specialist and the Head of Science. I am very happy to be back in Europe after living in Asia for the past five years. As an Environmental Biology graduate, I have a big interest in the natural world. I particularly enjoy bird spotting, so I am greatly looking forward to witnessing the spring migration through the Danube Delta! One of my main educational areas of interest is how EAL students learn how to use scientific vocabulary, having focused on this for a research piece during my Master of Arts in Science Education.

I’m particularly interested in homonym use (compound, contract, period and so on).

It is incredibly important for students to gain skills for life from science learning, not least the ability to distinguish between good, bad and pseudoscience. I look forward to working with you all.

Rachel Eglinton Being a class teacher is immensely rewarding and it is exciting to be here teaching at BSB. I have spent 15 happy years in a boarding school in the north of England but with both my daughters almost at university I was able to look at opportunities to teach abroad again; I was in Hong Kong prior to that.

My ethos is to develop a child holistically. To nurture children to be confident individuals, to equip them with values and skills, as well as to encourage a love of learning in a supportive yet challenging environment. Connecting with nature makes us happier and I believe in taking children outside of the classroom.

Girl Guiding has always been an interest of mine and I am hoping to introduce Rainbows and Brownies to BSB. This supports girls to ‘develop their potential, make friends and have fun.’ Research has recently been published suggesting that being a Guide ‘may have lifelong benefits for mental health.’

During my time here, I am looking forward to learning some Romanian and discovering another culture, besides traveling in Eastern Europe with my husband.

Melissa BarkerWhite Hi. I’m Melissa Barker-White and I’m from Yorkshire, although I have lived in the Middle East for the past 9 years. There I learnt to dive and became a rescue diver, which was a refreshing change from eating all the brunches that are on offer there! It’s a change being here in Romania with all the greenery and trees. I’m not too sure how my family and I will like the cold but we seem to be getting used to it pretty quickly!

I’ve been teaching ICT for the past 15 years and this is my third year of teaching computer science. Even though it was a daunting thought, switching subjects, I’ve relished the opportunity to refresh the programming skills I learn at university and have really enjoyed it. I hope to bring my passion for this new subject to the students at BSB and hope they enjoy it as much as I do!

I N T R O D U C I N G 15

Nuria Perez My name is Nuria Perez. I’m from Barcelona and I’ve spent my last four years teaching and living in Jordan and Scotland with my family. I love travelling and discovering exciting countries, cultures, languages and cuisine. However, my biggest passion is the Music and my instrument is the piano. I enjoy playing Bach and Mozart and specially being a member of a chamber music group. When I travel, I always carry in my suitcase something from my home town and from the other places where I have previously lived. They are a piece of my life. Now, Bucharest is my new and joyful home and I feel touched by the warm welcome of everyone at BSB. I look forward to making lots of friends and travelling through the green and charming Romania.

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Natalie Pitchley My name is Natalie Pitchley and I am delighted to be a part of the BSB family this year. I join the school as a Y3 teacher and Primary Science Co-ordinator. For the past two years I have been working at the British School of Shanghai, Puxi and before that I began my teaching career in Woking, England. I am passionate about teaching a variety of subjects, especially Science, and I look forward to meeting new children in my Mad Science club. Since I was little I have always enjoyed reading, and this was one of the reasons I decided to study English Literature as well as Drama at the University of Winchester. I feel very fortunate to be a part of the BSB community and I look forward to my time here at the school and in Romania.

Silvia SchernthanerLeitner My Name is Silvia Schernthaner-Leitner, I’m Austrian and the primary German teacher at BSB. I have known the school for a long time as a parent and I’m now happy to work as a teacher. I enjoy teaching my mother tongue, as the BSB students are eager to learn new things. In my free time I’m a mother of a three and a ten year old. I love to run, bike and hike. Reading and traveling are my passion. Romania is my favourite country to live and I know, what I’m talking about, as we left 2011 and we came back, as we like the country, the people and our life here.

I N T R O D U C I N G 17

FROM THE ENGINE ROOM

by Simon Lambert

As with every year here at BSB the first term of the new academic year sees many new developments which extend the facilities available to students and teachers alike. This year has been no exception with the Innovation Hub, new Food Technology Studio, brand new Reception Area, enhancement to the libraries and the integration of the Bucharest Professional Training College into the school. On top of this the brand new bistro, operated by Takanaka, has been a huge success providing opportunities for parents and students to enjoy coffee, pastries and snacks at all times of the day. We continue to look for opportunities to extend our facilities and to making them available to other parts of the community.

We have also commissioned a full survey of the parent body and a further study for all employees. This has previously been carried out as part of the school inspection process but we hope to make this an annual survey that can help drive developments within the school and help with our strategic planning moving

Time for a rest in the new bedroom in the Crèche

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forward. We look forward to sharing the outcomes of these surveys with you all in due course.

Communication remains important to all constituents of the school community and we are aware of improvements that can be made in this regard. We are currently evaluating all aspects of this and in the new year we will be launching new parent, student and teacher apps which will make communication across the board more efficient and timely. More information will follow early in 2017.

You will, by now, all have received the re-registration forms for 2017-18 and our thanks to those of you who have already returned them. Planning is underway for the next academic year and the early return of the forms helps greatly when it comes to planning forthcoming developments.

Should you have any comments or questions regarding events at school please do not hesitate to approach any of the school leaders at the gate at drop-off or collection.

The new basketball and football area outside the Dome

The redesigned Secondary Library is now open plan

F R O M T H E E N G I N E R O O M 19

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Book Review - Solar Bones

by Aine Staunton

Solar Bones by Mike McCormack unfolds on All Souls’ Day, a day that is treated in many cultures with great reverence and respect.

The veil between the living and the dead is said to be gossamer thin, thus allowing the dead to view their lives and loved ones again.

Our protagonist is Marcus Conway, a husband, father and civil engineer from the west, the most rural and unforgiving part of Ireland. It is unbelievably, not a spoiler to announce that our main character is, in fact, dead. The blurb boldly states this, “Marcus Conway is dead.” Over the course of a single hour, for which he is allowed to return, the story effortlessly interweaves tales of all aspects of his previous life. We get an insight into his fraught love affair with his wife, spluttering attempts at bonding with his children and how his vocation as an engineer shapes his rigid understanding of the world. The story moves at pace, with memories surfacing and then receding, mixing and churning to give a full diagnostic of what it means to be human, to try and to fail.

Perhaps the most talked about aspect of the book is the fact that it contains no full stops over the course of two hundred and twenty three pages. Yes, you’ve read that correctly, an English teacher’s nightmare, no full stops. It is this exact detail that makes Solar Bones so exceptional, as it pushes the boundaries for new fiction in a way that is still wholeheartedly accessible and enjoyable for the reader. Experimental fiction can sometimes seem overly literary, challenging for the sake of being challenging. Solar Bones is not that type of book. In recognition of his efforts McComack was awarded this years Goldsmith Prize for creative daring, for extending the possibilities of the novel form.

I urge you to go out and buy a copy, borrow a copy or beg a copy. Solar Bones is published by Tramp Press, (www.tramppress.com), an independent press committed to publishing and encouraging the most deserving literary talent. If you only read one new book this year, you should treat yourself to something exceptional.

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 Gastrointestinal problems  Headaches  Excess weight  Skin problems The cause of these health problems can be a delayed food allergy.

