Newsletter
Issue 1 - 2015/16
“What a fantastic summer of exam results we had! 100% of our A-Level graduates passed and they’re now studying at top universities around the world. More information can be found in this issue.” Mark Thomas, Principal To download a copy of this newsletter, please visit www.bsg.org.cn |
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents, As we return from the October break, it is lovely to note how well our new students have settled into the school. We understand just how difficult joining a new school can feel and do everything possible to help new students to make friends and to feel that they are part of our school community. I can honestly say that this is something we do very well at the British School, and I have noted lots of smiles as students return from the break. This is a very special year for the British School. We were originally founded in August 2005, so this year we are celebrating our 10th birthday. It is amazing to think that from one mixed class of 13 Pre-Nursery children, we have grown to a school of over 1000 students. We will be organising a number of events to celebrate this anniversary, and will be in touch with those families who have been with us the longest.
The original school was one mixed class of Pre-Nursery and Nursery children with a young Mr. Sinclair!
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Our growth over 10 years has been impressive and I really feel that we can confidently claim to be the first choice school for the majority of families in Guangzhou. The support of Nord Anglia Education (NAE) has been critical to our development over the last two years, and I am keen to share with you some of the ways this has positively impacted on staff, students and parents. The most obvious development is in terms of investment. The new Hillside building was completed in August 2014, and in January 2016, a new Secondary building will open. It is unlikely that these new buildings would have happened if we were not part of the Nord Anglia family. The Secondary building in particular is exactly what we need at this stage of our development, and I know the students and staff are very pleased to finally have their own dedicated space. NAE investment is not just limited to new buildings. This summer there was a total refurbishment of the Lakefront site with much improved air conditioning, a new library, redesigned indoor play area, student cooking area and many improvements to outdoor areas. On the Nanhu site, we have added a number of new classrooms and have greatly improved music facilities. Outdoor improvements have provided a full-size basketball court and added showers, a viewing area and a heating system to our swimming pool, to allow our swimming team to train all year round. Year on year, improvement to facilities is part of our commitment to provide students with the best possible educational opportunities. One of the greatest challenges we face in creating a world-class international school is in recruiting and retaining the very best teachers. Nord Anglia understands this challenge and have significantly improved contracts in China in an effort to encourage staff retention. Our teachers are part of a group of 42 international schools and 6,600 employees. This dramatically increases their opportunities for promotion or movement to another region. I know of no other international group of schools that can provide this level of opportunity. Indeed, David Laird benefited from this when he was promoted to the role of Principal in Beijing, following 2 successful years in BSG. As a Principal, I have personally benefited from the support of other Nord Anglia Principals in the China region. As Principals, we have fortnightly telephone conferences as well as annual meetings and are able to share expertise and experience in solving similar issues. As a company, Nord Anglia are committed to ensuring that all their schools provide the very best international education to its students. They take this responsibility very seriously and throughout the year the performance of schools is measured using a number of key indicators. The most obvious measure is external examinations. If our students were not performing at the highest levels, Nord Anglia would want to know why. Fortunately, our students are currently achieving results that are the envy of the other NAE schools. As parents, you can feel reassured that Nord Anglia Education does everything possible to ensure that our school is accountable for the education that we provide. In a world of rapid technological change, it is important for schools to provide staff with opportunities for continuous professional development. Nord Anglia University provides our teaching staff with access to over 50 professional online communities, where they can discuss a diverse range of educational topics with like-minded professionals. Best practice from high achieving schools, including our own, is shared across this community and regular webinars take place globally. On top of this, training for aspiring leaders is a particular feature of Nord Anglia and a number of our management have benefited as a result. 3
