@BSB NewLook magazine
December 2017
Congratulate Rebecca & Saeyeoun
New Primary Art Studio Planet BSB
INNOVATION HUB Café of Cultures PLUS HEADMASTER’S WELCOME | PRIMARY SCHOOL REVIEW | SECONDARY SCHOOL REVIEW | FUN & ENTERTAINMENT AND LOTS LOTS MORE! @BSB December 2017 v5 PRINT.indd 1
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Welcome from the headmaster Philip Walters Headmaster
@philip_w
I am a passionate believer that invaluable and irreplaceable learning takes place outside the classroom on fieldtrips, visits, service in the community, outdoor education trips, year group expeditions and work experience placements. “It is in the field where acting locally becomes thinking globally” (Professor Lord May, Former President of the Royal Geographical Society). This may range from encouraging young people to value local environments on a geography fieldtrip leading to the consideration of broader sustainability and biodiversity issues, to valuing other members of society whilst engaged in local community service encouraging consideration of inequities alongside social responsibility. Further benefits appear clear to me in terms of individual growth and improved social skills developed from the challenge of an overnight stay. Perhaps less apparent though is that work outside the classroom tends to generate higher order and active learning opportunities which lead to learning that “sticks” due to the nature of the fieldwork setting. All this is of course
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WE ARE COMMITTED TO FURTHER DEVELOPING THE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES THAT OCCUR OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM SPACES. coupled with the obvious benefit of shared memories between friends. I have heard it said that one lesson outdoors is worth seven inside - the value is evident to me. This term has seen the greatest number of students ever going on International Award trips for their Bronze and Silver awards; the drama students visiting Belgrade for the ISTA theatre trip; a Geography and Biology fieldtrip to the Danube Delta; a huge number of trips in and around Bucharest for the pupils in Primary; a University course where pupils, with the help of parent volunteers, cook meals each week that are then frozen and delivered to Casa Speranta; the Reception children involved on a daily basis with the preparation of the break time snack. The latter two of these are outstanding examples of active and practical learning and the opportunities that they present for our children have been embraced by the continued commitment of all of our teaching staff. Our overt service activities such as Don Orione, Fundatia Inocenti and Planet BSB are tremendous opportunities for all our
students to develop leadership, strength of character and a myriad of other skills. Several of these activities have strong student numbers and I commend all the students involved and thank our teachers for ensuring such opportunities are prevalent at BSB. We are committed to further developing the learning opportunities that occur outside the classroom spaces. It is an essential component of education as there can surely be no substitute for “real-world� learning. In the coming months we will be inspected by the International Schools Inspectorate and I am convinced that what the inspectors will discover is an environment where students thrive and are encouraged to discover for themselves the wonderful array of opportunities that exist for them within the confines of our campus and in the wider world outside.
I wish you all a successful and exciting year.
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Events ----IN SCHOOL----
A busy term at BSB has seen visits from the Corps of Drums from the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, two of Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes, local booksellers and, of course, our growing family of owls!
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Toddler Group The British School of Bucharest’s Toddler Group takes place every Monday morning during term time in the school’s NUPEH Hall, from 09.00 until 11.00. All Mums and Dads are welcome to bring their little ones aged newborn upwards, and it is a great way to start the week! The Toddler Group is a fun morning - not just for entertaining our little ones, but for us parents too. It is a fabulous way of meeting new people over a cup of coffee or tea provided by the school, and getting to know various activities to do with children around Bucharest or events taking place. This special morning consists of four parts. Firstly, we start with a different seasonal craft activity each week. Playdough, puzzles and toys are available to play with simultaneously for the younger children. After craft and play time, the children are invited to sit down for a ‘yummy’ snack prepared by one of the parents. At the beginning of each term, parents are invited to sign up on the Facebook site to provide snack on the date which works best for them.
After snack time, a parent reads a book to the children, and then follows the real fun of the morning: ‘Tick Tock’ time which is a nursery rhymes medley. The children especially love this part of the morning and get very enthusiastic performing the actions for rhymes such as, the ‘Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ and having a dance to the ‘Hokey Cokey’ and ‘Sleeping Bunnies’. It can be quite a workout for the parents, too! It is not just the parents and children enjoying the sing and dance along, some of the older school children and teachers have been known to join in too, walking through the Hall on the way to classes! It is a really enjoyable morning with parents and children alike feeling energised after such a active morning. We are always happy to take in new members, so please do come by and join in. For more information, please go to our Facebook page to sign up - BSB Toddler Group.