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YOUR BUILDING BLOCKS FOR BETTER HEALTH!

Children’s nutrition

by Dr. Cristina Popescu, General Practitioner, Family Clinic As parents, the nutritional needs of our children are always a priority, and we all know that the food a child eats in his early years influence his dietary habits later in life, so it’s important to establish a healthy relationship with food from an early age.

Among children today, obesity is causing a broad range of health problems that previously weren’t seen until adulthood. High blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, elevated blood cholesterol levels, autoimmune disorders are just a few, not to mention the psychological impact that often is a cause for low self-esteem, negative body image and depression in teenagers and young adults affected by obesity.

Increased panic reactions from World Health Organisation were triggered by recent statistics showing that today, about one in three American children and teens is overweight or obese - and that is nearly triple the rate in 1963. That is why initiatives like the first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” recent campaign is a vocal advocate for healthier school lunches, as part of her effort to trigger an alarm signal and reduce childhood obesity with focus on ensuring that good eating habits start at a young age.

By teaching our children healthy eating habits, and modeling these behaviors in ourselves, we can help them maintain a healthy weight, ensure a normal growth and become healthy individuals.

Various nutrition guides recognized by professionals in the wide medical field of Nutrition and Metabolic Disorders segment recommend a few simple approaches that any parent should consider: • Don’t overfeed your children - energy (calories) should be adequate to support normal growth and development • Eat foods low in saturated fat, cholesterol, salt and added sugars • Keep total fat intake between 25 to 35 percent of calories for children, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts and vegetable oils • Choose a variety of foods to keep the right balance between carbohydrates, protein and other nutrients and minerals • Serve whole-grain/high-fiber breads and cereals rather than refined grain products • Serve a variety of fruits and vegetables daily, while limiting juice intake

Another important aspect that parents should be aware of, apart from obesity are food allergies – commonly affecting children of all ages and often under – or wrongly diagnosed.

Food allergy in infancy is often expressed as crying, colic, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, eczema and cold-like respiratory congestion. Unfortunately, some infants with food allergy become seriously ill and fail to develop normally unless their allergy is recognized and corrected in due time.

There are different types of food allergy. The immediate (or type 1, Ig E mediated) food allergy pattern is easily recognized because it involves quick and dramatic symptoms (usually appearing in the first 20-30 min) correlated with ingestion of certain foods like strawberry, kiwi, nuts or sea foods.

Delayed food allergies are IgG mediated and they are called type 3. With less obvious symptoms, they are responsible of a chronic immune injury that deteriorate the intestinal wall and are frequently the cause of “leaky gut” syndrome.

Delayed patterns of food allergy are not so obvious and generally go unrecognized, causing common but ill-defined illness patterns in children. Allergy skin tests do not identify them nor do IgE antibody tests such as RAST or ELIZA. A cluster of physical, behavioral, and learning problems is typical for many children. Symptoms like chronic nose congestion, fatigue, history of recurrent ear infections and tonsillitis associated with infrequent attacks of abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal problems, sometimes episodes of hyperactivity with temper tantrums are just a few of the most common signs.

These delayed allergies can be detected by blood tests that are performed in specialized laboratories. According to the number of reactions to foods and the reaction intensity, proper diet management has most desirable effects that can be quickly seen in patients, improving the quality of life in short time and helping children develop within normal bounds.

To conclude, prevention is so important today as possibilities in diagnostic medicine are so highly reliable and specialized nowadays. Healthy nutrition in children is a powerful tool that is accessible to all parents and is the most important aspect that can ensure that they will grow up and transform in healthy and happy adults, ready for the challenges of life!

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LOWER SCHOOL REVIEW

As a part of the National Curriculum of England’s provision for Design Technology (DT), children in KS1 and KS2 are expected to work towards a range of objectives related to the preparation and processing of food. At BSB, we know that cooking activities not only help us learn and apply valuable skills in DT, but also in most other areas of the curriculum.

Victoria Smith Head of Lower School

In September, we proudly unveiled our new Food Technology Studio, located in the former Sixth Form Lounge. The studio features six fully contained kitchens, each equipped with its own sink, dishwasher, oven and hob, as well as a range of high quality kitchenware and appliances.

The facility was designed with a view to improving access for all children at BSB, from the Early Years Foundation Stage to Sixth Form, and now has adjustable work surfaces to accommodate our smallest, and tallest, ‘chefs’. In addition, the studio has its own area for children to serve the dishes they prepare to each other, staff and parents, as well as to plan new and exciting dishes to cook.

“Children of all ages are learning to measure and weigh, follow and write instructions and recipes, work collaboratively, use equipment safely, design and present their own dishes attractively, and to manage issues related to hygiene and safety.”

Across the Primary School, all year groups have been allocated timeslots for cooking each week, an exciting addition to our curriculum this academic year. Children of all ages are learning to measure and weigh, follow and write instructions and recipes, work collaboratively, use equipment safely, design and present their own dishes attractively, and to manage issues related to hygiene and safety.

They are learning to evaluate produce for freshness, choose fruit and vegetables that are ‘in season’, to explore healthier options to processed food and foods high in sugar, as well as how to keep a kitchen clean, tidy and free of germs.

Whether it be designing their own ‘Survivor Cereal Bars’, making ‘Owl Ice Cream’ and ‘Scrambled Snake’ (fresh, homemade spinach pasta), preparing fresh apple crumble using apples from our Science Garden or competing to be this season’s ‘BSB Masterchef’, the children have been thoroughly enjoying putting their Maths, English, Science, Humanities, PSHCE and other skills into authentic,

practical use. Furthermore, we have had several parents volunteer to support and even lead some cooking adventures, and the children have delighted in cooking foods from a range of different cultures. We have been so pleased by the children’s reaction to the increase in cooking activities and are impressed with the positive impact this has had on their learning. Well done, children, and we are looking forward to seeing your innovations in the coming term!

We are now offering a larger selection of cookingrelated Universities and clubs to Primary children, so don’t forget to have a look at the Parents’ Portal in January to see what is on offer. Bon appetit!

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EYFS

Crib & Crèche

by Raina Myson

Colour has been very much the focus in Crib/Crèche so far this term, with the children using their imagination when exploring the Art and Craft area. The children have been creating their own expressive arts and designs using fruits and vegetables, fingers, feet and other materials which they have on show on our walls

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in class, they love to “get crafty “. Sensory exploration has also been huge in class, with our sensory tray full of leaves and twigs and seeds. The children have loved using the tweezers to try and pick up the objects in the tray.

Our Role Play Area has been the highlight this term and the children are loving our “Crèche café’’ Our listening skills have been put to the test with our Traffic light game, Green for go and

Red for stop. We have been using this skill in our music lessons, when the Green circle is showing we can play our musical instruments very loud and when Red shows we have to stop.

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EYFS

Continuous Provision

by Emma Sauer

In Preschool our classrooms are set up with a continuous provision to enable children to explore recent learning, practice new skills, and follow their own interests. The continuous provision areas include: sensory/messy, small world, role play/ investigation, writing/creative, sand/water, maths and art.

