BSB School Magazine - April 2012

Issue 4 - April 2012

A VIP Education focussing on Values, Innovation and Partnership

BSB Reception Office is now by the main entrance, more convenient for parents and visitors Administration Road - Ploies ti Bucharest

Otopeni Airport

support at BSB, please do not hesitate to contact our office team during normal working hours, 8.00am - 5.00pm, Monday-Friday.

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Principal letter Dear Parents & Friends of BSB,

As our front cover proclaims this Newsblast showcases our VIP education provision, with our focus on values, innovation and partnerships. Friendship week was a great opportunity for students to consider their peers and discuss inclusion at school where everyone feels treasured and respected.

Considering these values was an integral part of the week, although we can see through the great comradeship between our students that this is not a value that is only considered one week a year.

The front cover displays some of our wonderful scientists using the new dataloggers in the Secondary school. These high-tech pieces of equipment allow our students to conduct far more innovative enquiries than previously and they are all enjoying the new technologies. The curriculum provided at BSB is constantly under review to ensure all students are prepared for the challenges of the 21st Century and more importantly for the opportunities it brings. To accomplish this goal our staff are constantly considering more innovative ways to support our pupils.

The saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ is a deeply felt belief for those of us involved in education. This idea of partnership is very much part of life at BSB and we are always keen to work with agencies outside of the school, be these parents, other academic establishments or the community. These connections provide real life experiences which help our children access a broader curriculum.

“Education is everybody’s business.”

Education is everybody’s business and the recent developments with our careers education at BSB and The Apprentice are two great examples of this.

The Apprentice challenge saw the staff at the Hilton Hotel open up their doors to our students, to listen to their ideas and offer them some encouraging advice. This was also echoed by the commitment of one of our parents, Mr Furnica, who has diligently supported our careers talks by organizing us to hear interviews with some highly accomplished business people from our community. This patronage has been so encouraging for us as a school and I know valued by our students. Our heartfelt thanks got to both The Hilton and Mr Furnica, and hope they feel this is an association they would also be keen to continue.

As we approach the last term of this academic year, we are also looking forward to welcoming a new team of ISI inspectors to visit our school, and demonstrating our VIP education to them.

Jo Puddy-Wells, Principal principal@britishschool.ro

Issue 4 2012 3

Who are the people in your Neighborhood Stefan Dumitru Hi, meet Stefan Dumitru. In fact, you may already have and will probably have seen him walking around the school. I am going to tell you all about him and what he does. Stefan was born in Constanta. He is the managing director of ICT at BSB. He is married and has a lovely young daughter, who is only one and a half years old. He speaks English, French and Romanian. Stefan has several hobbies which include mixing drinks and mixing music, a real life DJ! Before coming to BSB, he worked at EADS and one of his many clients was the Ministry of Defence. Stefan attended the Automatica University in Bucharest where he studied Computer Science. His favourite destination is Singapore.

He really likes working at BSB because he sees it as an evolving, life project.

The biggest risk he has ever taken was when he set up his own business and things didn’t go very well at the start. However, he kept faith and things started to turn around after a year. An interesting fact is that he once went to the highest point in the world and wanted to do a bungee jump. However, on the day of the jump it was too cloudy and thus he was unable to jump!

Stefan was interviewed by Iulia, Year 12

PTA Review This term the PTA has been planning the forthcoming events for the Summer Term, mainly the class parties and the Summer Fair. The Summer Fair is an event for the whole school and the community to enjoy, we have International food stalls which are run by the parents where each community prepares food representing their culture which everyone has an opportunity to sample.

We also invite Romanian Artisans and charities to attend, showcasing the wide variety of skills and craftsmanship that Romania has to offer. It is a wonderful event and one that parents and children thoroughly enjoy. All the proceeds from the Summer Fair are for the PTA. These are used to run the class parties and to provide extra curricular activities for the children.

on the day. So, we would kindly ask for anyone who is available to give their time to please let the committee know if you would like to be involved.

It is also the time to consider the new PTA committee for next year. The PTA Committee is elected in June after the Summer Fair. Volunteers who would like to be considered for roles within the PTA can speak to current members to gain an understanding of their roles and what events they would be involved in arranging.

As a brief overview, the PTA committee meets on the 1st Wednesday of every month to discuss the calendar of events for the current term. The PTA Treasurer prepares a summary of accounts detailing the expenditure and income since the last meeting. This meeting provides the opportunity for the school to propose funding requirements.

The PTA fund raising is split between activities to raise funds for charities and for investment in extra-curricular events and materials for the pupils at the school. The PTA organises activities for the parents including trips, dinners and workshops. In addition we arrange parties for the children at the end of the Winter and Summer terms.

We hope that you would want to be involved and welcome any questions, ideas and suggestions that you might have.

Mrs Sarah Waterfield, PTA President

Needless to say the event is not possible without the support and involvement of the parents and we need volunteers to help with organising and assisting

4 Newsblast

BSB Alumni: Where are they now?

It was very nice to hear from Rodney and Jackson who transferred from BSB to the British International School for Abu Dhabi. Since 2011 the family moved to Texas. Rodney and Jackson are currently attending Alexander Elementary

which they are enjoying. Jackson will go onto Grade 4 next year and Rodney will move to Grade 6 at Beckendorff Junior High.

Maybe some day they will return for a visit.

The whole family having fun together

Rodney and Jackson in Abu Dhabi

Tanya studied at BSB in Years 2 to 4. Tanya lives in Moscow and she is in the 9th grade now. Her School is specialising in the study of foreign language and Tanya is studying French and English.

Tanya won the regional English contest, passed the city English contest and in April she is going to the finals- the all -Russia English contest which will be held in Irkutsk, Siberia.

We wish her all the best.

Tanya and her family send all their love to BSB.

Tanya and her sister, Katya Issue 4 2012 5

Country Spotlight: Austria Julia RES

Pablo 1D

Where abouts in Austria are you from?

Kufstain Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

I can go skiing and ice skating

Where abouts in Austria are you from?

Vienna How long have you lived in Bucharest?

4 Years Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

Austria is nice and i have lots of friends there. In Vienna there is a big park and I like to go and play there on the slide and swings with my Grandmother.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

The houses in Austria are really big.

How does BSB compare to your previous school?

In Austria I went to Kindergarten. It was good. I like having friends in Austria and Romania.

What do you like about your new school?

I Like BSB because I have lots of friends here. I like the garden and I really liked it when we had the bunnies. The snow is fun and I liked making a snowman.

Lena RES Where abouts in Austria are you from?

I was born in Mรถfling, which is very close to Vienna.

How long have you lived in Bucharest?

For almost 3 years.

Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

In Austria we have mountains where we could go skiing and many lakes.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

In Austria I walk with my grandmother to the lake and we feed the ducks and swans.

How does BSB compare to your previous school?

I went to a crib in Libya but I was so small that I cant remember anything.

What do you like about your new school?

I have a lot of friends here and I like my teachers.

Alma 1S How long have you lived in Bucharest?

I have not lived in Bucharest for so long.

Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

In Austria I live next door to my grandmother. Austria is beautiful and my dogs can come over to my house.

Ben 1S Where abouts in Austria are you from?

I am from Vienna.

How long have you lived in Bucharest?

I think my mother said I have lived here for three and a half years.

Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

The snow in Austria is really deep. Miss Stevens could go snowboarding as there are many hills with snow on.

What do you like about your school?

I like BSB because I can stay longer in school and play lots of games. I like learning till 3pm.

6 Newsblast

Ignacio 3A Where abouts in Austria are you from?

