TIV Issue 3, June 2014

THE INTERNATIONAL VOICE - IBSB News and Views By the Students for the Students

Issue 3: June 2014 International British School of Bucharest

www.ibsb.ro

We would like to say a special thank you to PTF President Helene Roberts, who will be moving to Austria with her family at the end of the year, for her dedication to IBSB over the last two years. We would also like to thank Claudia Marta and the parents on the PTF for helping us to run so many successful events this year. Thank you finally to our many event partners this year, including Key Event Partners Borsec, BCR, Paradise Travel & Lia Manoliu Complex Sportiv. This has been a particularly memorable year in so many ways, none of which would have been possible without the support and commitment of our students, teachers, parents, and community partners. We thank you for your continued support and look forward to working with you all next year.

Kendall Peet - Head of School

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Contents Page

Staff & Editorial

4-5

Celebrating Success

50-51

Paris - French & Art Trip

6- 8

What can you become by being creative at IBSB

52-53

Berlin Student Exchange Program

54

Going Dutch for University Study

56-57

Graduation Class 2014

10 –11 Message from the Head of Secondary at the Close of Another Great Year

Journalists/Contributors Maria M., Mihnea R., Maria S., Andrei D., Denisa N., Blanca F., Denisa C., Maria I., Matei C., Freddy K., Ruxandra R., Zoe S., Alexandra Arsene, Catrinel Vlad, Sebastian Mararu, Adela C., Alexia S., Kyriaki M., Mya P., Shirin M., Gekko I., Ken S., Sorana C., Catrinel C., Matei S., Ali A., Kira Hagi Contributing Staff Mr Kendall Peet

12

Editor’s Note

13

Assistant Editor’s Note

CAS 14-15

CAS Gala

16

Making Dreams come True Bruno Shelter

SPORTS 18-19

The Day a Footballing God came to IBSB

20-21

Lumina Cup

22

23

Mr Robert Hewett Mr Ciprian Tiplea Ms Katie Bickell Coordinators Student Editor: Sebastian (Year 13) Student Assistant Editors: Ruxandra (Year 12) Teacher Coordinator: Mr Trevor Kingston Junior School Whiteboard: Ms Camelia Nicolau Layout: Mr Florin Ghita & Ms Lea Cohen

58

Making a Seismometer

59

The Road ‘Not 'Taken

60

The Evolution of Cars

61

The Case for Violent Video Games

62

Teenage Angst or Opportunities

64-65

Did Man Really Land on the Moon?

Making the Biggest Splash of All

66-67

Has Video killed the camera star?

One Team, One Family, One Mission

68-69

In Glorious Technicolor or good old Black & White

70

Read a Book and Change your Life

71

The Secret MTT

72

Eat Yourself Slimmer

74-75

International Aid: The Great Debate

76-77

Year 11 IGCSE Choices

79

Life is the Most Difficult Exam

80

Top Disney Movies

81

Science Summer School’s

82-85

Teacher Farwell Messages

86-87

Summer Plans

24– 25 Sports Day 26– 27 IBSB Triathlon

WHITEBOARD 28

Early Years

29

Year 1

30

Year 2

31

Year 3A

32

Year 3B

34

Year 4

35

Year 5

37

Year 6

SCHOOL EVENTS 38-39

Office Staff

STUDENT VIEWS

40-41

Contact Information:

CREATIVE CORNER

Farewell from the Head Boy & 88-92 Girl 93 Motion to Present the

COBIS Poetry My Love (The Cry of an Abused Wife)

Wonderful Experience of HMCE

Address: 21 Agricultori St. District 2, Bucharest, Romania, 021841

42-43

Tel: (+4) 021.253.1698, Fax: (+4) 021.253.1697

Being an Active Member of the COBIS Network

44-45

A Quick Healthy Snack

E- mail: office@ibsb.ro

46

Talent Show

Website: www.ibsb.ro

48

I Want to Grow Old with you

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Celebrating Success It gives us great pleasure to write this final piece for Issue 3 of TIV, to recap on some of the events of the year, to make note of particularly significant results achieved, and to thank our students, parents, teachers, and community partners for each playing their part in making this year a year to remember.