The continuous provision includes quality resources that are always available to be independently accessed by the children both indoors and outdoors. The areas are regularly enhanced to develop a theme or topic. This helps to make more overt links to adult-initiated and adult-directed, focus sessions. This combination of continuous and enhanced provision means that children have plenty of opportunities to practice and improve skills, knowledge and confidence in active, independent learning. This year the children loved acting out scenarios in

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the hospital themed role play area. It was equipped with all sorts of medical instruments including a real stethoscope so they could check each other’s heartbeat. The following topic was ‘Dinosaurs’, children used their investigative skills to free dinosaurs frozen in ice. They were archaeologists digging for bones hidden in sand. They helped make moon dust and enjoyed creating shapes and structures with it. They also drew a dinosaur to scale outside and measured it using their feet, blocks and selves. With continuous and enhanced provision children can freely choose to engage in activities and areas of interest to them. Themes and topics are not prescribed at the beginning of the year, they are changed and adapted throughout the year according to students’ interests.

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EYFS

G is for Giant Grizzly Gruffalo

by Katherine Dibble and Jenna Batson

We became inspired while reading one of our most loved stories during the early part of this half term in Reception and we have had some fabulous learning experiences with the use of ‘The Gruffalo.’ The children were captivated by the magic of the story and were inspired to have a go at re-enacting the story for their peers. One of many highlights of the term was visiting the local forest to go on our very own ‘Gruffalo’ hunt, as well as looking for signs of Autumn. The children were great explorers hunting for items on their scavenger list.

We have made the most of every opportunity to use our fabulous new kitchen and have experimented with different food

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combinations and followed different recipes. Some of these were Gruffalo crumble, scrambled snake and owl ice cream!

The children loved our enrichment day activities where they had to solve the mysteries that had happened over night here at BSB. We were all a bit shocked to find out about Mr. Jonathan’s sweet tooth and made sure that he apologised to Little Red Riding Hood for eating all of the wonderful food that she had prepared for her Grandmother.

It has been another fantastic half term in Reception!

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KS1

Into the Forest

by Ann-Marie Isaac and Rachel Eglinton “The best classroom and the richest cupboard is roofed only by the sky” by Margaret MacMillan Once upon a time Y1 ventured out of their classrooms and into the local forest. There they found ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Snow White’. All these Fairy Tales are set in the woods. Y1 enjoyed listening to stories in a different place, thinking about how the setting enhanced the story and imagining the characters.

Have you ever spotted a wolf? Where did the wolf go as he ran from Granny’s house?

It would be wonderful if we could find a gingerbread house in Baneasa Forest just like Hansel and Gretel did.

Make sure you don’t eat the poisonous apple from the witch!

Which story is your favourite?

Time was spent simply exploring the environment; gathering, kicking, sweeping and sitting in the leaves. Working together as a team is so much fun when it is outside.

Lots of different things can be learnt through outdoor play and during our time in the forest the children have enjoyed role play,

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noticed the changes in the seasons such as the leaves falling and changing colour and the drop in temperature, identified natural and physical features, built houses, plotted routes and drawn maps.

Cooperation, respect, and resilience are developed outdoors when the children are challenged in an unfamiliar setting, strengthening the group as well as individuals.

This is what some of the Y1 children thought: “We go to the forest and it is very fun having a story on the storytelling stump.” Beatrice 1E “I liked walking deep into the forest to read a story.” Soala Y1I “I had fun playing with the leaves.” Vicky Y1I “I loved building the dens. We were forest builders.” Petar Y1E “I liked building the houses for Hansel and Gretel.” Bailey Y1I “Work as a team.” Kanghyeok Y1E “I like it when we have hot chocolate.” Ana Y1E “The hot chocolate was nice and hot on a cold day.” Evie Y1I

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Year 2 Go Wild about Animals!

by Louisa Ramsden and Jodie Lewis

The children in Y2 kicked off their learning this year through the theme of being healthy.

“We got a letter from Roger Hargreaves asking us to make a new Mr Man book about a new character, Mr Healthy!” Maya K They listened to lots of different Mr Men stories and used this to create their own characters.

“We wrote our ideas in a story, they had a happy ending.” Sofia “Because Mr Unhealthy became healthy.” Stefan “He did sports and ate healthy foods.” Aylin “I like writing a story about Mr Healthy because it’s fun!” Yahya

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In Science, we learned about food, exercise, and hygiene.

“You’re not allowed to eat too many sweets or you might not feel very well – at home, I always eat apples and bananas.” Milly “I learned that if we eat healthy food we get healthier and stronger.”

Jana “At school, I read Oliver’s Vegetables which taught me to try new foods, like tomatoes and carrots.” Hamdan “If you eat too much fat it makes your heart blocked and your arteries will stop working.” Jossie

In October, Y2 were lucky to have a visit from Mr Henry Evans, a scientist and polar explorer who had completed a ‘Captain Scott memorial journey’ to the South Pole. Y2 were fascinated to learn about his expedition to Antarctica and this led to work on geography and the continents as well as an interest in other explorers and polar animals.

From Polar animals onwards, we went to the zoo to learn about habitats and where in the world animals come from. There were no penguins sadly but marmosets, lots of big cats and a Nile crocodile, amongst other animals attracted their attention.

“Antarctica is the coldest continent in the world.” Antonia

“I learned that crocodiles have scaly skin and that their teeth are really sharp.” Felicity

“Antarctica is dangerous.” Konstantin

“There’s a fish that can eat meat in the zoo!” Jossie

The children became fascinated with Emperor penguins so we, measured them, drew them and wrote about their lifecycle.

“I learned that frogs could be blue, red and yellow.” Ellenoor

“The male keeps the egg and the female swims in the ocean to get food.”

Marc “When the penguin hatches they need to keep the baby penguin warm.

He put it under his tummy and on his feet.” William

“Snakes have skin and when it’s old they get new skin – (they shed their skin).” Sophie “The world’s biggest snake is a green anaconda and it eats other snakes.”

Gabi Y2 have had a great term so far, we are looking forward to Christmas and more fun in the New Year.

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KS2

Our home, Romania

by Adam Pegrum, Karen Cojocaru and Natalie Pitchley Y3 had a fantastic first term packed full of exciting learning opportunities. The children have settled into KS2 life well and shown a great attitude towards developing their understanding of the topics that we have studied.

The year started with us focusing on our topic ‘Romania’, where we have been busy developing our understanding of the physical and human geographical features that make up our beautiful country. We have been practicing our map reading skills and exploring climates, countries, continents, oceans and cities around the planet, with a deepened focus on Romania and surrounding countries. In English we wrote our own traditional tales having first explored the tale of how Bucharest was created. Further links to our ‘Romania’ topic were made when we created our own travel brochures. The children researched different aspects of the country using our new Chromebooks and used a word processing package to present their findings, focusing on the features of an information text. The children enjoyed our poetry week which focused on using similes to devise some interesting poems. We have had

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some exciting Science lessons which have seen us develop our understanding of the topics of light and friction. Improving our understanding of scientific enquiry culminated in the children devising their own investigation linked to how friction of different surfaces affects the distance a car travels. During computing lessons we have been using the Scratch program to create our own simple programmes and explore the concept of coding, Y3 have been taking every opportunity to take our learning outdoors. A number of our Art lessons were held around the campus allowing us to practice the different sketching techniques we had learned about. In Maths we have also been very busy. The children have studied the different methods of subtraction and addition, including partitioning and the formal method. Other topics that we have focused on include fractions, angles and telling the time. We have also been developing our mental Maths skills with particular focus on the three times table.