Vienna How long have you lived in Bucharest?

4 years Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

Austria has great mountains which are excellent for skiing and snowboarding.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

Romania has better parks with lots of space for running.

How does BSB compare to your previous school?

BSB is much bigger and better than my last school.

What do you like about your new school?

I love all the clubs at BSB especially climbing and fencing. I also like the fun days like Crazy Hair and Book Day.

Lukas 3A

Alexandra 5M

Where abouts in Austria are you from?

Vidanoedorf How long have you lived in Bucharest?

3 years Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

There is a row of big mountains. The food is very good in Austria, they have lots of challenges.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

The weather is similar.

How does BSB compare to your previous school?

We start school at 7 years old in Austria.

What do you like about your new school?

Library, University, book week and crazy hair day.

Where abouts in Austria are you from?

Styria How long have you lived in Bucharest?

10 years Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

It is a beautiful place and feels very near nature How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

Austria is cleaner What do you like about your new school?

I like BSB because I have good friends and it is a great place to learn.

Emi 4W Where abouts in Austria are you from?

I come from Vienna How long have you lived in Bucharest?

Seven Years Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

It is a beautiful place, especially the parks How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

In Austria is less pollution.

What do you like about BSB? It’s fair and people help each other.

Matthias 4W Whereabouts in Austria are you from?

I am half Austrian and half Australian because I was born in Australia, but the rest of my family comes from Austria.

How long have you lived in Bucharest?

This is my third year here in Bucharest.

Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

Austria is a small country, which has lots of beautiful things in it.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

Austria feels closer to nature, but Romania is more elegant and has a larger number of buildings.

Sophie 6B Where abouts in Austria are you from?

Graz How long have you lived in Bucharest?

5 years Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

It is not dusty like Romania. There is always fresh air around you, the mountains are stunning to go on trips.

The food is normally home-made like weiner schnitzel which is now found all over the world. But the best thing about Austria is Manner Schinten.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

There is not so much fresh air, its dusty and you can’t walk to school alone.

What do you like about your new school?

You have time to do project work.

Jakob 7M Where about in Austria are you from?

Vienna.

How long have you lived in Bucharest?

3 years.

Describe Austria to someone who has never been there.

It has a lot of mountains and a lot of greenery. There are nice parks and it has a well organized public transport system.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

Here in Romania there is a bit more traffic than in Austria and also I can’t see my relatives that often.

How does BSB compare to your previous school?

BSB is bigger and it also has KS1 - KS5. In my old school it was only KS2. It was also bi-lingual, we had German and English.

What do you like about your new school?

Here in BSB they have a proper football pitch, you only have one language to learn and you can make friends a lot better here. BSB is my favorite school so far.

Raphaela Year 8S

Jasmina Year 12

Where abouts in Austria are you from?

Upper Austria How long have you lived in Bucharest?

5 years Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

Really mountainous which is nice.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

You have to have a car here to get around.

What do you like about your new school?

There is a lot of freedom. It is friendly.

Where abouts in Austria are you from?

Styria How long have you lived in Bucharest?

About 13 years (that’s really long, I know!)

Describe Austria to somebody who has never been.

Austria is a small country compared to other countries in Europe but not that small! Austria has several touristic and attractive landscapes and a historical background and is a very welcoming place to someone who hasn’t been there before. It is a tourist place with many opportunities for leisure and entertainment activities.

How does living in Romania differ from living in Austria?

There are advantages and disadvantages for both countries. Living in Romania differs from living in Austria because there are so many traffic jams and too much going on, whereas living in Austria differs because the environment looks cleaner.

Year 6 perform in German sketch Amadou (Dora, 6R) is a very likable little nerd who genuinely loves his school work. On his first day in the new school he manages to find a friend, Alexander (Arina, 6B). His parents (Ioana, 6R and Catriona, 6B) work hard to sustain the grandparents living in Senegal and they do not have much understanding for Amadou’s academic ambitions. Will Amadou be able to go to University later?

The audience of the German play consisted of Y5, Y6 and Y7 students who understood the plot in spite of the fact that it was entirely in German. The Narrator (Ana Maria, 6R) announced each scene. The outstanding language skills of the 5 actresses, as well as their impressive acting helped the audience understand the story line.

An impressive performance that calls for a “Amadou 2”.

Ms Dorothea Draser German Teacher Head of MFL.

Acting out a scene in a classroom in Berlin

8 Newsblast

Impressions from the public: “I really liked the play of the Year 6 because all of them knew their roles and nobody made any mistakes. They have been practising the play since October and in my opinion it was amazing. They did a really good job, I loved it.”

Jorge, 7W “I was very impressed by Y6 because they pronounced the words clearly.”

Chi Bin, 7W “We are not looking for Oscars, but we are looking for a story well presented, achieved and learned.”

Patrick, 7W “The actors’ level of speaking in German was very high. You could see how much effort and hard work they put in the “Amadou” play. I was especially impressed by Dora’s part (Amadou). She spoke advanced German in an understandable and accessible way.”

Alina, 7W

“Darf ich in der ersten Reihe sitzen?“ - Dora alias Amadou is asking the teacher for permission to sit in the front row

Technology and Curriculum Lower School When students start in EYFS and KS1 they often have some experience of using ICT for fun, and they have grown up in a world in which adults are able to communicate quickly and easily using mobile technology. At this stage in their lives, children are forming their reading and writing skills, for the first time. For the first time students are interacting with keyboard technology in a meaningful way.

Children in EYFS use various ICT resources to support their learning, beginning to know how to operate simple equipment.

Linking sounds with images for a multisensory experience

EYFS children use ICT to develop fine motor skills and complete simple programs on the computer.

Issue 4 2012 9

Students in Key Stage 2 have already developed ICT skills by the time they start in Year 3. Now it is time for the students to broaden their understanding and start to use technologies which they may not have encountered before.

Now, students are using Mac OS and Windows operating systems. The focus shifts to using ICT to support all their learning. Students find out about the world online and report back. During Key Stage 2 children are challenged to use technologies which advance their experiences and understanding.

We can use ICT as a whole class to teach any subject

KS2 pupils using ICT to support learning across the curriculum

10 Newsblast

Develop creativity by creating different shapes by using Knex Lego

Using Probots to understand how simple programming works

During Year Six, students are involved in building, programming and controlling robots using Lego Mindstorm

ICT allows us to communicate and form global communities, such ass the World Education Games

Upper School Secondary students use ICT across the subjects, this can range from using desk top publishing programs to create professional looking documents, learning about the reliability of data by validating sources creating their own stop-frame animations.

KS3 students using sophisticated data logging equipment which allows them to take digital measurements of a wide range of results allowing students to develop their ICT skills during Science lessons

Learning the skills of creating text, editing images and presenting information can be vital in the world after school

12 Newsblast

Using Garageband to create a musical piece during Composition Club

ICT is more than just computers, it offers support during all classes

With access to Moodle wherever there is access to the internet work can be looked at, reviewed and completed and even handed in, anywhere in the world

IT technology is an important tool in exam preparations

Issue 4 2012 13

Clubs

Ballet practice develops accuracy through precise positions and movements, as well as artistic expression

Strategic thinking is a crucial skill in chess playing

In creative painting club children can learn new techniques as well as experiment with ideas

14 Newsblast

Clever moves to catch your opponent out can earn extra points in fencing

Secondary After -school clubs can be a valuable opportunity to practise practical academic skills

Expert tuition twice a week following a structured programme allows native Romanian speakers to study literacy in their own language. We also offer German, French and Spanish After school classes

Issue 4 2012 15

Playing games is a great way of practising phonics and maths knowledge without children noticing that they are learning!

