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The british school of bucharest magazine • VOL 10 • Issue 2 • March 2016

BSB OFFICE STAFF

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

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If you need any information or help in regard to your childâ€™s education and support at BSB, please do not hesitate to contact our office team during normal working hours, 8.00am - 5.00pm, Monday-Friday. Email: office@britishschool.ro

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FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Jo Puddy-Wells Principal

I was invited recently to speak at a conference entitled ‘Building Education’ an international forum held in Bucharest. This event saw a mix of educationalists, teachers, architects and journalists, debate and present thoughts and ideas on the way in which education can be shaped by the environment, and how that environment can be improved to benefit the education of the students. The idea was to challenge our perspective and look for creative solutions to this particular problem.

The year is beginning to ebb away and as we prepare to send our first group of students on

“The environment of the building is so much more than bricks and mortar and part of it is made up of the ethos and standards that we ask all of the teachers and students to espouse.”

There are several questions that this debate poses; what are the influences and interferences between education and space? Where are we now and what are the future challenges? How would one describe an ideal new build and how would one adapt the current space to get close to this ideal? Finally is a paradigm shift or a completely new approach to the environment of education necessary?

We are lucky at BSB because the students come to study, and the teachers come to work in such beautiful buildings. It really is a special place. It is not perfect – there are facilities we would like, there are alterations that would improve the environment and there are always incremental improvements to be made in virtually everything that we do. But we are fortunate to have such a dedicated maintenance team that ensure that the building is always in working order, that it is always clean and that we meet all the necessary health and safety regulations. The environment of the building is so much more than bricks and mortar and part of it is made up of the ethos and standards that we ask all of the teachers and

students to espouse. Visitors often comment on the behaviour of our students, how smart and polite they are. Perhaps that is the future, perhaps those qualities, coupled with respect for all are what should be considered more important than the infrastructure. There is no right answer but we will continue to strive to find solutions.

an educational visit to China we also turn our minds to the examination period that will be fast upon us. The wealth of opportunities provided by international schools, and the encouragement given by all of our staff to those approaching a critical period in their educational journey never ceases to amaze and impress me. Celebrating the successes of the students in all of their pursuits is important and every now and then it is vital that we reflect on the journey and look forward to its’ continuation. It is in the spirit of celebration that we will be holding our annual ball in May and I look forward to seeing many you on that special night.

F R O M T H E P R I N C I PA L 3

Houses in Focus by Jason Porter

his half term has been relatively short, meaning that the pace of House events has been brisk and action-packed. We started the term with the House chess which ran for four days.

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After a battle of strategy and wits, Danube took the title of Chess champion, with Olt coming in second. Mureş took first place in the Humanities Week quiz on the following Tuesday with Danube as runners-up. The following two Monday afternoons were dedicated to House Basketball and Mastermind. Argeş bounced into first place in the Basketball, chased up by Olt and Argeş again took the lead in the Mastermind, with Mureş in second place. We are now looking forward to the final of House Music, the Maths, ICT and Business quizzes and the awarding

of the next round of House Colours, with some students having achieved their second badge already this year. Thank you, everyone, for all the hard work again this term in the House system.

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

International medical expertise close to you Intermedicas provides the patients with high class expertise through our international afďŹ liated physicians, through an exclusive monthly consultation program.

Paul BSB Congratulates

Victor

BSB would like to congratulate Paul in Y7 for participating in two important fencing competitions in Szolnok and Budapest in December. In Budapest Paul caused a surprise when he passed the first round of direct elimination that follow two other preliminary rounds. Paul competed against fencers with a vast experience in international competitions. He is putting in lots of effort during his training both at school and outside. His progress is due to his commitment, passion, talent and courage.

Victor in Y7 recently achieved second place in a robotics competition in Germany. We are very proud of him especially because he was the youngest competitor. It was the first time that Victor manipulated the robot in a competition. He spent many hours after school, usually during Fridays and the weekend to build the robot. The team Victor leads was invited to participate in the Australian competition and received the award for creativity as well. Congratulations to Victor for creating and constructing this robot as well as the effort to go to Germany, which meant waking up at 4am on a Saturday, flying to Dortmund, participating in the competition for 7-8 hours and waking up at 5am the next day in order to catch the flight back to Bucharest to ensure that he was in school on Monday morning.

Mr Phil Doganay and his wife Congratulations to Phil and his wife on the birth of baby Lara Gwenda.

www.imupro300.ro

ImuPro300 Healthy eating can make you ill Overweight, stomach and bowel problems, migraine, concentration problems due to delayed food allergies? Ask your therapist about ImuPro300. They will provide non-binding advice as to whether ImuPro300 could provide you with a form of treatment that promises success.

The advantages of ImuPro300: • Identication of causes instead of treating symptoms for several years • Rapid result and individual documents after approx. 10 days • Detailed evaluation of approx. 270 foods, colourings and preservatives • Analysis with utmost laboratory quality • Patient handbook with background information • Individual diagnostic findings file • Individual recipe book with approx. 100 specific recipes • Professional telephone-based nutritional counselling

When should you consider using ImuPro300? • Flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome • Large fluctuations in weight from day to day, overweight, obesity • Headaches, migraine • AD(H)D • Inflammatory skin diseases (neurodermatitis, psoriasis) • Joint pains • Frequent tiredness after meals • Intolerance to certain foods • Fasting leads to the receding of the complaints

Are you familiar with these complaints?

What can you do?

Continual stomach and bowel problems (flatulence, constipation, irritable bowel) or headaches and skin problems over many years (itchiness, neurodermatitis, psoriasis), chronic tiredness and obesity?

With sophisticated individual analyses, the ImuPro300 blood test identifies IgG antibodies against 270 different foods and determines as to whether they are present in high or low amounts.

The cause of many of these chronic complaints has not yet been clarifi ed. The treatments largely revolve around the treatment of the symptoms. Unfortunately, the causes have not been tackled. Treatment lasting several years can be necessary - and some forms of therapy invariably involve unpleasant side effects. Or the cause may remain unclear in spite of a range of examinations and the complaints continue.

You are then provided an individual dietary recommendation on the basis of your personal test results: You find out the foods you should avoid eating for a certain time and you also get a personal recipe book with suggestions for tasty meals that you can enjoy as an alternative.

Important for you to know: Chronic discomforts can be triggered by delayed food allergies.

Ask your therapist about ImuPro300. They will provide non-binding advice as to whether ImuPro300 could provide you with a form of treatment that promises success.

The decisive question is: What is the cause of the discomforts and what triggers them? Only when this question has been answered is it possible to successfully fight the complaints. Today we know that many chronic pains can be caused by inflammation reactions. Food products can also cause these inflammations - when certain antibodies are created. These antibodies can be uncovered with blood tests. This means you gain a picture of which foods can cause what complaints. Many people are thought to suffer from a so-called delayed food allergy without knowing it. The complaints are often wideranging and only occur several hours or even days after the consumption of the relevant food product. For this reason it can be helpful to look for these foods with a blood test and to make them, visible‘ in this way.

www.imupro300.ro Additional information is available from: S.C. Imupro Distribution S.R.L ImuPro Distributor - Romania & Moldova T. +40 735 303 001, F. +40 21 267 89 69 E. office@imupro300.ro www.imupro300.ro

Where are they now?

Contardi family Hello everyone! Last September our family moved to Surrey in the UK not too far from London. It’s a green area and we’re enjoying the forest and canals near here. Many people travel by bike and when we are in Y6 the school will teach us how to bike on the street. We’re also enjoying rugby and horse riding. There’s a squirrel family living in the tree in our garden and they remind us of Puffy, our squirrel in Pipera! We like our new school and are making new friends, but we miss our friends at BSB. At the same time we have learnt how small the world can be; we are in the same class as a boy who was born in Bucharest and whose sisters were at BSB. Funny isn’t it?

Life at University by Mihnea Rusu

My name is Mihnea Rusu and I am in currently in my third year of Electrical and Electronic Engineering study at Imperial College London, which I began attending following my A levels at BSB. Three years may seem like a long time but it’s definitely passed faster than I anticipated. I’ve met professors and lecturers that have inspired me and took part in memorable events, but ultimately the friends I made at BSB are those that I’m still closest to today. Imperial is a great university and my course was among the first to be offered by the college, only a few years after the light bulb had just been invented. Our department is home to some of the brightest minds in the field and whilst their research may seem rather abstract to an undergraduate like myself, it really boils down to the basics they teach us. One of our professors invented a chip that can map out one’s entire genome in 20 minutes and diagnose genetic diseases – a process that previously took weeks in specialised labs. He explained to us how it works

and it’s nothing more than switches that are sensitive to the chemicals in DNA. London is a big, busy city. There’s always something to do for entertainment and it almost always happens that it’s on the other side of town. I remember team training with our ice hockey society used to take part at an ice rink roughly 1 hour away – by the time we got there we were already tired from the journey. Train travel within the UK is very efficient and a great way to explore the more scenic parts of the island for when tranquility is desired, something I can’t say about Romania. I would like to end by thanking all the people at BSB, especially Mr Farrell and Mr Walters, who supported me both with academic and life skills advice and helped me get to where I am today. Currently I’m about to go on a 6-month placement with an engineering consultancy, as part of my course, after which I hope to come and visit BSB.