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REBECCA Congratulations to Rebecca who came 8th out of 115 competitors for her age group in the National Swimming Competition in Bacau. Her performances included a 5th place in the 50m backstroke and a bronze medal in the 50m medley relay. As a result of her performances throughout the season she was placed 1st amongst swimmers from Bucharest
BSB Congratulates saeyEoun
Congratulations to Saeyeoun in Y6 who designed this year’s BSB Christmas card
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Primary REVIEW
Primary enrichment - the value of failure
As adults, we acknowledge that the valuable lessons we have learned through our mistakes have not only helped us to develop our strength of character and resilience, but have also had a significant impact on the way we now make decisions or solve problems. We will sometimes recall some of our more epic childhood failures with fondness, in spite of the frustration or despair we may have felt at the time, while others can be remembered with resentment or regret. But what is it that distinguishes these learning experiences from one another? Jerome Bruner, an American psychologist whose work on cognitive development in the mid to late 20th Century has had tremendous influence on modern day pedagogy and curriculum theory, might suggest that one factor will have made all of the difference - intervention by an adult or another more experienced individual. Building on Lev Vygotsky’s ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ or “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers” ,
Bruner suggested that when children begin to learn new or unfamiliar concepts, they require additional support or ‘scaffolding’ from adults, which is then gradually reduced as the child gains confidence and proficiency . Herein lies an opportunity to turn a moment of potential frustration into perseverance, creating the opportunity for new learning beyond that which the child is initially capable. With the help of an adult, children can be encouraged to look beyond the initial challenge and garner the hope that a solution can be found, particularly if expertise can be shared. At BSB, we support Bruner’s assertion that children should “experience success and failure not as reward and punishment, but as information.” We believe that mistakes, if handled appropriately, can provide valuable springboards for learning as children implement strategies for solving problems and overcoming obstacles. A prime example of this was our Enrichment Day in November, during which children from the EYFS through Year 6 were asked to design their own Rube Goldberg Machines using everyday classroom resources. Children were shown a range of clips of successful machines to help stimulate
their thinking, and each group engaged in discussions surrounding the likelihood of experiencing multiple failures and the opportunities that might emerge from these. We were delighted to see the enthusiasm with which the children approached every aspect of the challenge, as well as the resilience with which they tackled each ‘miss’ or malfunction. The children’s cheers and sighs could be heard around school throughout the day, and it was pleasure to see the high standard of cooperation and collaboration they displayed as they worked alongside their classmates and other students in their key stages. At the end of the day in their assemblies, children spoke with positivity about their experience, sharing what they had learned and describing the range of emotions they had felt, from frustration to elation. Most agreed that, in fact, something very beneficial had come from their series of flops and missteps and all of them were proud to celebrate their many successes with each other and with staff. We look forward to seeing more of this as the academic year presses on, as we continue to focus on refining our skills in enquiry and learning to think ‘scientifically’. Remember, whether our next failure is viewed as a defeat or an opportunity is up to us!
1. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p. 86 2. Wheeler, Steve. Learning Theories: Jerome Bruner On The Scaffolding Of Learning (https://www.teachthought.com/learning/learning-theories-jerome-bruner-scaffolding-learning/). 2012. 3. Kohn, Alfie. What Do Kids Really Learn from Failure? (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alfie-kohn/what-do-kids-really-learn_b_1936002.html). 2012 4. See link for more information: https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-rube-goldberg-machine
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EXPERIENCE SUCCESS AND FAILURE NOT AS REWARD AND PUNISHMENT, BUT AS INFORMATION. Victoria Smith Head of Primary
2012.
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Creative
Pre-Nursery classes
First Term
By Raina Myson
This first term has been fun packed and enjoyable, even the TA’s agree on that one. We started this term by looking at the book Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell. The book is about three little owls waiting for their mother to return home. This book teaches children about their emotions, as the owl babies experience a range of emotions while waiting for their mother to return. We incorporated this book into our classroom topic by creating an owl display that can be seen in our classroom. The children were very excited about this topic as many of them had not previously heard the story of Sarah, Percy, and Bill. As we were nearing the end of this topic it was discovered that we had a family of owls in the trees in Ringwood. This created a magical atmosphere as the children were able to see real owls in the wild.
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LEARNING ABOUT OURSELVES IN
Nursery By Priscilla Varban
This term the students in PRV have been learning about themselves and each other during our ‘We’re different, we’re the same’ topic and about various holidays such as Halloween, Bonfire Night, Thanksgiving and Christmas during our ‘Celebrations’ topic that we covered in the second half term before the winter holiday. The children have all worked very hard at recognising their names and some are able to even recognise
those of their friends. We also explored our likes and dislikes and shared our lovely family photos with our classmates and teachers. Miss Adriana, Mrs Andreea and myself would like to take this chance and thank all of our class parents for their fabulous support and understanding and we want to wish everyone happy holidays and a wonderful start to the new year. We look forward to seeing everyone in January.
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WONDERFUL LEARNING IN
Reception By Jenna Batson and Katherine Dibble
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IT HAS BEEN ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL TERM IN RECEPTION. Over the past term there has been some wonderful learning happening in the Reception classrooms. The children have been focusing on learning all about the world around us and how things change during the year depending on the season. We shared the wonderful book ‘Home’ by Jeannie Baker and then had a go at creating our own representations of a chosen view from around school. The children will continue to make observations throughout the course of the year, learning to identify the different things that each season brings. Following on from this, we then introduced the children to the story of ‘Hairy Maclary.’ The children had a fabulous time learning all about the different household pets that we could have and how best to care for them. We were very lucky to have a few furry visitors this term, starting with ‘Clifford’ the guide dog and then some friendly bunnies. The children finished their learning by adapting and innovating the story to make their very own versions which they had great fun acting out with their classmates. It has been another successful term in Reception.