Romanian classes for beginners teaches children basic useful vocabulary to help them integrate into their new country

Tennis classes help children to improve their technique for this universal game

16 Newsblast

University

The DT university course takes children step-by-step through the design process to finish with innovative packaging concepts

Children in KS1 can learn all about classic Greek myths through storytelling and related craftwork

Children can improve their drawing skills by looking at form and structure and building up a complex image Issue 4 2012 17

Crazy Hair Day Crazy Hair Day was celebrated on 17th February and students were asked to make a donation of 10 Ron. The money was split into 2 charities, one being Fundatia Inocenti and the other was Helen Keller’s Foundation. Fundatia Inocenti helps abandoned and at-risk children and children with special needs. And Helen Keller’s Foundation aids blind people in Africa and around the world. The day was a great success. Students and teachers came to school with, well, crazy hair and a lot of money was raised for the 2 charities. In fact, we raised an incredible 4812 Ron, which was truly amazing. Thanks to all who participated and generously donated to these worthy causes.

Noor, Year 11 President of the Student Council

Year 7 getting ready for Crazy Hair Day 18 Newsblast

KS1 and KS2 were very creative with their hair styles

Issue 4 2012 19

Friendship Week

in Secondary School This article has been waiting to be published for such a long time. A lot has happened since the last publication. The term started off with Friendship Week, 13th-17th February , followed by Crazy Hair Day. During Friendship Week, activities were held during P.E Lessons by Eda in which she demonstrated games which highlighted and encouraged trust and worthiness in friendship. Crème eggs were sold alongside with Friendship cards, which, not to forget, was a blast. It was an enormous victory and hopefully Student Council will be able to do the same for Easter. Also BSB has got a new tradition, selling crème eggs. Moreover on Friday the 17th, a special meal was served. The week concluded with a special assembly by Student Council.

Noor, Year 11 President of the Student Council

Noor and Beatrice selling Friendship Cards 20 Newsblast

Naomi and May enjoying the Special Friendship Day lunch

Friendship Week sports activity leading the way in Friendship Week Issue 4 2012 21

Good friends from Year 2 and Reception working together during friendship twinning

Friendship Week and 100 Days of School Key Stage One celebrated Friendship Week by taking part in different activities and twinning with other classes. The children made friendship webs, friendship posters and wrote about one of the members of their class and why they are a special friend. The Key Stage One children also joined up with the Foundation Stage and helped each other explore rhyming words, made friendship bracelets, read books to each other and many other activities.

Other classes made friendship certificates and throughout the week discussed what makes a good friend and why friends are so important to us.

For 100 Days of School KS1 had a ‘Shake up and wake up in 100 seconds’ session when we all had great fun taking part in different exercises or activities such as dancing in a Conga line for 100 sec or striking a pose and standing still for 100 sec or doing jumping jacks for 100 seconds. We did some early finish tasks such as “can you think of 100 animals”, how many words you can make from “one hundred days”? and making a class cheerios necklace using 100 cheerios.

22 Newsblast

Key Stage 2 were so excited when Friendship Week finally came. Lots of children bought candy grams for their friends to show them how much they cared and we all made sure we included everyone in our games at playtime.

Through PSHE and circle time we discussed how to get along with each other more effectively and what makes a good friend. In Year 3 the children had a secret friend with whom they had to help and give attention to all week until the end of the week when they could find out who their secret friend was. 3M ended the week off beautifully with a friendship assembly which made us think how special our friends really are and how lucky we are to have them.

Mrs Priscilla Varban, KS1 Co-ordinator Mrs Lisa Ali, LKS2 Co-ordinator

KS1 dancing in a Conga line for 100 seconds

Our 1V Friendship Poster and cards that we made during Friendship week

3M performing in their Friendship assembly

Issue 4 2012 23

BSB Book Week 2012 This year BSB invited long established poet and author, Maggi Gibson, who is based in Glasgow, to Bucharest. Maggi, who has written the entertaining Seriously Sassy books, brought with her extensive experience of working with all age groups in writing workshops as well as knowledge of international teaching. The theme for the week was Journeys, Maggi had chosen this because it could be used throughout the school as either a literal journey or perhaps more challengingly as a metaphorical journey.

Maggi read stories in Crib and Crèche and to the Early Years and Foundation stories. She was able to inspire the younger children in the school to write wonderful stories where sharks were defeated by the clever use of shampoo and bubbles or pink penguins who had fantastic names like Chilli went on adventurous journeys through icy waters.

Year Three listened to Maggi read from her husband Ian MacPherson’s very funny book “Late Again” and they laughed a lot and then went back to class to draw pictures or write about being in a lift.

Key Stage Two responded to Maggi’s ideas with highly imaginative work of a suspenseful nature, some journeying into a life of crime, others taking a wild leap into the air in a parachute with their lives hanging in the balance.

Mrs Cristina Andone, author and parent at BSB, visited a number of classes in the Primary School to show and talk about her beautifully illustrated stories of famous composers. This was a real treat for the children and they loved it all.

The week culminated in such a vivid and varied display of talent for dressing up that it was clear that the British School of Bucharest Book Week 2012 had been a great success.

Ms Andrea Bestel Literacy Coordinator

BSB staff enjoying the Book Day

Harry Potter and Spiderman are using their powers of concentration at the Book Week Assembly

24 Newsblast

KS2 AG&T groups are giving the visiting author a truly journalistic grilling

Looking fantastic in their Book Day costumes

Preschool children proudly wearing their costumes on Book Day Issue 4 2012 25

Presenting the best costumes

Students, parents and teachers enjoyed the book sale at the school

Year 2 are working hard on developing their story ideas 26 Newsblast

Interview with the author Maggi Gibson During Book week many of you met with the author here at school, the AG‘n’T and BSB TV groups took the time to interview her, and this is what we got.

All the questions started off with one that began her career as an author, Maggi was asked who inspired her and she replied with a big Well…… you could tell that more than one person inspired her but the answer she gave us was, “I was inspired by all the authors I read when I was young.”

She also gave us some information on her childhood and a bit about her life.

She told us that when she was young she used to read 5 books per week, her favourite books were Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames Student Nurse, Heidi and King Solomon Island.

A very weird thing was that when she was young she did not think she had a great imagination.

We also asked her when she started writing and surprisingly the answer was that she started writing accidentally, it all started when she started writing poems and then she got a letter from a little girl saying why doesn’t she start writing a book, Maggi thought it was a good idea so she started writing the seriously sassy series.

Maggi loves her job and gets around 20 emails per week from her fans, she loves writing and gets great support from her husband, who is also a writer.

She thinks she is so lucky having her job which is also her hobby, and every day she wakes up and thinks how lucky she is…

Written by: Joanna 6R

Maggi thinks she is so lucky having her job which is also her hobby, and every day she wakes up and thinks how lucky she is…

Issue 4 2012 27

World Education Games The World Education Games is a global event which encourages children of all abilities and backgrounds to participate in a fun and challenging online environment. The event started in 2007 and has continued to grow each year. This year for the first time Mathematics, Spelling and Science were all available to play.

