Issue 3 - February 2012
BSB Winter Wonderland
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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For specific help relating to school transport and student lunches,
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If you need any information or help in regard to your child’s education and
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Principal letter Dear Parents & Friends of BSB, Recent press coverage discussing education has highlighted the priorities it should place on preparing students for the real world; two words were repeatedly used throughout all the research and critiques: teamwork and collaboration. The move away from working as individuals to achieve singular targets is being replaced with encouraging children to work as groups, and more importantly teams, to achieve success. This involves accepting that everyone has a role to play in moving the team forward, bringing different strengths that need to be capitalised on.
With this in mind I have been considering how well our school works with teams in place throughout departments and across age phrases, with hundreds of staff and students on site, and additionally our BSB families, the varied teams that are operating seems endless: from our staff committees to the student council, Parent Teacher Association to yearbook groups and assessment panels, in addition to regular classes and form groups. Certainly the children’s learning would not be so rich and varied if it were simply individuals responsible for encouraging this.
Our next development aim is to make sure the students all have a chance to grow in collaboration, and that our daily programme for them gives each child an opportunity to learn the necessary skills to work in effective teams.
“We must ensure these skills of teamwork and collaboration are part of our curriculum, giving BSB students as many opportunities as possible to be prepared for the future.�
The recent snowfall saw our maintenance and facilities teams out in force to keep the school buses running and the site cleared so we could continue our school day; teams working behind the scenes are vital for the smooth running of the school day, and we would like to offer them our thanks for their efforts throughout the year.
Our Office team has expanded with the arrival of Ms Catherine Noble and she is now uniting various non-academic staff teams that provide the back bone to the school, including teams related to Admissions, Human Resources and Adult Learning classes to name a few. Some recent training with Mrs Karen Knowles increased our understanding of the different professional personalities that need to come together and work towards a common aim, and how it is vital that we all appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of others.
These examples should provide good role models for our students and as we all reflect on our daily working lives and our need to work with others to secure success, we must ensure these skills of teamwork and collaboration are part of our curriculum, giving BSB students as many opportunities as possible to be prepared for the future. I am proud to be part of Team BSB; it is definitely a winning team.
Jo Puddy-Wells, Principal principal@britishschool.ro
Issue 3 2012 3
Introducing Catherine Noble
Welcome to the latest edition of ‘In Your Neighbourhood’. In this article, we are going to meet Miss Catherine Noble, who has recently joined BSB. Let’s start with a little information about her background. Catherine was born in County Durham, England. She is the business manager in the school; she was also a business manager in her previous job, working for a county school music service. Catherine is happy to be at BSB and thinks that everyone always seems happy here. She is also very impressed with Bucharest and particularly likes the shopping aspect. Catherine has visited many countries including the USA, France, Germany, Greece and Italy; her favourite holiday was in Florida and
she enjoyed visiting Disneyland. She is a huge fan of movies and likes comedies and romantic movies; Ashton Kutcher is her favourite actor. However, she does not like action movies. The last movie she went to was ‘The Inbetweeners’. Catherine also likes to listen to music and is a fan of Beyonce. Interviewed by Dilara and Eleanor. Year 8
Dilara, Catherine and Eleanor
PTA Review December was a busy month for the PTA and especially for our Class Activities co-ordinator Julia Armstrong. Julia managed to arrange individual class parties for all EYFS and KS1 children, a total of 12 parties in all. The children and teachers thoroughly enjoyed themselves, creating decorations, cupcakes and learning some dance moves. The final party was the KS2 wrap party that took place in the Dome on the last day of term where Julia created a new record for the largest number of BSB students dancing the Macarena! Well done Julia! And to those parents and committee members who helped assist with face painting and running the parties, thank-you. Next term we start planning for the Annual Summer Fair and we will be looking for volunteers who would be willing to get involved with the organisation, running an International Food Table or help by giving an hour of their time on the day. Please feel free to contact any of the committee members if you would like to get involved. 4 Newsblast
Mrs Sarah Waterfield, President of the PTA
BSB Alumni Where are they know? Hello BSB! I’ve missed you all so much and I thought I may let you know about how I’m doing. Brighton is a very diverse town but there’s plenty to do, being England, the weather is naturally disastrous but I think I’ve adapted quite well to that. School is also fine, although nothing compares to the friendly environment at BSB. My visit just happened to be on the day of your Christmas Party and it was utterly fantastic! I’m so happy to have seen all of you and I wish you all the best. Louisa, former BSB student
Hi this is Sophie an ex student of BSB. I am now living in the South of France close to Marseille. Now I go to a public school were there are 30 students per class and there are over 600 students in total. I miss BSB a lot because there are so many activities going on and the teachers teach better because the classes are more serious. In my new school I do extra volleyball and singing. My sister Raphaele who also used to go to BSB goes to a different school than I do in France. When I go and pick her up I can see she is happy there – its strange being in different schools again. She doesn’t like homework though, she gets a lot! Sophie and Raphaele, former BSB students
Raphaele and Sophie loved their visit back to BSB
It was great seeing former colleagues and friends
Issue 3 2012 5
Artisan Fair Winter has finally arrived and we are now experiencing the kind of weather that is normal for early winter. It is hard to remember just how lucky we were with the conditions we enjoyed for the Artisan fair. The Artisan Fair is an event for both children and parents providing an enjoyable afternoon for the school community to share. Students were actively involved this year running the children’s fair in the Newlands Building. Secondary students were participating in the BSB Apprentice; three teams of students were asked to set up stalls that would appeal to children. The students came up with a variety of initiatives including showing children’s movies, creating games and running craft activities. The students were highly motivated and very enthusiastic resulting in many children requesting money from their parents! We were once again fortunate to have a special visitor from the North Pole at the fair who arrived in spectacular fashion, flying through the air. For several children and parents this was a real WOW moment, never to be forgotten. In the main dining hall the local artisans set up their stalls selling traditional craft items and unique gifts made in Romania. We were also lucky to have several of our charities represented allowing parents to understand more about the school’s charities. Several parents were also able to enjoy the traditional sweet pastries and biscuits made by parents. The Artisan Fair is the PTA’s Charity fund raising event of the year and I am pleased to announce that we were able to raise even more money than the previous year. All income from the day is donated and in total we raised 11,000 Ron which will be given to the school’s charities. The first charity to benefit from the proceeds is Light into Europe an organisation which the school has supported for several years. Light into Europe has several programmes one of which is their ongoing commitment to introducing guide dogs to Romania. The second charity is Fundatia Innocenti, who we supported last year with their afterschool programme to provide educational support to
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those children who require additional learning assistance, our donation will once again be put towards this valuable programme. The event would not be possible without the generous support of the parent community who helped with collections for the class baskets and donating
Zipwire Santa
Beautiful ceramics from local artisans
Apprentice students setting up their stall to experience a real life situation their time to assist with running stalls and decorating the school. I would like to thank the parents who gave their time on the morning of the event to help decorate the grotto and run around the school collecting baskets, preparing the hot dogs and graciously giving their time to assist with setting up the event. We always need and welcome parent involvement with the events and they are not possible without assistance, even an hour of your time would make a difference, so please let a PTA committee member know if you would like to be involved. Mrs Sarah Waterfield, President of the PTA
A charity stall run by Melinda Issue 3 2012 7
Afterwards they were able to sample food from stalls representing a variety of different nationalities.
Christmas Singing IWA
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Last December four BSB students performed a medley of Christmas songs to a packed hall at the RomExpo as part of the entertainment at the International Women’s Association Christmas Bazaar. We were very proud of them for representing us so well.
The girls sang very confidently in front of the large audience.
Shoe Box Appeal 2011 We do not know how Santa does it, but preparing presents for 179 children from our three partner charities meant a great joint effort by the entire BSB community. However, looking at the faces radiant with joy of the children receiving their presents makes all this effort worthwhile. BSB students learned a lesson about giving and understanding the needs of the community they live in, which is essential for their personal development. I would like to thank all the students and parents for the love and generosity with which they prepared their shoe box gifts. Parents made between one and 23 (!) shoe boxes each. Numerous members of staff, (teachers and teaching assistants) made shoe boxes as well. Their effort is greatly appreciated, especially as the number of boxes required this year was record high. Many thanks also to the diligent translators from Romanian into English. Students from Y4 to Y13 rendered the letters from the needy children into English. Thanks to the Office Staff for providing the communication with the parents and last but not least to Miss Diana, Secondary Librarian, for managing all the shoe boxes and responding to the preferences of the parents. Many thanks go to Mrs Daniela Mager for facilitating the contact with Mia’s Children and organising the shoe box pick up. Our three partner charities, (Fundatia Inocenti, Asociatia Vasiliada and Mia’s Children) have expressed their deep gratitude to BSB for the joy we brought to the orphan children. Ms Dorothea Draser , Charity Committee
Thank you, Santa!