Getting to know your TA

Adela Viezure My name is Adela Viezure. I have been working as a TA for Y2 since January. Although I have been here at BSB for only a few weeks, I can say without doubt that it has been an interesting and challenging experience. I have had the opportunity to meet many different people who have all made me feel part of this friendly, joyful and professional environment. Working with our amazing children, helping them day by day, supporting them in their educational development has given me the chance to learn new things along with them and grow, both professionally and personally. With every new activity we do, new game we play, or new lesson we go through I get to know them better and become a part of their lives. The stories they tell every day

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always manage to put a smile on my face. Their imagination has no limits. I started working with children in 2012, and from that moment I realized that this is what I wanted to do, professionally speaking. I consider it a challenging, complex and interesting activity that gives you the opportunity to discover new things and new people, help them grow and at the same time learn something from each of them. In my free time I enjoy sports, playing tennis, swimming and bowling and spending time with my friends. However, what I like to do most is travel. Different people with different cultures and mentalities never cease to impress me.

FROM THE ENGINE ROOM by Simon Lambert

The school recently hosted a COBIS Conference the the third time in recent years. The Conference for PAs and Secretaries added to our growing reputation within the COBIS community as ideal hosts for such prestigious events. Delegates from all over Europe and beyond met to network, debate and acquire new skills. Many of the administration staff from BSB were able to benefit from the experience and congratulations to those members of staff who organised the event from start to finish. The reregistration period is now underway and it is pleasing to see so many students already registered for the next academic year. The school continues to be first choice for many companies from all sectors when their human resource managers are looking to place children of new arrivals in Bucharest. We realise that, within some industries, the future is uncertain and there

may be some reticence to committing to the next academic year. We understand the situation and would urge parents to return their forms as soon as the position becomes clearer. Registration is now open for our fabulous Summer School. Once again we will be joined by a UEFA ‘A’ licensed football coach and his course will be augmented by many other sports with sessions run by our own PE staff. If you wish to know more please don’t hesitate to ask or email summerschool@britishschool.ro Within the pages of this magazine you will see some ‘Save the date’ reminders for Sports Day, the Summer Fair and BSB Ball. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at these events as we celebrate the end of another exciting year here at BSB.

Behind the scenes – BSB Maintenance Team by Diana Frenţescu

We would like to introduce to all our families and friends our extremely helpful maintenance team. This great team puts a lot of fantastic work and effort in maintaining an excellent environment here at BSB. Thanks to the maintenance team for being so professional and for working hard every day to create an even more beautiful campus.

I would like to thank all of our maintenance staff for their dedication and professionalism. Working together teachers, teaching assistants, administrative and maintenance team can create a better environment for our children. Vasile Lupu – Facilities Manager

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Book Review by Beverly Prudden

Being asked to write a review for this issue of Newsblast threw me into something of a panic – how could I possibly choose only one book from all those I love, enjoy and would recommend? At first, I thought of my all-time favourite – probably my take-toa-desert-island-choice – ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Jane Austen’s wit and humour are irresistible. Then I considered the most pleasantly surprising book I have ever read. Former students begged me to read ‘Twilight’. A teenage vampire romance in an American High School? Oh dear! I had reached an all-time low. However, I was amazed to find that I became addicted to the story and for quite some time was a ‘closet’ fan of Stephanie Meyer. I am now ‘out’ and have read the series again…and again. Alternatively, I could choose the book it took me the longest amount of time to read. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is also my family’s favourite, so every time I set it down, it disappeared into someone’s bedroom to have all the magical scenes and battles relived. I finally managed to finish it after my children left home – lovingly well-thumbed, dog-eared and coverless. It was well worth the wait. However, I finally decided to go for perhaps the obvious choice: the book I have just finished. ‘Birdsong’ by Sebastian Faulks is a powerful read dealing mainly with the events of the First World War. I am not normally a reader of war stories but this one was

very highly acclaimed and had been added to my ‘to do’ list. It did not disappoint. It follows the fortunes of Stephen Wraysford, a lucky survivor more than a hero of the war, from his removal to France in 1910, his experiences of trench warfare and finally, how he is perceived through the eyes of his granddaughter researching his life in the late 1970’s. It is a remarkable book that demands time and commitment and, in return, yields a multisensory experience and a full appreciation of the everyday life of warfare. It is not written to shock or to sentimentalise the events in the trenches, nor is it a story of great heroism; it is a story told of the common man simply getting on with a job he had been sent to do and coping in the most awful of circumstances. Through Faulks’ sensitive and intelligent prose, the reader shares these experiences. It is at times so realistic that you want to scratch at the ever present lice in your clothing. But it is not all grim either: ultimately you are left to reflect on the power, bravery and resilience of the human spirit, the camaraderie of friendship and the support of family. In this respect, Faulks achieves what any great writer should: he moves, provokes and inspires. This is a magnificent and rewarding book and one that I would unreservedly recommend and encourage everyone to take the time to read.

PRIMARY SHORT STORY COMPETITION WINNERS

The New Year of the Dragon by Sasha Y4

It has been a tough year for us, the dragons. We could barely get a spark here and there, mainly from the poor people’s houses. If you don’t know it, the sparks are a dragon’s appetizer, main course and dessert. But sparks are hard to find nowadays when everybody from the humans’ world is using air conditioning and electric heaters. Gone are the times when you could easily find a good wood fire surrounded by an army of sparks. Gone are the times when I, and my sister Kolda, were well-fed and happy. Now we are hungry and alone. Everyone else has gone from the dragons’ cave. They went out at the markets and each of them had been adopted as a pet or a fantasy character. Today my sister and I are trying to get adopted too. “Frozy, do you think I am going to make it?” Kolda asks me. I look at her broken leg, at her feeble wings and at her sad eyes. “Yes, but I don’t know when,” I say, and stop because a human has come near her. Maybe she will find a family sooner than I thought! The man takes Kolda on his finger. My sister is fluttering her small wings, still looking back at me. “Daddy, let’s take the cute one,” says a child. And he picks me up. Kolda is left on the wet pavement, next to the garbage bin. “Stay where you are!” are the last words I tell her. The next day here I am in the central market, after a tough escape through the chimney. I find Kolda hidden behind an orange peel. “I’m afraid we are lost,” I tell her. Before she can answer me, we hear a booming noise in the night. The winter sky is suddenly filled with red, orange and blue sparks. Kolda climbs on my back and we start eating sparks while flying. We’ve eaten enough for a year! So we’ve named it the Dragons’ New Year.

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The Eye of the Storm by Stephanie Y6

I was getting closer. I could feel it in my bones and could see it in the pale sky, as my ship continued to fly, fighting its way through the clouds. Until now, my life had been a journey without a destination. Along the way I collected books, treasures and experiences. This was about to change as I decided to take on the ultimate challenge and set my destination: the eye of the storm. Patting my dragon, I checked the map and realised this was not fantasy. It WAS true. I was nearly there. I went towards the engine of my large ship, probably for the last time in my life. I threw all my belongings into the fire, sending it roaring in flames. Something shiny caught my eye. It was my box of treasures. The one that broke my heart. I advanced toward the steering wheel. Gently, I made my way to the edge of the aircraft. I hesitated a moment or two, overwhelmed by memories, then I threw the box and watched it fall between the clouds like a broken paper airplane. Sadness ran over me. And tears were in my eyes. That night was a stormy one. I steered all night through thunder and lightning. And in the early morning the sky was green again. That was proof I was getting closer. Looking at the floor, I walked along the small bridge-like path, connecting the engine to the steering wheel. I saw the grey key lying under the mat, just where I had left it 3 years ago when I began my adventure. I carefully picked it up. “I need to do this!” I thought to myself. “I need to set him free!” Clink! It was over much quicker than I thought. The dragon gave me a nod. It was as if he wanted to thank me. Then he flew off into the sky, feeling his freedom. I had stolen him and I know that was wrong, but I was desperate. He was my only friend, yet I had treated him so cruelly, locking him up in a cage. Moving my head to the left, I saw it. It was the emerald green light. My destination. The last thing I did was check the compass and slow down the aircraft. Then I walked towards my wooden throne. As I sat down it spun round rapidly and made me face the back of the ship. I could see the sky behind me like infinite emptiness. It was getting greener as I approached. The eye of the storm. The green empire. The unknown. My ultimate destination.