Our students also benefit from being part of the Nord Anglia Education family. The Global Campus initiative now unites over 32,000 students worldwide and provides students with unique opportunities to enhance their learning experience. Last year’s ‘Make It Right’ campaign was a superb example of an initiative that grabbed the attention of our students. In fact, our students were presented with an award by Nord Anglia Education for the way they promoted awareness of this issue. Last year, a number of our students were recognised for their talents by NAE. BSG students won awards for creative writing, illustration and debating. To be recognised for your talents across such a large global platform is an incredible achievement and one that we will be encouraging our students to make the most of this year. In my mind the Juilliard collaboration was the most exciting initiative to benefit our school last year. Our school was chosen to launch this initiative to NAE schools across the China region and took part in a week of training, alongside the Juilliard team, in July. This year they will introduce a newly designed Juilliard/NAE music curriculum. Three of our students, Kitty Su, Gia Tan and Cindy Lin, were fortunate enough to join Nord Anglia’s Global Orchestra at the end of the term. This was a wonderful experience for them and the performing arts social hub on the website provides you with an opportunity to share in their Global Orchestra experience. With plans to include drama and dance as future NAE/Juilliard collaborations, we are incredibly excited at the creative opportunities for our students. The fact that our music team was chosen to pilot this initiative was no surprise to me. Their commitment to providing our students with musical opportunities is impressive and is the reason that our choir and orchestra are so well regarded within Guangzhou. It is not only our music department that has been recognised for its excellent work. This year, NAE will be promoting Guangzhou as a centre for International Award expeditions within China. This is down to the work of a number of our staff, who have given up a huge amount of their own time to find suitable places to provide the challenging, yet safe, terrain needed to satisfy the requirements of the International Award programme. A number of staff have been involved in developing the IA programme, but I would like to particularly thank John Joyce and Colin Wildy for their commitment to this important enrichment activity. Finally, I am excited to say that being part of the NAE family does not stop when you graduate. This year, Nord Anglia launched their Alumni Initiative. This initiative will make it easy for all NAE graduates to keep in touch with us, and more importantly, each other, so that being part of NAE continues to benefit them in the years to come. As part of this initiative, we will be looking to appoint a student to act as our School Alumni Ambassador. This role provides yet another leadership opportunity for one of our Secondary students and is in line with other exciting Leadership positions. So if you have ever wondered what difference NAE makes to our school, the answer is ‘a huge difference.’ As a company, NAE are clearly ambitious for their schools. I am very much looking forward to seeing what ambitious new NAE initiatives they announce during the year. Mark Thomas Principal
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COMMUNITY
Primary & Secondary School Uniform Changes As you purchase school uniform this year, please be aware that several Primary and Secondary items will see updated designs at the start of next school year (August 2016). With this in mind, we strongly advise that you purchase the correct minimum quantity of uniform for this year only. Primary and Secondary will implement changes at the beginning of 2016/17, after successful implementation in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) this year. These changes to uniform do not happen often, but are required as the British School of Guangzhou becomes fully integrated with the Nord Anglia Education family of schools. We will work with both parent and student groups as we design and implement changes, releasing detailed information to the full school community as soon as we can. Thank you for your cooperation.
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COMMUNITY
An Evening With The British Consul-General The British School was privileged to be invited into Matthew Rous’ home for this special evening. Staff, students and parents were invited to join the British Consul-General at his home to enjoy a recital by celebrated violin soloist, Madeleine Mitchell. Guests included some of BSG’s most talented young musicians, with those who travelled to the Juilliard School, New York, in the summer attending. The school was also represented by the Principal, Mark Thomas, and the entire music department. The reception included drinks and canapes and a wonderful performance by Madeleine Mitchell, whose extensive repertoire conveyed many cultural references and included stories from her life as one of the most successful violinists from the Royal College of Music, London. We would like to extend a huge thank you to the British Consul-General, Matthew Rous, for welcoming us into his home, and to Madeleine Mitchell, for her recital and providing our young musicians the opportunity to play for her.
