BSB - School Magazine - April 2017

@BSB Vol 10 • Issue 2

THE BRITISH SCHOOL OF BUCHAREST MAGAZINE

April 2017

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FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Retaining both breadth of opportunity and level of challenge is a priority for us. As such, I hope that you will enjoy reading in the pages that follow about some of the events from the past term which enrich our daily schedule. Each day represents a new story specific and different for each child.

Philip Walters Head of School @philip_w

Book Week is one of my favourite times of the year. Reading is a daily imperative for students but this celebration reminds us all of the joys and importance of reading. ‘The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them’ (Twain). Our brilliant visiting authors emphasised and demonstrated the power of good storytelling but also how important stories and language are in careers and activism or enacting change, as the armour and arsenal of future leaders – our children.

“I am privileged to assist many of our senior students with their applications to university.”

Our students develop language through their reading and daily interactions and lessons; we are proud of the results that we see evidenced in literacy progression but also in recent competitive successes for our Secondary Debaters and Primary Public Speaking team. These commitments tangibly stretch the students to reach to the highest possible achievement levels. I also

witness the importance of language development elsewhere as I am privileged to assist many of our senior students with their applications to university. These almost all rely on a statement or essay where experiences, academic interests and ambitions have to be summarized, often into a page of prose. Our team of advisors including our Head of Sixth Form, tutors, Head and Deputy Heads of Secondary and myself

guide the students as much as possible; the importance of a succinct yet full statement cannot be underestimated for admissions to the most competitive universities. We will soon bid farewell to our Y13 students to a variety of high ranking universities around the world.

‘After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world’ (Philip Pullman) – Enjoy some of our BSB stories from the past term.

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

House events and competitions in Primary

by Helen Stevens

H

ere at BSB, one of the ways that we encourage healthy competition is through our House system. Throughout the academic year, a variety of fun and exciting House events and competitions between our four houses are organised regularly.

These are opportunities for all students to come together in their house communities and earn house points for their teams.

They are popular with our students who enjoy the camaraderie amongst their own house, along with the buzz of competing for a competition.

So far this academic year, there have been lunchtime quizzes, a paper aeroplane competition, a Hoop Shoot event, Basketball, Mat-ball and a firm favourite with staff and students alike, the ‘Tug of War’ competition. In Primary, all of these events help to encourage the students to feel part of their house and encourage them to work together as a team to achieve their goals.

In our most recent house assembly, the Primary House and ViceCaptains had the task of choosing a challenge for an opposing house team. We had some sporting challenges, balancing challenges and even a dancing challenge. It is hard to say which house succeeded the best although Olt’s whole house book balancing effort was impressive. It was enjoyed by all and is set

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to become a regular occurrence.

All students thoroughly enjoyed the latest House paper aeroplane challenge and the results were incredibly close. In KS1, Arges flew to be the champions with 78 distance points awarded and in KS2, Danube managed to beat Olt by just one point with an overall score of 50 distance points. Overall, collating both KS 1 and 2 results, we had a tie between Danube and Olt, both with 122 distance points so congratulations to these teams and hopefully, Arges and Mures can be champions in the next event.

We are now looking forward to our biggest BSB House challenge, ‘Sports Day’ and wondering which house will come out as the 2016-2017 champions. This wonderful event is a time when students from the whole school, parents and the wider school community can come together to celebrate their houses achievements and successes.

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

House Competitions in Secondary

by Scott Allsop

T

erm 2 of the Secondary House Competition has seen Danube continue to display excellent participation that has led to them overtaking Arges to seize the top spot. The scores are still very close, however, with third and fourth positions also wide open as we enter the third and final term.

The basketball competition saw some strong performances from all the houses at different age levels. Olt emerged as the overall champions, with the other houses achieving equal total points across KS3, 4 and 5 which positioned them as joint runnersup. Olt gained a big boost from this win with the Senior House Captain, Cristina, saying that it ‘motivated us much more, and we are ready to be successful in the upcoming events.’

Meanwhile the Mastermind competition tested our students’ knowledge and witnessed some of best individual performances in the history of the contest. Specialist rounds across KS3 and KS4/5 covered topics as diverse as the Harry Potter books, Greek gods, Cardiff City FC, and the Anchorman films. Danube emerged victorious, securing themselves 50 points that helped to propel them into first place in the overall house competition. Mures also put in a strong performance that has seen them narrow the gap in the overall standings. Danube went on to repeat

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their Mastermind success in both the week-long house chess tournament and the house music competition.

Towards the end of term the Science Department organized three separate quizzes focusing on Physics, Biology and Chemistry.

Increasing participation resulted in some heated lunchtime competitions, especially once the A level scientists began pitting their wits against each other!

Strong participation from the members of Arges at last year’s Sports Day saw a reversal of fortunes that resulted in them clinching the cup. Mr Allsop is hoping that the Red Bears will wake from their apparent Term 2 hibernation, while Mr Smith is determined that Olt will be clinch Sports Day victory and secure the 100 points that are available to winning house.

As the exam period takes hold, pressure will be on students from Key Stage 3 to keep up the momentum and bring their houses home to victory. It’s all still to play for!

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

PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

PTA Review

by Simon Lambert

This term has seen the election of a new PTA Committee.

Following expressions of interest and an Extraordinary General Meeting the following parents were elected. a. Ruth Rusby b. Anca Botez c. Dorina Tivrea d. Tina Reggione e. Ana-Maria Marin

Co-chair (Secondary) Co-chair (Primary) Treasurer Secretary Teacher representative

and son Mark in Bucharest. Her son, Mark studies at BSB, in Y2.

Anca works in the Coaching Industry, she is an US Certified NLP Trainer. She wants to make a difference in the world and she does volunteering at different Social Services Organizations in Bucharest and Brasov.

Dorina has a child in Y2 at BSB and describes herself as positive, hard-working and persevering woman. She has a love of children and his happy to take part in everything that involves children.

Ruth is a British geoscientist who has lived and worked in France, Holland, Australia and Sarawak, Malaysia before moving to Romania with her family in 2008. She and her husband Gary have three teenaged kids, one currently at University. They all love living in Romania and Ruth spends much of her time with her three horses as well as pursuing photography.