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New Primary
Art Studio By Cheryl-Anne Baker
Imagine an extraordinary room, full to the brim with all sorts of wonderful art equipment, where you can create to your hearts’ content… If that sounds like something your child would enjoy, then you will be delighted to learn about the new Art studio that has been opened for Primary pupils! In the Art room, pupils and teachers have direct access to a wealth of resources, tools and equipment. It is organised with children in mind, so that they are able to choose and locate what they need independently, whether it is paint, modelling tools or graphite. There are large sinks for the messier projects, big tables, huge drying racks and an exit that leads directly outside – perfect for al fresco painting on one of the easels!
I LIKE USING THE ART ROOM BECAUSE WHEN I GO IN, EVERYTHING I NEED IS RIGHT THERE AND I AM SURROUNDED BY ART SUPPLIES – AND I LOVE ART! Nicolas, Y6
Children also have the opportunity to work with a range of tools and materials that they may have not worked with before: batik baths full of wax and tjanting tools to make beautiful patterns on fabric; or lino cutting tools to make intricate, multi-layered prints. And, judging by what I have heard from pupils, they love the chance to try new challenges!
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Getting to know each other in
Year 1
By Emma Sauer and Rachel Eglinton
In Y1 we have started the school year getting to know each other and developing our friendships. We have been participating in circle times and group games in order to get to know each other better, and finding out about our classmates likes and dislikes. This term we have learnt about how to be good learners. This has involved the children learning and keeping the Golden Rules so that they can work together in a safe, secure and enjoyable environment. These child-friendly rules are specifically created to develop the children’s personal and social skills as they learn to acknowledge and respect the thoughts and feelings of others. We encourage the children to listen carefully, always have kind hands and feet, share and take care of each other, as well as their belongings, to develop their independence throughout the year. In Y1 we have completed lots of activities in order to develop our skills of learning. We have learnt that to be a good learner we need to be ready to ‘have a go’, ‘keep on trying’, ‘problem solve’, and ‘learn from our mistakes.’ We have enjoyed sharing Traditional Tales and doing a range of activities linked to these tales. We have drawn dragons and made castles in Art. In Science, we have been studying materials and have made a non-fiction book on materials in our English lessons. We had our first Field Trip this term, which was an enjoyable day in Herastrau Park. Here, we played ring games and did various Mathematics activities before sharing a picnic lunch together.
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Habitats around the world
Year 2
By Adam Pegrum and Ann-Marie Isaac
During the first week of term, Y2 spent a fantastic day exploring the different animals at Baneasa Zoo. This trip acted as a hook to get the children excited about this term’s topic. The children loved finding out about the continents and habitats that are home to a variety of animals. This research helped the children develop their understanding of the important role habitats play in relation to Science and Geography. Further links to our visit were made during English lessons with the children producing a fact file of their chosen animal. In addition to our research at the zoo, the children spent time in the Key Stage 2 library developing their research skills in order to retrieve information. Our English lessons have also focused on fables. Having researched a variety of different fables the children planned and wrote their fables. This piece of creative writing challenged the children to focus on using correct punctuation, adjectives, and conjunctions. Y2 love to take our learning outside, further work in Science saw the children searching the school site for things that have been alive, have never been alive and things that are dead. Using magnifying glasses, the children went in search of micro-habitats. Much fun was had inspecting under stones and exploring the Science Garden for traces of where mini-beasts live. We have been very impressed with the mature approach the children have taken to the continuous provision activities that they have been set. Some fantastic artwork has been completed using crayon, paint, and pastel. This was evident during our History topic ‘The Great Fire of London’ where the children recreated images of the devastation caused, using pastel. Our Computing lessons have been approached enthusiastically. Using BeeBots the children have developed their coding skills and were up to the task of moving the machine through a maze. Our work during DT has focused on becoming more independent whilst cooking and designing and building a bug hotel for the Rewilding Garden.
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Roaming and Romans
Year 3
By Alex Baines and Natalie Pitchley
The children in Y3 have made a great start to the new academic year! They have been getting to know their new teachers, new routines, even finding their way around a new building! It’s all been very exciting. Our first topic this year was ‘Wonderful World’, where we looked at a variety of countries from across the globe. We learnt about how our planet is made of human and physical features that can be identified when using a variety of different map types. The children developed their culinary skills, creating delicious delicacies that included covrigei, pizza and a stir-fry. During this half-term, we were fortunate to visit the Natural History Museum, where the children learnt about the wide variety of animals and the different habitats that exist in the countries we had studied. After half-term, we changed topics and focused on the Romans. The children were delighted to meet a real-life Roman (thank you Mr Allsop) who they were able to ask a wide range of interesting questions to develop their learning. We designed and made Roman-inspired catapults! The children enjoyed the opportunity to use the Design Technology suite, to measure, saw, glue and then test and improve their designs. The resulting contraptions struck fear into
plastic-cup castles across the land. The children loved the opportunity to learn about what life was like in Ancient Roman by exploring the many Roman artefacts we have available to us at school. They especially enjoyed looking at the different mosaics the Romans left behind, using this excitement we decided to design and make our mosaics. It has been great to see the children embrace our optional ‘Takeaway Homework’, we have had a wonderful collection of farms, Roman shields and Roman coins. As the term came to a close, we started preparing for our Christmas Production, ‘Christmas is Forever’ a James Bond themed Christmas extravaganza. The children worked hard, learning lines sorting costumes and bringing to life our script. The children produced an amazing show, wowing the audience with their acting and singing. We all agree that we are going to have a thrilling time in Y3 this year and we are looking forward to the continuation of our learning journey into next term, with more fun and excitement to come!