The children have made an impressive start to Y3 and we are all excited about the fun and interesting topics that lay ahead of us!

Clear autumn days helped the children understand how shadows are formed

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KS2

From Cartouches to Cacao Trees

by Cheryl Deckker and Morwenna Hurst

‘Archaeologists in Action’ Right at the beginning of the term, Y4 were called to the annual ‘BSB Archaeologist’s Convention’ where they were informed that some strange artifacts had been sighted around the school grounds. After some careful observations and thoughtful questions, we found out that the objects had come from the Ancient Egyptian times. We already knew that the Egyptians built huge pyramids but we didn’t know just how big. Some careful research and some tricky measuring lead to the conclusion that not even half of The Great Pyramid would fit into the grounds of BSB! After all of those facts, it was time to get creative. In our English lessons we shared some Egyptian myths and began to create our own Gods and Goddesses who we thought would make great characters. The stories that we wrote were full of adventure and magic.

We also found some time to practise our Art skills, using clay to shape some artifacts of our own, including Cartouches, a type of Egyptian name plate. Once we had got the hang of the clay, we used the ‘slip and coil’ technique to make our own canopic jars.

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Perfect for keeping a mummy’s organs fresh!

‘Crazy for Cacao’ In the second half of this term, Y4 have been learning about something very dear to our hearts… Delicious, heavenly chocolate! We were challenged to design and make the best chocolate bar ever, which was no easy task. We had to do a lot of market research and data handling to find out what children like in a chocolate bar, and use our findings in our design.

We visited a chocolate factory (which was very different to the one we read about in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory!) and learned how chocolate is turned from a bitter cacao bean into sweet, creamy chocolate. We wrote some fantastic explanation texts about this very laborious process!

But our learning didn’t stop there… We learned that the main ingredient is actually a type of seed which grows in hot, tropical countries. We learned about the features of these countries using OS maps and compared them to locations in the UK. We found out what life is like for cacao farmers, and why charities such as Fair-trade exist to protect their livelihood.

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KS2

Joys of Africa

by Jenny Whiteman, Alex Baines and Charlotte Sloan Y5 have been filled with the joys of Africa this term as they were inspired by Miss Whiteman’s teacher training adventure to this exciting continent during the summer. Students have been learning about the similarities and differences between the different African countries and comparing Africa to Romania.

They have been looking at the geographic aspects as well as learning about the history of the Ancient Kingdom of Benin. A fascinating debate was had about where ancient art belongs and students have demonstrated effective research techniques by looking at a variety of sources of evidence. Students invented and marketed a product to help people in Africa with their radio adverts causing great hilarity to those who listened to them. African cooking has also been enjoyable with Y5 making the most of the new DT kitchen. Students have been working independently and following recipes to make banana muffins (including a gluten-free version), a Kenyan mashed potato dish and an African curry, although a confusion about the amount of spices had Mr Baines’ eyes watering.

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During ‘Back to basics’ teaching day Mr Baines, Miss Sloan and Miss Whiteman decided to teach without any resources at all to give Y5 an idea of what school might be like in Africa.

The students participated in an active debate about whether poaching should be allowed and some children even painted beautiful artwork using mud! The teachers had to think carefully about how to arrange their lessons without resources, and as a result of stripping back their teaching demonstrated a great many problem-solving skills.

Y5 are enjoying using the new chromebooks, and they are now integrated into every area of the curriculum. These touchscreen, portable laptops allow the students to have the internet at their fingertips and as visiting Africa is a little complicated, they have given the students the opportunity to learn about a new and inspiring area of the world.

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KS2

A Time to Remember

by Paul Gildea and Charmaine Foord This term Y6 have been learning about the First World War, and its impact on the world. This is not always an easy subject, though the children of Y6 have approached their work with maturity and sensitivity. As part of our studies, we visited a worthwhile exhibition commemorating the centenary of Romania joining the Great War. Our knowledgeable guide explained the reasons behind Romania’s involvement, and the impact it had on the country and wider region. Having the chance to see genuine artefacts and even dress up in military uniform, really brought the past to life. A poignant moment for us was visiting the Bucharest War Cemetery. We were able to see how young many of the servicemen were when they sacrificed their lives for their countries.

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Our work on the war came to its conclusion with our performance of ‘Archie Dobson’s War’. This is the story of Archie Dobson, a young boy who sees his world changed by the impact of the First World War. Y6 really brought this story to life, thinking about characterization, setting and the wider context. We had the opportunity to consider how the war affected the countries that we come from, and we discovered that there was barely a corner of the globe that the war didn’t touch. The two-minute silence that Y6 held at the end of their performance was observed impeccably, and was testament to how thoughtfully the children engaged with their learning.

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KS2

Chromebooks in KS2

by Charlotte Sloan

The KS2 children have been lucky enough to have access to Chromebooks for several weeks, and they have made a huge impact not only on the standard of teaching delivered, but also on the learning acquired. The students can use the Chromebooks to support every area of the curriculum, and they are enjoying using the features of these. The Chromebooks provide an individualised experience, unique to each person. The students can choose which applications they use the most and put these on their home screen. The benefits of a virtual learning

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environment (VLE) also means that work can be continued or followed up at home and through personalising the environment in school, by using the Chromebooks, the child can access this learning and the tools they need outside of school. The Chromebooks have built-in touch screens and can be used as a tablet or in ‘presentation’ mode and folded to sit like a television. The Chromebooks are being used every day, by every KS2 class and we are excited to see what else could be achieved through having technology at our fingertips.

Family Friendly BSB Parent Workshops

by Priscilla Varban

Parent Workshops are offered in EYFS on a variety of topics such as Curriculum and Assessment, Outdoor Learning or Phonics.

The workshops bring our school and parents together to help improve academic and social success for children, which is why we developed our workshops many years ago. The workshops take place within the familiar environment of the school community and are led by either the EYFS Coordinator or other EYFS teachers.

With the skills and strategies learned during the workshops, parents can help children grow in confidence and resilience.

We show parents how to get children to cooperate more, to communicate more, to try new things and to persevere – as well as how to do well academically and socially. Parents learn

how to support children in academic endeavors without placing undue pressure on the children and without most importantly comparing their child’s progress and attainment to that of others in their class or year group.

Parents can demonstrate involvement at home-by reading with their children, helping with homework, and discussing school events-or at school, by attending functions or volunteering in classrooms.

Research shows that successful parent involvement improves not only student behavior and attendance but also positively affects student achievement. We encourage parents to take advantage of all of the workshops offered at BSB.

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CHRISTMAS PRODUCTION

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ARTISAN FAIR

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UNIVERSITIES Giving students the chance to experience fresh challenges

by Dan Batson

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s the University programme moves into its 10th year, a wide range of exciting opportunities continue to be available for children in KS1 and 2 on a Wednesday afternoon. The different courses available offer skills from drama, dance, music, art, crafts, electronics, food technology, historical studies and languages.

Several new and exciting courses have been offered this term, including ‘DIY Organic Products’, which was planned and led by our very own Y5 TA, Mihaela Coman. Mihaela explained that, ‘the aim of the course has been to teach students that many products that we buy can be made using simple, household ingredients and it is a lot more fun and satisfying to do so. Probably the most successful item we produced was the ‘Bath Bomb’, which was made using baking soda and citric acid. Bendert from Y4 said, “I chose this course because I like the idea of making things myself - DIY. Also, I always had a present for my family after school on a Wednesday.”