Tina has two boys at BSB in years 8 and 10. This is the second time the family have lived in Bucharest and they are pleased to once again be at BSB. Tina is looking forward to being part of the PTA, working with the school to build stronger relationships and better communication between parents and teachers to enhance our special community.

Anca is Romanian-American, born in Romania and after living 12 years in New York she relocated with her husband Stefan

They are pictured below alongside Mr Walters, Mr Lambert and the teacher representative Ana-Maria Marin. We wish them well.

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BSB CONGRATULATES

BSB Congratulates Tom and Emma Smith on their recent wedding

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Book Week

by Tim Appleton

As a whole school we celebrated our love of reading during Book Week: sharing stories, taking part in quizzes, and dressing up as our favourite book characters…

everyone, together with her passion for using stories to make a difference in the world, had a big impact on all the groups she worked with.

Among the highlights were visits from not one but two fantastic writers from the UK.

Ciaran Murtagh, a busy TV writer and prolific children’s author, almost blew the primary school away with his energy, ideas and fart jokes, and was a real hit with all ages – including the adults! In his writing workshops he had Year 5 and 6 students brainstorming and sharing their brilliant ideas, making up characters that a reader would care about, and constructing their own funny stories.

Secondary students were treated to creative writing workshops from award-winning novelist and playwright Nicky Singer, who shared the secrets of the writing process and revealed what happens when one of your books gets made into a TV series and another into an opera! Her skill in coaxing story ideas out of

Nicky Singer helping Year 7 use their own experiences to create their own stories

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Year 6’s imaginative costumes

Miss Lancaster and Miss Staunton join in the fun

B O O K W E E K 11

Key Stage 1 staff as Pirates Love Underpants

Ciaran Murtagh’s unforgettable KS 2 assembly!

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Book Review - Island by Nicky Singer

by Tim Appleton

I’ve read and enjoyed many books with an urgent message about the real world. I’ve read and enjoyed many others in which the line between reality and unreality is skillfully blurred. But rarely have I experienced a novel for teenage readers like Island, with one foot in the real world and the other in the realm of dreams, collective memory and imagination.

Cameron’s mum is a research scientist who is taking him on her annual summer trip to an uninhabited Arctic island. No internet, no phone signal, no iPod charger – no electricity!

Cameron expects weeks of boredom but, while his mother is off measuring and recording, he quickly finds himself absorbed into the island’s other life as a place of memory and of wild nature. In the nights of daylight and days of eerie emptiness he makes friends with an Inuit girl, Inuluk, who teaches him about her life and her people: their relationship with the land and sea; their joys and fears; their experience with the invading Qallunaat, the “white people of the south”.

The book is packed with words in Inuluk’s language which have no equivalent in English, exposing how differently people from different cultures experience the world around us. In this wilderness, for instance, detached from his electronic devices, Cameron is introduced by his new friend to nuannapoq, “the

extravagant pleasure of being alive.” And yet, as humans together, he and Inuluk have a connection and a shared responsibility to take care of that world. What happens if we do not do so is brought vividly to life through the awesome form of a pisugtoq, a polar bear, spiritual guardian of the island.

Nicky Singer weaves together a disorienting and ethereal adventure, six thousand kilometres from home, with Cameron’s difficult and unresolved relationships with his divorced parents, and does so with a touch so deft that neither element jars with the other.

The beautiful, understated illustrations by current children’s laureate Chris Riddell enrich the story.

Nicky had terrible trouble getting the book published, largely because it contains neither fastmoving action sequences nor ripped/gorgeous, wisecracking teen heroes and therefore does not fit into what mainstream publishers think of as literature for teenagers these days. But there is immense worth in a slow-burning tale itself, which carries a deeper meaning and moves the reader in its own way. Thanks to exciting series like Gone, The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Enemy [etc. etc.], as readers we have travelled to dozens of fictional dystopias where teenagers are urgently required to save the world. But what about our own world, right now? It needs you! And this book might just be the one to change the way you look at the world around you.

B O O K R E V I E W 13

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PRIMARY SCHOOL REVIEW

Victoria Smith Head of Lower School

As parents of BSB students, you know that our school is committed to meeting the educational needs of every child. What you may not know is that it is not only students at BSB who are expected to continue to grow and improve their skills each year. Once per week after school, teachers and teaching assistants attend whole staff or key stage meetings which provide regular opportunities for both engaging in professional development activities and sharing best practice amongst colleagues. Furthermore, all staff are expected to complete a range of online courses related to Health, Safety and Safeguarding. This year, Primary teachers and teaching assistants have attended or will attend the following courses and conferences abroad and around Bucharest:

BSB are active members of the Bucharest Early Years and Primary Years Groups, networks of international and local schools around Bucharest that meet termly to provide continuing professional development for

“We are proud of the opportunities we provide for professional development at BSB”

- The Thinking and Questioning Classroom – Prague, CZ - Differentiation – Prague, CZ - Stepping Up to Senior Leadership – Prague, CZ - Maths Mastery – Bar Modelling, Deeper Learning – Leeds, UK - COBIS EAL Conference 2017 – Bucharest, RO - School Library Association Conference 2017 – Harrogate, UK - Child Protection Officer Training – Bucharest, RO - Implementing the New Primary Computing/ICT Curriculum –Bucharest, RO - Supporting students with Dyscalculia – Bucharest, RO - Supporting students with Autism Spectrum Disorder – Bucharest, RO This academic year, BSB has offered the COBIS Programme for Middle Leaders for the first time in Bucharest. We also hosted a workshop on Primary

Dance to support the National Curriculum objectives for Physical Education, which was well attended by both BSB staff and representatives from several schools around Romania.

teachers and teaching assistants, as well as to share best practice and community resources. In addition, BSB participate in a network of International School Heads of Primary in Romania, an organisation that works to develop local learning opportunities for both staff and children alike.

Additionally we were pleased to support one of our Primary Teachers in participating in the Limited Resources Teacher Training Fellowship in Ghana before the start of the year, a programme which develops experienced teachers into mentors who support and train teachers from countries where resources and access to teacher training are limited.