THE CHILDREN LOVED THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE IN ANCIENT ROME BY EXPLORING THE MANY ROMAN ARTEFACTS.
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Fantasy Factories and Ancient Artefacts
Year 4 By Morwenna Hurst
Inspired by our love of the Roald Dahl classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we decided to find out more about where our food really comes from. We visited a real chocolate factory, which turned out to be far more hygienic and far less dangerous than Willy Wonka’s! We used our visit to give us ideas for our own story writing, imagining the people we could have met and all of the crazy things that we could have seen while we were visiting the Heidi factory. Roald Dahl would have been proud of our off-the-wall ideas. In our Science lessons, we were experimenting with changing the state of different materials from solids to liquids and from liquids to gases. We discovered that it was very easy to turn chocolate from a solid into a liquid and back again. This gave us a great idea. We could be just like Willy Wonka and create our own super-scrumptious chocolate bar. We carried out market research to decide what flavours we should use then used what we had learnt about melting and cooling chocolate to mould our bars. We even made wrappers to ensure that our bars would appeal to children all over the world. In the second half of this term, we have been developing our enquiry skills through a range of History studies. We already knew a little bit about the Ancient Egyptians
but we discovered that there were other civilisations living in other parts of the world at the same time. When we placed these cultures alongside other historical events on a timeline, we were amazed to find out that some of them lasted for more than 3000 years and, in this time, achieved some great things. But how do we know so much about how these civilisations lived? For one exciting afternoon, Y4 became archaeologists, searching for artefacts and using what we found to give us clues about the skills and the beliefs of the people who made them. One of the main discoveries we made was that the Ancient Egyptians believed in many Gods, some of which we had already heard of. We decided to invent some Gods of our own, using features of the real Egyptian Gods. When we were finished, we wrote stories explaining how our Gods received their powers or how they used them to protect the people of Ancient Egypt. But there is so much more to know about Ancient Egypt. It was time for the children to take over! After carefully choosing a topic they were interested in, they researched interesting facts and figures. They then became the teachers and presented their new expertise to the rest of the class. It’s hard work being a teacher but great fun was had by all!
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YEAR 4 BECAME ARCHAEOLOGISTS, SEARCHING FOR ARTEFACTS AND USING WHAT WE FOUND TO GIVE US CLUES ABOUT THE SKILLS AND THE BELIEFS OF THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THEM.
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THANKSGIVING IN
Year 5
By Rebecca Doganay and Karen Cojocaru
Y5 have had a very busy first term full of lots of hard work and fun activities. The year started with an introduction to the secondary science lab followed by lots of investigative work involving materials as well as our batik work in Art and a barbeque. In the second half of the term Y5 looked at North America, this included applying Maths skills to find highest and lowest point in the continent, enquiry skills to find out about a country within North America and English skills to write recipes which were then used to make a Thanksgiving meal for some special guests. The highlight of the term has to be our visits to the American and Canadian Embassies. We are looking forward to the second term.
THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TERM HAS TO BE OUR VISITS TO THE AMERICAN AND CANADIAN EMBASSIES.
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World War One Remembered in Year 6
Year 6
By Jenny Whiteman and Cheryl Baker
World War One has been our topic in Y6 this term and we have enjoyed learning all about life in the trenches and the home front. We have studied a variety of sources of evidence in order to learn about the use of propaganda in recruitment and we even had a visit from a ‘real’ officer in the army. He was able to answer all our interesting questions and share stories about the War. Another highlight was our visit to the Bucharest War Cemetery where we used enquiry questions to find out about the memorial. We were able to consider Romania’s role in the wars and how important it is to remember our fallen soldiers. In English we wrote some excellent war poems using interesting vocabulary and we have also been writing instructions. Our teachers gave us recipes for authentic food from World War One, but unfortunately they were not very good! We needed to improve the instructions so that we could follow them to make the World War One delicacies. We had great fun cooking and making mistakes but ended up with some detailed and easy to follow recipes. We used De Bono’s thinking hats to develop our enquiry skills too. We studied paintings and art depicting the role of women on the home front and used the thinking hats to come up with questions. We considered the
IN ENGLISH WE WROTE SOME EXCELLENT WAR POEMS USING INTERESTING VOCABULARY. facts in the images, the feelings depicted, the benefits of the role of women changing and also how the women needed to be cautious. This activity helped us to deepen our understanding and we look forward to using them further in our work. The culmination of our topic on World War One was our Remembrance assembly. We used authentic letters from the National Archives to tell the story of the Accrington Pals who fought and died together on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. We enjoyed learning our songs and using poetry to tug on the audience’s heart strings! It was a great success!