On 6 March the children in school did spelling games. Pupils were able to use the Mac books, PCs or go to the computer suite in school to listen to the words they had to spell and see how quickly we could get the answers into the computer. The games are age appropriate and at BSB the top spelling scorer was Kyu Min from class 2B and the most improved speller was Calin

from class 2J, well done to both of these super spellers. Malika and Clara from Year 6 scored really well proving they are great spellers too. Wednesday saw Maths Day dawn and David from 3A achieved a high score as did Ambra of 2B. On Thursday it was Science Day and pupils from Year 1 right through to Year 9 participated. The wonderful thing about the design of the games is that it allows pupils of all ages and abilities to shine and this was shown to be true when yet again we had a top science scorer in 4B with Alex taking the trophy this time and yet again Ambra from 2B did well in this category With over two million children taking part in the games this has been a great opportunity for BSB student to have fun and to shine.

Concentrating on the Spelling event

Students in Years 5 and 6 competed in the Science event.

Science is a new addition to the World Games this year

Pupils prepare to compete against other children from many different countries on World Maths Day

The boys and girls in Years 1 and 3 competed against children from around the world in the Maths event

28 Newsblast

Our students in Years 8 & 9 took part in the annual “World Maths Day” competition.

The competition allows students from across the world to take part in an online challenge where they are matched in real time with up to 3 other students of similar age and ability in exciting live challenges.

Students earn points for correct answers, with their personal tally growing as they complete the challenges.

Students progress through 5 levels of difficulty in arithmetic and mental computation.

Our students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and performed well. Some virtual “gold medals” were awarded and “almost Einstein” classification bestowed on those who performed particularly strongly on the day.

Students from Key Stage 3 also took part in similar competitions during the week to mark World Spelling Day and World Science Day. Mr John Flood, Mathematics Teacher

Issue 4 2012 29

The UKMT Individual Maths Challenges are lively, intriguing multiple choice question papers, which are designed to stimulate interest in Maths in large numbers of pupils. Last year over 600 000 students in Europe took part.

The Junior Challenge is aimed at the top third of pupils in Year 8. The challenge involves answering multiple choice questions in one hour and is sat in school under normal exam conditions.

Who will be best in B.S.B? Good luck to all participants in Years 7 & 8.

Students preparing for the UK Maths Challenge

30 Newsblast

Competing during World Maths Day

After winning a Maths challenge

Reflecting on his “Almost Einstein� performance during World Maths Day Issue 4 2012 31

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When should you consider using ImuPro300?

• Flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome • Large fl uctuations in weight from day to day, overweight, obesity • Headaches, migraine • AD(H)D • Infl ammatory 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 identifi es 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 e ects. Or the cause may remain unclear in spite of a range of examinations and the complaints continue.

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

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.

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 ght the complaints.

Today we know that many chronic pains can be caused by in ammation 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 su er 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

Green Day Go on Turn it Off! A recent meeting with class Eco representatives in the Secondary school focused around ideas about what Planet BSB should be doing.

Questions were raised about the recycle bins and if they really work?

Do teachers really need to leave the light on in the classroom when the An image created by class is empty? How much Beatrice for Eco week consumption of paper could be recycled or reused in the classroom. It was clear that members of the student committee were frustrated about what to do to help ‘save the planet’. It was agreed that the effects of globalisation are complex issue and there are no easy quick fix solutions. Here lies the problem how do we empower our children to feel they can take charge of their future. It was felt that ideas about sustainability and accountability should be the focus for ECO week. The Eco committee agreed to guide students, teachers and parents to take charge of their consumption and waste of things that we often take for granted. Signs began appearing highlighting the importance of water, the conservation of electricity and the waste of plastic cups. Pupils were asked to prepare signs and positive messages to remind the BSB community to be mindful and compassionate towards the environment. The hope is that Planet BSB will help students become more meaningful in their actions and feel that they can and do make a difference.

Eco Committee

Ceramic Eco hands to decorate the BSB trees

Students in Secondary collecting change to help buy life straws for Sub-Saharan Africa Issue 4 2012 33

BSB Musicians show their talents Approximately 50 students from both primary and secondary schools took part in the second Music Recital of this school year. The extra-curricular focus this term has been on developing students’ ensemble skills so the majority of participants played duets, trios or took part in one of the larger ensembles such as the Lower Key Stage 2 Singers or the BSB Orchestra. The exam and AG & T students from the secondary school were also able to use this opportunity to develop their solo performance skills, with many of them gaining recordings that they will be using towards their coursework grades.

All performers should be congratulated for the effort that they put into making the evening a success.

Ms Jenny Finch, Music Teacher

Singers from Year 3 developing their performance skills

Irini and Paloma getting the balance right in their piano and recorder duo

34 Newsblast

Year 6 cellist Catriona practices her part before the concert

Secondary singers enchanted the audience as always

Singers from Y5 and 6 singing in three parts

Members of the orchestra follow the conductor and develop their ensemble skills

Issue 4 2012 35

STUDENTS ENJOY SPORTING SUCCESS! BSB has been involved in many sports matches, across all age ranges, over the last term. The under 7’s had their first taste of competitive football against AISB. It was very exciting to see so many promising stars enjoying themselves. The under 11’s football team comfortably beat AISB 3-0 with goals coming from David D, Ilias and Mattia. Basil scored the winning goal for the under 15’s football team against ISB. 12 secondary students had a good run out in a friendly basketball match against BCA, and Ryan even managed a three-pointer.

Mr Hughes, PE Teacher

Ryan scoring his three-pointer

Basil passing to Andrei on another BSB attack 36 Newsblast

BSB’s Under 11’s football team

Under 15’s win a corner

BSB Under 7’s defending a corner

Under 15’s football team with coach Mr Farrell

Under 7’s shaking hands after their match against AISB Issue 4 2012 37

Lower School Review Spring in BSB gives us many reasons to smile…

As I walk around the Lower School I have so many reasons to smile. I am very lucky as smiling is proven to make us feel better. Smiling also has a lot of other advantages that are constantly on show all round our school, many examples of these are in this action packed edition of Newsblast. Here are some great reasons to smile.

We are drawn to people who smile During Friendship Week there were lots of opportunities for classes to link up and get to know each other better. A smile is all it takes to show someone else that we want to be friends.

Smiling Changes Our Mood Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile – We have trained Playpals and Playtime Buddies in the Lower School who work hard to make sure playtime is a happy and enjoyable time for everyone.

Smiling Is Contagious A smiling person brings happiness with them. During the activities for book week classes worked together with our very smiley author Maggi Gibson and had a lot of fun doing so.

Smiling Boosts Your Immune System Smiling helps the immune system to work better, which keeps us healthy.

We have also been smiling as we have met Dizzy the Dinosaur and been learning how to look after our teeth – definitely a good reason to smile.

“Well done to everyone in the Lower School for giving everyone an amazing array of reasons to smile”

38 Newsblast

Well done to everyone in the Lower School for giving everyone an amazing array of reasons to smile.

Ms Tiffany Moorcroft, Head of Lower School

Crib and Creche news Since returning from half-term, Crib and Crèche have been celebrating Book Week. Crèche based their week around the story of the “The Very Lazy Ladybird”. They put their creativity skills to work by making ladybird hats so they could then spend their week acting like the ladybird from the story.

Ladybirds also came into all of the other areas of learning. For PSRN, spots on ladybirds were counted as well as ordering different size ladybirds from small to medium to big.

Meanwhile, Crib read ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’. The children coloured paper bear heads to decorate around the door to Crib. Crib used their developing imagination to re-enact the story in their classroom, the children journeyed through long grass, water, mud, a forest and a snow storm till they finally reached the cave where they found a Bear! They then all hid under the blankets just like in the story.

We are looking forward to the rest of the term’s activities leading up to Easter and we hope the Easter Bunny will be paying us a visit. He might need a sledge to bring us our Easter eggs this year.