We are proud of the opportunities we provide for professional development at BSB and appreciate the positive impact that this has on the learning of our children. Our teaching staff’s thirst for improvement and commitment to ‘lifelong learning’ serve as strong models for our students, and our community.

L O W E R S C H O O L R E V I E W 15

EYFS

Our trip to the farm

by Raina Myson

This term saw the children of the crèche venture out on their first school trip to the Animal Farm in Pantelimon. The day started with another first, which was for the children to travel to the farm on the school bus. The children were so excited about their impending journey as they climbed aboard the bus to take them to on their grown up adventure.

The children wholehearted embraced the bus ride as they all joined in singing several choruses of the wheels on the bus, throughout the whole trip.

When they arrived, the children were so thrilled about seeing the animals they could not wait to explore the farm.

Our first stop was to feed the goats, the children scooped up handfuls of seeds and hay and with some trepidation slowly made their way towards the goats, who eagerly ate all they could.

It was not long before the children had overcome any fears and were happily petting the goats.

The next stop, the chickens, who were roaming around their enclosure. The children took time to watch the chickens and listened to the Rooster crow. They were amazed at all the

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different noises and the vibrate colours of the chickens.

The best attraction of the day was the new born piglet, who had only been born the day before. The piglet, still cautious of it surrounding followed the Mother pig around the sty all the time.

The children also had the chance to stroke the Donkeys who were equally as interested in them as they were in the Donkeys.

The children were slightly more cautious of the Donkeys due to their size, but this did not stop them from interacting with the animals.

The day was rounded off nicely with the children acting out scenes of the three little pigs in the Farm play area with Miss Raina being the “big bad wolf�.

The farm was a real hit with the children and following day the children wanted to make their own chicken coop at school which they all took pride in.

The children would like to thank all the parent helpers for coming with them on the trip and cannot wait until their next big adventure.

E Y F S 17

EYFS

The Importance of Storytelling to Child Development

by Priscilla Varban

Story-telling is the most entertaining and inspiring way to promote healthy growth and development of a child physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Stories are particularly effective in influencing the way children think and behave, because they like to hear or read them over and over again. This repetition, combined with the child’s imagination and the inestimable power of your presence, make stories one of the best ways to influence their thinking.

Storytelling is important to a child’s development because it is a particularly good way to teach children realistic thinking, as stories can show children how people realistically solve their problems. Here are a few ways to help your child enjoy reading!

- Involve me in buying the books, let me choose some.

- Make it easy for me to look after my books. Please give me a special basket or shelf that I can easily reach.

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- I love having stories read to me, please make a special time every day.

- Let’s find somewhere comfy to sit.

- Turn off the television and put your mobile phone on divert.

- Let me decide which book I would like you to read with me, because I might decide to join in at my favorite parts.

- Help me to hold the book properly.

- Encourage me to start at the beginning of the book and to turn one page at a time.

- Encourage me to point to the pictures; I will do if you do. Talk with me about what we can see happening in the pictures.

- When you read the words to me place your finger under each word as you say it - Use funny voices and encourage me to join in.

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EYFS

Ahoy there explorers…

by Katherine Dibble and Jenna Batson What a jam packed term it has been! We kicked off the term with a journey into outer space looking at the different planets in our solar system as well as meeting some strange coloured space creatures who the children planned a party for. We looked carefully at the similarities and differences between our planets and why our planet is particularly special. The children were very excited to go on their trip to the Met Office in Bucharest.

They found out many interesting things and were keen to find out more about the things that they saw and how they work. We were all a bit shocked to find out that some of the machines use natural blonde hair to tell us about the humidity and air pressure.

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After being invited to watch the Y2 production ‘’Pirates V Mermaids’’ the children were inspired to take our learning journey down a different route. We saw many opportunities for discussions about gender differences and assured the children that boys could be mermen and girls could be pirates. We saw some fantastic team work skills when the children used the resources around the playground to make stepping stones to get from their pirate ship to dry land. Now that the weather is getting brighter we are very much looking forward to making the most of our outdoor space and have been planting vegetables in the garden to observe.

E Y F S 21 21

KS1

Around the World in 60 Days

by Ann-Marie Isaac and Rachel Eglinton

Switch your phones onto airplane mode because Y1 are taking you on a journey ‘Around the world in 60 days’. Phileas Fogg, the explorer needed some help. He was lost in Romania and so he came to visit Y1 to ask for their help. He wanted suggestions for places he could visit. Therefore we set off on our travels with our passports to discover each continent.

Our first stop was North America where we learnt about the Native American Indians, totem poles, dream catchers and the bald eagle. Aaron wrote in his passport, ‘We can find a bald eagle. We can find a humming bird.’ We made guacamole and enjoyed eating it with our own potato chips & carrot sticks.

Next stop was South America. Daria enjoyed reading about reptiles and learnt that they live in the rainforest. Here we danced La Raspa, a traditional dance from Mexico which Kanghyeok said was fun.

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Mrs Patch joined us to share stories about Australia and show us her boomerang. Some children made Anzac biscuits and learnt that these were for the soldiers. In Art we looked at Aboriginal paintings and used different tools to paint a platypus and a turtle. Fraser said ‘Australia is my favourite continent because it is a little bit hot.’

On to Africa, where we made bead necklaces and masks. Rafe was amazed that cheetahs are the fastest animals in the world and Africa is the hottest continent in the world. African salad with couscous was taken home and banana bake was eaten at school. Soala mentioned that she was from Africa and Botswana.

Madagascar and Sudan are also in Africa.

Then travelling to Asia we made sushi which impressed the parents. We painted beautiful cherry blossom. Theodor wrote ‘Asia is the biggest continent in the world.’ ‘The Giant Panda

is an omnivore. The Giant Panda lives in China. A panda eats leaves.’ Shahana wrote.

Antarctica was so cold, we only stayed a week but luckily we baked sledging biscuits to keep us going. Kinley proudly expressed ‘Antarctica is the furthest from the Equator and that is why it is so cold and covered in ice.’ We are looking forward to going to Europe and to see Phileas Fogg once more to feed back all the information we have learnt and to let him know where he should visit.