Paul Gildea and Natalie Pitchley led ‘The Show Must Go On’ for Y5 & 6, supporting the students in developing their own piece

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of drama which they performed to the Key Stage 2 children and some parents in November.

‘Crumble Electronics’ was especially challenging, with small teams of students given the task of designing, making, wiring and programming interactive movie adverts, using a basic circuit board, LEDs, motors and infrared sensors - as well as a lot of card and tape!

Victoria Smith’s ‘Radical Ribbons’ group was another exciting addition to the course list. Adela, Y4, said that she enjoyed learning how to dance using the ribbons. “It was difficult to remember the routines sometimes and not get our ribbons tangled, but we got really good at it towards the end.”

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Photo: BSB

CLUBS Extending the curriculum for all students

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by Mark Hooper

“All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.”

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ducation is a pretty broad concept that surpasses the four walls of a classroom. The core aim of education is to foster all round development of a child. To fulfil this aim there is a need to strike a balance between syllabus, curriculum, books and also co-curricular activities beyond that.

Co-curricular activities are those which are undertaken side by side with the curricular activities. A co-curricular activity essentially takes place outside a typical pen and pencil classroom experience. It gives the students an opportunity to develop particular skills and exhibit their non-academic abilities or even extend their academic abilities and specialise.

They actually complement the curricular activities and educate the students in the art of living and working together. They are the true and practical experiences that allow students to enhance their own learning.

A Chinese proverb very aptly states, “Teach me, and I will forget. Show me, and I might remember. Involve me, and I will never forget.” To a great extent, the theoretical knowledge is enhanced when a co-curricular activity related to the content taught, is organised. Intellectual development of the personality is achieved to a great extent, in the classroom itself. But, the aesthetic development like character building, spiritual and moral values, physical growth, creativity and many more are backed up only by co-curricular activities. It also develops coordination, adjustment, and speech fluency, extempore and debating skills amongst students. It teaches the students to stand up for their rights. Co-curricular activities foster and grow these and numerous other values.

Co-curricular activities are vital because even though they are not a part of the core curriculum, they play a crucial role in giving the young boys and girls the ability to mould their lives to become well rounded people. The school activities have to be designed purposefully to give a mix of student’s participation in academics and also create a chance for all round development.

At BSB there is a plethora of options that a student can choose from. Take time to study the options that are available in Term 2 alone!

Ballet, Dance, Gymnastics, Fencing Beginners, Fencing Advanced, Private Fencing, Tennis Advanced Group Lessons,

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Karate Beginners, Romanian for Native Speaker, Community Service - Fundatia Inocenti, Model United Nation, IGCSE Biology troubleshooting and preparation, Debating, IGCSE Early Entry French, Chemistry Revision, German Club, A level Maths Troubleshooting, Enrichment Mathematics, School Production, 13! The Musical, Don Orione, Book Club, Instruments of the orchestra, School Orchestra, Secondary School Choir, Art & Design Course, PET Preparation Club, Cambridge English First, Auto mechanics, Puzzle time and wake up the brain games, Ukulele Club, KS1 Yoga, Music club, Spanish for Beginners, Chinese Club for the HSK, Tabletop Wargames Club, School of Rock, Secondary Yoga, 2nd staff member for 13 The Musical, Just Dance, French for beginners, Paper Projects, Learn how to draw your favourite book character, EAL Primary Movers, EAL Primary Flyers, Lego/Construction Club, Wood Work, BSB Movie Academy, Innovation Hub, Programming for Python, F1 in Schools, Shall we dance?, Run Club, Jewellery making, Band for the school musical, Computing club, Train the brain-puzzles and problems, Storytime, Drawing to relax, Arts and Crafts, Cooking for KS2, Science Club, Choir for KS2, U9, U11, U14, U18 Boys and Girls Basketball, Primary COBIS Swimming, Secondary COBIS Swimming, Secondary Badminton, COBIS Secondary Athletics/Football, Secondary Production Dancers, Poetry Writing Club, Yoga and relaxation, Rainbows, DIY decoration projects, Maths Homework’s for Y3 and Y4, Touch Type Read and Spell Programme, IGCSE Mathematics, Grammartastic, Mad Maths, Crossfit for Kids, Drawing Fundamentals, Further Pure Maths IGCSE, Knitting club, Write and illustrate a story book for young children, Cooking for university, Amnesty International, Cooking Club, Virtual reality world exploration club, Innovation Hub. The number and range of CCA’s on offer throughout the school is outstanding and every student should find a CCA that will hopefully enthuse and inspire them.

The rewards of co-curricular activities in schools have been well

researched and it is now certain that students who participate in these activities show higher academic results, stronger relationships in schools and are more likely to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. Students also feel a sense of belonging to the school and have higher self-esteem by participating in structured activities like music, dance and performing arts. In addition to this, students are motivated and it leads to a happier, healthier and a more cohesive school.

Co-curricular activities should be considered as the ninth period in the school day, equally important as the preceding eight, a chance to develop and grow. Good exam grades alone will never be enough to get into the best universities in fact the top universities consider the exams grades are a given, it’s all about what the student achieves outside the classroom and the skills, qualities and enrichment they have gained from these.

What’s your CCA?

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by Tudor Atanasiu “The Fish Bowl”, “The Bunker”, “The Club House”. These are some of the names given to that room you may have seen when entering the school. This room houses one of this years new CCA’s focused on combining a multitude of skills learnt during school or outside. Whatever the mix, each student will bring his/ her own unique blend to the group developing not only their own set of skills, but also that of the other group members.

The club focuses on challenging the mind, making it stretch organically to adapt to the task at hand, much the same way a muscle adapts to repeated strain. The task that the students have this year is building, from scratch, an electric powered car with the final goal of racing it on the Tunari go-kart track (or

making it remote controlled, fly or autonomous, the choice is theirs really).

Each group is provided with a myriad of tools and a pile of parts and raw materials. The path each group takes to achieving said task is completely up to them. There is no instructions manual or guide except for what well-crafted questions can acquire and of course, the internet. Think of it as a very complicated lego-set capable of multiple outcomes.

All in all, if you are motivated and whole-heartedly passionate about your craft this could very well be the place for you.

Welcome to…

The Innovation Hub

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SECONDARY SCHOOL REVIEW

Jason Porter Head of Secondary

How to develop resilience and grit amongst I would challenge anyone who says that selfassembly flat-pack furniture is easy. Surely a flat-pack coffee table would take a few minutes to assemble, I thought, as I tipped out the hundreds of pieces a few months ago onto the living room floor. Ignoring the instruction booklet (of course) I began to hammer piece A1 into A2, but as lunchtime approached and the table was still not table-shaped, it dawned on me that maybe having a coffee table just wasn’t meant to be. It was as my frustration grew and I was just about to kick it and give up, that I realized a packet of screws had dropped down the back of the sofa.

“we see employers more frequently placing creativity and problem-solving alongside academic acumen in job advertisements.”