Costin put his best clothes and tie on for Santa's visit.
Children from Asociatia Vasiliada, Craiova, were excited about their presents.
Issue 3 2012 179 Shoe Boxes... Thanks BSB!9
The star that couldn’t shine
Preschool introducing the show
A star that couldn’t shine? That is no good at Christmas time. Crib, Crèche and Preschool joined together in December to put on the festive production of “The star that couldn’t shine”. All three classes took to the stage to try and make the star shine. Crib gave it some twinkle by singing “Twinkle, Twinkle little star”, Crèche gave it some sprinkle by dancing a magical dance and Preschool gave it some sunshine with an Hawaiian hula dance and song.
All of the children did a wonderful job on stage and showed off their developing self - confidence in front of everybody who came to watch. We hope you enjoyed the show. Crib, Crèche and Preschool Teachers
Crib waiting to take to the stage
Crèche doing their magic dance
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Perrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect Production The Snowflakes that built the igloo for the penguins
The children in Reception put on a fabulous performance for the winter production of ‘We’re going on a House Hunt’. The production was based on the story ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen, but with a twist. The penguins Polly and Percy went on a house hunt with their family because theirs was melting. Along the way they found families of polar bears and whales but could not find the perfect house. After a snowstorm they were surprised to find that the snowflakes had been very busy throughout the night and built them a perrrrrrfect house.
Throughout the production practices the children displayed high levels of enthusiasm and involvement to learn new songs and actions. The children did a superb job with speaking clearly and with confidence, which links to our EYFS learning intentions. This being CLL, speak clearly and audibly with confidence and control and show awareness of the listener. On the days of the production the children put on a brilliant performance and we are sure you would all agree? Reception Class Teachers
The Polar Bears
The Penguins
The Whales
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Year 1 Production With Christmas comes the eagerly awaited Year 1 production, which this year was entitled ‘The Nutcracker. The story begins on Christmas Eve when Marie and her brother Fritz receive their Christmas gifts from their godfather Mr Drosselmeier. The children open their presents and are delighted to find a Nutcracker soldier. After all the excitement the children put their gifts under the tree and go to sleep. The magic of Christmas Eve begins to work and the Nutcracker comes to life. He takes Marie on a wonderful journey to the land of sweets where she meets an array of magical characters.
Candies from 1S getting ready to say their candy poem
All the children worked extremely hard rehearsing for the big day, and the results showed in their performances. All the actors managed to learn their lines brilliantly. The singing, too, was excellent. Well done everybody! The Nutcracker costumes, created by Miss Camelia were fantastic and the scenery, created by Miss Nicoleta and Miss Sabina was very authentic. A big thank you to everyone for all their hard work in organising the production. We would also like to thank all the parents and relatives who came to support us. It was a very enjoyable occasion and a great start to the festive season. Year 1 Class Teachers
Three little fairies spreading some Christmas magic
Marie starting her wonderful adventure with the Nutcracker, while the soldiers work hard to protect her 12 Newsblast
Year 2’s Production of The Elves and the Shoemaker This year the Year 2 Production was “The Elves and the Shoemaker”. With all the big glitzy shopping centres going up around the village, all the little independent shops are getting less and less trade and poor Stefan the shoemaker and his wife Sue (Tudor S and Stephie) is rather sad that he is not the best shoemaker in the world anymore and can not pay his rent to his ruthless landlord Slingback (Remi) and his motly gang ( Moritz and Alan), who is planning to up his rent and throw them out, surely not at Christmas time. What’s this, is there some help coming his way with a Fairy Elf Mother (Irina) and 6 little elves, will they be able to save the day? Maybe work through the night to make fabulous, gorgeous shoes that all the royal customers want to buy, as they are shoes just to die for ! All the children worked really hard rehearsing for the two showings of the performance and all the teachers and teaching assistants were extremely proud of everyone, they managed all their lines and their acting was amazing, never mind remembering all the words to the songs.
Looking amazing, all dressed up and ready to go
Fantastic job Year 2 children. Well done everybody. Year 2 would like to thank Mr Green and Mr Jonathon for the fabulous music and also to Mrs Camelia Ion, Miss Ani and the teaching assistants for the amazing costumes, just loved the elves hats, background scenary and props an amazing job. What a team! Mrs Emma Bradshaw Year 2 Class Teacher
Ready for lights, camera, action.
Looking fantastic during the performance, love the elf hats! Issue 3 2012 13
Funtastic Fables
“Look at me cos I’m the goat”
Year 3 and 4’s performance of Aesop’s Funtastic Fables in December proved to be just that – both fun and fantastic. The children worked extremely hard to learn their lines, songs and dances and showed exceptional talent in doing so. Each of the five classes acted out legendary fables as told by four different Aesops, each fable uniquely different but all portraying the same message of love and friendship to all. Thanks to a mysterious magical storyteller, Kevin and Sarah’s picnic in the woods turned into an incredible lesson in life. Learning from nature they listened to the story of the ants, took tea with the bees, shared honey with a dancing bear and howled with a lonely wolf. They met two sly old foxes and two very arrogant goats and there was even a mouse that was best friends with a lion. They did battle with the Sun and the Wind, watched a tortoise race a hare and met a wise old owl who just could not stop giving good advice.
Through a collection of catchy songs and wonderful characters the children learnt that in spite of all the differences, there is a spirit of love and caring that makes us all the same. The Tandarica theatre was the perfect location for the show, which turned out to be an amazing musical mixture of dance, song and rhyme with an added touch of humour. I’m sure that those of you who saw the show would agree, it turned out to be the perfect performance to mark the end of term. I must take this opportunity to thank all the Year 3 and 4 staff for their hard work and dedication, in particular Mr Green and Mr Kelly for their expertise, Miss Bestel for her talented costume creations and last but not least Miss Thomas and Miss Priscilla for super choreography. Lisa Ali, Lower Key Stage 2 Leader
“Yes you’re only young once so what d’ya say?”
Can the sheep trust the wolf?
“Hi Miss Crow how ya doing? Don’t you know that you’re looking fine?”
Slow and steady wins the race.
Let's Celebrate! Our travellers lead their party guests in a fantastic song to end the show.
It’s a celebration Celebrating the end of a busy term, Years 5 and 6 certainly went out in style. They worked incredibly hard to put on a wonderful performance of ‘Celebrations Around the World’. ‘Peter’ and ‘Jane’ are planning a party and don’t know what theme to choose. Using the Tardis, a time machine disguised as a battered wooden Police Box, they are able to travel through time and visit different countries and cultures, to see how they celebrate special events.
Chinese New Year never looked so colourful
The show was a spectacular mix of colour, dance and song, with our travelers visiting; China, India, New Zealand, England (in the middle ages), Scotland, Russia, the USA and even the future. The show demonstrated both individual talents and some excellent synchronised movement and dance. The children performed to packed houses both for their afternoon and evening shows, even able to welcome Key Stage 1 children to their dress rehearsal. Reviews for the show were all very positive,“Fantastic show tonight - we loved it - but probably the Scottish and Russian scenes most of all, (although the future one was very, very good...it’s hard to pick really). Amazing dragon!”
Off to Russia next. A party planners work is never done!
All in all a great example of the huge range of talent and commitment the children have to offer. Thanks also need to go to all the staff who put in so much time and effort into a wonderful piece of theatre. Thank you. Mr Robert Bradshaw, Upper KS2 Coordinator
Our travellers witness a traditional Maori stick dance
ISTA FESTIVAL: January 26th to 29th 2012 hosted by the British School.