As scientists we have used laptops to research animals from each continent. We had fun finding out about animals and discovering new animals that we had never heard of before. We have grouped and classified animals using vocabulary such as mammal, amphibian, carnivore, herbivore, desert and forest.

We have heard some fantastic stories from around the world and

some of the children brought in their own books from different continents. We now know the names of many countries and cities around the world from different continents and can order them alphabetically.

Y1 have developed a keen interest in looking at atlases and finding out about animals. We have had a souvenir shop which we have resourced with totem poles, mirrors, dream catchers, boomerangs, fans and flags.

The rich cultural diversity of BSB has been celebrated in an assembly for parents. Every child dressed up from their native country, the country they were born in or have lived in for some time. We sang songs, recited a poem and confidently spoke about the countries and continents we come from.

We hope you enjoyed reading about our journey around the world as much as we did making it.

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KS1

Pirates versus Mermaids!

by Jodie Lewis and Louisa Ramsden

Y2 transformed into pirates this term and learned about the sea, famous pirates in history and they worked very hard to put on a production for the parents. Shiver me timbers, they showed off their fantastic singing and acting skills. Arrrrr!

“I liked the part at the end where the pirates and mermaids were not quite friends but not enemies either!” Yahya “I loved it when Alessia did the carrot/parrot joke!” Jana Havin learned all the songs and she “liked the part with the song ‘I don’t like pirates’!”

“Doing a production I learned that our voices should be loud and there’s nothing to be shy about.” Gabi “I like the jokes in the production and I loved rehearsing for it.” Sophie “I learned how to be confident in front of lots of parents and you still need to talk loudly, even if you don’t know them.” Jossie “I liked my first line as it made sense and I said it well.” Marc ‘I enjoyed learning the words to the songs.” William Book Week is always a highlight in Year two and this year was no different. Our author, Kieran Murtagh, not only an excellent writer but a comedian as well, amused the children and showed them how to come up with ideas for story writing when they had “no ideas’! Lots of parents came in to read stories in their first

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languages which the children (and teachers!) really enjoyed!

Gabi said that she enjoyed listening to stories in different languages even though she couldn’t understand. She was also impressed with how polite and interested the class were when listening to stories in languages that they couldn’t understand.

“I bought lots of books from the book seller which made me very happy – I got to buy the books I had wanted for ages!” Marc “I loved the book I bought from the book sale” Sophie “I liked it when Kieran (the author) came and he talked about his books and his jokes were funny.” Jana and Yahya “I loved the different languages that mums and dads read to us in.”

Felicity “I liked the book called the ‘Never ending Story’ which I bought from the book sale. I was very impressed with the fancy dress on book day and how hard people worked on their costumes.” Alessia “I learned that even if you don’t understand the stories you can still enjoy them.” Jossie “I liked book week when Tudor’s mummy read us a story in Romanian!”

Havin “I liked Jooeun’s mum’s story about the body – mainly the digestive system - poo! “Matei

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KS2

From Dinosaurs to the Iron Age

by Natalie Pitchley, Adam Pegrum and Karen Cojocaru What an exciting and diverse term it has been in Y3! All children across the year group deserve endless amounts of praise for the work they have completed and the enthusiasm and passion they bring to their learning in each lesson.

At the beginning of 2017, whilst snow covered the ground, we dove into our new topic: Dinosaurs. Here the children became palaeontologists, where their challenge was to help uncover a prehistoric world. Within this topic we delved into the past, researching a variety of dinosaurs and eras. We learnt about the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous eras, analysed dinosaurs diets and habitats and spent a long time desperately trying to pronounce dinosaur’s names (there were some really tricky ones). As part of our Art we made fossils out of clay and painted them different colours. In English, we worked hard to write explanation texts about the rock cycle, having first explored and investigated the properties of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks, within our Science lessons. One of our favourite activities was when we made Sedimentary Sandwiches out of rocks, fossils, sand and many other tasty ingredients, they were delicious. Humanities lessons had us researching Mary Anning, who we discovered was a famous fossil hunter and

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collector who lived in England, in the 19th century.

After the half term we began a new topic, where we spent many weeks researching and comparing the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. We took a trip to the Natural History Museum where we were delighted to see a variety of animals, skeletons and people who have lived across the different ages. We went to the cooking room and made delicious bowls of Stone Age Soup, began looking at bones and muscles in Science, where we dissected chicken wings and made spines out of different sweets. We began to look at magnets and in our DT lessons planned, designed and created our own magnetic games.

Throughout the Spring term, we have continued to work on our Maths skills. Here we have been: practising our column addition and subtractions skills, learning various times tables, solving word problems and understanding the properties of 2D and 3D shapes.

Amongst all this wonderful learning, Y3 have also taken part in Crazy Hair Day, World Water Day, Book Week, Friendship Week, a Spellathon and Safer Internet Day. It has been an action packed term and we are already looking forward to the Summer Term!

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KS2

Rainforests and Deforestation

by Cheryl Dekker and Morwenna Hurst

This term, Y4 have been learning about some of the most incredible places in the world… Rainforests! We have explored the layers that make up a rainforest and discovered the astonishing array of plants and animals that live there - from the dark, damp forest floor all the way up to the bright, breezy tips of the emergent layer. We found out that people make their homes there, and learned about how they survive. We built upon our previous learning about OS maps and grid references by creating our own settlements. We even tried our hand at batik, which is an art form popular among water-abundant countries.

We learned all about animal classification and how animals are suited to their environment. It was fascinating; we even took a special trip to the Natural History Museum to discover more examples of how animals’ characteristics allow them to live in the most unusual places. Unbelievably, we found out that there are possibly lots of species of animals and plants that haven’t been discovered yet! We used our new-found knowledge to imagine the kinds of animals that might be hiding, undiscovered, in the rainforest. We created detailed non-chronological reports and made our very own websites!

In the second half of the term, we learned some tragic news

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about rainforests; they are being cut down at an incredible rate – the equivalent of 48 football fields every minute. We thought carefully about why this is happening, and held a debate about whether deforestation is necessary. We thought about every possible viewpoint; farmers, local villagers, logging companies, scientists and conservation organisations are all key people with interesting opinions.