Crib and Creche Class Teachers

Crib begin to show control in their use of mark-making tools

“We are not going on a Bear hunt” again! Crib engaging in imaginative play

Crèche enjoying imaginative role play with each other on Book Day

Issue 4 2012 39

Do you dare discover dinosaurs in the dark?

This half term Preschool ventured to ‘Dinosaur Land’. In a theme that saw the classroom changed to a dinosaur paradise complete with a jungle, a cave, an erupting volcano and even a walk through a dinosaur’s mouth, the children became explorers searching the world for hidden bones and dinosaur eggs, following dinosaur footprints and experimenting with volcanoes. The theme stemmed from the children’s huge interest in dinosaurs and followed with lots of stories and research into how, when, and where dinosaurs lived. The children thoroughly enjoyed this topic, measuring themselves by counting how many dinosaur footprints there were and comparing this to the length of real dinosaurs; learning the names and features of different dinosaurs, talking about plant-eaters and meat-eaters and how to tell the difference; painting and collaging dinosaur land scenes, making dinosaur skeletons and much, much more. The children were also able to act as explorers digging and discovering dinosaur bones and investigating dinosaur land itself. This linked in to the fantastic topic of volcanoes, which the children were particularly interested in. We watched video clips of volcanic eruptions, talked about how they happen, learnt some volcanic terminology, and kept very busy making, drawing and using the computers to create our very own volcanoes. With a cave in the classroom for our friendly dinosaurs the children were also able to investigate light and dark. The cave, made using a black-out pod created a pitch black cave that the children needed torches and glow in the dark items to be able to investigate, looking at reflections and how to create light through early science.

Ms Claire Cowlishaw, Preschool Class Teacher

Investigating early science using their senses in the blackout pod ‘dinosaur cave’ 40 Newsblast

Learning about dinosaurs and volcanoes has developed both scientific and historical knowledge and understanding, learning about changes over time

Developing role play areas and providing props develops children’s imagination and supports their learning

Reception ‘Spring’ into Numeracy In Reception, we have been busy bees working to develop our Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy skills. We have been working on our counting skills beyond twenty, and recognising number patterns including odd and evens. The children have also been using their problem solving skills to estimate which is heaviest and lightest, how many cups fill a bucket and measuring the length of certain items around the class. As well as this we have introduced subtraction and continued with our addition.

We have also been linking our PRSN skills through our class themes, which are Zoo Animals, Castles and Space to ensure learning is enjoyable for the children, “Experiences and activities that focus on the three aspects of number in the EYFS should always be enjoyable if young children are to become the mathematicians of tomorrow – because nobody wants ‘more’ if it isn’t enjoyable!” (Early Years Matters, 2012)

Reception P, have been developing their mathematical vocabulary when describing the sizes and shapes of various animals that live in the zoo. After this they talked about colour and comparisons, and enhanced their counting skills by calculating different amounts of animals and sorting them according to their features. Reception E, have been looking at the features of castles, and noticing similarities and differences between them. They have also been discussing the different shapes when constructing their own castles and engaging their problem solving skills when building with several different sized and shaped building blocks. Reception S, have been looking at the sizes of planets and ordering them according to size. They have also been developing mathematical language talking about the distances from Earth to the other planets, commenting on closest and furthest away.

Reception Class Teachers

Estimating and investigating how many cups of water it takes to fill different sized containers

Applying knowledge of subtraction, by taking away animals to create the answers for number sentences

Using cubes to do simple subtraction sums

Estimating and investigating how many unifix cubes fit into a shoe.

Issue 4 2012 41

The ‘Carnival of Animals’ in Year One The Year 1 children have had a wonderful time exploring our topic for this half term ‘Carnival of Animals’. We learned may interesting facts about African animals, about the savannah and even had a go at learning to greet each other, to count and say a few words in Swahili. We used the book ‘We’re All Going on Safari’ by Laurie Krebs to help us in doing so. Swahili is spoken in many African countries. Although is not always their first language, it remains a way in which Africans from many countries communicate.

We also talked about what the savannah would be like if there were lots of litter and why we should not leave litter in our countryside. Children found out how litter hurts animals and also how long different things take to decompose.

We wrapped up our lovely Carnival of Animals topic by visiting the Baneasa Zoo and seeing for ourselves how amazing African animals really are.

Year 1 Class Teachers

Using number lines to help with subtraction to 10

Learning all about being a good friend during Friendship week

Using mapping skills to plot the journey from the front gate to the classroom 42 Newsblast

Year 1 children have worked together to create their Friendship poster

Year 2 - Yummy, Scrummy, Runny, Chocolate!

Year 2 had an amazing time this term learning about their topic of Chocolate.

We learned all about how it was made and who invented it. Of course we had to have a taste test every now and then for good measure, purely educational, finding out who liked which chocolate better.

We tried very hard to incorporate our chocolate topic into as many subjects as possible. We linked Roald Dahl’s book – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in Literacy and enjoyed reading the book as a class and doing different activities linked with Art/ DT of designing and making their very own chocolate bar wrapper.

The Chocolate topic also gave us great opportunities for some interesting Science lessons with changing state making chocolate melt and become a solid again.

We learned the history of chocolate and we also identified on a map where cocoa comes from, discovering about rainforests and eco issues along the way.

During our time learning about Chocolate it was also Fair trade fortnight and the children learned about what fair trade means and how this helps people in different countries.

Year 2 Class Teachers

Displaying chocolate wrappers as part of Design Technology

Making runny chocolate cake with gloop!!

Investigating materials as part of Science Issue 4 2012 43

Spring-ing into action

Pupils are expressing what they have learnt about friendship and love through drama and songs.

Children in Year 3 sharing their love of books

The spring term offers a fresh range of learning opportunities as the children build on the progress made previously. With new topics and various special activities within the school the children are enjoying another busy and hardworking term.

Through sharing their Roman homework, Year 3 learn from each other

The children in all Year 3 classes have had the opportunity to display and celebrate their hard work from their Roman challenges. We were delighted with the effort put into these projects and it is important to get together as a year group and learn from each other.

3M and 3A have performed showcases to their year group, twining class and class parents. 3M performed their showcase during Friendship Week and used their performance to explore the theme of friendship in our focus book ‘Charlotte’s Web,’ by E.B White. 3A used the popular topic of Romans as a focus for their showcase. The children used their knowledge and presentation skills to provide informative and entertaining shows.

All of year 3 have been enjoying the topics Magnets and Springs as well as Village Settlers and Helping Plants Grow Well. A visit to the Natural History Museum is being planned to extend learning in a different setting.

Year 3 Numeracy, Literacy and Science learning has also been enhanced through special events and activities throughout school. The World Education games inspire children to improve in Numeracy, Science and Spelling by competing against other children from around the globe. Book Week at BSB provided a spectacular environment for children to celebrate their love for books and writing. As well as a visit from two authors the children enjoyed special activities and competitions throughout the week. All of Year 3 also loved dressing up as their favourite book characters.

Year 3 Class Teachers

44 Newsblast

Students have worked very hard on their Romans projects

4W ready to paint in the snow

Year 4 - Exploring the arts and painting on the snow!

Braving the cold weather, 4W ventured outside with paint and brushes to take advantage of the biggest painting surface they could find, namely the snow! Applying skills and knowledge garnered in Art lessons, we proceeded to create Aboriginal styled motifs and patterns on the fresh white covering.

We represented different objects on a journey by inventing symbols and then placed them in decorative arrangements.