Over a year ago I went to a festival in Geneva and Mrs Sally Robinson, the chair of ISTA asked me if BSB would be interested in hosting a festival. We got our committee together and started to talk about the theme we would like to be covered and what we wanted to gain for our own students from the experience. I feel as if we have become friends over the year and shall never expect to work with a better team. The festival itself was indeed a marvellous spectacle. I have to say with hand on heart that it is one of the most professionally coordinated pieces of promenade theatre that I have ever experienced from this age group. It was an emotional day for all of us.
Thank you to Melinda Sali who became our Romanian link to the festival before being joined by Ms. Diana Stan, Mrs Elena Corciu and Mrs Daniela Toader. Thank you to Mr Steven Sykes who helped with logistics and last but not least to Mrs McLachlan who became a personal assistant and party organiser in the end. Hosting is by far the most important part of the festival, apart from the performance and it was the one that we could not have done without the help of our parents, so we would like to thank to all our parents who hosted our guests..
Who will I join?
I don’t know your Majesty
Thank you to all families who came to see the great performance, and to the British and Swiss Ambassadors, and Danish Embassy for their attendance. You may have heard about the festival in passing. You may have been asked to help us host children from nine different countries. You may have been a participant or you may have been one of our hosts. Whatever role you played you Newsblast can be assured of our thanks. 16
Hard work pays off and the power of Theatre and the Arts shows that we can work in harmony through pain and struggle towards a beautiful and sophisticated end result. As one of the parents commented,” It would be great if politicians could work the way our children did. The world would be a better place.” Mr Kevin Kelly, Head of Drama Department
They have transformed us
I will command a storm
What workshop am I in?
Doing the Hora, a Romanian traditional dance
ISTA staff enjoying the live music
ISTA children from all over the world at the Ambassadors Residence
The Music Ambassadors
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Science Pathway
Science falls under ‘Knowledge and Understanding of the World’ in the EYFS curriculum with ‘exploration and investigation’ being our scientific aspect. Children discover the world around them developing scientific knowledge through questioning and exploration.
The children in Preschool developed an understanding of cause and effect relationships, investigating whether adding more carriages slowed down the train
The children in Preschool explored the pond area identifying the features of living things
Children in Creche investigating “gloop”. Issue 3 2012 19
Scientific enquiry at KS1 & KS2 enables children to: • develop knowledge and understanding of important scientific ideas, processes and skills and relate these to everyday experiences; • learn about ways of thinking and of finding out about and communicating ideas; • explore values and attitudes through science. Practical science investigations in the Primary School allow children to be curious about things they observe, and experience and explore the world about them with all their senses. They can then use these experiences to develop their understanding of key scientific ideas and make links between different phenomena and experiences.
Experimenting with sharing power between different components in an electrical circuit
Y2B pupils experimenting with forces
Using a data logger to measure temperature 20 Newsblast
KS3 students experience a highly practical syllabus in order for them to develop their skills to prepare them to complete coursework at IGCSE level.
Year 10 students completing a titration as part of their coursework.
Experimental work in KS3 not only develops technical skill and understanding but has also been shown to increase students’ enjoyment of the subject.
Observing changes during a testing process KS4 students are required to submit a practical coursework portfolio for both Chemistry and Physics.
KS5 students are required to have highly developed experimental and observational skills in order to succeed in the AS and A2 practical examinations. Issue 3 2012 21
Country Spotlight: North America Celia 1V answers:
Henry 4W
Where are you from? Washington How long have you lived in Bucharest? 2 years Describe North America. In my country our first president’s name was George Washington How does living in Romania differ? America is a bit richer than Romania, houses are a bit bigger and the fences a bit stronger. How does BSB compare to your previous school? Our school was a bit smaller. What do you like about your new school? I like having new teachers every year and new friends. I like having new books and new games to play with.
Where abouts in North America are you from? I was born in Texas How long have you lived in Bucharest? Eight or nine months How does BSB compare to your previous school? I’m learning much more in this school. I miss Science in my old school, we had a special science lab and made potions! We had bikes you could ride in the playground, and a place just for football. What do you like about your new school? Initially I was a bit worried about catching up on work, but I’m feeling more confident now. I’m learning a lot more and I like art.
Jenisa 5F Hugo 1V answers: Where are you from? Needham, Massachusetts Describe North America. It’s pretty good, it’s like Romania. How does living in Romania differ? The parks in America are more fun. How does BSB compare to your previous school? This school looks very different What do you like about your new school? It’s more fun than the other school.
Asal 2F Where abouts in North America are you from? Canada How long have you lived in Bucharest? Probably 2 years Describe North America to somebody who has never been. Cold, beautiful, it has nice shops and cities How does living in Romania differ from living in North America? I like it here more How does BSB compare to your previous school? I was too little to go to school there What do you like about your new school? Golden Time, playtime, art lessons, summer fair
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Where about in North America are you from? Yorkton Saskatchewan, Canda How long have you lived in Bucharest? For 3 years now. I was born in Thailand, but my dad’s from Canada. Describe North America to somebody who has never been. It is a quite friendly place to go. They, sometimes have a weird way of talking, that of adding ‘hey’ to the end of each sentence. There are lots of public schools and when you go to a playground you make friends easily (I don’t know if that’s because my grandfather is a principal...) How does living in in Romania differ from living in North America? Lots of public schools. In North America there are no dogs on streets. The food is already prepared for you. In Romania it’s warmer and people seem more relaxed to me. When I leave Romania I miss the big parks and the fresh air. How does BSB compare to your previous school? My old school was in Libya and it was definitely a lot smaller. It was a more concrete, less green site. If you would get lower than 3 for your subjects in your reports you couldn’t pass the year. I liked that school though and I like this one too. What do you like about your new school? In BSB there are many more opportunities. I like the field trips and the different special days that we have here, such as Water Day, Maths Day or Book Day.
Noah 5F
Ana Maria 5M
Where about in North America re you from? Massachusetts How long have you lived in Bucharest? For my whole life, but every summer (and sometimes Christmas) I go to US. Describe North America to somebody who has never been. It is very populated with lots of beautiful sites, museums and hills. People are kind. How does living in Romania differ from living in North America? In North America (at least the area I’m coming from) they have more forests and bigger backyards. In schools children haven’t got desk mates. You can have a bear to come and visit your backyard. When I go home I miss the castles, lakes with fresh water and the sites in Romania. Most people in Romanian countrysides have a very simple way of living... they seem happier. In Romanian countrysides you see lots of wells...people don’t drink water from the tap, they drink fresh water from the wells, and they don’t have to pay for it :) How does BSB compare to your previous school? The last school I was in was a lot smaller and had less children. The playground was little too. BSB has good teachers. What do you like about your new school? I like BSB because it explains things better. I like it because it has green sites. I also like all the special days... Summer Fair, Crazy Hair Day (even if there isn’t so much to do to short hair). But what I like most is that I feel I make my own choices.
Where abouts in North America are you from? I lived in Roslin Heights in New York How long have you lived in Bucharest? About 2 Years Describe North America to somebody who has never been It is clean, the people are kind and there was a huge hill to play on in Roslin Heights. How does living in Romania differ from living in North America Romania is a little less clean but still fun. How does BSB compare to your previous school? Homework is due the next day and the school was bigger. What do you like about your new school? I like that BSB is a smaller school and that the work is about the same.
Lewis 5M Where abouts in North America are you from? My dad is from Boston How long have you lived in Bucharest? 2 Years Describe North America to somebody who has never been Nice country, lots of fun things to do there, like aquariums and parks in Boston What do you like about your new school? It is great for education.
Daria 5M Where abouts in North America are you from? My dad and step sister are from Chicago How long have you lived in Bucharest? My whole life Describe North America to somebody who has never been It is full of tall buildings and in New York and Chicago I didn’t see many trees
Isabella 6R Where are you from? Vermont How long did you live in Bucharest? Half a year Describe North America. It has lots of shops and some nice parks, also Vermont is a beautiful place to visit How does living in Romania differ? In the Winter it does not get so cold and usually there are more people walking on the streets How does BSB compare to your previous school? In BSB there is more outdoor space and it does not teach the American curriculum and most people had an American accent What do you like about your new school? We have longer playtime and I have more friends.