We discovered that Romania is rich in temperate deciduous forests, which are home to a multitude of animals, plants and trees. We were surprised to learn that numbers of brown bears, wolves and lynx have all been declining and that some species have been eradicated. We had a visit from a member of WWF Romania, who told us about the effect that reintroducing European bison might have. We then thought carefully about whether there is anything that we can do to preserve our incredible ecosystem. We decided to write to key people to persuade them to buy items that come from forests more responsibly.

We have been on an incredible learning journey this term, and have learned one resounding truth: We must take care of our forests!

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KS2

Spring Term in Year 5

by Jenny Whiteman, Alex Baines and Charlotte Sloan Rampaging rivers and Space exploration have been the main attractions in Y5 this Spring Term. The students thoroughly enjoyed different outdoor learning experiences when measuring the distances between planets with non-standard units in the snow and conducting sensory walks to inspire poetry in the sun. We have learnt a lot this term and have had plenty of opportunities to extend our understanding in many areas. During our Space topic, the students had the opportunity to learn about significant events in Space history. We worked hard to put these into a timeline that was accurate in its scale and provided the information in an interesting way. The students enjoyed writing a Sci-Fi story and used their knowledge and understanding of Space to make their stories more interesting. We were shocked to discover two rockets had crash landed in our playground and

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set out to collect evidence and interview witnesses in order to write an accurate newspaper report of the events. The students look forward to working in the Science lab every fortnight where they plan, discuss and conduct their own scientific enquiries.

They were able to test how effective washing powders and liquids were under different circumstances. We also enjoyed preparing for our Spring production which the students wrote, produced and arranged themselves. We focused on six different Spring festivals from around the world as a way of celebrating new beginnings and the coming of spring. The students also had a Maths and Science Enrichment day based around ‘measuring accurately’; they participated in a range of cooking, problem solving, robotics and Science activities.

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Explorers, Monet, Potter and More!

by Paul Gildea and Charmaine Foord

What a busy term we have had in Y6! It is hard to believe that only a few weeks ago our school was blanketed in snow, and we began our first topic of ‘Antarctic Adventures’. We started by looking at the geography of Antarctica, and plotting the routes of well-known explorers such as Scott and Amundsen in their race to the South Pole. From this point we then explored current issues relating to Antarctica, such as the Antarctic Treaty and exploitation of its natural resources. The children researched and debated different sides of the argument. It was impressive to see how persuasive the children were, and how they developed their speaking, listening and writing skills through this topic.

We have had a focus on Art this term. In particular, we have developed our skills in using perspective to show depth and distance. We began by practising our use of horizon lines and vanishing points, before using these skills to sketch landscapes of our school grounds. These were then used as a basis for

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watercolour paintings. The children really did demonstrate concentration and skill. As part of this unit of work, we visited the European Art Gallery, where we enjoyed seeing how masters such as Monet and El Greco used perspective and colour in their pieces.

A great success this term has been our study of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ as part of our learning in English. It truly is wonderful to see children so enthused by a text and keen to read independently. We have found that the writing of JK Rowling is perfect for developing our descriptive writing, use of dialogue and for learning about the origins of words and their roots.

We have now come to the end of an action-packed term, but we look forward to the next which promises to be just as exciting – Sports Day, PGL and our Summer Production are just some of the events coming up. Roll on summer!

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Toddler Group

by Alice Allsop

“Tick, tock, tick, tock. I’m a little cuckoo clock!” is what you will hear being sung if you happen to walk by the Newlands building on a Monday morning. Or maybe it will be the quieter sound of toddlers exploring textures and shapes with playdough, or even the louder sound of excited play with role play toys and building blocks! Either way, you will soon realize that this is the BSB Toddler Group in full swing!

The BSB Toddler Group has been enjoying its new home in the Newlands PE Hall, which gives the youngest members of the BSB community a large and light space to play and discover in.

The children are always kept busy with a choice of toys and the opportunity to develop social skills as they play with each other.

The group is run by the parents, who take it in turns to provide a healthy snack which the children share, and to provide a craft activity for the children to do. This term has seen the creation of Martisor cards from our handprints, St Patrick’s Day pictures using a plastic fork to create exciting paint patterns, necklaces by threading painted pasta and spring flowers from scrunched up

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tissue paper. Each activity offers the young children the chance to explore skills and materials that they might not do at home – and the parent-run nature of the group means that ‘many hands make light work’ when it comes to tidying up!

We have been nurturing the link between the Toddler Group and the Early Years Foundation Stage at BSB and we have had the pleasure of welcoming Ms Raina and Ms Lori from Crèche who came to play with us one morning. As the Summer Term approaches we know that for many of our members this will be their last time in Toddler Group before joining Crèche or Preschool. Having been part of BSB Toddler Group they will already be prepared for many aspects of their new school life in September and we wish them (and their parents!) the best of luck with the new and exciting challenges that this transition presents them. Of course though, Toddler Group will always take place, as we constantly welcome new members to the group. If you would like to join us with your little one then please contact office@britishschool.ro.

SchoolTube

by Helen Stevens

This term has seen the culmination of many weeks of hard work from our BSB VLOG university team and the very first edition of ‘SchoolTube’. Back in January, myself and Mr Batson asked our Key Stage 2 children who would be keen to be involved in this exciting project. The students were invited to write a letter detailing what interested them about this opportunity and what they could bring to the team. The response we had was fantastic and, after careful consideration, we were able to start our university sessions with a dedicated and eager team of students.

The students were expected to be involved in all aspects of the production which comprised of writing and editing scripts, filming, conducting interviews, finding images and music to accompany the interviews and lastly, giving constructive feedback. The focus of the filming aimed to showcase the excellent teaching and learning here at BSB, highlight how we

enrich the curriculum and enable you to find out a little bit more about some of our teachers.

We are now in the final stages of producing the second edition, and our dedicated team has already shown they are keen to remain involved in the project. Due to their hard work and focus, there are now many other students who are keen to be part of the next BSB VLOG university team. We are looking to the future and hope that there will be many more ‘SchoolTube’ editions to come.