The table was eventually assembled and stands proudly in my living room to this day and I am glad it does, because the experience taught me a lot. It taught me that the result of working with the hands, as well as the head, can not only be enjoyable, but can produce beautiful results. Deep down, we already know this from our enjoyment of fine art and perhaps our long-forgotten respect for craftsmen and artisans. It is not only the result which matters, but it is the act itself of say, gardening, playing music, taking photographs, cooking, cutting the grass or even washing the car, that gives us therapeutic satisfaction. A recent BBC report hinted at links between our practical skills and the enhancement of our capacity for intellectual development and creativity.

Indeed, we see employers more frequently placing creativity and problem-solving alongside academic acumen in job advertisements.

At BSB we do not shy away from the belief that by encouraging the young people in our care to work with their hands and their heads, we enable them to develop both their intellectual and holistic curiosity, as well as to nurture their practical, real-

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world talents.

As such, I have been delighted to see that so many activities, trips and learning opportunities have already been taking place both inside and outside of the Secondary classrooms this term alone. I would invite anyone to pay a visit to the DT lab just to see the level of creativity at which the students are working, to experience any of our after-school CCA activities, or go to the Innovation Hub to see problem-solving, technology and

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engineering being brought to life. One example of this was our fantastic team of students who represented BSB and Romania at the Formula One in Schools tournament in Austin, Texas.

To develop the resilience of the mind, team cooperation and physical endurance, the Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh International Award expeditions took to the mountains in September and our sports teams have been in action at a number of weekday and weekend fixtures across Bucharest. We turned our classrooms into open and interactive learning environments during humanities and languages week and brought the outside world of academia a little closer to home with symposium talks, visits from universities and careers presentations.

Whatever our interpretation of the purpose of education may be, one thing is for sure. At BSB we recognize that not all our students have the same path to or definition of success and so, we must continue to build partnerships to design a curriculum which provides opportunities to work with the hand and the head and give our young people the best start in life that we can.

Head Boy and Head Girl

by Ilinca and Joseph

Being Head Boy and Head Girl of course has it’s challenges for us. Having to coordinate a team of prefects for various tasks ranging from lunchtime duties to charity events can be hectic at times, especially with a group of teenagers stressed about their looming exams and university applications. Other duties sometimes take our spare time, recently we attended the Remembrance Sunday memorial service at the Tancabesti war graves. However, we feel the rewards from this outweigh the

other aspects; raising money for causes such as ‘Jeans for Genes’ and the ‘Royal British Legion’ meant we could give back to the school community that helped us develop into who we are today.

We look forward to the challenges and rewards that 2017 will bring, and the exiting prospects of University on the horizon. We would like thank everyone in BSB for being so accepting of us as the new head students and wish everyone a happy 2017!

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SECONDARY POETRY

Poetry Day Y10 students create a range of poems based on their IGCSE set text Of Mice and Men.

Acrostic poems

Lennie

George

Loving

Gentle with Curley

Energetic

Eager to get money

Not bright

Slim

Restless eyes show his cleverness

Innocent

Slim is like a

Graceful manners

Engaging

Leader of the ranch and he

Elegant and smart

Noble

Organised plans and

Is a good jerk-line skinner that Means he drives the mules

Haiku style poems

Candy Lost his dog the other day,

Curley

Now he feels empty.

Makes himself feel big,

Candy, the poor man,

Small guy with a huge ego,

Curley’s Wife

Must keep his status.

She tries to be nice, But she always gets accused, Of being pretty.

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Limerick style poems

Curley’s Wife With Curley’s Wife you’d better watch out, Her eyes made up, her lips in a pout, You may think she’s as pretty as can be, But I warn you, she’s dangerous you see, Be prepared for trouble, don’t make her shout.

Slim He is the prince of the ranch, He could beat up Curley with a branch, He’s as nice as Lennie Because he’s friendly, His punches land like an avalanche.

George

His restless eyes are always out, Sharp like a knife there’s no doubt, Always a step ahead, Ideas passing like thread, Care and friendship is what he’s about.

S E C O N D A R Y P O E T R Y 83

WINSTON CHURCHILL DEBATING COMPETITION

Two in a row!

by Elisabeth Citron

Six BSB students attended the annual Winston Churchill Debating competition on November 18th 2016. This year for the first time, the competition united teams not only from Bucharest international schools but also internationally, as we were joined by teams from two highly prestigious schools: The British School of the Netherlands and English International School, Marbella.

The BSB team included seasoned debaters from Y13 in their last Winston Churchill competition and three newcomers from Y10 and Y12. We drew the first round prepared debate against ISB and impressed the judges with persuasive arguments against the abolition of monarchies. The following round was an impromptu debate on the topic of university fees and our team drew against BSN. After lunch, it was already time for the semi-final, in which the BSB students faced the strong IBSB opposition to debate the motion that humanity should fear advancements in artificial intelligence. This fascinating and tricky topic proved worthy

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material for our team who won the debate unanimously.

The final took place in the evening, judged by a panel of four visiting professionals from Bucharest companies and legal firms. The motion selected was to ban genetic modification.

Battling against the favourites to win, EIC Marbella, our BSB team formulated convincing opposition arguments and our newest debater, Kira, proved a strong speaker in favour of the positives offered by genetic engineering. The debate was a lively one with quick-fire questions from Ilinca putting pressure on our opponents and an eloquent and persuasive reply speech from Joe. Inevitably, the judges’ opinions were split and the audience was left in suspense during their deliberations until, at last, team BSB were announced as victorious for the second year in a row.

The entire day was inspiring and enjoyable and we are extremely proud of our BSB debaters. We look forward to many more debating events with these talented students in the future.

EAL - it’s not just about teaching them grammar…

by Sarah Porter

When you think of how our EAL students are taught, you might envisage a typical “English as a Foreign Language” lesson with verb tenses, prepositions, adverbs and the like. True, these all have their place in helping our second-language students develop their English skills, but EAL teaching goes way beyond that. At BSB it is all about helping every student access the content of their academic subjects to the best of their ability. In the words of the renowned EAL specialist, Eithne Gallagher, we aim to give EAL students “equal rights to the curriculum”.

So how do we achieve this? One key strength of how EAL works at BSB is the support of Secondary subject teachers for our EAL programme. Regular communication, through meetings and emails, means that we in EAL are kept up to date with current topics in our students’ academic subjects, making it easy for us to assist the students with the language and structures which will come up. For example, if a student is studying the effects of flooding in Geography, we work with them to learn the key vocabulary, as well as how to structure sentences describing cause and effect (using synonyms for because, so etc.) The thing to remember is that EAL teachers do not teach students the subject content, we teach them how to work with the subject language. EAL teachers do not have to be an expert in every academic subject (thankfully!) in order to support students with the language side of it. Sometimes a student has to explain a scientific concept to me while I am teaching them sentence structure!

to participate in question and answer sessions with our expert speakers, as well as register for short one-to-one appointments with them. Conference information can be found on the COBIS website for teachers interested in taking part in what promises to be a valuable and stimulating event.

We are very proud of all that our EAL students achieve on a daily basis – learning Science or Humanities in a different language to your mother tongue is hard! - and we hope that by the continued development of BSB’s EAL programme, as well as partnership with our COBIS colleagues, we can continue to ensure that all students have equal rights to the curriculum.