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Using the
Outdoor space to enhance learning
By Rachel Eglinton Is a mediocre outdoor lesson better than a great indoor lesson? We’ve recently introduced “Thunks” to engage the children in deeper thinking and I have used this one when talking to them about their Outdoor Learning experiences. All the children I have spoken to have commented on how much they love learning outside and would like more opportunities. The weather has been the only negative factor. There are areas at BSB to shelter from the sun, the wind, and the rain but perhaps instead, the weather should be embraced. I agree with the parent who recently told me there is no wrong weather, only wrong clothes. Evie in 2P. “I like the fresh air outside and it feels like you’re playing games, but you’re actually learning. Inside is more boring.” Ana-Catinca in 5C. “You feel different. There is more space. You can feel the story. There is inspiration.” Eli in 2I. ‘It is more better for your health, and exercise is good for your heart. It goes faster.” Here are a selection of Outdoor Learning examples from this term:
Maths Y2 have searched the playgrounds for 2D shapes. Following this, they created shapes using found materials and described the properties. Being outside, added breadth and interest to the learning.
English The outdoors was used to stimulate the written work of Y5. They used the campus to compose sentences about what they could see. Using a relative pronoun the sentences were linked. The children enjoyed the freedom to explore the outdoor space to look for inspiration. Moreover, they were enthused by the grammar lesson to write further sentences in class. There is a rectangle green pitch, where the older boys play football tirelessly. I can see Ana, who is walking towards the magnificently tall treehouse.
Science The Science garden and Rewilding Zone have been visited frequently by Y1, in order to observe seasonal changes. This month they clearly saw the difference between evergreen and deciduous trees. The children
created beautiful Autumnal collages with their photos, using an Ipad App. The learning was authentic and the children will more fully appreciate each season by witnessing it first-hand.
History Y4 plotted a timeline on along a path, prior to learning about the Egyptians. Using the outdoor space gave children a sense of perspective as the long, chalked timeline physically portrayed the reign of four civilisations. The children were amazed at how long the Egyptians were around for, compared to the Romans.
Playtime Each Key Stage 2 class in turn, has prepared a game or activity for children at playtime. Y5 have identified some skills they developed inadvertently, which will be useful in any task: planning, informing others, working together, problem solving and controlling emotions. And finally, I will conclude with three words that have repeatedly been referred to when children have described their outdoor lessons:
Fun. Freedom. Fresh air.
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University This year the University programme has been developed to further encourage students to broaden their enrichment experiences. All University choices now fall under three different categories and children are expected to choose options from each of these over a two year period. The University categories are: • Self-Development and Personal Challenge • Arts and Creative Development • School Service and Community Enrichment
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EACH OF THESE CATEGORIES OPEN UP OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO LEARN NEW SKILLS, AS WELL AS DEVELOP KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING IN AREAS BEYOND THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM. Each of these categories open up opportunities for students to learn new skills, as well as develop knowledge and understanding in areas beyond the National Curriculum. Furthermore, the latter category emphasises the importance of working for the benefit of others, whether this is to support those less fortunate than ourselves, or to improve the community we belong to in some way or another.
which is currently run successfully in Secondary. Like the Sports Leaders Award, the children learned about effective leadership and the skills and practicalities that need to be considered when organising games and activities for younger children. Now that these students have their Play Maker qualification, the aim is to provide opportunities for them to lead small events in EYFS and KS1.
Cards for Charity was a very popular course for our Y2, 3 and 4 children run by AnaMaria Marin and Cassandra Morgan. The children worked extremely hard, carefully making a range of high quality Christmas cards to be sold at the Artisan Fair, in order to raise money for charity. Many of the cards would not have looked out of place in a real card shop.
Silvia Schernthaner-Leitner and school parents Jo Kenney and Lucy Ramsden ran BSB Bistro, and although this is not a new course, this term the focus was quite different. Instead of cooking for themselves, the aim of the course was to plan and prepare dishes that could be frozen and delivered to the hospice Casa Sperantei. From there they were delivered to families who are less fortunate than us and in need of support. Some of the dishes that were produced included: fish pie, macaroni cheese and goulash. This was extremely successful and the children appreciated the difference they were making to those who received the food, whilst learning many practical culinary skills.
Adam Pegrum and Raluca Bobeica ran another new University course called Primary Leaders for students in Y5 and 6. In this University the children take part in the Play Maker Award, which is a recognised qualification and a precursor to the better-known Sports Leaders Award
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Secondary School Review Jason Porter Head of Secondary
During a recent Saturday morning visit to my local supermarket, I was left in a state of dismay and despair to find that where three cashiers once sat, exchanging pleasantries with my children and I and offering to pack my shopping, now stood six inert ‘express, self-service’ checkout machines. Time was tight, the children were getting fractious and so I decided to enter nervously the fast lane shopping checkout experience. I don’t doubt that the contraption in front of me designed to replace a human cashier does speed up the process, but both it and I soon became fraught with obstacles and issues. Instead of a human voice to console me or bolster my children’s failing spirits, I found myself being scolded by a robot telling me I should have weighed the avocados.