Meanwhile 4B explored the neoplastic art of Mondrian. We examined compositional elements in their simplest forms, using only straight lines and primary colours. We decided to use collage as an alternative to paint, and consequently were able to produce images with striking, crisp black lines, and bold, vivid hues. We also looked at symmetry in Maths, and made further use of our collage skills to produce some attractive imagery which looked wonderful on display.

4W continued to build up their drawing skills in Design &Technology. We explored one and two point perspective, as well as learning how to apply tones and contrast to create the illusion of three dimensions on a flat surface.

Year 4 Class Teachers

Creating concept sheet for the DT topic Torches

Painting Aboriginal art in the snow

Ready to paint in the snow Issue 4 2012 45

Its all about science in Year 5!

It has been an exciting half term in Year Five recently. We have been investigating and exploring all kinds of intersting things. One of the curriculum areas that has been particularly interesting to us has been Science. Our Science topic recently was “Sound”.

We explored how sounds are created, what we call things that produce sound, how sound travels and some of the ways in which sound can be useful to us.

In the new half term some of us will be investigating space in a science topic called “Earth, Moon and Sun”. We will be learning all about the way in which the planets orbit the sun, naming planets and examining what makes our home planet, the Earth, special.

Its going to be a half term filled with science in Year 5!

Year 5 Class Teachers

Some of us also started to design our own musical instuments and build simple wind intruments using straws. In music we looked at what sound waves look like and we experimented with creating music using bottles.

Orbiting each other as 5F experiments with recreating a moving

Enjoying the visit of the author Maggi Gibson

Preparing for DT 46 Newsblast

Y6 Children working with author Maggi Gibson during Book Day

Y6 Push Ahead and Pull Together The first half of this term saw children completing a number of Hi-Tec projects.

Their science challenge was to build an electronic, interactive quiz board. The results have been outstanding, with great interest shown by other classes, who have been keen to try them out. The children also got the chance to work with self-built robots. These fantastic kits, were built from scratch and subsequently programmed, using their onboard sensors.

Design Technology saw the children explore the range and purposes of shelters around the world. They considered the variety of materials available to different peoples in different locations and their practicality dependent on climate. Within class, children were able to design and make their own model shelters, utilising limited resources, but inspired by the builders and architects of the world.

The cold weather certainly did not dampen the children’s enthusiasm for farflung and exotic holidays, as they created some wonderfully informative and aesthetically attractive projects. They also brought some colour into class with their fantastic hats and masks.

Science for the half term has focused on ‘forces’, with the children experimenting with friction, pushes and pulls, water resistance, magnetism and air resistance. Their ‘Egg Drop’ challenge being the culmination of an eggcellent and egg-citing topic.

Now in the second half of the term, the children had a wonderful time during Book Week, taking full advantage of their chance to speak to a real author.

A wonderful example of the Decorate your Door Competition

Year 6 Class Teachers

Project work on ‘Dream Holidays’

Issue 4 2012 47

Dizzy the Dinosaur As part of our Healthy Schools initiative BSB hosted a visit from a local dental clinic in order to help raise awareness of the need to maintain healthy teeth and gums. The children in Foundation Stage and KS1 had a special assembly to talk about oral hygiene, teeth and going to the dentist. We had a visit from Dizzy the dinosaur that helped the children to understand the importance of good oral health and preventive dental care. By using music and stories Dizzy taught the children in a fun and interactive way how very important dental health is.

Mrs Priscilla Varban, KS1 Coordinator

We love to brush our teeth especially with a toothbrush like this one!

Role playing being a dentist during our visit with Dizzy the Dinosaur

Group photo with Dizzy

48 Newsblast

Dental Checks with City Dent As part of our Healthy Schools initiative, we were lucky to have a local dentist clinic, City Dent visiting the school and meeting with the children for dental checks. Following recent successful workshops with various classes introducing Dizzy the Dinosaur, the dentist, orthodontist and paediatric dentist, accompanied by an assistant, came back to school and offered dental checks to all children from EYFS - Year 13, to raise the profile of the need to maintain healthy teeth and gums. The dentist sent any recommendations they had home to parents and City Dent kindly offered a discount package for every BSB child.

The classes enjoyed visiting the dental team where they were given disclosing tablets that coloured their teeth pink or blue to show how effectively their teeth had been cleaned. They were then able to brush their teeth to remove the colour, having brought their toothbrush and toothpaste to school with them, which was fun in itself for the younger children who found it quite exciting to be brushing their teeth in school.

We hope all the children involved enjoyed the experience and that you found this a valuable initiative for BSB to offer, and we would like to say a big thank you to City Dent for providing us with this service.

Ms Claire Cowlishaw, EYFS Coordinator

The children enjoyed brushing their teeth in school before and after their check ups

The dental team checked the children’s teeth individually

The classes enjoyed visiting the dental team where they were given disclosing tablets that coloured their teeth pink or blue to show how effectively their teeth had been cleaned

Issue 4 2012 49

United by Poetry and Friendship The year of 2012 saw an influx of fantastic poetry from the creative, sensitive and expressive thinkers who are the Primary children of the British School of Bucharest. The theme this year was “Friendship� and this proved to be an inspiring choice for those pupils who chose to participate. After thinking about many of the different forms that a poem can take; Limerick and free verse; after considering alliteration (we are very good at alliteration) and after thinking about sonnets and nursery rhymes (our earliest experience of poetry) dozens of entries were submitted and the choice of a Key Stage 1 winner and a Key Stage 2 winner proved to be extremely difficult.

During the weeks leading up to the competition deadline Newlands School was decorated with various poems all around the school to inspire people and promote poetry. It seemed a poetry brownie had been secretly spreading the good word that poetry is fun and fantastic.

The judges had to consider some beautifully illustrated entries as well as deeply felt words and memories of friends who have since moved on. It became clear this was an important theme to our International School, that of remembering friends who have moved to other places with deep affection and some sense of longing. There were many acrostic poems and poems shape poems written in the shapes of hearts and flowers. But at the final hurdle the Key Stage One winner was Ambra from 2B with her charming recipe for friendship and in Stage Two the winner was Mohamed for his sincere and direct poem about being a good friend.

50 Newsblast

Mohamed from 4B celebrates winning the Key Stage Two Poetry Cup

SECONDARY REVIEW In a recent lesson with Year 12 students we started with some ice breaker activities, one of the questions was if you were to hold a party why type of party would be it – ‘Miss Miss loud rock music, no food just lots of space for dancing’ and then I heard ‘No no Miss quiet music so we can actually hear each other talking, a large area for nice food’ – ‘classical music Miss a party has to have classical’ – The conversation was brought to a halt when one of the students said, ‘Anyway Miss music died around 2001 – since then all songs are the same they are not well written. They are just noise’. I looked around the room and many of the Year 12’s were nodding and agreeing with one another. This did make me chuckle a little inside. When I’m asked what is your school like? I often answer ‘the students are really special’. I rooted out a Bob Dylan track as I thought our students will appreciate it since it was written in 1964 and is not just noise.

Forever Young – Bob Dylan

May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true, May you always do for others And let others do for you.

May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung, May you stay forever young, Forever young, forever young, May you stay forever young.

There are so many exciting ventures happening in Secondary; the Apprentice drawing to a close with Round 3, The Winston Churchill Debate, Healthy Schools Week, Sports Day, End of Year Trips and soon our Summer 2012 exam period will be upon us!

May you grow up to be righteous, May you grow up to be true, May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you.

May you always be courageous, Stand upright and be strong, May you stay forever young, Forever young, forever young, May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy, May your feet always be swift, May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift.

May your heart always be joyful, May your song always be sung, May you stay forever young, Forever young, forever young, May you stay forever young.