Thank you to Sebastian, Ruxandra, Ana Denisa, Mr Trevor Kingston, Lea Cohen and the entire TIV team, including Mihnea R., photographer extraordinaire, for all their hard work in producing three wonderful issues that we can all be extremely proud of. Sebastian will be moving on at the end of this academic year, with Ruxandra taking over as Chief Editor– we wish both students will in the challenges that await them.

teachers mentoring the senior students, resulting in more motivated students and better results, and we can all look forward to seeing this programme continue to mature in the years ahead.

We hope that this year has been a positive one for all our families and that you are ending the school year with a sense of accomplishment, looking forward to next year with a sense there has been much to celebrate also, with of excitement about what lies ahead. Reflecting back on the the year starting the way it ended with the Primary School year there is much to be proud of: Athletic Team winning the first interschool event of the year, the Primary School Mini Olympics, and finishing with our school swim team winning both interschool swimming competitions in Term 3. In football both the U11, and U13 look set to win their respective leagues and managed to pick up a number of trophies throughout the year at various tournaments. Individually, there has been success also, with several of our students becoming national champions in their respective sports: Alina B., from Year 3, becoming a national sprint champion; Petru N., a national champion in sailing; Giovanni B. winning the national basketball championship this year with his team and being chosen as the best defensive , this has been our best year yet with player in the league for his age; and Alex S. coming third in the the best Checkpoint Exam results achieved in the past five national doubles championship for tennis. Victor C. also years, strong and improving results in the IGCSE and A Level deserves a special mention for his performance in the autumn exam session, and another very strong set of results interschool athletic events winning all his sprint races this expected in the summer session. This is expected to be the year. Well done to you all! third year in a row that our A Level results show significant improvement with the pass rate increasing from 84% to 90% in the last summer session and up to 94% in the autumn session, with the B-A* pass rate up from 37% to 56%, and another increase anticipated in the summer session. Results have also continued to improve in regard to the national and international competitions entered, with many of our students receiving special recognition in the National Kangaroo Competitions for languages and mathematics, and in the UK Year 8 Maths Challenge. A big thank you to Antoaneta Ardeleanu, Cristina Marascu, Ioana Nitescu, and Alexandra offer us a great opportunity to Thomas for coordinating our entries and preparations for these various competitions. A big thank you also to our reflect back on the year and to take some pride in all that has dedicated team of staff who have worked incredibly hard to been achieved this year. The calendar has been a busy one help our students achieve these improving exam results, with each half-term offering us a smorgasbord of events to mentoring students and providing additional support after enjoy, starting in Term 1a with the Parent-Teacher Coffee school and on the weekends when needed. Our Student Mornings and Annual Parent-Teacher BBQ, a successful House Tracking and Support Programme is improving with each year, Games at Lia Manoliu Stadium, a great turn out at the with the older students mentoring the younger and the Bucharest Marathon with four student- parent-teacher teams entered, Parent’s Evenings, and an internationally colourful UN

In

Sport,

Academically

School Events,

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Day Celebration, with Her Excellency the Indian Ambassador joining us to bring Term 1a to a close. Term 1b delivered us to the Light into Europe Bonfire Night in record numbers, treated us to an excellent rendition of The Tempest, had us captivated by the reading of original work in the Key Stage 3 Performance Morning, saw the Junior School enjoying a Halloween Party and the Secondary School students a Winter Ball, all of which culminated in the annual IBSB Carol Concert that brought Term 1 successfully to a close and sent us each on our merry way to the four corners of the globe.

Term 2a served up a taste of reality for our Secondary School students in the form of mid-term mock exams, saw IBSB successfully host the ESU Primary School Public Speaking Competition and the Sir Winston Churchill International School Public Debating Competition, allowed us to celebrate our school debate team returning from the COBIS World Debate Championship undefeated, saw another round of Parent Evenings and sent records numbers, some 30 Secondary School students to Innsbruck, Austria, and 40 Primary School students to Poiana Brasov for a week of fun on the snow on the annual school ski trips. In Term 2b Ms Blessy Savu and Mr Cristi Munteanu took a group of extremely enthusiastic future leaders away to the Harvard MUN in Madrid, in which two of our students Ruxandra R. and Victor L. received special awards of recognition for their public speaking acumen. Ms Broadhurst and Ms Lia headed to Paris on a joint Art/MFL Trip, Mr Shaikh took another group of students to Belin as a part of our annual Student Exchange Programme, and Mr Hewett headed off to the Netherlands with a group of senior students for a tour of the universities on offer there.