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PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

PTA Review

by Hollie Pate-Oâ€™Keeffe PTA would like to say a huge that you to all of the parents who helped out with the Artisan Fair - it was a huge success. Our international food stall was stocked with a wonderful array of delicious cultural foods. The secondary students with Mr. Mugur did a fantastic job with this years Santaâ€™s Grotto and arts and crafts. This year is speeding by and thus we are in need of your support once again with our annual Summer Fair. If you are traveling over the Easter break it might be a good opportunity to stock up on supplies to represent your country with a booth or recipe. The fair will give us another chance to share and enjoy

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the rich diversity of cultures we have at BSB. If you are interested in organising or helping out with a country stall or vendor stall please email PTA@britishschool.ro. PTA have used funds this year to increase the range of instruments available in the music department including ukulele and saxophones. We have also hosted the Halloween party and are looking forward to hosting an Easter party. Lastly, if you were fortunate enough to win a basket at the Artisan Fair could you please consider returning the basket for use again next year. They can be dropped off any day at reception.

PRIMARY SCHOOL REVIEW

Victoria Smith Head of Lower School

We believe that involvement in local and international competitions is a wonderful way for BSB children to further explore their interests and strengths, as well as to extend their learning and life experiences. Recently, Primary children have bravely been involved in some academic and artistic competitions aimed at children attending international schools. In January, six courageous and determined Y6 students participated in the 8-11 ESU (English Speaking Union) Public Speaking Competition, hosted by IBSB. The competition called for children to prepare a two minute speech based on the theme ‘No one belongs anywhere’. Children were not able to use any visual aids or props to facilitate their presentations. After a long morning of auditions before a panel of school leaders, Ticiana, Stephanie, Ambra, Irina, Alan and Thea joined together to form ‘Team BSB’ at the competition. The children worked diligently to ready themselves for the event, sacrificing their free time at home, as well as some break times during the school day. All six bravely delivered well-prepared, dynamic and interesting speeches in front of more than 50 people and then engaged in a two minute ‘question and answer’ period. Children were judged on the following categories: verbal skills, non-verbal skills, confidence and style and their ability to listen and respond to questions about their work. Our children’s confidence and ability to express themselves were noted by many members of the audience and judges. All six were presented with certificates for their efforts, and we are very pleased to announce that both Alan and Irina were awarded ‘Honourable Mentions’ for their speeches. In addition, both Stephanie and Thea received ‘First Place’ awards and prizes, accompanied by some

extremely positive comments on their achievements from the judges. Well done to them all! In February, children ages 3 – 17 had the opportunity to enter a piece of artwork to the Annual Children’s Visual Arts Exhibition. Offered first as a House Competition through BSB, children were encouraged to submit a piece related to the theme, “Diary”, in the form of a painting, collage,

“We would like to commend all of the children who took the risk of auditioning or entering into these competitions on their fortitude and hard work.” model, photograph or graphic design. We were delighted to have an overwhelming number of interesting and creative entries submitted and were pleased to select the following children’s work to enter into the official competition: Fraser for ‘Captain’s Log’, Saeyeoun for ‘A Mixture of My Colourful Thoughts’, Yunji for ‘All of me in a book’, Adya for ‘My Private Memories’, Vera for ‘Today Like Yesterday’, Andra for ‘My Life as a Dancer in Pages’, Ambra for ‘My Diary’, Dave for ‘Pieces of My Mind’, Krystof for ‘Diary of a City Artist’, Sonia for ‘A Day at the Horse Ranch’, Thea for ‘House of Memories’, Anna for ‘A Secret Hiding Place’. Congratulations to each of them for winning their Houses some extra House Points and we look forward to hearing the outcome of the official competition! We are very proud of each them and look forward to seeing what our children will bring to these and other events in the future.

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EYFS

Crèche in outer Space! by Claire O’Brien

Recently Crèche have been climbing into rockets, whooshing off into space, walking on the moon and working in a space station. This cosmic theme all began with the story “Whatever next” and from then on so much has been learnt and enjoyed. The children have made and designed their own planets by painting using a variety of different methods. We also turned our role play corner into a working space station where they can control

A lot of research is required to become an astronaut

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moon landings and explore the galaxy. Crèche really got to use their building skills when it came to constructing rockets. Every available lego brick and shape block they could find was used during this activity. A lot of language development has been acquired from this topic with many new words and phrases being learnt. This has also aided in their imaginative play.

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EYFS

Preschool

by Priscilla Varban and Katherine Dibble Preschool have been busy enjoying the lovely spring-like weather and exploring our wonderful outdoor area and school grounds by visiting the garden, the pond area and the gatehouse playground. In Preschool V we have been learning about the jungle and the rainforest. The children have particularly enjoyed learning all about life in the jungle and finding out all about animals and their habitat.

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In Preschool D we have enjoyed learning about the wonderful world of fairy tales. The children had great fun trying to make their own fairy tale castles. We really loved sharing the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We even had a go at planting our own magic beans to find out all about how we must look after living things to help them grow big and strong.

The use of IT in EYFS is strictly monitored to develop skills in Maths and English

There is also time to practice for Sports Day

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EYFS

Using ICT to enrich learning across Reception by Kayleigh Evans and Emma Sauer

In Reception we provide a rich curriculum across the seven areas of learning, and ICT is used to enhance this. The classrooms are set up with different learning stations where ICT plays a part in supporting the outcomes of these learning experiences. At BSB we believe in enriching our curriculum through the use of ICT and as technology evolves, so do the opportunities for applying ICT across the curriculum to enhance learning. Here are some of the ways we use ICT in Reception. The interactive table is often used to support children’s learning in phonics and Mathematics activities. The apps help to consolidate the children’s previous learning of letters and sounds as well as practice their blending and segmenting skills when reading letters and simple words. Using the maths apps children are able to choose specific amounts of objects and practice their knowledge of the number system by ordering and sorting the numbers. The iPads are very popular within the classroom, and are a useful tool in developing children’s vocabulary and communication skills. A favourite iPad task is using the story creating apps where the children are able to introduce their own characters

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and develop a story, using various props. They can also add in ‘talking parts’ to the story as well as drawing their own pictures which are then played out as part of their plot. Bee-Bots The Bee-Bots are colourful robots designed to be used by young learners. They can be programmed to go forwards and backwards and to turn left and right. They add excitement to the classroom, firstly because students want to work out how to make them move. They then encourage learning directions, planning, sequencing and working together. By motivating students, BeeBots can be used to enhance many areas of learning. A favourite use this year has been for phonics revision and retelling stories. Interactive Whiteboard The interactive whiteboard supports all learning preferences allowing for auditory, visual and kinaesthetic input. The interactive whiteboard allows students to manipulate information on the screen such as completing a simple program or dragging, dropping and matching items. The interactive programs especially support mathematics and literacy.

Working with the teacher to solve a tricky problem

Children play outside at every opportunity even on rainy days

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KS1

Did you know Scientific Superkids Rock the planet? by Jodie Lewis and Ann-Marie Isaac

Professor Issac started the Spring terms theme with a bang, a pop and a whizz (and a little fire) and wowed us with the magic of Science. This sparked the imaginations of our Y1 children to explore and investigate different materials and their properties. After an afternoon of teacher led exploration on magnetism, transparency, absorbency and forces the children were able to become super scientists and initiate and create their own experiments and research.

“Play is the highest form of research” Albert Einstein So we followed this super scientist’s advice and we took the children to Oraselul Cunoasterii (the Children’s Science Museum) to discover Science through play. This was a fun and challenging way to enhance and consolidate their learning in school.

To continue our quest as Scientific Superkids the children have been exploring ways to save the planet and protect the environment through the 3Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle. They have researched how materials are made to support their understanding of how rubbish can be reused or recycled. Mr. Concannon gave us an informative and interesting in-school demonstration on how to recycle plastic using the Granulator in our DT workshop. Y1 are working to promote our Planet BSB ethos and aims throughout Ringwood and to our families. The children have been creating posters, signs and labels to encourage everyone to remember the 3Rs. You will need to tune into ‘Superkids TV’ for more information. Don’t miss your once in a life time opportunity to be a part of the studio audience for ‘Superkids Rock the Planet’, performed live in our Newlands studio by our own environmental singing superheroes… “We are kids on a mission, Kids with a vision, wonderful, witty and wise… whoa!”