I am looking forward to the summer term now the weather has turned. There are so many exciting ventures happening in Secondary; the Apprentice drawing to a close with Round 3, The Winston Churchill Debate, Healthy Schools Week, Sports Day, End of Year Trips and soon our Summer 2012 exam period will be upon us!

Keep working hard and listening to inspiring tracks!

Ms Jen Kemp Head of Secondary

Issue 4 2012 51

Student Council Student Council has, as usual, been very busy and active around the school. This term we started off with several key events: Friendship week, Crazy Hair Day and Book Day. They were all very successful events, and now the major upcoming event is the Talent Show. This will give students in the school the opportunity to demonstrate and show off their special and unique talents. They will have to audition, and Student Council will be the judges. The best acts go through to a whole performance and then finally perform for the trophy at the Summer Fair. Hopefully before the Easter break complete sets of auditions will be held. Besides this, Student Council also managed to solve a few issues regarding the lockers and the toilets. As always, we are always looking at ways to help the school. If you have any issues, feel free to contact us.

Noor, Year 11 President of the Student Council

Fundraising for Habitat for Humanity Sixth Form students are currently carrying out fundraising activities in order to help Habitat for Humanity. On the 1st of March, Romanians celebrate Martisor. It is a national holiday, symbolising the beginning of spring. On that day, we sold flowers to students, teachers and parents. It was a good experience which helped us raise 150RON.

We hope to continue with these types of activities, in order to help us raise the amount needed by the end of the year. The purpose of this is to allow us to go for one week and help actually build houses for the less well off in Romania.

Thank you for your support,

On top of that, Mr Walker, organized a ‘Bangers and Mash for Cash’ for staff.

Sausages and mash were sold. We helped peel the potatoes and the boys in Year 13 helped cook. An outstanding 300RON was raised.

Sixth Form selling flowers on the 1st March to support Habitat for Humanity 52 Newsblast

Alexandra, Year 13

BSB does the Apprentice Challenge 2 at the Hilton Students from Year 9 to 13 have been battling it out in the second challenge of the Apprentice. A successful first challenge saw students competing in a sales task and raising over 4000 Ron for charity. Challenge 2 took place on the 3rd of March at the Athenee Palace Hilton Hotel and saw the remaining 18 candidates thrown into a real life challenge.

The day started at 9.45am in the Business Center at the hotel where the candidates were given an overview of the hotel by the Operations Director and then provided with their challenge for the day – which was to make recommendations to how the Hilton could increase the amount of customers to Roberto’s restaurant.

The day included a tour of the hotel including the presidential suite, a working lunch in Roberto’s, phone calls, interviewing guests and a nail biting group presentation to four of the Directors at the Hilton. The feedback from the management was flattering and they were overwhelmed by the maturity and approach of the candidates. Some of the ideas are currently being implemented by the Hilton as Newsblast goes to press! So well done to all candidates and good luck for the 12 remaining candidates who will be going to the Bucharest Stock Exchange for the next challenge. Our thanks must go to the Hilton for their generous support of this project Mr Mark Monaghan Business and ICT Teacher

A working lunch

Candidates make notes about the task

Working together to come up with recommendations to how the Hilton could increase the number of customers to Roberto’s restaurant

Candidates present their recommendations

Issue 4 2012 53

Careers talks ‘Careers talks’ have been taking place in our school for several months now, inspiring BSB students with interesting stories from various fields of business.

The main point of these talks is guiding the students with advice on how to choose the most suitable career for them. Each Wednesday there is a guest coming to school presenting their professional life and telling us about their experience, with the ups and downs of their career. So far now there have been guests from fields including travelling, dentistry, management, HR and also photography.

All talks were interesting and stimulating, making the students realise how the decisions they make today will strongly affect their future. Even though all talks were different and specific, the big question still remains ‘What do YOU want to do?’. It is a tricky question but Diana and I have found the answer. We are both interested in management. As management is a big field the careers that have been presented to us were really helpful, showing us the steps we need to follow in order to get to the top of the pyramid.

In conclusion we are looking forward to more careers talks in order to guide us further and help us with making the right decisions.

Ana and Diana, Year 10

Career Talks have been inspiring BSB students with interesting stories from various fields of business

All talks were interesting and stimulating for the secondary students

54 Newsblast

“Even though their area of expertise is not necessarily matching your potential career path, you will be surprised to find out how helpful their experiences are in helping you make your own decision”.

Senia Year 13 “The school aims to bring people with different career paths to give us a wider range of possibilities, for example we have doctors, HR managers, entrepreneurs, general managers and many other types of guests coming to inform us” Lola and Eda Year 10 “It was interesting to learn about each of their journeys” Naomi Year 10

Mike Carroll Photography Workshop BSB has recently had the wonderful opportunity of meeting with photographer Mike Carroll. During his visit he held a workshop with Art students in Key Stage 4 and 5. Our Fine Art students were encouraged to delve further into the world of photography and create links with their current projects through discussion on composition, light and subject matter. Rida in Year 12 remarked „I was impressed by his work and the way that he explained his techniques in photography”. I was particularly interested in the way he used light to create dramatic effects.” Naomi Year 10 was also impressed by Mike’s presentation „It was really interesting to hear the stories behind his photos and to learn more about the thought process behind his compositions” When the presentation was complete, Mike then encouraged the students to experiment with creating exciting portrait compositions of their own. „We had to focus on one specific thing and try to look at it from as many viewpoints as possible” Iulia Year 12 commented. Students worked mainly in pairs to create

exciting portraits of their friends considering elements such as light, angles and reflection. „We used his cameras during the workshop which was a wonderful experience as we learned how to create dramatic photos using this equipment” Hyo Min Year 10 said.

I am very glad that the students have had the benefit of meeting with a professional artist who has shared his artistic experiences with them.

Although he has been very successful commercially, photography is an artform that allows him to express himself. This workshop has given our students a greater insight into how they can reach their goals within this industry through dedication and commitment as well as a passion and knowledge of the subject.

Martina Greaney, Creative Faculty Coordinator

Smile for the camera Issue 4 2012 55

ALIS – Supporting

Key Stage 5 assessment From September 2011, BSB began using ALIS testing for year 12 and 13 students to give the school support in data analysis and target setting for Key Stage 5 students. This package is similar to the ACTS tests students take in Years 7 and 10 and provide a similar type of data. The package calculates the likelihood of student gaining each grade using two sets of baseline data – the student’s GCSE grades and data from an online test. It also allows the calculation of value-added data to allow the school to assess how it is achieving success and helps to measure that success against many schools in the UK. As the years go by, this data will become more and more useful in improving teaching and learning in the Sixth Form and in achieving tremendous success for our students.

Mrs Patricia Lovelock, Post-16 Coordinator

House Assemblies This term the House Captains of Arges, Mures, Danube and Olt have been given the opportunity to show their leadership and deliver assemblies to their respective Houses. Each Captain and Vice Captain have chosen a topic and delivered a 20 minute assembly on their topic. Topics included Money, Tuberculosis, Water and Inspiring People for the first set of assemblies. The Captains/ Vice-Captains will deliver a second assembly later in the term. Here are a few comments from the Captains/ Vice-Captains about their assemblies.

‘Getting the assemblies delegated to the House representatives was enjoyable and I felt connected to my House’ (May) ‘Danube did an assembly about money. By the enthusiasm members of Danube showed, I believe it was a highly successful assembly’ (Mihnea) ‘I think the House assemblies gave House Captains a great opportunity to prove themselves, in the sense that they are responsible and independent.