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COMMUNITY
Charity Update Dear Parents, Welcome back! We are off to a great start after raising an amazing 7700 RMB from our second-hand uniform stall during Uniform Week. As advertised, all funds will be donated to The Nature Conservancy in relationship with The Moontrekker 2015. This year, on 16th October, 10 members of staff will be competing in a 30km race known as The Moontrekker, commonly known as Hong Kong’s most exciting nighttime endurance competition. As a participating team we had to raise at least 6500 HKD for The Nature Conservancy, thanks to the donations we received during uniform week we exceeded this in no time. If you have any uniform you wish to donate to our supply, it would be greatly received. In addition, if there are any parents who wish to come in and run a second-hand uniform stall once a month, please contact me directly to discuss this further. Second-hand uniform will also be available to buy during International Day on 7th November through our student charity committee. This is our biggest event of the year, so we look forward to seeing you there! Kind regards, Gemma Campbell Events Manager
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FOCUS
The Class Of 2015 Shine!
16-18 years old
With a 100% pass rate, the results are a truly fantastic showcase of how the A-Level programme leads to students excelling in their studies.
A-Level qualifications accepted by universities and colleges worldwide
Along with these overall results, individual success stories are showing us just how much A-Levels are helping our students spearhead their way into careers:
In-depth study can grant direct entry into the second year of university courses
Kelly Wong achieved 3 A* grades and is now studying Civil Engineering at the University College London, ranked 5th in the world (level with Oxford). Linda Kim achieved 3 A* grades and has been accepted a place at the University of Hong Kong. Due to the depth of study at A-Level, Linda is able to fast track to the second year of her degree course in Business Management. Many other success stories continue to come in and we at The British School of Guangzhou are very proud of all our graduates who have gained a headstart to their dream professions.
Tailored courses match students interests and strengths
British School of Guangzhou graduates obtained exceptional results in 2015
100% pass rate
Achieved Top Grades (A* or A)
57% British School of Guangzhou
26% UK Average
University Placements
80% 25%
now studying at universities ranked in the world’s top 20 8
FOCUS
A Message From Our New Head Students 2015/16 Valerie Lye & Jan Janeczek Valerie Lye Welcome to The British School of Guangzhou! My name is Valerie Lye and I have been at BSG since 2010. I am currently studying four A-Level subjects in Year 12: Geography, Maths, Psychology and Physics. Outside of school, I enjoy playing football, the guitar, listening to music and watching TV shows. Life in BSG is extremely enriching and fulfilling, as our school provides endless opportunities for students to grow in academic aspects, and as an individual. From joining sports teams to being a part of the production, unlimited opportunities are available to allow students to become extremely well rounded. Throughout my many years in BSG, I have had the honour to see our school grow drastically, and I am certain that BSG will continue to improve. I am thrilled to be able to contribute to BSG by being one of the head students, and I intend to act as an ambassador for our school by illustrating our five core values: love of learning, commitment, respect, integrity and responsibility. I look forward to working with Jan to face the challenges ahead of us, as I know that I will be able to learn a lot through this experience. Jan Janeczek Welcome to our school! My name is Jan Janeczek and I have been studying at BSG since 2012. Presently, I’m studying four subjects in Year 12 for the A-Level course: Maths, English Literature, Biology and History. My passion outside of school lies in playing football, writing and reading sport-based autobiographies. BSG school life mimics a family-like atmosphere, a key characteristic which epitomizes the school’s approach to academics and daily life around the school. As a result, I am exceptionally proud to have the chance to lead this school to new heights, and really represent the 5 core values which embody the founding qualities of the school. Every single day at BSG opens new doors of opportunities, which allow me and also all students to experience unique, life-changing and amazing events. Combined with the utmost professional teachers, it helps students to become more rounded citizens of the globe and future leaders. With exciting projects, including the opening of the new Sixth Form building and hosting the Nord Anglia regional conference, I hope to learn as well as fulfill the duties of being a virtuous Head Student, whilst at the same time, stick to the most important motto: Lead by example.