The children really enjoyed exploring and investigating through play whilst at the museum

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The Mad Scientist demonstrating some experiments that should not be tried at home

Great fun was had at the Science Museum

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KS1

Could you be an explorer?

by Jo Coxage, Louisa Ramsden and Charlotte Sloan A surprise visit from the brave Antarctic explorer ‘Frank’ was an exciting start to the Spring term. Y2 were left intrigued and quickly became historians, explorers and navigators themselves as they spent the first half term researching Earnest Shackleton’s heroic expedition and the conditions on Antarctica. Conditions out in the playground were helpful when imagining what life was like for the explorers in Antarctica and the children drew inspiration from this to write adventure stories with descriptive settings and poetry. In Maths they explored measuring mass in order to take enough food for their expeditions and looked at the measurements of Antarctic animals in preparation for the big expedition. Y2 also became Antarctic artists and created a range of artwork using collage, water colour and looking at hot and cold colours. They also enjoyed drawing comparisons with another

Frank talking to KS1 about his experiences at the South Pole

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famous explorer, Tenzing Norgay, and found out what it was like to climb Mount Everest. KS1 Maths Enrichment day was a great opportunity to explore using their mental Maths skills out in the playground. The children also took part in Maths Kung Fu and fought their way to impressive Maths skills. Our theme of ‘Explorers and Expeditions’ was such a hit with the children in the first half term that we continued to use this theme to support the children’s learning, this time with a focus on explorations of the sky. Our young historians and explorers gathered all the information they could from their trip to the Aviation Museum to fuel more research into explorers and expeditions, as well as to create an information text for the museum itself.

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Making the most of the wintry conditions

Learning to measure and cooperate with friends

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Combining art skills and Geography in Humanities

The Aviation Museum provided a great research opportunity

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KS2

Year 3 travel through time in the Tardis by Karen Cojocaru and Adam Pegrum

Having settled well into the routines and challenges of KS2 the children were quick to immerse themselves into the excitement of traveling back in time. The visit of Dr. Who in his Tardis ensured the children were raring to discover the transport changes that have embraced Bucharest over the past one hundred years. Our research skills were put straight to the test as we embarked on our new topic ‘All Change’. Our studies have focused on how and why the transport in our great city has transformed. This has built on our understanding of chronology that we started last term. The children used a variety of different media in order to carry out their research, culminating in the children designing their own mode of transport for the future. Great consideration was given to the challenges that designers had faced in the past. Dr. Who’s mode of transport proved very popular, with the children designing and painting their own Tardis. This project incorporated both a Maths and Design element. This led to us writing our own instructions on how to make a Tardis which provided our first English topic. We continued with our focus on the city we live in and explored the traditional story of how

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the legendary character Bucur founded Bucharest. The children then identified and incorporated the features of a ‘Legend’ in their own story. Focus was placed on writing in paragraphs, including a variety of adjectives and adverbs, subordinate clauses and subordinating conjunctions. Having developed our understanding of 3D shapes and measuring skills in our Tardis project further Maths focus was placed on telling the time and bar charts. The challenge of learning our times tables has seen huge enthusiasm for our ‘Around the World’ game which has led to some healthy and friendly competition. In Science we spent an enjoyable day exploring magnets and forces. Many links were made to how forces contribute to the design of different modes of transport. Our computing focus has been on networks both within the school and across the world. Both classes have been working hard on their homework and both Mr. Pegrum and Mrs. Cojocaru continue to be impressed with the research, consolidation and creativity that the children have shown in their work. As we move into the summer term, there is plenty to look forward to including the much anticipated trip to Sinaia.

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KS2

Discovery and debating in Year 4

by Catherine Passmore, Morwenna Hurst and Paul Gildea ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ Y4 came back after the Christmas holidays to find their classrooms transformed into dense rainforests. The children had great fun researching the types of plants and animals that can be found in the rainforest and creating information posters to share interesting facts about them. We also learnt all about the different layers of the rainforest and how each creates a very different habitat. Some of the children chose to show their creativity and, as part of their homework, made 3D artwork to teach others about the rainforest layers. With their new knowledge about rainforest habitats, the children created some beautiful pieces of art work showing the animals of the rainforest and used them to further decorate our jungle classes. To compare the rainforest to other habitats around the world, we visited the Natural History Museum in Bucharest. The children had great fun exploring a range of habitats and looking at how the different plants and animals were suited to their environment. Now that we were experts, it was time to create our own ‘undiscovered’ rainforest animals. We had to think carefully about what class of animal they were, how large they were and how they would fit into the existing food chains in the rainforest.

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As we had been learning about report writing in English, we decided that a great way to share our animals would be to create an informative website, explaining each animal’s appearance, diet and habitat. Links to these websites can be found on our Y4 blog. ‘Disaster’ There was a shock in store when we returned from the half term break; our rainforest classrooms had been destroyed! It was time to research why. After looking into why trees are cut down in the rainforests, the children took on roles such as scientists, tribes people and lumberjacks and carried out a debate focused on deforestation. They were all very proud of themselves for staying in character and using all of their knowledge of rainforests, as well as their understanding of persuasive language, to argue their point. The children were very enthusiastic about the success of the debate and continued to research and discuss both sides of the argument in order to give an individual speech to the class arguing either for or against deforestation. I wonder what is in store for next term.

Inquiring minds hard at work in the Library

Dance - now part of the KS2 PE curriculum

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Programming is essential to steering the car around the course

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Appreciating the art of debating at an early age

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KS2

Cooking up a storm in Year 5 by Alex Baines and Anna Kemp-Garcia

Y5 have made a delicious start to 2016 with the topic ‘kitchen chemistry’, we have combined expert scientific knowledge with culinary excellence to create some mouthwatering dishes. We started by investigating bread recipes, the children wanted to know why bread rises. We therefore explored the important role that yeast plays, by conducting an experiment that discovered the optimum conditions for it to weave it’s magic. Following this, we discovered the importance of following a recipe as well as answering the age old question of, “what is the superior filling for a pancake?” Our scientific learning this term has also focused on chemical and physical changes. This has taken our keen minds to discover the best ways to filter unpleasant substances from water, and why and who this would be important for. We have had the arduous task of creating and then eating ice cream when looking at ‘how salt can be used to lower the freezing point of ice’.

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The Y5 teachers have yet again been impressed by the quality of the homework that the children have produced. A real passion for learning has allowed pupils to create some intriguing pieces of work during their own time. Since the last Newsblast the children have enjoyed the opportunity to present their work to their parents. We had several fantastic stalls, many being hands on and interactive, which all the children and parents thoroughly enjoyed. The focus for Y5 just before half term switched to preparing for our year group production on the interesting tradition of Martişor. The children worked on a range of performances such as; singing, dancing, acting and even puppeteering to create a fantastic production which was appreciated by all those who witnessed it.

Carrying out experiments in the secondary Science laboratories

Cooking up a storm...and some bread

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KS2

Variety is the spice of life by Jenny Whiteman and Jenna Batson

Y6 have continued to enjoy their time in school, setting a good example for the rest of the primary department and developing their collaborative working skills. The â€˜Explorers Topicâ€™ allowed the children to consider exploration of the past and future. The Bucharest snowfall gave the children the fabulous opportunity to work on the year group project of building an igloo and the children loved learning about the calories and nutrition needed on a polar expedition. A favourite activity for Y6 is computing with students learning how to programme a Lego mindstorm robot. We have been able to programme the robots to move around a maze and great fun was had making them dance by programming repeating

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movements. One class even tried to have a robot flashmob! We look forward to discovering how else we can use the robots in the classroom environment. Y6 are privileged in going to the Secondary Science labs for their Science lessons. This allows the children to participate in interesting practical experiments using the specialist equipment. This term the students have been learning about the human body and participated in a heart and lung dissection, an activity normally performed in later years. The children loved seeing the structure of the organs in real life and enjoyed being able to feel these different parts of the body. What a great opportunity for our fabulous Y6s!

Lego Mindstorm - a fantastic resource enjoyed by all

The open-topped igloo. Next year, perhaps a roof?