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AT BSB, WE ENCOURAGE OUR STUDENTS TO WORK QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO USE THEIR WITS, INTELLIGENCE AND KNOWLEDGE. With priority boarding, express check-outs, check-ins and fast track careers, the ‘rapid response’ culture is clearly becoming a defining characteristic of our age. The recent fascination with the rocket and jet-propelled Bloodhound car tipped to break the land speed record next summer highlights our human obsession to be ever faster and more efficient. Of course, no one wants to see a ‘rapid response unit’ being replaced with a ‘slow response unit’ but perhaps we should be wary of sacrificing the human touch in the name of speed and efficiency. At BSB, we encourage our students to work quickly and efficiently and encourage them to use their wits, intelligence and knowledge to often defy the laws of nature through their use of technology, but not at the expense of
human contact. We recognise that personal development requires patience and human contact and so, our pastoral care, academic curriculum and relationships with members of our school community are built slowly and steadily around learning, teaching, mentoring, coaching and concern for others. The work of our school community this term alone has been no exception. We have had inspirational visits from Team GB Olympic Athletes, a STEM engineer who led workshops and presentations and the Romanian Police who talked about drugs and street safety. As well as the usual weekly visits to our community charity projects, we had Jeans for Genes Day and gathered a significant donation of food for the Harvest Festival. The sporting life of
Secondary has flourished in what is one of the busiest terms, with barely a weekend passing without an inter-school fixture or tournament and our musicians have had plenty of chances to perform solos and in the orchestra and choir. Students have had lots of opportunities to develop their talents and academic life through CCAs, Innovation Hub, the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and Danube Delta trip which all went out this term and the fantastic events in Languages and Humanities Weeks. I do hope that all members of our valued BSB community feel the unique personal touch at our school and as we look forward to the rest of the school year, that our relationships will continue to go from strength to strength.
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Developing Perception and Execution in KS3
Art Over the Autumn term Y7 have focused on developing their root skills in drawing. Drawing is a visual language that once mastered can be used to communicate a multitude of ideas and concepts. Students have developed the sensitivity of their mark making by drawing from the elbow and shoulder to create fluent line work. They have learned how to use construction boxes and guidelines to assist with proportions, At the end of the term they consolidated their knowledge by designing artworks that demonstrated their understanding of
olume, form and space through directional, cross-contour lines and layering and colour blending techniques. Y8 have used typography as a vehicle for studying proportion and alignment skills. They have worked in dry and wet materials gradually building on their skillset in order to design a concluding artwork. Some students were able to take their learning further and included perspective effects to add dynamism and energy to their artwork.
Close analysis, careful evaluation and accurate perception are key to high quality drawing and Y9 have focused on the pattern, detail and textures found in the crinkled forms of sweet wrappers. The key to success in drawings of this type is time and patience which has been demonstrated across all of the Y9 classes with great success.
STUDENTS HAVE DEVELOPED THE SENSITIVITY OF THEIR MARK MAKING BY DRAWING FROM THE ELBOW AND SHOULDER TO CREATE FLUENT LINE WORK. Page 35
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Y7 Line and Form Compositions
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Y8 Constuction Techniques Typography
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Y9 Sweet Wrapper Observational Drawing
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English AT BSB By Aine Staunton
Resounding sighs of disappointment, groans of displeasure and protesting voices are regular occurrences in a Year 7 English lesson. Every time a teacher says to close the book and stop reading or that we won’t be able to have a library lesson because of a scheduling clash howls of protest assail the teacher. ‘Just one more chapter!’ is such a common refrain that teachers mutter it in their sleep.
BSB and you’ll hear students discussing Lord of the Flies and its timeliness, as we see the proliferation of authoritarian politicians throughout the world. You’ll hear students dissecting Animal Farm and how important it is to be wary of the information we hoover up from the internet. You’ll hear students debating An Inspector Calls and how wealth can make a person forget their human responsibilities.
This enthusiasm for reading, for ideas (while less vocal among the world weary Year 10 students) is commonplace among all the students in the British School of Bucharest. Walk into an English class in
Senior students bring dedication and originality to their interpretations of poems, novels and plays; their ambition and application to improving their knowledge and ability is an inspiration to the teachers
here and makes us excited to discuss ideas with them whenever we sit down to teach them. Atticus Finch says ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,’ and there is no quicker way to climb into someone else’s skin than by reading a book. In English we aim to foster and grow the love of reading that already exists and to help students understand the world around them, to think critically about it and to dazzle their audience when they express their thoughts.
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Maths AT BSB By Alex Coope
Facts and figures from the maths department As the first term draws to a close it is time to look back on recent successes, and forward to what is undoubtedly going to be another very busy and fruitful year in maths at BSB. The year began with results from the Summer exams of 2017 again excellent both in KS4 and KS5. In KS4 IGCSE, Years 10 and 11 had a 95% pass rate A*-C with 75% A*- B and almost half the students achieving either A* or A, with our Year 10 early entry students alone achieving 86% A*-A. In KS5 at the half way point of their A level course
75% of the students studying are doing so with an A grade carried through from their AS level. Our previous Year 13 left us for further adventures leaving a legacy of a 100% pass rate with 50% being either A* or A. Quite am impressive target for our current year 13s to try to surpass. During the second half of this opening term we have begun to see the start of the UK maths challenges, beginning with the senior challenge for years 12 and 13. As is becoming traditional now, they performed exceptionally well with 75% of the students achieving high enough scores for a Silver
award and even one Student, Yeiji Kim achieving a Gold award. The first student to do so at BSB in KS5. A new competition this year is the COBIS maths challenge where, as I write this, our students are sitting in second position out of the nearly 100 COBIS schools worldwide trailing only to a school of 1800 pupils. I think everyone would agree that so far we have had a very pleasing start to the 2017/18 academic year and it looks like being another vintage year, for both external exams and the various challenges that we enter as a school.