The fantastic BSB VLOG ‘SchoolTube’ team comprised of Jaydon and David, Ediz and Maria, Agnes and Edward, Jamie and Aramis, Dylan and Ben, Maryum and Sasha and Bianca and Lyla. Their work and dedication to the project was noteworthy, and this is most evident in the excellent final piece. Well done to the team and their hard work at making the first edition of ‘SchoolTube’ a real success.

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BSB ZOO

by Morwenna Hurst and Natalie Pitchley On Monday 13th March, Primary children took part in a Science and Maths enrichment day with a focus on the measuring skills which would be needed to run a successful zoo.

In EYFS children had to investigate which box to give to different animals, they did this by using non-standard units (cubes) to measure the height of the boxes. They successfully worked out how many animals could fit in each of the boxes to be transported to our new zoo. The weight of the animals and how much water the animals would need was also important data that need to be collected. This gave the children the opportunity to develop their mass and capacity measuring skills.

In KS1, the day was started with the story ‘Dear Zoo’ which got us thinking about different zoo animals and their features. The children then worked in house teams to complete a range of challenges. One activity required the children to help the zoo keeper with his feeding schedule, weighing food in grams and taking it to the correct animals. Others involved sorting and classifying animals using scientific vocabulary such as mammal, amphibian, carnivore, herbivore, reptile and habitat and using this knowledge to build and describe food chains.

The children were also challenged to make a visual graph to

Sorting animals

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compare animal height, measuring in non-standard units and using their results to solve problems.

In KS2, we focused on the tools used to measure and how we could use them with precision and accuracy in order to gather reliable data. One investigation saw the children measuring force using Newton meters so that the best surface could be chosen for the elephants’ pool. Meanwhile, other groups used light sensors and voltmeters to measure the luminosity or current of electrical circuits in order to choose appropriate lighting for different enclosures. Some activities used more familiar apparatus including scales, meter sticks and measuring jugs to find solutions to the problems faced. More common units of measure were also applied in different ways, such as using centimeters to work out the area and perimeter of the animals’ enclosures. We even saw the Lego robots in action taking visitors on a guided safari tour.

All of the children showed enthusiasm and dedication throughout the course of the day. They were able to experience working in new ways with a range of equipment. They also enjoyed the opportunity to work with different adults and children across their key stage.

Making animal medicines

Hanging homemade bird feeders

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UNIVERSITIES

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U N I V E R S I T I E S 41 41

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Photo: BSB

CLUBS Why are Co-Curricular Activities important?

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by Mark Hooper

“B

ut when all is said and done, Mr Walters, it is his exam results that matter…” If school headmasters received 5Ron every time they heard those words they would be wealthy people.

Indeed as parents you are not wrong in stating this, results do matter in fact they matter a lot – Teaching and Learning are at the heart of what all schools do and rightfully it is the most important aspect of a school. This however does not tell the whole story, as parents you also care about sports, drama, music, debating, MUN and art to name a few.

As parents you “instinctively want their children to become resilient, confident, charming adults and citizens, regardless of their specific talents and personality traits: introvert or extrovert, musician, sportswoman or man, organiser, team player, leader; they know that it takes more than an exclusively academic curriculum to achieve that.”

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Children need the opportunity to engage beyond their academic lives and grow their brains, hearts and souls which is so important for personal growth. The ability to learn and pass exams will never be enough to sustain an individual’s growth as a human and will hamper their changes of being successful.

In order to truly achieve success in the adult world a child needs to learn how to be a leader and not a follower, and that everyone sometimes needs to be able to do both. So activities like outdoor education, International Award, Sports Leaders awards sport, music, drama – “are all important, not for winning extra prizes or trophies, but because of the opportunities to develop relationships, to learn what works and what doesn’t work, all

in the service of a higher and unselfish goal culminating in a performance, an expedition, a parade.”

Is the Co-Curricular program about a happy meaningful occupation of time? Indeed it is a chance for children to understand that it is “application and commitment, which leads to effort and repetitive practice will bring progress and success?”

It is about finding areas of expertise and area of interest in which a child can flourish.

“The co-curriculum offers real choice and real independence, the chance to do things just for their own sakes, and the chance to make mistakes in choices and to self-correct. A chance in many schools to make choices which are valued but not necessarily assessed externally, and do not end in a public exam.”

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C L U B S 47

THE ICE CLASSROOM

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SECONDARY SCHOOL REVIEW

Jason Porter Head of Secondary

Do you mean what you say and say what you mean?

from visitors, inspectors and members of our community suggest this to be true.

A few months ago during my last visit to England, I called in to a ‘contemporary fusion restaurant’ in Central London. I noticed that the menu was telling me how the chicken was hand-reared, hand-selected and corn-fed and then noted the five adjectives used to describe the burger.

All I can say is that the quality of a product can be inversely proportionate to the number of adjectives used.

We can see our aims and values in much of what has been achieved this term, with the continuing charity work, the multitude of academic initiatives and projects and the student-led programmes.

These have taken the form of symposia talks, visiting speakers for Y11 to 13, Book Week and visiting authors, Science Week and visiting science academics and speakers, the launch of next year’s F1 in Schools programme, hosting the first EAL COBIS conference, continued House events, a broad range of CCAs and fixtures,

Language really is quite a powerful tool. It can encourage, motivate, describe, but also it can hide the truth, presenting us with a false reality. A new type of managerial and corporate language has been appearing in the English language for decades now. Where we used to relax, we now kick back, where we used to talk, we now touch base and where something was obvious, it is now a no-brainer. For some, this language is an irritant and hides the real meaning of what we are trying to say. Until about a year ago before the UK’s referendum to leave the EU, few of us would have had a clue what a Brexit was and as if that was not enough, the elections in France may cause a Frexit.

“the educational aims at BSB are clear, as are our base values of honesty, respect, selfcontrol, equality and concern for others”

But before we are swept into the Orwellian maelstrom, we surely must stop and think about what we are saying and how we are saying it. I would always like to think that the educational aims at BSB are clear, as are our base values of honesty, respect, self-control, equality and concern for others. I would also want these to translate into what we do at BSB and how we do it on a day-to-day basis. Feedback and comments

including those at weekends and the ski trip to Italy. We are very much looking forward to the school theatrical production of 13, as we know how much time and care has been invested in the rehearsals and preparation and to the Berlin trip during the Easter holidays. Next term brings the examination season and all students sitting examinations do so with our best wishes for success.