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Ski Trip

by Catherine Passmore This year BSB was lucky enough to take a trip to Andalo in Italy where they went skiing for the week of the half term holiday. We flew to Milan Linate and took the bus up the windy roads of the mountains admiring the view. When we reached the top excitement hit as the children saw the snow. As it was getting late when we arrived, we went straight for some food and had a welcome meeting with our ski representative and met our new instructors. After a good night’s sleep we woke up feeling fresh and went for our ski fitting at the local shop. Once complete it was time to hit the slopes. Some of the children in the beginners group had never put skis on before, but by the end of the week they were cruising down the red runs like professionals. Each group was able to practice their skiing skills and improve them under the watchful eye of the instructor. They were very good in offering some helpful tips and ways in which we could improve our posture and ability to get down the slopes. In the evening we went shopping with Mr. Pegrum, ice skating, swimming, visited the local pizzeria for a pizza party, had movie evening and the best activity of all was definitely tubing. All of the children had lots of fun as did the adults. A big thank you to Snowtraxx for making this a wonderful and enjoyable holiday skiing in the Italian mountains. Here is what the children said about it:

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When we did something silly like lose a pole or put our ski boots onto the wrong feet we got nominated for Donkey of the Day, this was really fun! – Ana-Catinca The ski slopes were great! It was the best skiing in my life – Sasha The skiing was good and I really enjoyed being on the slopes. It was the best skiing in my life – Nicolas I enjoyed being rewarded for all of my hard work at the end of the week. The instructors were great – Ella I enjoyed the evening activities, however 5 hours of skiing was not enough, I wanted MORE – Veani The ski trip was awesome – Arina I really liked skiing and ice skating, they are so much fun. I think I liked everything about the whole trip – Esperanza This years ski trip was one of the best experiences that I have had this year at BSB. When we went to Milan you could hear the excitement from all the students. As soon as we got to Andalo we received our rooms and we unpacked. We then met the ski instructors and prepared for the long day the next day. Over the week all of the skiers had progressed immensely. I had a great ski instructor who taught me a lot of things and she pushed us to do harder slopes to boost my confidence. The ski trip was a great experience and I will do it again - Zack

T R I P S 43

UNIVERSITIES Fun and games in Spanish for Beginners

UNIVERSITY - What the pupils say

“I love Made for the Stage, it is fun. I enjoy performing and I have learned the story of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ ... I am the Tin Man”.

“In this University I have learned that it is important to be careful and take my time - it makes the picture much better”.

Adam Y3 (Made for the Stage)

Livia Y2 (Making Mosaics)

“I like that we can make lots of things for my Mum and my Daddy… We have looked at art from Australia, Romania and China”.

“We have learned a lot about the British court system and the different jobs of the people in the court. We have also learned to ask questions properly so that you get the answer you need. We have practised looking at matters from different points of view. I love writing speeches and public speaking”.

Sophie Y1 (Folk Loric Art) “I like doing Spanish because my dad says that we are going to Spain this summer… I really like the puppets Miss Kemp Garcia uses and we learn through lots of games”. Eva Y2 (Spanish for Beginners) “I like making different things from paper - we are making a birdcage today. You do not need to be good at art to do this, anybody can.” Alessia Y1 (Paper Projects) “I find ballet peaceful and calm. I can’t believe how much I have learned already… we are putting many of the pieces that we have learned together to make a dance that we hope to perform”. Hannah Y6 (Ballet for Beginners)

Laura Y5 (Legal Eagles) “It is very relaxing and extremely addictive”. Borisz Y6 (Knitting’s Not Just for Nanas) “We are organising Book Day. In this university course it is important to be very organised, creative, resourceful and to be able to work in a team.” Anya Y5 (Events Management) “We are using the TinkerCAD software to design our game pieces which will be created using the 3D printer”. Mihai Y5 (Create Your Own Board Games)

Creating healthy snacks

Putting their heart and soul into Mosaic Making

U N I V E R S I T I E S 47 47

If it can be made with paper it can be made in Paper Projects University

Patchwork party teaches children to sew and create new works of art

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Hand prints are always a hit

Untangling the stresses of the day with Zentangling

U N I V E R S I T I E S 49

Photo: BSB

CLUBS

by Helen Stevens

n enriched curriculum offers students the chance to enhance their learning within the classroom through a whole host of other opportunities offered to them, one being a creative after schools agenda.

At BSB, we strive to offer a varied and engaging after schools club experience for our students, responsive to their needs and most importantly their interests.

It is always rewarding to see our children showing engagement and enjoyment of the clubs they attend. When asked about their clubs these were some of the responses we received:

Our after school clubs provision is part of the continued way to ensure students can engage in a range of interests; ones which they may be involved in regularly and those they may never have tried before, such as ‘Cheerleading’ and ‘Debating’. We are already looking forward into our choices for the final term of clubs and what opportunities we can offer our students, with the chance for some students to even assist in the running of a club.

‘I love climbing because you get learn how to go up high.’

Throughout this year, the PE departments have been working hard to offer a range of various sporting clubs, from basketball to badminton. Many of the children attending these clubs have gone on to represent the school at various sporting events around Bucharest.

‘I love Safari club because you get to learn all about jungle animals.’ ‘Karate is the best because you get to do karate moves.’ ‘I like cooking because it is fun and I learnt how to put frosting on a cake.’ As one of our school aims states we work ‘To provide students with a positive, stimulating, secure and caring environment that encourages the fulfillment of individual potential and the growth of self-esteem in all areas: academic, social and personal’ and one way we can do this is through our extensive clubs and CCAs provision.

Miss Dana leading the cheers with the Cheerleaders Club

Hygiene is of prime importance in the Kitchen Club

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C L U B S 55

8 out of 10 employers report that poor business language skills have resulted in a negative impact on sales, proﬁtability and efﬁciency in their companies and organizations. (Global English study)

What language does your business speak? Become ﬂuent and effective in business communication in 15 hours! • • • • • •

Effective business letters Writing notes, notices and memos Designing and writing leaﬂets Writing internal and external email messages Effective language and skills for telephone techniques Effective oral presentations www.bptc.ro info@bptc.ro tel: 021 317 47 64 0730 600 099

SECONDARY SCHOOL REVIEW

Philip Walters Vice Principal

How to develop resilience and grit amongst students has become prominent recently within educational debate. The importance of education for compassion alongside such characteristics can, to my view, be tied to this and should never be considered a fad or temporary trend in schools. Martin Luther King Jr suggested sagely that “life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”. Encouraging compassion and an understanding for others is a high priority for us and I would argue that schools must champion volunteering as an important opportunity to develop such attributes whilst also clearly helping to train or encourage other traits in individuals such as greater resilience, independence and selfconfidence.

“We offer many volunteering opportunities for our students in Secondary as an important part of our co-curricular provision and a reflection of our ethos”

I remember distinctly conversations with university medical admissions tutors from both Glasgow and Bristol Universities as they described to me the hard-nosed scoring systems on which they judge each application. The strength of academic qualifications was unsurprisingly a pre-requisite for them but their analysis of personal statements was intricate as they described a hunt for genuine evidence and examples of demonstrated leadership, breadth of experience and volunteering. Both tutors emphasised that their scoring systems for an application ranked volunteering highly alongside a clear indication that the student had reflected upon this in relation to their personal ambitions. We offer many volunteering opportunities for our students in Secondary as an important part of our co-curricular provision and a reflection of our ethos; one of our key aims being to develop within students an attitude of individual responsibility,

based upon the values of honesty, respect, self-control, equality, and concern for others. As such I have been proud of developments over recent years which means that our after school program now includes weekly volunteering at Don Orione and Fundatia Inocenti charities where our students play with disabled children and orphaned babies. Regular student-led clubs prioritise volunteering where seniors tutor or mentor younger students and lead sporting or

other activities. Our Community Sports Leaders in Y11 and 12 will visit a local school again over the next half term and already work with our Primary students, putting their training into practice. I have been delighted to see how these relevant volunteering opportunities are flourishing this year. It cannot be denied that they are very useful to potential medical applicants both as a means of compiling a good application but also vitally as a way of assessing suitability for this type of profession. However we ensure that all students are involved in some respect because contributions as a volunteer engender compassion and empathy whilst also requiring dedication and bravery at times. Our students are asked to consider their place within our community – school, local and global. We demand that they answer the question “What are you doing for others?”.

S E C O N D A R Y R E V I E W 57

Symposium! ‘Few things will affect our future more than migration’ by Matthew Cox

What does the future of human migration look like? What predictions have been made about the movement of people for the next 50 years? How might the history of human migration inform our future? What is the difference between a refugee and a migrant? Is migration desirable? Is it unavoidable? What actual effects do mass migration cause, in host and countries of origin? Our recent Symposium! prompted our senior students to think about migration, its effects and what the future might hold. The session was framed by the opening statement that ‘Few things will affect our future more than migration’ and was supported by the work of Golding, Cameron and Balarajan in their controversial book ‘Exceptional People – How Migration Shaped our World and Will Define our Future’. In particular, five commonly held views about the movement of people to another country were robustly challenged during the session. They were that; • migrants are economically isolated in broader society • migrants are a burden • migrants are economically homogeneous • migrants are technologically illiterate • migrants are dependent. One of the main goals of Symposium! is to push our community to move outside of its comfort zone, and to ensure we challenge ourselves and others to do better. Not everyone agreed with

the research and perspectives put forward - naturally. It was very interesting to note that whilst the audience was broadly accepting of the main findings, there was rightly a desire to question whether research in Palestine or Uganda for instance, could accurately be applied to other countries and regions of the world. Given Europe’s recent history with refugees and migration much of the debate centred on the effects of mass migration right here on our doorstep. As one might expect with such a current and topical subject, strong opinions were brought to the fore, and some emotive debate followed. I would like to thank all of the students who contributed bravely to our sensitive discussion. From my personal perspective, this Symposium! session once again taught me that whilst appreciating the global picture, and identifying research ‘truths’ must never be dismissed or ignored, of equal importance is an understanding that local perspectives and personal perceptions are both real and valid. It is natural and human for local communities, and indeed whole countries to want to protect what they love, and to attempt to preserve the best of what they have. However, global inequality, climate change and insecurity means that mass migration, and the disruption it brings at a local level, is unavoidable in our future. Ultimately, Symposium! agreed that the real issue is how best to manage the movement of people in the future, and not just to continue to debate about whether it will happen.