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EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION
Playgroup BSG Playgroup is now into its eighth year and we are hopeful that this year will bring as many new families to our community as in previous years. Children can enjoy playing in our newly refurbished Activity Room with a large choice of toys, developing their creativity, confidence, building their physical skills and most importantly learning to socialise and interact with other children. With a padded ball pool, slides, stage area, trampolines, cars, and many other fun filled activities, our play area is an ideal place for children to enjoy themselves whilst developing at the same time. With the children happy, this gives parents the perfect opportunity to relax a little and meet new people. Snacks are provided for the children and parents can enjoy a fresh cup of tea or coffee in our coffee shop that has full view of the Activity Room. So, what are you waiting for? Come and join us on Thursday mornings for a pleasant and relaxing experience for both children and parents. When – Every Thursday 9:30-11:30am (except school holidays) Who – Children aged 4 years and below and Parent/s (children must hold an international passport which should be brought along on the first visit) Where – British School of Guangzhou Lakefront Early Years Campus, Tonghe Road 828, Nanhu Cost – Free of charge For more information please contact Ms. Kathy at Katherine.weir@bsg.org.cn or telephone the Lakefront Early Years Campus on 020-3725 9376
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EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION
Toddler Class Our first ever group of toddlers have settled in very well to school life!
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EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION
A Whole New World Welcome Back To School! By: Monica Simran Daryani Coming back to school always encompasses mixed feelings of excitement and, for some, a sense of apprehension as children and teachers begin a journey of a whole new adventure. What made this even more special this year, is that our existing students, parents and staff members were in for a huge surprise! The Lakefront Early Years Campus went through a major makeover with renovations that took place in our key areas of school, including our transformed reception area, new activity room, the corridors with its colourful lights and my favourite, our new and refurbished library with our very own Core Values tree. And these are just a few of the changes made to school! That’s just my view on our newly remodeled Lakefront Campus. Let’s hear what the most important people in our school have to say, the students themselves, about our new school during their first week of school! Ayse- I love the rainbow lights! Fatima-The school looks prettier! Natalia-I like the new toys, especially the dolls! Nicholas-I like the library, there are lots of books now! Eva-I like the ball pool in the new activity room! All of us continue to be bedazzled by our refurbished surroundings and we look forward to creating many happy memories in our ‘whole new world’ as the year goes on.
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EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION
Pre-Nursery & Nursery Carnival By: Marianne Neel On Wednesday 17th June Pre-Nursery and Nursery hosted their inaugural Carnival. The children and parents were all excited about the thought of a party to celebrate the end of a wonderful year. In true carnival fashion it was a steaming hot Guangzhou day. The morning started with a few songs of course. The parents and teachers were all wowed by the performances from our three and four year olds. The children pulled out all the stops and made sure the carnival kicked off perfectly. It was interesting to think of the children back in August 2014 and now see them on stage singing with such spirit for their parents. Their confidence and knowledge had grown incredibly during a year of change whereby their love of learning had truly developed. After the delightful performances the parents and children were able to watch a magician, have their faces painted, select a temporary tattoo, choose a dress-up accessory for our instant photo booth and also enjoy the delicious party foods. Puzzles, toys, a creation station and the fabulous new sandpit were all put to good use. The Activity Room also proved popular for a cool down. There was so much going on, not to mention the mountains of bubbles and the specialist balloon modelling team who created wings, halos and swords in a matter of seconds! School charities were also supported by the sale of soft drinks that were a big hit given the heat. This event was a great opportunity for busy parents to meet each other, children to play and everybody to have fun. The children were able to leave at lunchtime and head home for a well earned nap. This was certainly no ordinary morning on the Lakefront Early Years Campus, this was CARNIVAL! An event surely to be repeated.
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EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION 14
Reception Graduation By: Chris Eales The waiting was over. The time was here. Finally the Reception Graduation Ceremony had arrived and after a busy week preparing for the big day, by rehearsing songs and trying on their graduation outfits, the Reception children were ready to graduate. They’d had a taste of Year 1 life after their transition morning on the Hillside Campus and were no doubt feeling very grown-up and prepared for the challenge ahead. On the big day the children looked even smarter than usual in their school uniforms, accompanied by their neatly styled hair and what appeared to be extra shiny school shoes. Mr. Thomas presented the children with their graduation certificate and he was very proud of each and every child as he shook their hand and congratulated them on their milestone. Each child was presented with a certificate and a school tie to be worn with their new Year 1 uniform. The barrage of clicking cameras could be heard though the waves of proud parents as each child was called to the front of the stage. Two children from each class were then presented with awards for outstanding progress and achievement throughout the year.
EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION
The proud recipients of these awards were:
Reception A – Seahorses Enyu Gao (Progress) and Jamie Lee (Achievement) Reception B - Robins Emily Wu (Progress) and Anniek De Jong (Achievement) Reception C - Squirrels Si Eun Li (Progress) and Elisa Wong (Achievement) Reception D - Frogs Luca Deusic (Progress) and Alisa Li (Achievement) Reception E – Owls James Mak (Progress) and Kathy Yu (Achievement) Reception F – Rabbits Michael Yan (Progress) and Siwoo Seok (Achievement) The classes then put together a fantastic rendition of the song “Happy”, which they had been learning during previous few weeks with Miss Queenie and Miss Jill. So it was with this final display of teamwork, harmony and that “never give up” attitude, that the children completed what for some had been 3 years at the Lakefront Campus, and for many, a lengthy stint in the Foundation Stage. To all the Year One Students on Hillside, I wish you all the very best during Key Stage One, and I hope you will always harbour fond memories of your time in Reception. 15
PRIMARY
A Fairy Good Start To The Year! Term 1 is well underway in Year 1 and what a fantastic start to the school year we’ve had! Fairyland was lost and in Year 1 we have been completing all kinds of activities in our quest to find it. The poor Friendly Dragon was lost and found his way into our classrooms searching for any clues to help him find his home. We have worked hard to make the dragon feel at home: planting magic beans, listening to fairytales and making all kinds of magic spells. Each classroom has been transformed into a part of fairyland with different role-play areas and even giant beanstalks. We have been watching and waiting, always ready just in case the giant decides to climb down after Jack. We have also enjoyed dressing up as knights, unicorns, witches and princes/ princesses. In other news we are all very happy to have received our recorders for our PIMs lessons and look forward to showing of our skills soon. We wish Miss. Aimee all the best for her maternity leave and welcome Miss. Triona and Miss. Denise to the Sun Bear class. Mr. Tony will be taking on Miss. Aimee’s year leading duties in her absence.
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PRIMARY
On Top Of The World We have had a fantastic start to Year 2! The children have settled into their new classes and have leapt into their learning. We have enjoyed learning about Guangzhou. A highlight was our trip to the Canton Tower. We felt on top of the world looking out over Guangzhou. We had fun timing our journey to the 108th floor- it took 90 seconds. Our brave explorers went onto the glass bottom platform and gazed down on the city. We then chose a good spot for our sky high picnic. The children were set the challenge to design and build their very own tower to add to the fast growing Guangzhou skyline. They explored different materials and tested which would be best for the job. Year 2 made a big splash testing which material would be the most waterproof! They then designed and built their towers. We had lots of fun seeing who could make the tallest tower. We put them together to make a skyline and felt like giants walking between them! The children have been impressing us with their instruction writing skills. When the playground was transformed into a magical land for the day, the children were able to write instructions to guide us through safely. We didn’t even wake up the sleeping dragon…shhhh. As if that wasn’t impressive enough we were further amazed by the children’s imaginations when they rewrote The Lion In The Meadow with a new ending. We were surprised to find cheetahs, zebras, mice, robots and even ghosts appearing in the meadow.
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PRIMARY
Rising To The Challenge By: David Mikhail Pupils and staff in year three have hit the ground running this term and we are getting well into our stride now. The children have settled into the routines of their new classes and are working hard, displaying an enviable love of learning. We have all been very impressed with the children’s commitment and how well they have adapted to the higher expectations of year three. The children had great fun making traditional noodles in their intriguing introduction to their topic of ‘Chinese Inventions’. They have discovered that many things – from ice cream to fireworks - were invented in China, many of them a very long time ago! Their science topic this term is ‘Light and Shadows’ and there have been some surprising revelations about how light, that always travels in straight lines, can be made to turn corners, with the aid of mirrors. When the sun has allowed, we have been outside to observe how our shadows change direction and length throughout the day. It is a joy to see how the children cooperate together and show respect for each other’s opinions, as they rise to the challenge of their investigations. PIMS has started and the violin lessons have started again with Miss Angie. We have all been most impressed with the ability that the children show in trying to master this difficult instrument. A special mention is due to Mr Barton and Miss Sabrina for their commitment to joining the children in their music lessons. All of us in Year 3 are looking forward to the rest of the year and the many exciting opportunities that will be on offer to the children. There will be plenty of hard, but enjoyable, work ahead for all the children, teachers and TAs in the coming months.