It is my aim and hope that at BSB we do not hide our intentions for the ‘precious cargo’ of children in our care and that our language is clear about the values and vision that we share and stand for: a strong intellectual foundation based on home-school partnership, encouraging creativity, decision-making and independence, in a secure and caring environment and which encourages the fulfilment of individual potential and the growth of self-esteem.

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F1 in Schools!

by Padraig Concannon F1 in Schools continued this term with the in-school competition reaching its climax and our representatives for next year’s tournament being decided. The selection process was broken down into three main subsets; engineering interviews, presentations and, of course, the racing itself.

The engineering interview saw all four teams manufacturing engineers explain the design process that culminated in their car designs. The technical specifications of each car was examined and their compliance with the F1 in Schools world championship technical regulations.

The presentations were an even more intense and rigorous examination of the whole teams preparations and future ambitions. School management questioned every element of the teams’ plans from financing to their social media presence. This presentation was the final chance for each team to make their pitch as Romania’s representative at the world championships.

The centerpiece of the event, however, remains the exciting and

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unpredictable racing. In front of the entire secondary student body, all four teams raced off against one another in a time-trial.

Though merely models, these cars can reach speeds of up 60 km/ph. The racing provides a suitable spectacle and drama to end such a demanding process.

The difficult task of choosing the team to represent the school was left up to the judges, and though all teams had merit, it was ultimately Electric Future, a team comprised of Y9 and Y8 students, that were chosen to represent Romania at this year’s competition. They will now begin the gargantuan task of finding sponsors, testing car designs, liaising with media and raising awareness of F1 in Schools in Romania which will hopefully culminate in success at the championships in Kuala Lumpur in September.

If you are interested in following Electric Future’s journey, or wish to contact them, they are active on Twitter through @ electricfuture.

The PE Department

by Andrew Foord

The PE Department have had a fantastically busy term with lots going on.

We had the Edexcel Moderator visit from England to assess our Y10 Short Course IGCSE PE Students. Not only was she happy with the sporting ability of all our students, but was also impressed with their exceptional manners and positive attitude to learning. Having moderated many of our students’ skiing videos she is also keen to come back to Romania for a holiday to see the beautiful countryside.

The Basketball season is winding down after some great games between BSB and the other BISAC schools. We have not only had some great wins, but our teams have benefitted from the experience and come out significantly stronger. We look forward to some great Volleyball matches and Tag-Rugby Games during our BISAC fixtures next term.

Despite the less than ideal weather conditions at the beginning of the year, the COBIS training has been a great success, with a large number of Primary and Secondary students not only learning new skills but dedicating their time and effort to improving their fitness and team work. The Under-13’s will continue to train next term in the final run up to the Games in Sheffield England, where more than 24 schools will meet to

compete at the end of May. We had a number of students attend the Avenor Swimming Challenge, which is a 50 metre Freestyle and Relay event, hosted

by Avenor College at the Izvorani Swimming Complex. Several of our students swam personal best times and enjoyed a well hosted swimming competition in a fabulous facility. We look forward to taking many more students next year and giving the other International schools a “run for their money”.

We have had some serious competition in the House Sports this term, with the Secondary school battling it out in a Basketball Tournament and the Primary children competing enthusiastically in a Mat-Ball competition. There will be much more friendly rivalry to come before the year is over.

Our popular Friday run club, which runs throughout the year, continues to hold large numbers of enthusiastic athletes, who are now enjoying the beauty of the Bucharest Spring in Baneasa Forest, after so many months of harsh running in the snow and sub-zero conditions. Next term they will have the significantly warmer weather to look forward to.

We are now in the final run up to Sports Day, which is the first Friday back after the Easter Holidays.

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2017 Ski Trip to Italy

by Ben Shuttleworth

On February 25th at approximately 12pm, 24 excited children, and 4 valiant BSB staff members were passing through airport security in order to depart for Passo Del Tonale in Italy. Children sensibly provisioned themselves with the water and sweets they would need to survive the 2 and a half hour plane journey, which the whole group survived due to their careful provisioning.

Passo del Tonale was a beautiful area, with a great variety of slopes for all ability levels. Over the course of the week every student made great progress, even the absolute beginner groups were taking on the challenge of red slopes before the week was over. The instructors were excellent, and the small group sizes allowed for every child to receive personal advice on how to progress.

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After the skiing was finished came the evening activities, ice skating, swimming and sledging, which was so popular that we did it twice! Meals at the hotel came in 4 courses for lunch and dinner and the head chef, himself a vegetarian, made sure that all diets were accounted for.

By the end of the week every one of us was exhausted, but we had had a fabulous time. If you are curious and want to find out more, ask any student that came with us what their favorite thing was? Or better yet, come yourself next year!

With great thanks to the instructors, hotel staff, BSB staff, and our fantastic students who made the trip such a success.

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Crazy Hair Day

by Jodie Lewis

Friday 17th of February was the end of our fabulous ‘Friendship Week’, this finished with our fundraising event ‘Crazy Hair Day’.

Thank you to all the BSB pupils and staff across the whole school

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for their creative and wacky hair styles, they raised a fantastic 1828 lei for Casa Ioana.

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The first COBIS EAL Conference – but hopefully not the last!

by Sarah Porter

This February, BSB was delighted to host the first ever COBIS EAL Conference. This fantastic event brought together over 30 delegates from a large number of schools, mostly from Europe but some coming from further afield, and one from as far away as Japan!

The focus of the conference was “Supporting EAL Students in International Schools” and it was a true pleasure to welcome our three expert speakers: Dr Maurice Carder, who gave the two keynote speeches on the ideal structure of ESL education; Eithne Gallagher, a Primary EAL specialist whose recent publications “The Glitterlings” promote multilingualism in schools; and Dr Patricia Mertin, who specialises in supporting Secondary

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EAL students with the language of their academic subjects.

The sessions were extremely well-prepared, informative and stimulating, and gave all who attended a great deal of “food for thought”.