It just shows you’re never too old to learn something new! by Clare Hooper

BSB is a “learning community” where all are involved in a process of improvement and enrichment, fostering a commitment to lifelong learning. All teachers and teaching assistants this year have been challenged to contribute to this community in a positive and personal way from setting personal professional goals to planning peer training and sharing the best-practice that occurs throughout the school. The year started with an engaging and inspiring visit from Sir Peter Jones on how to become ‘Magic Weavers’, his energy and enthusiasm was infectious and moved us to continue to look for ways to make a genuine positive difference in the lives of the children we come into contact with on a daily basis. Sir Peter reminded us of the important role that a teacher can play in a child’s life and our responsibility to provide a learning environment that prepares them for the 21st Century. It is important for the staff at BSB to keep up to date with the latest innovations and research to improve the learning opportunities offered to the children. Many of the teachers have been to conferences and training on specific areas of education. During the first term Sally Clarke attended the CEESA Music conference in Warsaw providing an opportunity to network with other music teachers and explore new teaching techniques. Sophie Hindley took full advantage of the Drama workshops offered during the ISTA KS4 Drama trip and came back to school buzzing with renewed energy and ideas having had the opportunity to talk with other drama teachers and share experiences and techniques.

Paddy Concannon had also attended a specialist programme on the delivery of IGCSE DT which provided a useful insight into the examiners interpretation of the assessment requirements. The sharing of best practice and utilising the strengths and experience of staff throughout the school has been a priority when planning the training provisions for staff this year. Helen Stevens attended the ECIS conference ‘Designing on Purpose’ where she presented a seminar “All we do is displays”… or is it? - The role of the Teaching Assistant. Helen shared her experiences of working in a school with such a valuable resource and was able to discuss with, and learn from, colleagues from a variety of schools on how our Teaching Assistants can best be employed to improve the learning experiences of the children. Scott Allsop has been invited to present at the “Teach Meet History Icons” event in the UK in March this is an excellent opportunity for Scott and he is looking forward to gaining valuable subject specific professional development alongside the opportunity to show his expertise in the use of the internet to provide his students with revision guides through his free website that he has developed. In January the staff returned to work off the Christmas excesses with training produced in-house. A carousel of workshops was provided by staff willing to share an activity, area of expertise or interest with their colleagues. Every teacher and TA selected four workshops to attend and everyone welcomed the prospect of discussing new ideas and plan to implement the techniques they had learned.

SECONDARY ART

Secondary artwork by Derek Walker

Students within the secondary creative faculty have continued to express themselves through many materials and techniques. In Art and Design we have been busy exploring ideas from Zentangle to font design. Exam entry students in Y11-13 have been busy preparing their coursework which will be submitted for marking moderation in the UK. In DT Mr Concannon has

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been teaching resistant materials methods processes to all year groups. We are especially delighted to see the introduction of the new CIE resist materials course at exam level. It is fantastic to see the Design Technology workshop being used to its full capacity.

A R T A T B S B 61

SECONDARY POETRY

Boredom I should like to rise and go,

Where the fat lady sings.

Finding historical skeletons in lost closets stored long ago Once belonging to a man by the name of Moe.

Or simply visiting the godforsaken house at the end of the street

Eagles screeching far above

At midnight, they reawake

The conifers that I love. Perhaps I could be exploring castles, Cracking murals of no more than child’s pastels, Great spires tower above

Where the wood is rot and the roof is peat, They sing and dance and serve cake The same happens every night at the same time, Once old grandfather sings his midnight chime. I don’t care, sun or rain,

Nooks and crannies housing at least one mourning dove, Bugles blaring

In this forest, I shall remain,

Urchins daring,

Where the wolves dance

Horses carrying carriages

And the deer prance

For many irrelevant marriages.

Where I am free from reality’s grasp To

Alas, here I am as bored as the eye can see, Revising, writing, studying notes for the Bee

Despite all of this, in the real world I must stay,

When, at this moment, I could be climbing a great mangrove tree.

Held by invisible chains to keep my freedom at bay.

Sitting inside trying to focus On all of this bogus hocus-pocus, Thoughts about what I could do instead Scenarios and places flying through my head. Running on hot sand in bare feet, Upon my back with the sun’s heat. Where thunder strikes thistles, And where the wind whistles. Where bats hang their wings,

eternal happiness I will clasp.

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Kiara Y8

The return of a page I should like to rise and go,

I could journey to the craziest of places,

To the furthest corners of the earth,

where everything is upside down,

Maybe where rivers flow or mountains grow;-

where the bite of a cake can turn you into a clown,

Where the green leaves of a thousand trees,

where rabbits talk and may look like lawyers,

and the swaying of the breeze,

where the sip of a drink can turn you the size of a saucer, where

the humming of a thousand birds, fills my heart with a thousand songs, Of the nature all around the world. Under the pressure of the world above, deprived of all the sound, by the blue green blanket that dawned, on top of all around. In this place, fish fly,

frogs can fly and birds can swim. And I never had to leave the room, Because Iâ€™m barely 12, but Iâ€™ve lived a thousand times, a thousand different people at a thousand different times, through the turn of a page. Karin Y8

as the sea goes gently by;- White plains of ice and snow, where polar bears are unheard of, but penguins dance in the low glow. Half the year, basked in light, the other half, deprived of sight, in the seemingly endless night;I could go everywhere and anywhere, to the top of every mountain, to the bottom of every sea. Of all the places, down here, where rock melts and lava thrives, where it feels like you are buried alive, where the earth is red, orange and blue, with Jules Verne I travelled there;-

S E C O N D A R Y P O E T R Y 63

The Journey Of An Explorers Dream

The Flight Running, fleeing, running away As fast as I can

I sail out across the sea

Or I’ll have to pay.

Not knowing what awaits for me

Across the camp and over the gate

I struggle to find what emotion to show

Before the gunshots

And then they start to awaken and flow

Before it’s too late.

Over all of the waves, animals and such

I am a bullet

I see sand and palm trees warm to touch

Aiming straight to the head

I place my hand into the ocean blue

But my body is tired

And just admire the amazing view We step onto the island, the sand seeps through my toes I see such beautiful plants and then pick a rose

And my legs are like lead. I am nearly there With my family to rest

It smells so sweet, like honey from bees

But I can’t give up here

I stand still for a second and take in the breeze The humidity, my goodness it feels like an African summer I can almost feel the beat of a drum and its drummer Then I carry on and hike through the trees

I am trying my best. Just over the gate before the gun But is it too late? I am stuck

And realize it is all in my dreams…

I am done Ella Y7

The last things I hear are a click and a shot And now hope is gone And regret’s all I’ve got. In the house my family cry But the end is the end So here I must die. Maximilian Y8

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A life journey not to forget First time I see light,

Darkness won’t leave me...

First time I hear sound,

My parents left me today,

And everything around me seems so bright.

They were old; it was meant to be.

I was once in the sky now I reached the ground.

Where are the colours? Why can my eyes only see grey?

Talking, laughter fills the room Everybody is staring into my eyes.

I am the child who will once bloom into somebody strong and wise.

I am the child, who will once bloom

My grandchildren are all adults now,

Into somebody who’s strong and wise. From then till now five years have passed,

They are laughing, fighting. How did time pass so quickly? How?

Tomorrow is the first day of school.

All I am capable of doing is writing.

“How is it?” I asked.

No more sound,

“Just don’t forget the golden rule.” I am the child who will once bloom into somebody strong and wise. Those were the old days, I forgot them already! “Learn more!” she says.

No more light. I feel my life has drowned. Now everything around me is just plain white. I used to be the child who did once bloom into somebody strong, wise and loved. Elenis Y9

I like to take it steady. I am the child who will once bloom into somebody strong and wise. Graduating university wasn’t like going for a swim, Now everything is exciting and wild. Yes, I did marry him... I am finally going to have a child. I am the child who will once bloom into somebody strong and wise.

S E C O N D A R Y P O E T R Y 65

Journey

Joy of traveling

We start on a journey

Opening new lands

Let our travels never end

United in adventure

Keep us heading in the same direction

Reaching out to others

Let happiness be our destination

Never give up

Let us enjoy every footstep

Everybody together

And greet each other with pleasure

Young and happy

Let us find prosperity and know the true meaning of treasure.