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PRIMARY
Creature Creations By: Chris Thomas Rooooaaarr! Crunch! Splunge! You might have heard some strange sounds emanating from Year 4 this week. No, it wasn’t Ms Torrens going wild; it was the sound of some incredible new animal creations that Year 4 students discovered, after turning into rainforest explorers. First, the students used information they had researched in Topic and Science lessons about animals and habitats to design a brand new, previously undiscovered rainforest animal. We used all of the literacy tools we have been learbing in our English lessons to describe our animals, including using adjectives, exciting adverbs and verbs, as well as some excellent similes. We then used modeling clay, feathers and eyes to build our news animals. We were careful to make sure they had lots of features that made them unique and helped them adapt to their rainforest habitat. The students presented their creations to the rest of the class and answered questions about their special animals. Finally, we used the amazing rainforest animals that we created to help us to write our English stories. The students imagined that a character had entered the deep, dark rainforest and discovered their new animal. We included some incredibly detailed descriptions of the setting and our undiscovered creatures in the final stories. Make sure you visit Year 4 to have a read!
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PRIMARY
Football | Canton Cup By: Richard Marwood On Saturday, 19th October, the Year 5 BSG Rhinos football team took part in their first football tournament of the season. The inaugural ‘Canton Cup’, hosted at Golden Lake Gardens, included four under 10 teams from across Guangzhou fighting for the title of Canton Champions! To help build excitement for the tournament, the team took part in a (very!) professional team photo and promotional video – including none other than our principal, Mr Thomas. After a week of training, tactics and team-talks we were ready to take on the best Guangzhou had to offer… Our tournament began with a tricky game against ISA; after a back-andforth encounter a late goal by our midfield maestro, Kable Greenhill, gave BSG their first win of the day. In the following games, BSG showed their determination, skill and flair and managed to achieve a third place finish – led throughout by star captain Alton Chu. BSG were also awarded the ‘Best team player’ award, for being the team who showed the most sportsmanship and encouragement to their own team, as well as other competitors and officials. With future tournaments just around the corner, BSG are certainly developing into a team to be feared across Guangzhou. Could you be a BSG Rhino in the future?
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PRIMARY
What Did The Romans Ever Do For Us? Year 5 classes have been learning about the famous battle formations that the Romans invented. The students created their very own shields and took them out to the lawn with the whole year group. There, teams took it in turns to test how penetrable the Roman defenses were using plastic balls. The legion of learners quickly realised that you need to remain tight-knit to avoid a hit!
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PRIMARY 22
Year 6 Rivers Year six’s topic this term have been ‘Rivers’ and this has leant itself to some great topic and science work. We’ve been exploring habitats around rivers, the features of rivers, and the water cycle. Our class book has been Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson – a story which begins in England but quickly moves on to the Brazilian town of Manaus, on the edge of the rainforest. This book has been feeding our imaginations for our literacy learning – exploring dilemmas and tension in texts. In maths, we’ve been exploring number and place value, and putting this to use in various investigations and trading games. The BSG dollar (complete with a picture of Mr Thomas) has been circulating the classrooms as our preferred trading currency! Next, we’re making our own models of rivers and we’re hoping to see some amazing mountains with cascading waterfalls! Look out for pictures in future blogs.
EVENTS
Mid-Autumn Festival By: Lynn Lin To celebrate the Moon Festival, Chinese family members gather to offer sacrifice to the moon, appreciate the bright full moon and eat moon cakes. In addition, there are some other customs like lighting lanterns. Fifteen Year 3 CAL1 children gave a perfect performance in the Primary Assembly - a walking show with lanterns. A huge well done to all those children. They have only practiced this for three lessons and they did a tremendous job. I believe the audience had a lot of fun watching the lantern show.