Several features of the conference stood out for me, a key one being the issue of “Mother Tongue”, also known as the “home language”. When a student starts at an International School as an EAL / ESL / ELL student (whatever you choose to call it), so much of the focus goes onto improving the child’s level of English that almost no attention, if any, is paid to the child’s mother tongue. This can potentially affect a child’s emotional well-being, such as them feeling that their home language is

somehow less important than English. In the longer term, it can cause what is known as “subtractive bilingualism” where the child’s home language suffers at the cost of English. That is to say, the level of the student’s academic English will improve, but their mother tongue will remain at conversational level. After a few years they may struggle to write an academic piece in their home language, which can cause huge problems if, like some of our students, they want to return to their “home country” and study through their mother tongue.

from EAL departments in other COBIS schools. For me personally, it was absolutely amazing to be in a room full of EAL teachers, all of whom were passionate about their subject, exchanging ideas. Partly due to the lack of a standardised EAL programme for International schools, it is common for EAL teachers to feel quite isolated and unsure about whether what they are doing is “right”. The chance for all of us to come together and discuss these issues was one not to be missed, and I learned that once EAL teachers start talking, you just can’t shut us up!

What we want to encourage is “additive bilingualism” where both English and the mother tongue develop academically, at the same rate. This is a key issue and one that we are hoping to address in more detail at BSB.

We are extremely grateful to the speakers, and to the staff at both BSB and COBIS, for all their support with organising such a valuable conference. The next step is a COBIS EAL Facebook page for teachers to share ideas and resources, so watch this space!

An additional session at the conference was led by the BSB EAL departmental staff, and focused on the sharing of good practice

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Science Week

by Chris Baker

A number of special science events took place in Secondary during the week 13th-17th March, corresponding to British Science Week 2017. Perhaps most excitingly, we had three professional scientists come into school to speak to students about their work and how they got into their chosen careers.

On Monday we had Professor Delia Popescu from the University of Bucharest talking to students about her work in Romania and the USA developing green oxidation technologies and how these are applied to degrade persistent pollutants, particularly in freshwater systems such as rivers in China and India. This married chemistry with environmental biology and so linked nicely with Tuesday’s programme.

Adrian Hagatis from the WWF talking about rewilding

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Tuesday we welcomed Adrian Hagatis from the WWF, who gave a very interesting presentation on his work, in conjunction with Rewilding Europe, reintroducing European bison (otherwise known as wisent) to the Southern Carpathians. Formerly extinct in Romania, with only a small population surviving in Poland in the whole of Europe, bison are a keystone species that provide lots of ecosystem services from seed dispersal to providing food for wolves, bears and ravens.

It was Physics’ turn on Wednesday, with Dr. Damian Leslie, a seismic analysist, coming in to give a fantastic talk on his work deciphering reflected sound waves to see if oil and gas is present below the sea floor and if so whether there is enough to make it financially viable for drilling. He talked about the importance of

team work in his role and gave students useful tips for how they can proceed if they are interested in a physics career, including buying a Raspberry Pi – a small affordable computer that can be used to learn about programming.

A-level physics students and Year 11s who have chosen to study physics next year had a second chance to talk to a professional physicist the following day – Dr. Christopher Barnett of Swansea University. Students learnt about nanotechnology where technology is developed on the near atomic scale and some of the difficulties that arise when working at this magnitude.

Students were highly interested to hear about new technology that might be created in the near future and it was inspiring for students to hear from a top young scientist.

We also had house quizzes running throughout the week and a grand-finale from Mr. Garner during Friday lunchtime. Primary students were invited to join in with demonstrations of hydrogen balloons, flame tests and reversible reactions. Mr. Garner explained why salt solutions produce such fantastic colours when passed through a flame, with electrons falling between energy levels and emitting signature wavelengths of light. Our hydrogen balloon explosions ensured that a very busy, inspiring and informative Science Week 2017 went out with a bang!

Science week the grand finale demonstration

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13!

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A R T I S A N FA I R 63

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Greener and Wilder

by Chris Baker, Liz Citron, Cheryl Dekker & Rachel Eglinton The Planet BSB Committee aims to make the school a more eco-friendly place and has had much success this term. Science Club CCA members have been busy building wooden bird houses and placing bird feeders around the campus. The results can be seen every day, with more and more birds sighted around the school, including a beautiful and noisy woodpecker in the trees by Ringwood. Secondary students and teachers have been developing a new Rewilding Zone behind the Dome.

This is an ongoing project where Primary pupils will soon be

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able to participate in planting and composting as well as have opportunities to observe a dynamic eco-system in action.

On the 22nd of March, we celebrated World Water Day. The entire school wore blue clothing and gave coins to help fund Water Aid projects in developing countries. Finally, we have been extremely pleased this term by achieving the long-awaited move away from plastic cups at the water dispensers in the Secondary School areas. Students throughout BSB now use their own water bottles, saving one thousand cups every day!

Sixth Form University Offers

by Jason Porter

By this time in the academic calendar, our Year 12 students are beginning to make choices for Higher Education and our Year 13 students have received offers from universities where they would like to study next year. A selection of courses and

likely destinations are below. The offers depend largely on the examination results of the A levels this summer, so we wish our students all the best for the examination season!

History and Politics

– University of Warwick

Mathematics

– University College London or Imperial College London

Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

– University of Edinburgh, University of Bath

Biomedical Science

– University of Bath

International Relations (with French and Politics)

– SOAS, King’s College London

Economics, Finance and Management

– Queen Mary, University College London

Economics

– University of Amsterdam, University of Manchester, University of Bath

Mechanical Engineering

– Queen’s Belfast, Bristol University

Law

– University College London, King’s College London

Finance and Mathematics

– University of Glasgow

Management

– London School of Economics

Liberal Arts

– University of San Diego

Natural Sciences

– Durham University

Mechanical Engineering

– Rhein Waal

Psychology

– Amsterdam

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN COOK 2017

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S O Y O U T H I N K Y O U C A N C O O K 69

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S O Y O U T H I N K Y O U C A N C O O K 71

42, Erou Iancu Nicolae Street, 077190 Voluntari, Ilfov County, Romania

T. +40 21 267 89 19, F. +40 21 267 89 69 E. office@britishschool.ro

/BritishSchoolBucharest /britishschoolro

www.britishschool.ro