Anna Y7

Mussavir Y7

One little drop One little drop Down she goes, Falling through the sky. With alarming speed, She splashes on the car. The little raindrop, The first of many, Tumbles to the ground. She flows to the gutter, Sliding down. Elena Y7

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I should like to I should like to rise and go,

Well what if time stopped,

Letting go of the feeling that has hurt so many others,

I wouldn’t be able to set on any new journeys,

And as I stand, collecting the few remains of me,

I’d stay with my shadows,

I want the pain to drift away,

The shadows that reflect the pain,

Removing those memories that have created a burden in my heart,

Following me everywhere I dare to go;-

But I know that only happens in the wildest dreams, In dreams all the pain fades away, You are re-born and you get the chance to write a new clean page, Although in this big, crude world, Once it’s done, it’s done, you can’t seat it again,

So what the say ‘time heals all wounds’ is true, But not in my case, Not in the case where the ones you love have left you vulnerable and useless, Useless, as if you’re already dead. Anastasia Y8

And you’re not capable of rewinding time;They say that time heals all wounds, So why can’t I just set on a new journey in time, Evolving with every breath, Leave the pain behind like the ashes of others, Re-gain my strength and courage, Dreaming is easy to do, As we know that only happens in fantasies;Well what if I’d never grow up, I’ll begin a new journey from scratch and set towards Neverland, The place where you don’t grow up, I’d see the world and its golden treasures, But I’d be alone, As the others have stepped out of this journey far behind, And as the walk out of my life without saying their goodbyes, They take a part of me, I can now foresee the crystal clear future, I’ll never be the same and whole;-

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Diary Dates Sports Day -

April 28

BSB Ball - May 20th Summer Fair - June 4th

Student Options by Gary Webster

The curriculum in England and Wales, which we loosely follow at BSB, is designed to encourage students to specialise as they progress through the school. Students in Y7-9 (which we call Key Stage 3) usually follow a programme of study that includes 14 or 15 subjects and there is no choice for students (except of course for choosing their preferred modern foreign languages). From December to February each year, students in both Y9 and Y11 make the choices that will determine the course of their education for the next few years and beyond. In Y9, students take the first important step in determining which subjects they will pursue in greater depth at GCSE and those that they will no longer study. Instead of the 14 or 15 subjects studied at KS3, students will reduce this number to (usually) 9 or 10 subjects for Y10 and 11 – which we call KS4. In addition to the compulsory subjects of English, Maths and Physical Education, students must choose 5 options subjects and a Modern Foreign Language. This reduction of the number of subjects allows for much more in-depth study of each chosen subject and, of course, this deeper knowledge of each subject is tested at the end of Y11 through the IGCSE exams.

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As they come to the end of Y11, students must once again make decisions about the subjects they intend to continue with in KS5 (i.e. Y12 and 13). At this stage, students specialise to an even greater degree – students entering Y12 usually choose four options subjects and this then reduces again to three in Y13. Of course, the depth of study is even greater for AS and A2 qualifications than for IGCSE qualifications and there is significant overlap in the material covered in Y13 with the material covered during the first year of many university courses. Through this process of increasing specialisation, students are equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding of their chosen subjects to pursue their intended career goals at universities around the world – and of course students will specialise even further at this stage by choosing to study for a single-honours degree (or in some cases a jointhonours degree). One of the major strengths of the BSB curriculum is the ability to offer students a wide range of courses at both IGCSE and A level. This personalisation of education means that students are able to take the courses that interest them most, that will enable them to succeed the highest level and which will enable them to pave the way to achieving their career aspirations.

Return to the Podium: Debating Champions once more! by Elisabeth Citron

Six BSB students from Y12 and Y13 attended the annual Winston Churchill Debating competition at the end of last term. As every year, the competition unites teams from schools across Bucharest and Cluj in an exciting day of debating. Our team immediately impressed the judges in the first prepared round against ISB, presenting persuasive arguments on the topic of mandatory migrant quotas in the EU. The next two rounds involved impromptu debates on motions such as the banning of speeches inspiring hatred and the role of creativity in education. With quick-fire questioning skills at the fore, the BSB team had no trouble defeating the opposition.

The Final took place in the evening and last yearâ€™s winners, IBSB, proved most worthy adversaries. The motion chosen by the visiting judges was that performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in all sports. As the Proposition team, BSB presented original and convincing arguments in favour of an equal playing field in sport and IBSB fought back as best they could. In the end however, the mighty BSB team won over the judges and were victorious. It was a fitting last competition for our longest serving debater, Filippo, although I am sure that his debating days are far from over. We are extremely proud of our amazing senior debating team and look forward to more competitions for all our debaters in the future.

MUSIC

Music Department by Jim Pywell

Now in her third year at BSB, music teacher Sally Clark talks to Newsblast about how the department is gradually growing. At my last international school, in Nairobi, Kenya, I arrived to discover that there was already a 50 year tradition of musicmaking and a large department with 9 staff and dozens of pupils taking musical instrument lessons. BSB provided a different challenge: how do you make a small department grow? I think the first sign of a healthy music department is having lots of pupils playing in extra-curricular music activities like orchestras and bands, at all levels from beginner to advanced. It is through that practical type of music-making that children learn transferable skills which benefit them for their entire lives – teamwork, cooperation, coordination, time management, concentration, discipline, perseverance and so on. But to make that happen, you first need to have a good number of children learning to play musical instruments. Although BSB offers individual musical instrument tuition after school, there were none taking these lessons except in piano and violin when I arrived. As a department we had the idea of giving every child the chance to try a musical instrument in class, during classroom music time. This replicates what has been going on in many schools in Britain for the past 15 years: the “Wider Opportunities” music education initiative that grew out of a UK government pledge in 2001 that every school child should have the opportunity of learning an instrument. It is also the standard system in most American schools – music lessons in school time are whole-class bands. Starting from September 2014, every child in Y7 at BSB has had the chance to try out different instruments – these include flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, violin, ukulele and cello. This is done by working in groups on a rota with specialist instrumental teachers. Once they have tried all these instruments, the pupils choose which one they like best and continue with it for a few weeks in a beginners’ class orchestra, so that they experience what it really feels like to play in a group.

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They learn basics like how to hold the instrument properly, how to read some simple notes and rhythms and to make sounds correctly, how to play sounds together following a conductor, and how to practise individually by themselves to improve their skill. Now that two sets of Y7s have had this chance, they are beginning to take part in the extra-curricular school orchestras and other music clubs. Some are also now renting instruments from school and taking up individual tuition. Learning a musical instrument requires a lot of discipline and concentration from the child, but it is also very rewarding. The greatest reward is when they get to make music with other people, because they then connect and communicate in a unique way that just isn’t possible in drama, art, sports or in any other subject. We hope that the department will continue to grow in the future, as the current Y7s and Y8s inspire younger children lower down the school to take up musical instruments.

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The importance of extending the curriculum through CCAs by Gary Webster

Co-Curricular Activities (or CCAs) are a major feature of the curriculum at BSB. Students are presented with a variety of opportunities to develop a range of personal and interpersonal skills that add to their academic development, such as leadership and teamwork, self-reliance and resilience. One of the new CCAs offered to students this year is linked to the school’s participation in the ‘F1 in Schools’ competition. This is a fabulous experience from students which ultimately will lead to a team of students representing BSB at the World Finals, which take place at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, USA. The challenges involved in this are diverse: students have to form a team, develop a business plan to fund their team, design and build a car using a range of engineering and aerodynamic concepts and ultimately race their creation against teams from around the world. Padraig Concannon, the DT teacher who is overseeing the project – not ‘leading’ it as students are expected to lead themselves – has given us the following update on the progress being made by the students. The F1 in Schools project has continued to progress well at BSB over the past few months. Two teams are currently undertaking the challenge, which, centred on the premise of a mock F1 team,

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requiring the students to utilise a wide range of design and technical skills. Currently, the participants are getting to grips with the technical software utilised in the competition. The F1 in Schools CCA, ran by the Creative faculty, is engaged in exploring AutoDesk Inventor, an industry standard, 3D parametric modelling software. The software requires great patience and diligence to master, and the early signs from our young designers in their progress and proficiency are encouraging. The CCA also offers the teams to discuss the finer points of the competition, such as designing official team apparel, a team logo, producing a publicity strategy and looking at the aesthetics details of the car, including decals and livery. Over the coming weeks and months, the participants will become familiar with the more advanced components of the design cycle, such as testing using our scale wind tunnel and smokeinterference tunnel, along with using 3D printers and CNC routers to produce models and test cars. We hope that, one day in the not-too-distant future, we could be watching a Formula 1 race knowing that one of the engineers, aerodynamicists, designers or team principals started their involvement in F1 right here at BSB – anything is possible.