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SECONDARY
Inside Art By: Hollie Slaughter Art IGCSE a new year begins... IGCSE Art students have started the academic year by gathering, recording, researching and investigating their themes of ‘Natural Forms’ in Year 10 and ‘Animals’ or ‘Masquerade’ in Year 11. They have been demonstrating their practical, technical and expressive skills and intentions through their work on large A2 sheets and in A3 sketchbooks. Year 10 students have showed their ability to record from observation and have produced some impressive sketchbook work. Their inspiration has been to look at a range of natural forms such as skulls, leaves, shells, fruits and vegetables and to present them in their sketchbook with a good knowledge of composition.
Top left Jim Lin’s flowers, pencil. Top right William Ma’s gathering of natural forms, pencil. Bottom left Emma Mo, charcoal. Bottom right Yan Lam Coco Shi, layered colouring pencil.
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SECONDARY
Year 11 students have been exploring other artists’ work to inspire them and inform the development of their projects. Their aim is to show sensitivity to the artist’s techniques and materials. They are now gathering visual information to make their work unique to them. They will have an 8 hour mock examination in January to create their final piece for their project. Minjae Kim - animal artist Lindsay Kutch, Jerrine Ng - Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein and Kitty Su – Colourful animal artist Megan Duncanson. All acrylic on paper.
Year 8 stun us with their homework... Year 8 students have been exploring portraiture through pencil and pastel looking at representational and abstract artists. They were set the task to complete a study of an existing artist’s work using any medium. Here they are showing us their impressive results in their sketchbook. Work by Steve Park, Aisling Ryan, Lisa Shatovkina, Rich Zhu, 8A.
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SECONDARY
Abstract Art With Liang Lian Zhi By: Jone Barrenechea On the first day of the holidays Miss Questa and I had the privilege of meeting Liang Lian Zhi, a very talented Chinese abstract artist at his home and studio in CongHua District. After one-hour bus journey and 15 minute motorbike ride we arrived to ZhongLouGuCun, a remote village where a stunning old mansion called OuYangRenShan Academy can be found and is where Liang Lian Zhi lives and works. We had tea and talked about art for hours. He told us about great artists that inspired him, such as Picasso, Monet and Kandinsky and described his creative process to us. His colourful work created a stunning contrast with the stone walls of his studio which a 100 years ago was used as a cannon tower. He bought this tower, restore it and now is a magnificent creative space. Liang Lian Zhi graduated with a BA hons in Art Education from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. He is a member of the China Art Research Institute and Director of Guangdong Art Education Association. His artworks can be seen at the Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and he has had exhibitions in Shanghai, Beijing and Changsha. In the coming months he will be having a grand exhibition with over 50 pieces at Guangzhou Poly World Trading Centre in Haizhu District. He is working really hard at the moment to get all his artwork ready for it. After our conversations, the three of us got quite excited with the idea of working on a number of collaborative projects. He particularly looks forward working with our talented BSG students. Watch this space! And if any of you want to know more about him and his work come and I will happily let you know!