Issue 3 2012 23
Michael Year 7
Oliver
Where abouts in North America are you from? New York City, New York, America How long have you lived in Bucharest? One and a quarter years Describe North America to someone who has never been. Very modern, all land types (ocean, mountains, desert, grassland, farmland, etc…), most people are kind and, very organized highways, organized politics, etc… How does living in Romania differ from living in North America? The elegant parts of New York are cleaner and more groomed than the elegant parts of Romania How does BSB compare to your old school? In BSB I have much better and nicer friends than the ones that I had in my old school, BSB is also much nicer looking and has a better education than my old school. I like my new friends, the better education, and the more enthusiasm in playing sports
Where about in North America are you from? I am from the United States. I was born in Oregon but my parents are from England. How long have you lived in Bucharest? 1 year and 2 months Describe North America to somebody who has never been. I don’t remember that much about it because it was a long time since I did live there and I was quite young. How does living in Romania differ from living in North America? North America is much bigger. I can’t believe that Oregon is a state and it is bigger than Romania! How does BSB compare to your previous school? I don’t remember going to school in America but I do remember going to school in Holland. It was different because it was an international school and not a British school. What do you like about your new school? It is closer to my house. It took 45 minutes to get to school in Holland and now it only takes a minute! I also like my friends at BSB.
Think Fast As most of you know, on the 24th of November, we had our great Geography House competition. All of our four houses competed in reaching the highest score in the 15 minutes given. The goal was to name as many countries in the world as a team, racing against the clock. The process was that everybody lined up and said a country that had not been said already. We used a website called Sporcle, which has lots of different educational and fun competitions, which can teach you a lot. Our results were extremely close and everybody participated in the activity. If you would like to have a go and see if you can do any better than our fellow students at BSB, please go to the following website:
Checking the map to see which ones we’ve missed
www.sporcle.com/games/g/world Have fun - we did. Samantha, Catriona, Veronika, Joanna, Year 6
So how many countries did we know...?
Explaining the rules, so we can do our best. 24 Newsblast
CLUBS
An element of experimentation also helps.
Composition club gives the older children the chance to develop their musical appreciation and creativity outside class times.
Construction for Years 3 and 4 involves more complicated equipment and forward planning to make complex designs.
Creating collages requires concentration and an appreciation of pattern and colour.
Fun games for younger children also helps to build new friendships.
Groovy grammar and sublime spelling club provides extra English practice after school.
In Super Science children learn about using simple electrical circuits to make things work.
Safe use of equipment as well as design skills being demonstrated in DT - design a chair.
Scrabble tests vocabulary and literary imagination
Singing club uses interactive media for children to practise their English whilst having fun.
Wool Craft is a popular club from the Calea Victoriei Foundation, where children can learn about felting techniques.
UNIVERSITIES
A range of media can be used to introduce children to pattern design
Concentration is also required!
At BSB Radio KS1 children are learning about presenting, planning and team work.
Fine motor skills are developed through creative sewing tasks.
Learning Latin not only gives the children insight into modern European languages but takes them back into an influential and fascinating culture.
Mapping university introduces children to maps of all scales.
Mixed sports university in KS1 introduces the children to a range of opportunities to increase their practical skills and have fun with their peers. Issue 3 2012 31
www.imupro300.ro
ImuPro300 Healthy eating can make you ill Overweight, stomach and bowel problems, migraine, concentration problems due to delayed food allergies? Ask your therapist about ImuPro300. They will provide non-binding advice as to whether ImuPro300 could provide you with a form of treatment that promises success.
The advantages of ImuPro300:
• Identication of causes instead of treating symptoms for several years • Rapid result and individual documents after approx. 10 days • Detailed evaluation of approx. 270 foods, colourings and preservatives • Analysis with utmost laboratory quality • Patient handbook with background information • Individual diagnostic findings file • Individual recipe book with approx. 100 specific recipes • Professional telephone-based nutritional counselling
When should you consider using ImuPro300?
• Flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome • Large 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
32 Newsblast
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
Lower School Review Progress One of the most important aspects in any school is ‘progress’. This can be students progress, staff progress, school progress……the list is endless. I am lucky to be able to walk round the lower school and see progress at every turn. While recently reading the reports of primary children I am amazed by the progress the students have been making in all aspects of school life – this included their academic work, their confidence, and their involvement in class discussions, their behaviour or their attitude. The children have also received targets to work towards in order to make more forwards. It is very important for them to now ensure that they focus on their targets, Progress does not happen without hard work. The following steps can help us all make progress and achieve our targets. 1. Have a clear picture of what you want to achieve You can’t move towards a target unless you have a clear idea about what that target is. 2. Spend time visualising your success As part of gaining a clear picture about your target, frequently take time picturing yourself achieving your target. 3. Think about how it will feel to achieve your target Consider how you will feel when you succeed. What will it be like? How happy will you be? 4. Focus on doing something important each day towards reaching your targets.
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
Every target can be broken down in to a number of steps and those steps can be broken down further into the activities needed to achieve the target. You need to do something every day from this list. Focusing on these things will really help us to work towards our targets and ensure that we continue to make progress.
Ms Tiffany Moorcroft, Head of Lower School
Benjamin Franklin
I am lucky to be able to walk round the Lower school and see progress at every turn. Issue 3 2012 33
Bears and Sunshine Happy new year everybody and welcome back. The children in Crib and Crèche have settled back into their daily routines very well, it is almost as if they have not been away! Crèche have been reading “Goldilocks and the three bears”. This is a firm favourite at the moment and has led the children on a bear learning journey. The highlight of this being “Bear day”. All of the children came along to school that day with their bears from home. The bears joined in with everything that day including painting, snack time and they even went to the Library. They were very well behaved bears!
Crib exploring media to create colourful suns.
The theme in Crib at the moment is Weather. We are singing songs about it as well as making suns, kites, umbrellas and also snowmen just in case. We are enjoying playing outside in the mild weather but we hope we will be able to build a real snowman soon and perhaps throw a few snowballs. Our snowsuits and boots are at the ready! We are looking forward to being busy and having fun. Crib and Crèche Class Teachers
Story time on the carpet.
Creche proudly showing their sense of self as a member of their setting with their bears. 34 Newsblast
‘Working’ in a Winter Wonderland This half term in Preschool has been very exciting as we have welcomed three new friends to our class so all the children have been busy getting to know each other. Our main focus for learning has been winter, but with the unexpected sunny weather to begin the term we did not have quite as much ‘winter’ as we had hoped for. However, decorating the classroom with wintery decorations and colours, ensured that Preschool transformed into a wonderful winter wonderland. The creativity didn’t stop there though. Along with learning about animals, habitats, weather, freezing and melting, and much more, we also studied the work of the artist Kandinsky. This came about after the children showed a lot of interest in shapes and patterns; and as the children in Preschool are very creative and love to get messy and imaginative creating wonderful pictures, paintings, collages and all types of art work, they began to
incorporate their learning about shape and patterns into their expressive pieces. This led us to look at some pictures which had different shapes in and the abstract work of Kandinsky was a big hit with all the children. Preschool have also been developing their ICT skills, using a simple painting program on the computer to compose Kandinsky-themed artwork, whilst also painting pictures of winter animals which have been another big interest in our class. When winter is over, the children are looking forward to seeing the environmental changes as spring arrives and all the learning associated with this, continuing the learning we have done on seasons throughout the year. Ms Claire Cowlishaw, Preschool Teacher
Creative Development encourages the exploration of media and materials, choosing colours for a purpose and exploring what happens when colours are mixed. Themed areas in the classroom support childrens’ imaginative and role play experiences using available props to support their play.
Issue 3 2012 35
Learning Literacy Rocks in Reception!
Proudly showing their completed project: spaceman helmets.
This term each Reception class has chosen a topic to focus their Literacy and incorporate all other areas of our learning. In Reception P we are looking at Space. We have been learning facts about our own planet and surrounding planets. We have linked this to Numeracy by ordering the planets in size and positions. In Literacy we have done some creative writing about the day in the life as an astronaut. The children have been very creative this term making their own planets and turning themselves into astronauts. Come and see our beautiful displays. In Reception S we have been helping the friendly dragon save fairyland by reading lots of fairytale stories. We have been looking closely at how to sequence events within a story and talking about the main characters. Using our creative side we have built a castle for the dragon to protect as well as a beanstalk for Jack. In Reception E we have been investigating a ‘Winter Wonderland’ and sharing several fiction and non-fiction books recognising their similarities and differences. We have demonstrated our creative side by imagining we are explorers and keeping a diary of what we see in the Arctic. This is linked to our Knowledge and Understanding of the World where we are investigating ice and using adjectives to describe what they see. Reception Class Teachers 36 Newsblast
Children working creatively on a large scale
Using the big building blocks to build a castle.