Enterprise Club & Dragons Den Competition by Gordon Robertson

Members of the Enterprise Club put their Business ideas into practice at the Artisan Fair just before the Christmas break. The students also managed to raise some money for charity. It was nice to see three groups of students of all ages solving problems, working together and having a lot of fun. Adrian and Luca from Y7 sourced their own ingredients to make and sell their legendary waffles which proved to be very popular amongst the BSB community. Nizhoni and Elena, also from Y7 sold their own sweets. Alexandra and Ana from Y12 and Julia from Y11 sold cakes, muffins and scones that they produced themselves. It was nice to see our students making their contribution to local charities in the area. BSB has also held its Dragons Den Competition. Students were required to come up with an innovative business idea and pitch

it to a panel of judges (dragons). It was a privilege to see so many students take part in the competition. Some of the ideas that were presented from our Y7s included: Eve who came up with the idea of a consequence application, Santiago and Daniel designed a language translator headset, Nizhoni and Elena sourced their own materials, designed and produced their own cuddly toys. I was very impressed with the way students delegated tasks between each other and worked as part of an effective team. Four of the entries will be selected to represent the school in The Bucharest Inter-School Dragons Den Competition which will be hosted by BSB on the 9th April. I would also like to thank Simon Lambert and Clare Hooper for helping to judge the entries.

HUMANITIES

Humanities Week 2016 by Scott Allsop

Students spent the week engaging in focused projects throughout all their Humanities lessons. They relished the chance to immerse themselves in extended tasks that encouraged the use of all the skills they have developed throughout their History, Geography and World Religions lessons. Y7 and Y8 students researched, wrote, and filmed a sketch in the style of the Horrible Histories television show. A particular challenge was turning their research into an entertaining yet still factually accurate script, which they filmed on their iPads and edited using the Mac Suite and iMovie. Some groups took advantage of the January snow to stage events such as the first ascent of Everest and the Battle of Stalingrad, while others used the green screen walls in our Learning Labs to incorporate special effects in the background of their films. One group even travelled to Bran Castle to film their sketch about the life of Vlad Ţepeş, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler. We were very fortunate that Greg Jenner, the historical consultant for the Horrible Histories TV series, agreed to judge the final entries. Greg has won a BAFTA for his work on Horrible Histories, and so had high expectations! He said: The students have shown a fantastic array of skills, in performance, writing and technical film-making - they should be applauded for making me laugh and keeping my interest all the way through. Greg awarded first prize to Emilia, Vlad and Reem in Y8C who won Horrible Histories annuals and books. He also highly

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commended Ella, Julia and Elena (7R) and Jo-Andri, Dana and Paloma Y7S. While Y7 and Y8 were creating their Horrible Histories, Y9 and Y10 produced work for the Geographical Association’s Outstanding Geography Awards. Students created proposals for either building a new adventure tourism centre or developing sustainable energy in the Azores. Their work built on classwork the students have already completed this year. This project required detailed and focused investigation and research prior to writing the final proposal. Students needed to consider a range of factors for each of the two project options in order to provide clear justifications for their choices. The best entries were judged by Geography teacher Jo Mattingley-Nunn. The joint projects by Ioannis and Mansoor, Miruna and Ema, and Pia and Hauen were considered to be the best, and have been sent to the Geographical Association in the UK for final judging. These students now stand the chance of being awarded the ‘Outstanding Geography Student Award’, and winning a trip to the Azores! In addition to the classroom projects, students from across the Secondary School took part in a Humanities Week House Competition in which they identified locations of key geographical, historical or religious features. There was an excellent turn-out for this event, with Mures taking first place by two points. Lunchtimes also feature a range of Humanities-related board games in the library, which saw many students battling competitively over the creation of timelines and maps of Europe.

4th - 29th July 2016 42 Erou Iancu Nicolae Str. | summerschool@britishschool.ro Like us on facebook.com/BritishSchoolBucharest Follow us on twitter.com/britishschoolro www.britishschool.ro 81

BISAC and beyond - why being part of team sports is so important by Mark Hooper

If you want your child to grow up to be a confident and welladjusted adult, then team sports may well be the answer. The following list highlights just some of the many positive elements that being part of a team sport can develop. • Team sports provide students with important lessons on personal values. • Students who play team sports are less likely to feel isolated. • Team sports can encourage parents to become active with their kids. • Team sports help students deal with winning and losing. • Team sports can help students overcome shyness. When you play a team sport you learn that it doesn’t just come down to the best player, It comes down to working as a team, accepting decisions and understanding that people have different abilities. Playing a team sport provides students with important lessons in personal values, students learn that things aren’t going to go their way all the time, and that they need to respect their peers as well as referees and sports officials. Team sports can also be good for a child’s mental health. Children who play team sports learn how to be more resilient when presented with a setback, and are less likely to feel isolated. Society puts a lot of pressure on students to be more academic, but there is evidence to suggest that physical activity might increase numeracy and literacy. It’s like the saying, a healthy body, equals a healthy mind. BISAC aims to provide students at BSB with the opportunity to take part in both team and individual sports and as with any sports programme it takes time to develop and nurture. A successful programme relies on a large student uptake, good quality coaching and the opportunity to play competitively. Presently at BSB we are focusing on getting as many students involved as possible in order to foster enthusiasm and interest for the activities. The focus sport for Term 2 has been basketball and our teams have competed admirably against AISB and ISB. There have been some great victories notably against AISB with the U11 boys and U14 girls, however all teams have been well supported and the real success is the large number of students that are experiencing basketball for the first time. Hopefully we have managed to spark an interest which will develop into a passion.

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Over the next few years in all BISAC sports we aim to improve the amount and quality of coaching; however at this stage it is important that we celebrate the student’s participation regardless of the result. Having completed the basketball season the coaches have nominated the following players as either being the most improved or indeed the most valuable player in each team. U9 Boys Basketball Most improved player – Fares Most valuable player – Yehia U9 Girls Basketball Most improved player – Veska Most valuable player – Tessel U11 Boys Basketball Most improved player – David Most valuable player – Dave U11 Girls Basketball Most improved player – Maryum Most valuable player – Ana-Maria U14 Boys Basketball Most improved player –Ioannis Most valuable player – Saif U14 Girls Basketball Most improved player – Emma Most valuable player – Elena U18 Boys Basketball Most improved player – Joe Most valuable player – Andrei U18 Girls Basketball Most improved player – Jenny Most valuable player – Harriet Many thanks to the staff that gave up their valuable time to coach and train the basketball teams –Tom Smith, Yvonne Williams, Alex Coope, Tobias Davis, and Alex Baines. Being part of a team is vital for a student’s development. Join a sports CCA and train to play in the BISAC team.

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CHARITIES

Shoebox Trip to Casa Ioana by Dorothea Draser

On the 14th December, Charity reps and student volunteers from Y5 to Y12 delivered 30 shoe boxes to Casa Ioana along with a large variety of individual donations. They had the chance to meet the children and mothers who live in Casa Ioana’s social centre in district 4. The centre shelters people at risk from domestic abuse.

Mr. Ian Tilling, the director of the social centre, gave the students a tour of the building. The highlight of the visit was, of course, handing out the presents and seeing the beautiful smiles these brought on the faces of the children.

Shoebox Trip to Fundaţia Inocenţi by Cezar Rozmus

On the 15th of December Mr. Rozmus and 5 students from Y9 and Y10 went to a Romanian High School to share Christmas presents with children from the Fundaţia Inocenţi. The students helped Moş Crăciun (Santa Clause) to give shoe boxes full of presents that had been prepared by the students and families at the BSB. The atmosphere was very festive and joyful. The children

performed first and then all together they shouted for Father Christmas to come! Our students called out children’s names and then passed the presents on to Santa who gave them to children. It was a good experience for our students and all of the children.

Shoebox Trip to Don Orione by Dorothea Draser

Centrul Don Orione, a residential and day care facility for disabled children and young adults is a charity which is very close to BSB’s heart. Over the years, many of our students have donated their time to brightening the lives of these disadvantaged children by visiting them after school on Mondays and making activities and playing games. When the Student Council launched its annual Shoebox Appeal, our student volunteers helped to draft a list of suitable items for each child at Don Orione, depending on their needs and likes – making sure

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that each child received a gift which was suitable to them and personalised. The BSB community responded tremendously and every child at Don Orione had a Christmas box to open. Dilara in Y12 visited the centre and shared a festive meal with the children on Christmas day, after which the children opened their long anticipated gifts, which had been decorating the area around the Christmas tree since our visit in mid-December.

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CRAZY HAIR DAY

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