The

Extracurricular Programme,

has also been a year of firsts in many regards, with our first students successfully going through the International Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award Programme. These students will now have the opportunity to continue on with their Silver Award next, just as all students in Year 10 will have the opportunity to join the Bronze Award Programme next year as we move toward incorporating this programme into the mainstream curriculum at IBSB. We see outdoor pursuits as an integral part of who we are and what we value, as we wish to instill a love of the great outdoors in our students they are what makes life on earth truly special. Next year all students in Key Stage 3 will go on the Outward Bound Trip in Term 1a as a lead-in to the International Duke of Edinburgh Programme in Years 10 & 11 and we look forward to working with our parents to further develop this programme in the years ahead. Clubs also continued to offer our students a number of opportunities to broaden their horizons and we look forward to focusing on developing this programme more next year.

Farewell, to those students, graduates, parents, and

teachers leaving us at the end of the year- we wish you safe travels and good fortune on the road ahead. Mr Kingston heads into retirement after a very rewarding and successful career in teaching. Ms Alexandra Thomas returns with her family to the UK, as does Alan Cornish, who, after eight years at IBSB, finally says farewell, whilst Gareth Jones heads to Milan with his family for a change of scene and a taste of Italian culture and cuisine. We hope that you will all stay in touch in the years ahead and visit us whenever your travels Term 3 played host to the International School Talent Show at bring you back this way.

AISB, several athletic competitions, two swimming competitions, the summer exam session, the Primary School As we look ahead to 2014, there is plenty for us to be excited Residential Trips Week, and the Annual IBSB Sports Day, in about, with the BSO (British Schools Overseas) Inspection which Transylvania lifted the Lia Manoliu Sports Day Cup and planned for November, and a lot of work to be done in order the students again won both the girls and boys Student-Parent to ensure that the new Secondary School opens in September - Teacher relays. In regard to theatre, we were treated to a 2016. captivating musical performance of Oliver, Directed by Ms Hunter in the Spring Show, feasted on the Key Stage 3 evening This summer will see a hive of activity as we prepare for the spectacular of The Wedding Singer, enjoyed a very special visit inspection, with an overhaul of our ICT facilities, in line with from Hagi, celebrated the success of our students in the End of new Curriculum updates, including the introduction of Year Graduation Ceremonies, attended by His Excellency the notepads into the primary programme in 2014-15, and a new Irish Ambassador and HRH Prince Nicolae this year, and wireless network across the school with open access for all enjoyed a variety of acts in the Summer Fete, finishing the students. The Sixth Form will be relocated to their new school year with a bang. I’m sure I’ve missed something, which temporary campus just down the road, and renovations to the campus will be undertaken in preparation for another busy would not be at all surprising as it has been a very full year. year ahead. We wish you all a wonderful, restful summer break, with quality family time and many warm, happy memories to cherish.

Ms Aura Bogdan Executive Director

Mr Kendall Peet Head of School 5

What Can You Become by Being CREATIVE at IBSB? What skills do I need to study Music, Drama, and Art ,and Before we start, we would like to mention that these articles are meant to give you a glance over the possibilities and where can these subjects take me - Career Paths!

Career Paths and Guidance is a term used more and more in schools and educational establishments. It is becoming increasingly important for schools and parents to find the best possible way to guide their children towards the most suitable career. One important thing to mention here is the fact that the term ‘career for life’ is no longer very popular. As the recent past shows us, the future holds a lot of opportunities and challenges at the same time. One of these challenges is the fact that things change very quickly and what works today may not be the same tomorrow. Flexibility, ingenuity, portability and creativity have become very important skills for life as one person can end up doing a number of jobs in various domains in a course of a life time.

opportunities offered at IBSB in the respective subject fields.

We are also hoping that by reading these lines you will develop an increased interest in these subjects. If this is the case we strongly advise you to start asking more questions and to find out more about your particular interests and passions.

Want to get on in the modern world of image projection and self-presentation? Then Drama is THE key skill.

Drama in the Real World To be or not to be…a managing director, a salesman, a teacher, an actor, a politician, a marketing executive, a motivational speaker, or even a doctor…that is the question!

Reagan failed in Hollywood but still made it all the way to the Whitehouse, which goes to show the importance of a background in Drama! Just imagine what he might have achieved had he been able to act as well as Tom Hanks!

Studying Drama and achieving an IGCSE qualification in Drama can lead towards a university degree and a career in this field.