Investigating which animals are living in our ‘snowy land’.
Demonstrating creativeness and role-playing in the class igloo. Issue 3 2012 37
Happy New Year in Year One
The Year 1 project this term was castles. We made a dragon during a DT lesson.
The Year Ones have started back this term full of energy and enthusiasm. The first week back saw them preparing for an attack from The Black Knight but with hard work and dedication they managed to scare him away. Each day they had to find a letter from Sir Vlad White, a kind Knight, who told them how to prepare if they were attacked. The children have embraced and loved learning all about castles from how they were attacked and defended to what they would eat at a medieval feast. The Year Ones looked fantastic in their crowns that they made for the end of topic celebration banquet. In Literacy this term, we have been reading lots of different traditional tales. The children were able to talk about their favourite ones. They are continuing to build their story telling skills through both writing and drama activites. In Numeracy the Year Ones have continued to work on their number skills through fun Bingo games and “number match”.
38 Newsblast
In science we have been thinking about pushes and pulls. The Year Ones were excellent at this and were able to talk about many different types of pushes and pulls found all around them. Our new topic this term is going to be ‘Winter Wonderland’. We will learn all about the seasons, what animals do over the winter and how we keep warm during the chilly months. A big thank you to all the parents who attended the recent workshop on assessment in Year One. It has been a great start to 2012 and we all think the Year Ones are going to have a very happy year. Year 1 Class Teachers
All of the Year Ones enjoying their medieval banquet and reading a letter from the Knight Sir Vlad White.
Everybody is putting a lot of effort in to creating the dragon. Issue 3 2012 39
Investigating the pirate role play area.
Ahoy Me Hearties Year 2 have had some amazing pirate adventures this term. We learned all about Peter Pan and Treasure Island as part of our Traditional Stories topic. We also learned about famous pirates in the past, discussing sources that tell us about them and exploring why it is improtant to remember them today. We practised our mapping skills by identifying places that pirates used to sail to and we also used coordinates as part of our Numeracy and ICT, programming Beebots across treasure maps. We also compared life on an island, comparing and contrasting localities with our own.The Pirates topic also gave us great opportunities for some interesting Science lessons. As well as comparing ships to other kinds of vehicles, we investigated how pirate ships were moved by the wind when we were learning about Forces. In addition, we investigated floating, sinking and water displacement. Year 2 Class Teachers 40 Newsblast
2B enjoying the roleplay area.
Land Ahoy! Investigating forces and movement as part of Pirates topic.
Labelling their own pirate ships as part of Design Technology, investigating Vehicles.
Issue 3 2012 41
Resolutions, Reading & Romans! The children in Year 3 have returned refreshed from their holiday and made a positive and active start to 2012. With lots of learning experiences and new topics to explore it has been a hard working and fun Winter in Year 3. The students in 3C have been busy preparing and performing their class assembly. The topic of their assembly was New Year’s Resolutions and it gave the children the opportunity to reflect on what they could improve in the New Year while developing their reading, talking, acting and singing skills. In Literacy, Year 3 have started studying, ‘Charlotte’s Web,’ by E.B White. It’s a fantastic novel about friendship, changes and salvation. The pupils have enjoyed meeting and learning about the characters, exploring the setting and learning about spiders. Some students came up with excellent, ambitious words to describe the characters, and there were opportunities to develop many skills such as instructional writing, note-taking, debating and cooperative learning. We have learned that E.B White died 25 years ago and that he loved spending time with animals, watching them and getting to know them. We have talked about our favourite authors and we are planning on writing to them later in the term. Year 3 are also stepping back in time to try to understand what life was like 2000 years ago for the Romans. We are learning about their army, houses, clothes, schools, toys, occupations, hobbies and inventions. Do you know that the Romans invented socks and ate most of their food with their hands! Year 3 Class Teachers
Exploring what it was like to be a Roman soldier 42 Newsblast
Year 3C assembly on New Year Resolutions.
Learning to mix different colours to produce paintings of the main characters in Charlotte’s Web.
Practising brush techniques to create paintings of the main characters in Charlotte’s Web.
Issue 3 2012 43
Year Four Tigers Last term Year Four studied India as part of their Environmental Studies. The students were fascinated by the size of the population, India having the second largest population in the world at present and as it is also the most densely populated country in the world. We found out about the very wide range of ways that people live in India, from simple village life in Chambakolli to the sophistication of cities such as Mumbai and Bangalore. Students were asked to complete a personal project about India and they were free to select a subject of their own. There were submissions about Mahatama Ghandi, Shah Jahan (who built the Taj Mahal), Indian Sport, Indian food and of course there were many people who were interested in Indian animals. That the tiger is both a beautiful and endangered species proved to be of perennial interest to Year Four pupils. The commitment and amount of work shown by the students for their personal projects was commendable. Many students found novel ways to present their work, offering concertina folders which can be easily displayed, unusually using a large polystyrene tile to exhibit the research and making quality submissions in a more traditional form. The content and appearance of the work shows that many of the Year Four pupils are developing creative and reflective approaches to their work. Well done to all those who contributed personal projects of such a high standard.
Students have put all their effort and knowledge in to displaying their project
Year 4 Class Teachers
Combination of computer skills, researching and presentation skills
All about India 44 Newsblast
Proudly showing the high standard of their personal project
Welcome back to Year 5 in 2012
Alien dancers
Welcome back to Year 5 and to the year 2012. Before we broke up for the holidays we were all very busy polishing our performances for the winter production. For those people lucky enough to see the Year 5 and 6 show it was something that everybody involved in can be proud of. Congratulations! We also completed our art work that was linked to our work on Ancient Greece. We created our own pots out of clay and plasticine, using the clay techniques similar to the ancient clay sculptures. Moving into this term Year 5 will be studying stories from other cultures and persuasive writing. We will investigate transport throughout the world and how the Victorian period in Britain influences how we live now. Year 5 Class Teachers
Maori performance during the production
Comparing a variety of stories from other cultures.
Issue 3 2012 45
Cooking up a Storm in Year 6 Our first full week saw us preparing for our annual bake sale. Although we received fantastic support from our parents we also prepared our own handmade delicacies to add to the stock. Money raised will be used specifically by the children of Year 6, who will get to choose how it is spent. A new term saw new topics in both ICT and Geography. With enthusiastic children keen to show their skills both building and controlling robotic devices; though in the early stages we did hit a few walls!
of exotic and far flung places to visit on our travels using a wide variety of research tools and presentation techniques to best demonstrate the information we have found. We have also welcomed two new students to Year 6 this term. Teresa is from Poland and has joined 6B. Eniola is from Nigeria and has joined 6R. Both children have settled into the BSB family and made great additions to our year group.
Geography has taken us all around the world this term. The children were invited to choose their dream holiday destination, before researching and producing travel guides and holiday itineraries. We had some lovely ideas
46 Newsblast
You can’t make muffins without getting your hands dirty.
Year 6 Class Teachers
Reading and researching other countries ready to plan our own travel guides.
The square peg can’t go in the round hole.
Just like the January sales.
Issue 3 2012 47
KS2 Class parties
KS2 doing the Macarena
The “over and under� game was a bit hit.
Children made their own hats for the party.
48 Newsblast
The children decorated their own Christmas bauble.
We would like to thank the PTA for organising such fantastic Christmas parties for all the children in the Lower School. A special thanks to Mrs Armstrong, Mrs Wadsworth and Mrs Waterfield
The party ended with a bang!
They also decorated their own cupcake.
Issue 3 2012 49
Parent Workshop - Calculations Mathematics plays an essential role in the educational development of our students in primary school. So with this in mind coupled with requests for guidance, Key Stage 2 parents were invited to attend a mathematic calculations workshop towards the end of last term. Mums and Dads tested their mental arithmetic and compared old and new methods, as they learned how to best support their children’s learning at home. The aims of the workshop were to: • give parents a better understanding of how our pupils are taught Maths, focusing on the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division)
The workshop was designed for parents who tend to feel frustrated or ineffective when helping their children with their Maths homework or who want to learn more about the Primary Maths curriculum. Our focus in the lower school is to help develop and extend pupil’s understanding of number. This enables them to discover connections, make reasonable predictions, and learn various methods for solving problems and to be able to explain their thinking process. The feedback from the workshop was positive with parents feeling more confident about helping their children at home. Ms Tracy Milligan, Primary Maths Coordinator
• demonstrate and give parents opportunities to attempt Maths activities using the same methods as their children learn in school
Role play can help students to make sense of number, and it also makes calculations more meaningful.