Personally, it was a great boost to my confidence level’ (Noor) House Captains 56 Newsblast

Danube students listen intently to MIhnea

Virtual Learning the way

Moodle has really gathered pace at BSB this year and represents BSBs chosen solution to online learning for our students. With teachers in the Secondary School having resources, activities and homework online for students to access 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The Moodle initiative helped students to organise their learning and become more independent and reflective learners.

Students are able to access information when they want, engage with their peers (through forums and chat) in a safe environment and reflect using their online learning journals.

As well as subject content there are additional resources that allow students to investigate and increase their knowledge of subjects with links to multimedia resources such as podcasts and video. There are interesting resources and activities such as games, quizzes, word of the day and daily

news that students can access. Useful links can also be found on Moodle for careers, special events, (such as World Maths Day, Healthy Schools week), subject revision and informative links for parents such as advice on eSafety.

With access to Moodle wherever there is access to the internet work can be looked at, reviewed and completed and even handed in anywhere in the world.

Please ask your son or/and daughter to show you Moodle today http://moodle.britishschool.ro/ and find out some of the great resources available.

Mr Mark Monaghan, Teacher of Business and ICT

Mystery shopping at the Mall Year 10 Business students had a field trip to the Mall to investigate customer service, which they have been studying in class. They had to plan three mystery shopping scenarios for a range of retail and food outlets to enable them to rate the levels of customer service in each business. These scenarios ranged from product knowledge of staff, speed of service, politeness and friendliness to after sales service. A successful trip that yet again helped to make the business curriculum ‘real’!

So again anyone who is reading this with a business or works in a business who may want to help make business ‘real’ for our students send us an email (mark.monaghan@britishschool.ro) . This could be anything and could involve giving up just 10 minutes, an hour or whatever you can. Let us know and we can chat about how we could work together and inspire our future business leaders!

Mr Mark Monaghan, Business and ICT Teacher

Students after completing their Mystery Shopping assignments Issue 4 2012 57

Students Invest…

Since October students from Year 9 to 13 have been taking part in the IFS Student Investor Challenge – which is the UK’s premier investment competition for UK students aged 14-19. It saw students investing a 100,000 GBP into the UK stock market and tracking how they performed against almost 8,000 other schools.

taking part and finishing in the top 15 per cent of all schools taking part. An excellent first year in the competition especially with the volatile state of the stock market that saw some depressing losses and some exciting gains almost on a daily basis!

Mark Monaghan Teacher of Business and ICT

The end of February saw the challenge come to an end and the British School of Bucharest finish a respectable 11th out of 144 other International schools

It’s official. Students Investor Challenge finished for another year!

University, the Final Frontier?

As this is my final year, I was, of course, required to apply for university. It is a process, which unfortunately I took lightly, and was rapidly overwhelmed by the complexity of this process.

First of all, a personal statement needs to be written. This is a document in which you, basically, advertise yourself. You talk about yourself as a person, your aspirations, your hobbies and everything else that you feel describes you. You must be thinking right now that it sounds quite difficult. Well, unfortunately, it is. It requires a lot of attention to detail and I ended up having to write multiple drafts just to be happy.

Secondly, a CV must be written which contains all the information about grades and other diplomas or certificates that you feel are worth mentioning.

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This is not as complicated and can be done quite easily, as long as you have all your certificates organised.

Finally, you actually have to apply to university. This is the most difficult and confusing process, especially because each university wants something different. It can be small things such as an extra document, or it can be as extreme as writing a very specific CV or personal statement tailored to the needs of the university.

Even though it might seem lengthy and difficult, there is no feeling greater than being accepted into the university that you dreamed of!

Alex, Year 13

Titration measuring pH and temperature with datalogging probes

Dataloggers in Science The Science Department recently acquired advanced datalogging equipment. This equipment, which can be used across the Key Stages, allows us to take digital measurments of a wide range of data and also allows the students to develop their ICT skills during Science lessons. All of the datalogging packs link through the laboratory computers and Interractive Whiteboards and can store and graph data in real-time situations.

Ms Claire Sugdon, Science Teacher

Secondary students conducting a titration Issue 4 2012 59

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Cobis Conference Prague 2012 Cobis is an umbrella organization for International British schools and they support quality provision of education to sixty thousand pupils in schools from Ascension Island to Yemen. In February, they held a conference of their international schools in Prague. Daniel Brown, a Secondary English teacher and Andrea Bestel, the Year 4 Primary teacher attended from BSB. Keynote speaker Trevor Rowell emphasised that the teachers in a school are the main resource and as such they deliver a

“strong curriculum with intelligent leadership”.

He pointed out that the talents of the teachers provide clear values and high expectations and emphasised that best practice is always about engagement with pupils. Daniel and Andrea went to different workshops over the next few days. Andrea was lucky enough to go to a seminar provided Neil Griffiths, famous to Infant teachers as The Story Sack Man. Neil sustained laughter and hilarity for nearly two hours but within all of this fun was a serious message about conveying a love of reading to young children. Only Neil could make teaching sound quite so funny. He also showed how to dramatise a picture book using puppets and props. Daniel investigated recent innovations in the use of technology to support teaching, along with strategies for improving students’ writing abilities.

The concluding speaker was the highly inspirational British head teacher Liam Nolan, who has turned around an inner city school in Birmingham making it the most improved school in the UK year on year. His message of valuing everyone in the school clearly made the school a wonderful place to be.

Mrs Andrea Bestel, Year 4 Class Teacher

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Learn, make friends and most of all have fun, at BSB Summer school 2012 The British School of Bucharest is offering a variety of programmes for its summer school this year. The programme will run from Monday to Friday, 9.00 to 16.30 for most courses, from the 2nd July to the 27th July. Students can sign up for anything from one to four weeks: • KS1 programme – improve reading and writing in addition to arts and crafts activities and a sports programme. Half day option • KS2 Activity programme – all day sports and arts and crafts activities, plus swimming, climbing and/or zip wire and fencing all taught by highly qualified, English-speaking teachers • KS3/4 Activity programme – all day sports and arts and crafts activities plus swimming, climbing and/or zip wire and fencing all taught by highly qualified, English-speaking teachers • KS2, KS3/4 English language programmes – English language lessons by highly qualified native speaker teachers in the morning, plus fun, guided project work and an activities programme in the afternoons • Academic Preparation course – 4 weeks, 9.00 to 14.45 Monday to Friday.

This unique course offers an intensive 4 week programme of essay writing, debating skills and IELTS/TOEFL preparation classes, for students aged 16 to 20 who aim to study in the UK or other English speaking country All lessons and activities are run by highly qualified native speaker teachers, or specialist qualified instructors in the case of fencing, swimming, climbing and zip wire. Lunch, prepared by our experienced catering staff, is included in the cost of the course.

BSB summer school operates with the same philosophy of summer schools in the UK in that its main aim is to raise students’ self confidence and social skills by offering the opportunity to try the largest possible number of extracurricular activities in the shortest possible time. Pains have been taken to ensure that only the highest qualified teachers and instructors are involved, so that all participants are assured of a safe, fun and diverse programme of the highest possible quality.

For more information please contact: summerschool@britishschool.ro Mr Bill Ellis, Director of the Summer School Programme

Academic Prep student in the hotseat

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Building confidence on the climbing wall

Making new friends

Summer school students putting on a play

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BSB students know the key to success is teamwork

www.britishschool.ro

42, Erou Iancu Nicolae Street 077190 Voluntari, Ilfov County, Romania T. +40 21 267 89 19 F. +40 21 267 89 69 E. office@britishschool.ro