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Music AT BSB
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Science AT BSB
THE TRANSITION FROM PRIMARY TO SECONDARY SCIENCE
By Laura and Zain Y7 Everyone knows about the transition from primary to secondary school. Some Y6 pupils are excited about it, some are scared, and a lot feel both of these emotions. Many subjects change a lot in secondary, including science. When you are in secondary school, you do more advanced practical experiments and theory. In the primary school, we learned how to use science terminology correctly, which prepared us to develop ideas about particles and so on. We now have a lot more science lessons per week and as a result get more homework, projects and classwork in general. One thing most people miss about primary science is the cool experiments and learning new theories, rather than developing them. Also, we were tested less often, so there is more pressure now. The increase in the amount of homework also means we have more work to do at home alongside revision. In our first half term this year, we learned about particles and particle theory. This is a chemistry topic that includes how atoms and molecules behave during melting, boiling, freezing and sublimation (when a solid turns straight to a gas). Now we are doing cells and learning about photosynthesis. Our homework has been to make a cell model, which will be judged within class and across the year group for 3rd, 2nd and 1st place. The point we are trying to get across is that neither primary nor secondary school are ‘better’. But we do think they are extremely different and both very important. Whether you are in primary or secondary school, science is always fun. If you are in Y6 and have any questions about secondary science, you can ask either one of us and we will be happy to answer your questions. Thanks for reading!
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Y7
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Planet BSB Baneasa Forest Litter Pick
By Chris Baker
I WAS AMAZED BY HOW MUCH LITTER THERE WAS IN THE FOREST, AND PARTICULARLY SURPRISED TO FIND A TOILET! I WAS HAPPY THAT WE HAD AN IMPACT BUT I FELT SAD TOO BECAUSE THERE WAS STILL A LOT OF LITTER AFTER WE HAD FINISHED. Agnes
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On Friday 29th October, 26 pupils from both primary and secondary volunteered three hours of their afternoon-evening to pick up and bag litter strewn throughout the edge of a popular patch of Baneasa forest close to Strada Iancu de Hunedoara. Volunteering staff felt pride, admiration and gratitude watching how hard the students worked throughout the pick. We saw year 6s and 7s carrying industrial bin bags laden with plastic and dumped building materials that must have weighed nearly as much as they did! Altogether we collected 79 bags worth of rubbish in total (plus the toilet), beating last year’s result by four bags. There were no grumbles, just laughter and hard work. Pupils laboured right up to the very end, save for a well-deserved 10 minute tea break in the middle, and the final result was magnificent – an area of woodland approximately 0.5km2 turned from a dumping ground dotted with piles of empty beer cans, DVD cases and PVC window frames, to pristine habitat for hedgehogs, deer and wild boar. Well done to all pupils and staff who volunteered and we hope to see you next time!
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In September 5 secondary pupils took part in the ISTA trip to Belgrade. This year’s festival theme was Graffiti and as a starting point pupils went on a walking tour around the city centre to view some street art. Belgrade has a unique history of this subculture going back decades and today its communities experience this art alongside the visible scars of the past. This festival highlighted this counter-culture and used this as inspiration to physically realise the messages on the streets within their own work. Participants also took part in a range of workshops run by professional artists in the industry, sessions included lessons on ballet, yoga and tango to drums, and how to use the power of the inner journey as a stimulus for drama. The workshops, along with full group exercises, resources from the walking tour and work completed in smaller ensemble groups culminated in a filmed performance to an audience.
School trips
Pupils found one of most rewarding parts of the festival was to be able to socialise and work with other pupils from different international schools around the world. The chance to make friends with other likeminded teenagers who also love the performing arts is invaluable and helped create a close knit group of individuals who were genuinely sad to say goodbye to each other at the end of the festival.
ONE OF MOST REWARDING PARTS OF THE FESTIVAL WAS TO BE ABLE TO SOCIALISE AND WORK WITH OTHER PUPILS. Page 49
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GHOST STORIES Y7 pupils have been trying to scare each other through creating tension and atmosphere in drama. “In Drama this term we have looked at dark and black humour. We were shown examples of techniques and then in groups created our own devised performances set in Darkwood Manor, a haunted house. We have been using the curtains and background audio to punctuate the scenes as well as to create a sense of suspense within our sketches.” – Charlie Pupils have explored a variety of stimuli from the hauntings of Darkwood manor to create interactive crime scenes using tape, to pretending to be visiting pupils at the infamous ‘school of murder’.