Making number and calculations learning practical helps students to consolidate and extend their understanding.
PSRN Workshop On Wednesday 18th January, EYFS parents were invited to attend a Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy Workshop. During the workshop parents were provided with an overview of the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance in relation to Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy; and how the delivery of the curriculum focuses on play based learning and incorporates children’s interests. There were also useful ideas of how to
50 Newsblast
support PSRN development at home, with the opportunity to share these. The workshop also provided parents with the opportunity to view and explore many of the resources that we use to aid PRSN learning in the early years and information on a typical carpet time and class activities. Ms Kayleigh Evans, PSRN Coordinator
Children demonstrating their colour and shapes knowledge by jumping on shapes when given a clue about their properties.
Reception children are using counting resources to investigate subtraction and simple calculations.
An interactive Preschool display where children can see, hear and look at numbers to ten.
Reception children are recognising numbers, and counting out the corresponding number of objects.
Issue 3 2012 51
EYFS Open Hour Our EYFS Team hold regular Open Hours throughout the year and these are designed to give you a snapshot of daily life in your child’s class, offering parents the opportunity to go into their child’s classroom or specialist lessons and observe the teaching and learning that goes on during a typical day at that time. The EYFS department is such a busy, fun filled learning environment which really needs to be seen to be fully appreciated and parents can enjoy talking to various members of staff and working alongside their own child in their classes during this time. We were happy to welcome some of our EYFS parents into classes again towards the end of last term and enjoyed seeing the children working with their parents in class. Some classes were specialist lessons which gave parents the opportunity to see Music and PE lessons in action. Meanwhile other classes were making good use of the outdoor area, enjoying the good weather; developing knowledge and understanding of Autumn and seasonal weather changes, continuing to develop phonic skills and enjoying singing and dancing in classes. We are looking forward to seeing you again at our next Open Morning and hope you will enjoy visiting us in EYFS. Ms Claire Cowlishaw EYFS Coordinator
Sharing books with your child from an early age develops their imagination and story telling skills.
Small world play develops the imagination and enables children to recreate real life experiences using props. 52 Newsblast
Meeting other parents helps the children to develop social interactions with adults and increases their awareness of other families’ customs, routines, cultures and lifestyles.
The children enjoy sharing their school life with their parents and welcome them into their classes. Issue 3 2012 53
The Nutcracker A group of BSB students enjoyed a special performance of The Nutcracker on ice by The Saint Petersburg State Ballet. This is the most famous ballet on ice group in the world and they are considered to be one of Russia’s iconic groups. Malika: It was incredible and the dancers were very elegant. Ioana: A magnificent show. Joanna: Unique, exquisite dancers filled the ice. Ana-Maria: A unique show with elegant dancers. Isabella: The dancers mesmerized me with their swift movement and elegant gowns.
It was a truly spellbinding performance and everyone who attended was both amazed and inspired by the talent and expertise they saw.
54 Newsblast
BSB students enjoyed a special performance.
Year 2’s trip to the Military Museum Year 2 recently enjoyed a wonderful trip to the National Military Museum in central Bucharest. Throughout November 2011, the children had been learning about Remembrance Day and a trip to the museum enabled them to learn much more about the First World War as well as many other famous conflicts. The Military Museum chronicles Romanian military history from prehistoric warfare all the way up to the Romanian Revolution of 1989. The children were fascinated by the wide range of artefacts which included
weapons and uniforms, as it really brought their History topic to life. The highlight of the trip for many of the children was the aircraft exhibition which contained many old military aeroplanes, including some from the World Wars. The staff at the museum were impressed by the children’s enthusiasm and good behaviour and the Year 2 pupils are already looking forward to their next trip! Year 2 Class Teachers
The children pose with an old military aeroplane like those they have been learning about.
2B saw the First World War brought to life at the Military Museum.
2J with military artefacts from the 19th century.
The Year 2 children compared ancient weapons to those from the First World War they had learned about. Issue 3
2012 55
Each group in turn presented their business ideas to the secondary judges and audience.
Entrepreneurial spirit shines through at the Primary AG&T presentation. Each half term the children on the Primary AG&T register work to complete a different brief, challenging them to diversify and utilise their talents and skills. Their brief for November to December was to work in a team to come up with a marketable business idea that they thought would sell well to the general public. Within their groups, they were required to take on a particular role and work cooperatively to combine design, budgeting and marketing ideas into a business plan. The culmination of this was a powerpoint presentation that each group developed by themselves and presented to a panel of secondary students, teachers and parents, to see who had the most viable and appealing business idea. All four companies received very positive feedback from their audience and judges, but the winning company was ‘Cannonball’ who produced a design for a relaxing sledge that used engine power to get its passengers back up to the top of the hill. The most challenging aspects of this project for many children were strong teamwork, effective communication and learning how to compromise, skills that are as much applicable to the adult world as to school life. Ms Emily Thomas Primary AG&T coordinator
56 Newsblast
The ‘Krazy Kidz’ company explained how they would market their sweet-filled novelty hat.
Colonel Giles Orpen-Smellie visited the school in November. He gave an interesting and thought provoking assembly to both Ks1 and Ks2. Colonel Giles Orpen-Smellie at the KS2 assembly
Issue 3 2012 57
SECONDARY REVIEW RAOK Most people make resolutions NOT to do things. Some people make resolutions to START doing things that will make them better. Some people don’t make any New Year’s Resolutions… they may know that whatever resolutions they make, they’ll break them before the end of January. But how about making a New Year’s Resolution to make the world a better place?. Smile at teachers and other students in the morning. Hold the door open for a passer by. Make an effort to talk to somebody you have never spoken to before. Share something with someone. Swap places in a queue for somebody in a rush. Take somebody’s tray back for them. Cheer for somebody you don’t know. Recycle without being reminded. Thank the cleaners and support staff for their work. Start a standing ovation at a school concert. Notice something different about a friend and make a positive comment about it.
“Smile at teachers and other students in the morning.”
Give someone a lucky charm for their exam. Take a minute to direct someone who is lost, even though you’re rushing. Say “I love you” to someone you love. Each time you get a new item of clothing, give away something old to charity. Say “please” and “thank you” - and really mean it. Have you heard about a man called Danny Wallace? He created a web page on the internet called “Join Me” – to spread the word of RAOK (Random Acts of Kindness). Start your New Year off today with a RAOK! Jen Kemp, Head of Secondary
58 Newsblast
Key Stage 5 and Habitat for Humanity Even though some of us cannot imagine that, there are families which live without the use of basic utilities like running water or electricity. There are children who learn at candlelight and live in houses with other 3 or 4 families. The international foundation Habitat for Humanity has taken on the responsibility to help these people by providing them with housing solutions. It has been doing so in Romania for 15 years now, since 1996 and up to this day, they have served over 2,600 families with the help of over 4,000 volunteers. As some of you might be aware, our school has decided to help Habitat for Humanity by contributing to the building of homes near Pitesti last year in June. The BSB Sixth Form was there for a day, and you can see a few pictures from our work experience there below.
This year, we are planning to go to Craiova and help Habitat for Humanity with their mission there. However, in order to do that, we need to raise the sum of 3,000 Euros. This sum is needed to purchase the necessary materials, because the foundation does not only build houses for these people, but involves them (i.e. their future owners) in the construction process as well. We hope that you will be willing to help us raise this sum of money mentioned above. We are planning on carrying out a number of charitable activities ourselves meant to help us achieve our target, and we would be very grateful if you would wish to get involved in this as well. We will keep you posted about our progress. For more information, you can visit the website for Habitat for Humanity: www.habitat.org. BSB Sixth Form
Planet BSB supporting Habitat for Humanity through Fashion. The Planet BSB committee believes that in a fast changing world education can, and should help children meet the challenges they will encounter as Global Citizens. The committee is dedicated to raising awareness and responsibility. It is important that children understand what happens in other parts of the world and how it affects them both locally and globally. At the British School of Bucharest we are proud of our rich cultural community engaged in learning self-confidence and compassion through critical thinking. To help children express and explore their global community, Planet BSB is proud to present The British School of Bucharest Fashion Show 2012. This event will take place on Saturday, June 9th, at the summer fair to help raise support and awareness of the Habitat for Humanity Project.