BSB is very proud to be hosting COBIS’s first ever EAL conference in February 2017, and “Equal Rights to the Curriculum” is one of the main themes. We are delighted to welcome our speakers: EAL experts Maurice Carder, Eithne Gallagher and Patricia Mertin, who will deliver keynote speeches and lead seminars on how best to support EAL students in accessing the curriculum. Key areas include: examples of good EAL practice, EAL Strategies for Secondary Teachers, Deconstructing Academic language in textbooks and examination papers, and the importance of the home language. Delegates will also have the opportunity

S E C O N D A R Y S C H O O L 85

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Café of Cultures

by Elisabeth Citron

As the culmination of our BSB Languages Week, the Café of Cultures was held on 29th September. Under sunny skies, we welcomed parents and pupils from a wide range of nationalities to teach us about their cultures and encourage us to taste their gastronomic specialties. From 8 am to 12 pm, the MFL block buzzed with the sounds of different languages as pupils from Y3 to Y13 circulated from room to room, learning new phrases and completing their Bingo chart to be rewarded with the delicious

snacks on offer. It was encouraging to hear so many students trying new sounds as well as discovering cultural facts and customs. We were lucky to have countries represented across the globe, including Chile, Korea, Holland, Australia and many more.

Without doubt the morning was a huge success and thanks must go to our wonderful BSB parents, our friendly student helpers and of course the MFL department for coordinating the event.

C A F É O F C U L T U R E S 87

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C A F É O F C U L T U R E S 89

F1 in schools!

by Padraig Concannon RPD Racing have recently returned from Austin, Texas where they represented the school and Romania at the F1 in Schools world championships. F1 in Schools is the world’s foremost STEM based challenge for students aged 11 - 19. The illustrious and fiercely contested event was held from the 16th - 18th of October and featured 39 teams from 23 countries. Over 20,000 students annually undertake the challenge, all hoping to reach these championships and the chance to be crowned of F1 in Schools World Champions.

RPD produced a competitive and assured performance over the three days, impressing judges with their technical knowledge, articulate expositions and professional manner. Alongside this, Finn, the team’s manufacturing engineer, was recognised with an individual award for his work in the Autodesk Fusion Challenge.

The event, which was streamed worldwide on YouTube, also gave the team the opportunity to meet and network with some of the world’s pre-eminent engineers, including high ranking officials from the world of F1.

The trip was not all work and competition, however. The team had the opportunity to explore Austin, touring the Texas state capitol building, exploring Austin’s renowned Second Street Shopping district, and sampling some authentic Texas BBQ food.

RPD Racing representing Romania at the Pit Lane Walk

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Perhaps the experience that will live longest in the memory, however, is the experience of the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. RPD, along with the other world finalist, were brought on an exclusive track tour and pit lane walk on the Thursday of the grand prix weekend. Here they saw the day to day operation of modern motor racing teams up close, as well as getting the opportunity to observe the practice drills and setup of F1 engineers and mechanics.

This was followed up with attending the qualifying session and race day for the grand prix, a truly unforgettable sporting spectacle. The festival atmosphere at the circuit even extended to concert performances by Taylor Swift and Usher.

With this year’s world championship complete, attention now turns to next year and the next generation of F1 competitors at BSB. Already the competition has grown, with more teams and students undertaking the challenge. The school’s state of the art design and technology offer students the opportunity to truly engage with scientific minutiae of car design, and the mentorship of RPD Racing team members mean that all teams have the chance to excel. With next year’s world championships taking place in Singapore in the Autumn of 2017, the hard work they put in is laying the foundations for great future achievements.

The F1 cars of all 39 competing teams. These models can travel at speeds of up to 75km/ph.

The team being interviewed by David Croft of Sky Sports. The interview is part of recreating a genuine F1 experience.

F 1 I N S C H O O L S 91

Dilara on the trigger for the reaction racing. In a race of fine margins, reflexes can have a massive impact on final placings.

The team explain their design and their journey to the world championships to Guy Lovett, Ferrari Technology Manager at Shell Global Solutions

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F 1 I N S C H O O L S 93

ISTA Festival

by Dana Chirica

‘The Great Unknown’ was soon to be discovered.

It all started at the beginning of November, when together with a group of students we went to Warsaw for another great ISTA Festival.

The kids were really eager to meet their host families, to explore the city and to discover all the new Drama techniques they were about to learn.

One of the highlights of the trip was undoubtedly the Copernicus Museum which contains over 450 interactive exhibits that enable visitors to single-handedly carry out experiments and discover the laws of Science for themselves.

Poland traditional food was scrumptiously delicious and came in huge portions. Pierogi and gulasz are just a few of the

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many dishes we have tried while exploring the town. We have tasted the waffles as well, but we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

A big ‘well done’ to all of our students; they all have worked really hard and the amount of work they put in was huge. They were very dedicated and the play at the end of the week was exceptionally good.

‘The Great Unknown’ was now revealed under the eyes of curious students, thirsty for learning, and happy and proud teachers for representing BSB and taking part in such a great project.

We all made new friends and came back home with lots of beautiful memories.

What an incredible shared learning experience this was.

I S TA F E S T I VA L 95

Bed by Jim Cartwright

by Sophie Hindley

What happens when you get a sea captain, a spinster and a drama queen into bed together? Well the answer is a lot of fun!

The studio play this term has been Bed by Jim Cartwright which is a surreal, dream-like play and a group of students from Y7-Y 9 worked hard to produce this spectacular show. We have had a lot of fun creating the caricature personalities and experimenting with stylised dream sequences and it resulted in an abstract and visually striking show. The two pieces of feedback from watching the play were first, that it was weird, strange and it was really

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like you had a front row seat to the personal dreams of these elderly people. The second comment was that the acting was phenomenal; special mention has to go to the crazy sermon head and to Marjory’s emotionally sad monologue which closed the play.

It has been such a pleasure to work with these talented young actors and the dedicated student backstage crew and I am excited about any future projects that we will undertake.

S E C O N D A R Y S C H O O L 97

MUSIC

Music at BSB

by Sally Clark

Now in its third year, the Y7 Orchestra project is underway again.

We currently have 9 flautists, 8 clarinettists, 8 ‘cellists and 12 violinists starting their musical journey in class ensembles. As well as showing great potential as players of these instruments, the Y7 students are learning a high standard of teamwork discipline as they learn about the etiquette of working together as an orchestra. If any teachers need to get them to pay attention, standing in front of them with a music stand in front of you – as if you are the conductor – should generate instant silence! Parents could also try this at home… After Christmas they will all have the opportunity to try saxophone, trumpet, euphonium and trombone. Most students in other schools don’t get this opportunity to experiment and find the instrument they feel happiest with, and often end up playing instruments they are not quite matched to – so they may end up without much intrinsic motivation.

The great thing about learning to play an orchestral or band musical instrument well is that very soon you discover that you are needed somewhere to play in a group! The success of previous years’ instrumental projects are now showing fruits in the full school orchestra where 9 players originally started out in the Y7 class orchestra project without having any private tuition or external teachers. Of those, 7 have decided to buy or find their own instruments so that they can practise at home as often as they wish. Some also rent instruments from school.

A student asked me the other week what the ultimate aim was of this instrumental learning. My first response was about the school. It would be inspiring for all – students and the school community – to have an orchestra with the full range of instruments for a symphony orchestra and be able to explore original repertoire from renowned composers. We are nearly at a stage where we could participate in the COBIS Music Festival in late May and students will be invited to participate in the new year.