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SECONDARY
A Shot At Velocity By: Kotaro Hayashi & Advaitha Byereddy As part of our studies around the topic of momentum, we visited the Nanhu Shooting Range. Momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. When Mr Wright told us about this field trip, we were all thrilled to have a chance to handle real guns and apply our physics learning to a real life situation. When we reached the shooting facility, each of us shot ten bullets at a target 15 metres away. Then, we were allowed a second round, wherein many of us opted to have the target 25 metres away. There were several great shots amongst the group and everyone was very proud of their achievements. We all learnt that Debbie Lee would make the best sniper amongst us. All of this relates to the topic of momentum because it gives a real life example of Newton’s famous principle of the conservation of momentum. The principle of conservation of momentum states that the total initial momentum is equal to the total final momentum. In the example of a gun being shot, there are two components, the bullet and the rest of the gun. Before the gun is fired, the gun and the bullet both have zero momentum because they are not moving. In order for the event of the gun being fired to comply with the principle of conservation of momentum, the total final momentum must also be zero. This basically means that when you find the momentum of the bullet just after it is fired and add it to the momentum of the gun just after it has fired, you should get zero. Now you might be thinking, the bullet seems to have momentum, but does the rest of the gun too? Indeed the rest of the gun does have momentum. You can feel it in the form of the force of recoil pushing back against your body. But since the gun and your body have a much larger mass than the bullet, they have a much smaller velocity. This can be expressed more clearly in the form of equations. The negative sign shows that the direction of the gun movement is opposite to the direction of the bullet. This makes sense considering the principle of conservation of momentum because momentum in the forward direction (the bullet) needs to be cancelled out by momentum in the backward direction (the recoil) to ensure the overall momentum is zero.
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SECONDARY
Football Season Review At the time of writing this, the football Season for U14 was coming to a close, and with some success already achieved. Next Saturday sees the U14 Boys and Girls Tournaments taking place. There is much expectation for the Division 1 teams of both the boys and girls. The girls at the recent exchange, and in their friendly fixtures, have a 100% win record and looking strong. Similarly the boys are unbeaten and looking forward to the tournament with a large squad this year. Watch this space for more information. Captains, Nick Kirby and Jazzie Greenhill, are certainly excited about the the week ahead.
looked like it could be a quick finish. It was not to be - 16 penalties in total were required until Oscar Tomkies capped a superb day with a welltaken winner! 11 goals from Marco Zanarado, 4 from Jay Shen and Harsh Verdia and a brace from Oren Davies sealed the success on the day! It bodes well for next year, when Year 6 will be Year 7 and more importantly, gave them much needed competition experience.
The Division 3 boys are also in action in their league tournament in Dongguan. With a large squad and unpredictable opponents, anything could happen! Tom de Boer will hope to lead this team to more potential success!
Special mentions must go to Marco for the number of goals he scored, Oscar and Johnny Moon for their outstanding defense, but also to Oren Davies who ran more miles than all the other players in the tournament combined! (I estimate!)
The U12 boys tournament took place on Saturday, 10th October, and despite some late additions of Year 6 to the team, as Year 7 students were unavailable, the boys over-achieved. The five Year 6 students performed amazingly all day and despite some erratic score lines of 5 - 5 against Utahloy, 7 -2 against Macao, and then another 7 - 2 against SIS, we made it to the final!
U15 FOBISIA This is fast approaching with the U15s team selected for a tournament at KTJ school in Kuala Lumpur. The students are all set to leave on Thursday 19th November for the three-day competition in basketball, football, athletics and swimming. After amazing success last year, we will be hard pushed to better it, however, we are confident in a number of sports of very good performances. Without wanting to jeopardise our chances, we are confident of coming home with some silverware!
The final was against Utahloy again…. and the score was 4 - 4 after extra time. After a number of hair-raising moments at both ends, when William Su kept us in the game whilst the opposition’s cross bar kept Utahloy in with a shout! So to penalties…. and a strong start by Marco Zanardo with Utahloy missing 28
SECONDARY
Mooncake Making At The Garden Hotel By: Claire Zhou To celebrate the Mid-autumn Day, as part of our Chinese tradition curriculum, Year 7 went on a field trip to the Garden Hotel on the 25th September to learn the Cantonese food culture and also made moon cakes with the Garden Hotel chefs together. There are many great moon-cake makers in Year 7.
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EVENTS
Moon Mash-Up! By: Emma Robb On Friday September 26th 2015 the British School of Guangzhou celebrated the Mid Autumn Moon Festival. The Physical Education department joined in with this celebration offering a Moon Mash Up Day. The Moon Mash Up involved PE staff and all year 1, year 2 and year 4 students. Together we learnt a fun dance routine, which we performed on the football pitch. To finish we made a big circle in the shape of a full moon where pupils bust their best dance moves to “I like to Move it Move it.