PLANET BSB Fashion Show 2012
Inspiration by Designer Hussein Chalayan.
The fashion show will feature BSB students as models and designers to showcase their talent and creativity. Students from all Key Stages in primary and secondary are encouraged to take part in this memorable event. There are several categories for this experience to help encourage as much participation as possible. Re-cycled clothes- students will be asked to design clothes from recycled materials. Clothes should be made from materials that would otherwise be thrown away or used for another purpose. Up-cycled clothes- students will be asked to alter and restructure existing clothes in some way. The students should adapt the clothes in a flamboyant manner. It must be clear and evident that the clothes have been pre-loved and pre-purposed and not bought off the shelf.
Recycled plastic bag dress
Lego
Traditional dress- students will be asked to wear traditional dress from their own culture to help celebrate the extensive range of cultural backgrounds with the school. Participants can either model themselves or design clothes for a teacher, parent or student of their choice. If you are interested in you child contributing towards this event please do not hesitate to contact Mr Derek Walker through the school office. Mr Derek Walker, Design and Technology Teacher
Issue 3 2012 59
A New Beginning‌ BSB is the proud and delighted to announce the opening of the new secondary library. Situated in the foyer of the Crawford Building, it is an attractive, well-lit space for students to study, read and spend time researching. The student librarians, Miss Diana and Mrs Lovelock have been very busy classifying the fiction books on the superb new stacks and they are now all in their correct places. Non-fiction books will be classified using the Dewey Decimal classification system and the student librarians are busy learning all about it in order to help the rest of the student body navigate the system. This process is well underway and will be very helpful when the next wave of new books arrive. So many new books have already arrived, books to help students learn more about every one of their subjects. There are books about scientists, books about explorers, books about inventors, books about business, books about geology, art, music; there are so many and it is wonderful to see the students becoming excited about them and returning over and over again to the library to extend their knowledge and understanding.
Reference section.
There is a buzz about the new library across the school, a new focus on nonfiction and more teachers are bringing classes to research for projects and coursework and they are all constantly thinking of new titles for the collection to broaden student’s exposure to others’ expertise. Mrs Patricia Lovelock Post-16 Coordinator
The books have been classified and put on new stacks.
It is wonderful to see the students using the library for studying or researching. 60 Newsblast
The new Secondary library is an attractive, well-lit space for students to study.
Human Rights Awareness Week During Human Rights Awareness Week Revd. Patrick Irwin Chaplain of the Church of the Resurrection, Bucharest visited school. He spoke about the right to freedom and specifically about Terry Waite an English humanitarian and author who was held captive from 1987 to 1991 trying to fight for the release of a friend and journalist John McCarthy. “At the end of the day, love and compassion will win” Terry Waite Our Head Boy and Girl also visited a spectacular presented by PARADA. PARADA is a Romanian NGO who work with children who live on the streets in Bucharest. They were amazed by their circus skills and intrigued to learn more about what PARADA do to support these children. “… social educative programmes … giving back … dignity and faith in future…” PARADA Antonie, Patrick and Tasos the Human Rights Awareness Week ambassadors also sold bands for charity and raised 1465ron. This year the bands were red, blue, yellow and green to symbolise our house system. I asked one of our primary students what they thought the band stood for and she said “it shows that we are one big team…….that works together!” Ms Jen Kemp, Head of Secondary
Revd. Patrick Irwin Chaplain of the Church of the Resurection
Our Head Boy and Head Girl visit the PARADA spectacular.
Parada group showing their skills to a captive audience.
Ambassadors for Human Rights Awareness. Issue 3 2012 61
Student Council Update Last term the Student Council had great success. The highlight was the Christmas Party in which the Secret Santa gifts were given out. This term promises to be every bit as exciting as we are arranging Friendship Day. Students will be able to pick out the names of a fellow student (a secret) and will buy them a gift as a sign of friendship. The whole secondary school will participate. On top of that, the Student Council has worked with the new Chef, Mr Ali. The Council was involved with taster sessions that ran for a whole week during lunchtimes. The Student Council sampled a variety of menus and gave their opinions on the dishes. This will lead to the introduction of a new lunch option for the students. Suffice to say, the student council were very impressed with the lunches. Here are a few examples of what the students said. ‘a great standard’ ‘the quality of the food was great’ ‘one of the best lunches’ ‘better than I ever expected’ ‘the food is mouthwatering’, ‘heavenly’, ‘awesome, delicious, splendid, tasted like home’, ‘life-changing’ ‘very good’ ‘very yummy’ ‘a balanced and yummy meal’ It was extremely healthy with all the vegetables and the fish. The tuna sauce was delicious and the rice pudding was very sweet. It was amazing! I loved the lasagna! The portion is just right.
The meal was very healthy and contained proteins and carbohydrates. Noor, Year 11, President of the Student Council
A gastronomical delight! 62 Newsblast
Delicious- the fish pie and chocolate cake were especially good.
How can I become a newsreader? The secondary school went to find out at the INTACT ACADEMY in Baneasa. Apparently most newsreaders have come up from an acting background, and at most television companies there is an in-house journalist training programme for talented applicants and graduates.
Some start out in journalism of some kind and some even from the radio. There are no doubt various ways to get into it, but the most important is commitment to the idea, taking an opportunity if it arises and being determined. The INTACT experience may have just inspired us.
Students have enjoyed their time spent at the INTACT Academy, reading the auto-cue.
Year 7 on the television.
In the spotlight.
Mr Farrell and Mr Murchison introducing the news. Issue 3 2012 63
Art Exhibition December 2011
This years Art Exhibition was a wonderful event for students, parents and teachers at BSB. When speaking to Sam Year 8 he said, ”...the Art Exhibition was a great chance for us to see other people’s work and also be proud of our own achievements”. Art is an important subject that helps us use our imagination and creativity. It is fun and enjoyable but also needs to be taken seriously. Through the commitment by each student Miss Greaney and Mr Walker have been able to display a range of exciting paintings, drawings and puppets. ”All the hard work from the students was revealed and it was good to see how many talented students we have at BSB”, Hyo Min remarked.
A wide variety of work was exhibited from the colourful Year 7 and 8 Idiom paintings to the magnificent A’level observational drawings and imaginative compositions. ”You would not expect to see this type of artwork in a school, Naomi Ingram said ”..it belongs in an art gallery in London!”. We would like to thank Denis and Chi Bum who designed the catalogues and invites under the guidance and supervision of Mr Monaghan and Miss Greaney. Dilara, Year 8S
Design Technology and Art collaborate to display students achievements.
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Parents had the opportunity to celebrate their childrens’ achievements.
Shadow puppets designed by Year 7 students created a theatrical atmosphere.
Teachers from both Secondary and Primary accompanied their students on a visit to the exhibition.
Students from Primary gain an insight into minds of our budding artists.
Mural Project
School Mural Design by Andreea This year, I have been given the opportunity to design and coordinate the realisation of a mural that will be displayed at the front of the school, next to the DT room. With the help of Miss Greaney, I have selected a group of gifted art students that will help me bring my ideas to life. We will work individually as well as in teams over the next few months, so that the mural can be finished before the summer holiday. The students who were chosen to take part in this project were given the opportunity to join the Mural club, which will be held by Miss Greaney and I on Wednesdays after school.
The mural will represent the unity of the school through a representation of a typical school day at BSB. It will also be rather interactive, as students will be able to write quotes and thoughts on the wall, or even sketch something themselves, which will make them more part of the project as well. Some of the elements that will be incorporated in the design are 3D, which will enhance particular features of the design. I hope you will enjoy the final outcome of the project, and that the mural will be a good artistic addition to the school, as well transmitting a positive message.
The Filarmonica George Enescu If there’s one thing you pick up on pretty quickly when you arrive in Bucharest it’s that there’s a wealth of culture and history about the city. Jenny Finch, our music teacher took full advantage of this fact with her music students as she took them to see the George Enescu Philharmonic orchestra shortly before Christmas at the Ateneul Roman. The idea was to give them a flavour of what a full orchestral performance is like; to give them something to relate to as they complete the orchestral unit of their IGCSE and A Level music qualifications. Judging from their reactions it was a thoroughly illuminating experience!