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My second response was based on the exposure many British musicians have had to be involved in high level amateur music making to bond as a community. Mr Pywell and myself played in youth orchestras and amateur orchestras for many years and the opportunities we have had through amateur music making have given us cultural insights and a feeling of belonging wherever we may live. It would be fantastic to nurture this love of music for pleasure and leisure amongst the BSB students. It could stay with them for life.

Parents, teachers and students have had opportunities to see music in action recently at the Winter Music Assembly and also the Tea-time Concert in late November. For the first time in the school’s history we had a harpist performing – Daria from Y7 – along with piano solos, 2 choirs and two orchestras. The oldest student was Jesus of year 13 who played some advanced jazz in preparation for his music college applications and our youngest performers were Y3 singers in the Primary choir. The audience appreciated the wide range of music, abilities and ensembles.

We ranged from Bach to PPAP via Bob Marley. We heard from Zain, a beginner who has had 8 ‘cello lessons to Mihai who plays in piano competitions at a very high level.

The music department hopes to keep developing and we thank all the parents for their support for all things musical.

SCIENCE AT BSB

What is a balanced diet?

by Georgina and Karin

Y9 students have been learning about diet and nutrition in Science lessons. Karin and Georgina report on what they have found out about making healthy choices.

It is commonly agreed upon that to be healthy you must have a so-called “balanced diet”. However, what does having “balanced diet” really mean? A balanced diet is a diet that consists of a little bit of everything, so it has carbohydrates, vitamins and proteins. all in semi-even amounts. Obviously, you can’t have a completely balanced diet (exactly the same amount of everything), but trying to keep it relatively moderated is key. If however your diet is too concentrated in one area, or too slight in another, problems with your health may occur. For example, an excess of sugar can lead to diabetes, heart problems (such as CVD), fatty liver disease, obesity and much more. On the other hand, too little sugar may lead to seizures, damage to the nervous system and even loss of consciousness in severe cases.

Another example would be Vitamin C. Have too much Vitamin C

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in your diet and it may lead to kidney stones or cramps, whilst too little Vitamin C in the diet can lead to scurvy. Every single one of these essential vitamins/minerals plays a key part in our wellbeing and general healthiness (when taken in moderation).

Healthy eating also includes making the right lifestyle choices for you. There are many different choices, such as vegetarianism, which is subject to many debates. A popular assumption is that vegetarianism is the healthier option, so many take that lifestyle path. However, is that really an accurate assumption? After all, not eating meat can lead to iron or protein deficiencies, which can lead to delayed growth in children, fatigue and general weakness. However, some studies have shown a link between the over-consumption of red meat and the development of cancer masses, Alzheimer’s disease and even diabetes. So all in all, it really does just depend on your personal preferences.

There is no one clear ‘healthier’ option. So long as everything you eat is in moderation, you can call your diet “balanced”.

Planet BSB: Let’s Do It, Romania!

by Chris Baker

On Saturday 24th of September, over 30 BSB students and staff took part in Let’s Do It, Romania! Let’s Do It! is a global campaign where groups from lots of countries spend a few hours litter picking in a drive to improve one part of their local environment.

We were given an area of Baneasa Forest which is used as an illegal dumping ground for mainly plastic waste. In less than three hours we managed to fill over forty industrial bin liners

with non-biodegradable waste that might otherwise have been ingested by animals or become tangled around their bodies.

Students and staff had a lot of fun and went away at the end of the morning with a real sense of accomplishment, leaving behind a clear patch of woodland. Well done and see you at the next Planet BSB litter pick!

P L A N E T B S B 101

ART AT BSB

Teaching to think like an artist

by Mark Williams

It is a familiar and pervasive clichĂŠd message that implies creativity is somehow defined as artistic skill. Whilst being able to draw a horse that has the appearance of a horse has its place, it is a poor definition of creativity and reveals a limited understanding of the purpose and value of Art education in the 21st Century.

The Creative Faculty strives to develop within the students the habits that artists employ, namely to be creative, curious, seek questions, develop ideas, and play. The faculty places importance on three critical habits, the acceptance of ambiguity,

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the ability to generate ideas and transdisciplinary research. A high quality Art education develops solid analysis and evaluative skills and enhances the pupils capacity to make connections.

These key skills are recognised and respected by industry and business leaders, setting apart the innovators and the followers.

Each of our KS4 and KS5 students follow a structure that demands initiative, experimentation, independent research and study. As a consequence each student follows their own path picking up a unique skillset and developing their own concepts and visual language through teacher guidance.

A R T A T B S B 103

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A R T A T B S B 105

CHARITIES

On Friday 23rd September, the whole of BSB donned their best denim ensembles to raise money for the annual ‘Jeans for Genes’ event. This charity works to assist children and families living with genetic disorders, to improve their quality of day to day life.

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Prior to the day, volunteers were selling badges for 5 lei, and on the day, paying 10 lei to wear their denim to school, with some generously donating more. In total we raised 4880 lei for this worthwhile charity. Thank you for your support!

A bumper collection for this year’s Harvest Festival

The Macmillan Coffee Morning was well supported

C H A R I T I E S 107

HALLOWEEN

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H A L L O W E E N 109

SPORTS AT BSB

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S P O R T S AT B S B 111

Choosing a University

by Sue Ellingham

Choosing a university isn’t easy. Aeons ago I had to go through the process. Knowing I wanted to do something involving maths and science, I applied to four universities - MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, and UW-Madison, and was offered places at all except MIT. I visited UW-Madison as part of an open day on a sub-zero Saturday in January. About an hour into the campus tour a 70-something year old man wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts ran up to us, shouted “go to an honest lawyer”, and ran off. From overheard conversations, I know there were people present who decided against Madison because of that. For me, however, such a stark contrast to the conservative town in which I grew up and never really felt accepted was alluring. So that was the moment when I knew I was in the place that would be my home for the next four years, and eight months later I was back on campus enrolled in the chemical engineering programme.

It worked well for me, but I don’t recommend students choose their university based on a mentally ill, partially clad man. They do have many things to consider though. Which country? Is it affordable? What are the entry requirements? Does it offer the right programmes? Is it easy to get home?

Some of our students know where they want to go. They’ve

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dreamed of studying Medicine at Cambridge or Economics at LSE for years. I’ve had the pleasure of helping several students submit their UCAS applications recently. After the multiple drafts of personal statements, hours of research about which Oxbridge campus is best suited, choosing backup schools, etc, it has been brilliant pressing the ‘send’ button that is such an important step in fulfilling their dreams.

Other students are less certain, and some are outright confused.

There are so many options out there!! For those students, research is key. Between google searches, countless university brochures in the common room, a school full of teachers from a wealth of backgrounds to speak to and garner advice, and external services such as Inspiring Futures to which the school subscribes, students have abundant resources with which to begin their research and make a shortlist of universities.

Whichever university is ultimately chosen, it will be home for the next three to four years so getting a feel for the place is important. Promotional videos and reviews can help, but, if at all possible, a visit to a few of the shortlisted campuses is recommended. After all, promotional videos don’t tend to feature old men running the icy streets in boxer shorts.

113 Light into Europe and Casa Ioana benefitted from your generosity at the Artisan Fair. Thank you!

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