7 DEADLY SINS
Y9 pupils have been working on devising skills (a technique you’re graded on at GCSE level), the first stimuli they were given to explore was the 7 deadly sins: Wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, pride, envy and lust. Pupils used their imagination and art skills to create costume designs inspired by their chosen deadly sin: some of the results were amazing! Page 50
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Winston Churchill
Debating Competition 2017 by Elisabeth Citron
The annual Winston Churchill Debating Competition took place on November 17th this term. Again this year, the competition included international schools in Bucharest and Cluj as well as from the prestigious English International College, Marbella in Spain.
On the motion of whether celebrities should be role-models, our BSB Team A stepped up to the challenge and provided excellent arguments to justify their position. They were victorious over the Lycée and we were all very proud to see them take home the winning Plate.
With an expanded number of students in the debating CCA, we were able to offer this experience to more students so, like several other schools, we entered two teams in the competition. Our new debaters joined those who had competed in the Middle Schools and Winston Churchill last year, making teams of pupils ranging from Years 9 to 13.
In the Cup final, the Cambridge School wowed the audience with their passion and cohesive stance on whether public protests are the best way to bring about political change. However, the strong EIC team were flawless in their presentation and style of debating, and were the justifiable winners of the competition.
Round one was the prepared debate on the motion that Artificial Intelligence is a positive step for humanity. Out teams competed valiantly with strong arguments on both sides but unfortunately could not quite convince the judges. In the second impromptu round, we heard impassioned debates for our Team B, with cheers in the audience for Kira’s opposition reply speech on the legalization of drugs. Team A also closed ranks in this round and were able to secure two wins, gaining a place in the Plate final against the French Lycée.
Overall, the standard this year was higher than ever and our BSB debaters were incredibly impressive in their determination and sportsmanship. The judges awarded best Middle School debater to BSB’s George Popovici in Year 9 who, along with Daniel and Calin, are newcomers to debating at this level. Congratulations also must go to our senior debaters Octavia, Harriet, Sasa, Ioana, Sara and Kira who will be representing BSB in further Debating Competitions in the near future.
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CafĂŠ of Cultures 2017
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As the highpoint of our BSB Languages Week, the CafĂŠ of Cultures was held on 28th September this year. For the first time, the event was held in the marquee, providing a splendid venue outdoors. Yet again this year, we welcomed parents and pupils from a wide range of nationalities to teach us about their cultures and encourage us to taste their gastronomic specialties. From 8 am to 12 pm, the school buzzed with the sounds of different languages as pupils from years 3 to 13 circulated under the tent, learning new phrases, doing quizzes and games, and completing their Bingo chart to be rewarded with the delicious snacks on offer. It was encouraging to hear so many students trying new sounds as well as discovering cultural facts and customs. We were lucky to have representatives from across the globe, including new regions this year such as Quebec, Venezuela and South Africa. Without doubt the morning was a huge success and thanks must go to our wonderful BSB parents, our friendly student helpers and of course the MFL department for coordinating the event.
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Charities AT BSB
INCREDIBLE GENEROSITY MEANT DONATIONS OF FOOD, CLEANING PRODUCTS AND BASIC TOILETRIES FILLED THE TWO COLLECTION TABLES STRAIGHT AWAY.
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As ever, the Autumn term has been a busy one for the charities committee, made up of eight staff from primary and secondary. The first event, on the 22nd September, was Jeans for Genes day. 4860 lei was donated by students across the school who wore jeans all day to support the Genes for Jeans charity, which researches and supports children with genetic diseases, conditions which affect one in twenty five children born today. As soon as uniforms were back in place, collections started for the Harvest festival. Incredible generosity meant donations of food, cleaning products and basic toiletries filled the two collection tables straight away, until eventually another six tables had to be added to support the growing
mountain of food! These donations were gratefully received by St. Stelian’s, who use the donations in their shelters and day centres to provide meals and vocational education to homeless people and disadvantaged children across Bucharest. Members of the secondary Student Council represented the school when St. Stelian’s visited to collect the donations. Meeting the charity director inspired many of them continue to be involved with charity work at school. The Harvest festival was immediately followed by Remembrance Sunday, for which secondary prefects sold poppies and other mechanise for students to show their observance of Remembrance day, and support the Royal British Legion.
Finally, the annual Christmas gift appeal looks set to be a great success. Gifts are being collected for two of our partner charities; Don Orione and Fundatia Innocenti, to ensure that abandoned and disabled students receive a gift at Christmas time. This year, the event is being coordinated by an ex-student, Dilara K, showing how the whole school community comes together to give. Whether this is the many students who give up their time for one of the charity CCAs each week, the parents who give so generously to each appeal, or the charities committee working hard to coordinate the events, this teamwork really embodies the BSB value of concern for others.
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CO-CURRICULAR
Activities
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British School of Bucharest Early Years Foundation Stage/Primary/Secondary 42 Erou Iancu Nicolae Street, 077190, Voluntari, Ilfov County, Romania T. + 40 21 267 89 19, +40 728 133 432, +40 728 133 433 F. +40 21 267 89 69 E. office@britishschool.ro
www.britishschool.ro The School is operated by Crawford House Foundation. Registered 3/25.01.2016. Fiscal Code 24879960
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