The students recreate the piano soloists performance in the school music room
Denis and Alex (Y13) had this to say about the evening: “The first feeling anyone new to the Ateneum feels is confusion – there was a lack of signs telling us where to go and many sets of spiralling stairs surrounding us. However, when we reached the concert hall our expectations were vastly exceeded. The attention to detail put into designs on the walls and ceiling in the concert hall was truly awe-inspiring and reminiscent of the Classical period. The concert was shorter than we expected and time passed so quickly, but our favourite part of the performance itself had to be the piano soloist’s encore – This encore really inspired Alex with his A2 two composition in Music.”
TheNewsblast venue: 66
The fantastic Ateneul Roman held the music event
Miss Finch, Mr Brown and our budding musicians. Hyo Min, Eda, Tudor and Tai
Secondary: Basketball Matches Recently Mr Hughes and Miss Jones took some KS3 students from BSB to AISB to compete in two games of basketball as part of an interschool sporting competition. Congratulations to all of the students who participated and put in a very gutsy effort. You all played fairly, competitively and represented BSB very proudly. The students involved from Year 7 were Gaya, Calista, Alina, Julia, Mena, Alexandra, Jorge and Michael. Ilinca T. from Year 8 competed and from Year 9, Beatrice, Dilliane, Muhammad, Basil and Andrei participated. Miss Billie Jones, PE Teacher
The undefeated boys team
The girls squad a bit nervous before beginning the game
KS3 Students represent BSB in Basketball Matches
Issue 3 2012 67
Exam Season Being the first student to take an A2 is a challenging experience. This is because, other than the teachers, there is no one that you can ask for advice. This was especially my case in ICT because I was the only student that took this exam. It lasted 10 hours which were spread over 2 weeks and was much more difficult than I expected. If there is any suggestion I have for future A2 students it is that before exams, you should study a lot more than what you would usually and expect your social life to disappear or at least diminish for a while. All in all, I am very proud to be the first student in BSB to have an A2 exam. Alex, Yr13
Alex, the first student in BSB to have an A2 exam.
January Exams 2012.
Saturday YL English classes Work doesn’t stop at the weekend now that the EAL Learning Centre is offering classes for Young Learner students on Saturday mornings. Students come from schools in the Pipera area and from Bucharest itself, and they love the opportunity to study English under the guidance of a highly qualified native speaker teacher. Currently we offer a pre-advanced course for 11 to 15 year olds, which not only bridges the gap between upper intermediate and advanced levels, but gives students the opportunity to study towards Cambridge Examination’s First Certificate in English if they wish. In the near future we aim to open Saturday morning courses at other levels too, so if you know of someone aged 7 to 11 or 11 to 15 who would like to add high quality English lessons to their week, they can check the British School website for further information, or contact the school at camelia.ciuta@britishschool.ro Mr Bill Ellis Head of EAL Learning Centre 68 Newsblast
The Saturday Pre-Advanced class in action.
Learn, make friends and most of all have fun, at BSB Summer School 2012 Preparations are already underway for BSB Summer School 2012, which promises to be even bigger and better than our very successful first year. The school will run for 4 weeks, from the 2nd July to the 27th July, and students can sign up for anything from one to four weeks. In addition to the English language programme of last year, which saw students studying English (ages 5 to 18) and a pre-university Academic Preparation course, we are pleased to announce the addition of an all-day activity programme. This course will include rock climbing, swimming classes, arts and crafts activities and a multitude of sports. 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. BSB students are in the fortunate position of also being free to continue those activities that they discover a passion for, in the clubs that are run at BSB throughout the year. For more information please see the BSB website, or contact summerschool@britishschool.ro Bill Ellis, Director of the Summer School Programme
Summer school students learn that their limits ed, can be exceed l. al w the climbing
fts Arts and Cra e. Project tim
ght.
Deep in thou
BSB summer school offers unparalleled facilities.
Facebook and online crime. International CEOP conference at BSB Just before the winter holidays began, BSB hosted a conference about online safety for children. The conference was being given by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection agency (CEOP) a UK based group which works closely with governments, police forces and other organisations around the world to try and protect vulnerable young people from online abuse. The conference was very well attended, including members of the Romanian government, psychologists, police and other child protection professionals. Mrs Walker and Mr Feltham took part as representatives from our school.
person to have a Facebook account is 13, but many younger people also have Facebook accounts. The danger is that the internet is not an anonymous place at all; it is very, very public. Once something has been put onto a site like Facebook nobody has any strong control of who sees that picture, who copies it and where it ends up in the future. A good rule for whether something should be online or not it to ask, “would I show my parents or teachers this?”. The answer is a strong clue what to do! Alexander Feltham, Primary ICT coordinator
Social networks like Facebook were one of the biggest dangers that were discussed. These sites can pose some serious risks for young people who believe that they are safe or anonymous online. The minimum age for a
The CEOP course was an extremely valuable and informative event. It discussed a whole range of topics including growing up online and how it is now part of our every day lives.
The course suggested practical ways to keep children safe online and provided links to a variety of resources that could be used in lessons.
Teacher Training for MFL A Levels Last December I had the opportunity to attend an online course offered by Edexcel. The topic was “GCE German: Effective preparation for the 2012 exam series Units 2 and 4”. The event was attended by teachers from the UK and abroad who deliver the A Level course. The session offered an opportunity to receive feedback from the June 2011 exam series and to consider how to prepare students for the different assessment tasks including the researchbased essay. I reviewed top tips for exams and saw how the assessment criteria are applied with concrete examples. MFL students have achieved outstanding results in their AS examinations. I trust that they will benefit from the feedback of my teacher training course and be as successful in their upcoming A2 examinations. Ms Dorothea Draser, Head of the Languages Faculty
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Administration Staff Training
The BSB administrative team came together for Insights training delivered by Mrs Karen Knowles. The team thoroughly enjoyed the experience and look forward to implementing the ideas.
Investors In People As part of BSB’s continual improvement we are working towards achieving an Internationally recognised award called Investors in People. This improvement framework is designed to help organisations improve their current practice and bring out the best in all the staff. For BSB this seems like a natural step for us and a continuation of our belief in lifelong learning. At the beginning of February an advisor from IIP visited us for two days, during which he learnt more about our school and how we work and spoke to several staff members about their experiences working for BSB. This will be the first of several visits from IIP as they help BSB to make continual improvements to management effectiveness and to evaluate what works best. Naima Hussain, Deputy Principal
Jed O’Mara and Miss Hussain discussing the needs of BSB and how the Investors in People Framework can help us achieve them.
Issue 3 2012 71
BSB Cooking Competition
This January saw the launch of the BSB Cooking Competition. Many children entered and the cook off has begun in earnest. We look forward to the final results. Cooking is an important skill to master. It was impressive to see all our competitors taking the task so seriously. Children from KS2 and KS3 entered the competition and enjoyed demonstrating their favourite recipes.
Student Observations BSB has recently introduced the Student Voice program. Part of this program involves Student Observations, whereby students visit other lessons and look at the different types of learning and teaching that is happening. This is an on-running program, which was started last year and will continue to be developed and implemented in the school. Here is a short explanation of how Student Voice works. There are 2 student observers from each year group. The students are trained in how to conduct observations and exactly what to look out for. It is expected that observations will be carried out termly and that each teacher will participate in the observations at least once a year. When the observation is complete, the students and teacher informally discuss what they thought about the lesson. This helps the students to have a better understanding of the teaching and learning process and gives them a greater input in their own learning.
Recently Ms Joyce Taylor, our school inspector, has been visiting and students have been accompanying her to lessons to see what happens with other classes. The students focus on several features such as how lessons started, what activities were done and which activities they enjoyed the most. After the lesson, students discussed what they liked. Here are a few comments by the student observers. Ana Maria observed Mr Farrell and said that she ‘enjoyed this lesson’ and said that she could see that all the students were ‘engaged in the lesson by the way they acted’. Dilara observed a Year 7 Mathematics lesson. She commented that ‘it was an amazing experience for learning how the teacher teaches’. Finally, Jesus said that he thought student observations were very important because they ‘help us with our learning’. BSB Student Voice
BSB: The face of the future
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