Also, the skills and abilities gained by studying drama and being part of the school’s annual events related to drama (KS3 Play, PS and SS Plays, Talent Show, UN Day, etc.) are very This article is a follow up to Issue 2. We started by giving the valuable in any domain of activity you may choose to follow. reader a broad overview of the IBSB Academic Curriculum and Career Paths. In future editions, we would like to take a more Drama will: Increase awareness of self and others, improve in depth look at the different faculties and subjects offered to clarity and creativity in communication, give you deeper understanding of human behaviour, motivation, diversity, see where they can take our students in life. culture, and history.

Drama is part of the extracurricular programs in Primary School

Drama is a compulsory subject within English in KS3 Drama is part of the extracurricular programs in KS3

Drama is an Option at IGCSE for KS4 (2 years programme) Drama is part of the extracurricular programs in KS4

When You have your fifth patient of the day in front of you, dying of cancer, then being able to project concern, rather than giving the impression that your valuable time is being wasted, is a pretty important talent. If you’re standing up in front of all your employees to explain the need for outsourcing to India to maintain profitability, then the ability to sound sincere is the best way of avoiding a lynching. When you need to explain to the nation why you have to attack Iraq based on the existence of weapons of mass destruction that do not exist, then the capacity to turn black into white and mistruths into irrefutable truths is a fundamental skill. Want to keep 6

teenagers on task and focused in a classroom? Then the ability to perform and entertain is absolutely necessary.

Some people dismiss Drama as a waste of time, failing to understand that the ability to project, persuade, convince, excite, entice, fool, mislead and inspire are all fundamental skills for just about every high salaried job in the modern world. In a world where Communication is King, the best actors are the best qualified to succeed. Starting with the job interview and going right through to your leaving speech as the CEO of a multinational Public Limited Company, the core skills of Drama are the key ingredients for success.

Just a few Possible Careers with a Music Degree Advertising Specialist

Copywriter specialist

Artist Management

Music Teacher

College or University

Professor Soloist Bands

Recording Studio

Commercials

Music Critic Journalist

Actor/Actresses Stage Manager Drama Teacher Drama Therapist Television Radio Theatre Director Stage Manager Movie Director

Media

Music at IBSB By engaging pupils in studying music, we offer them opportunities to develop a perceptive, sensitive and critical response to the main historical periods and styles of music, we help them understand and appreciate a wide range of music styles, and we extend their own interests and increase their ability to make judgements about music quality.

Music in school provides opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to understand and create music.

It provides a foundation for the development of an informed appreciation of music and for further study at a higher level.

Studying Music will develop the skills, attitudes and attributes that can support learning in other subject areas and are needed for employment and life, (listening skills, concentration, creativity, intuition, aesthetic sensitivity, perseverance, self-confidence and sensitivity towards others).

All of these will help students to recognise and understand the music of various traditions, and thus to form an appreciation of cultural similarities and differences.

Music Consultant

Video Games

Music Historian

Music Publicist

Music at IBSB

So, if you don’t want to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, get ahead by studying Drama!

Just a few Possible Careers with a Drama Degree

Film

Music is a compulsory subject in Primary School and KS3 in Secondary School

BA Music Performance

Music is an Option for students in KS4 / IGCSE subject (2 years)

BA Popular Music

Music is an Option for students in KS5 / AL subject (2 years)

Bachelor of Music

Music at University UK, Europe, USA

Bachelor of Music in Education

Bachelor of Media

BA Musical and Musicology Performance

These are just a few examples of what you can specialise in at University if you decide to follow this path. A BA degree in several areas related to Music followed by a Master Degree could lead to a variety of careers related to Music and the Creative Arts. Specialists in the field often classify the degrees gained at University by studying music with the flowing terms: “If I had not been a physicist, I would probably have been a Music Business, Music Education, Performance and musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. Composition, Music History, Music Industry, Music Production, Music Technology, and Music Theory.

I see my life in terms of music.” Albert Einstein To conclude this section, IBSB is encouraging all students to take part in the artistically and musical part of our annual programs. These may be within the curriculum or the extracurricular activities. There are obvious advantages for students involved in this area and for the ones passionate and talented there are many opportunities for successful carriers.

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Art and Design at IBSB Why study Art? The obvious response will be critical thinking A growing number of students, including our own here at IBSB, skills, an opportunity to be creative and to use our are achieving recognition whilst still studying at school. Youth imagination, broadening the mind etc., but there are so many is no longer a barrier to success. more reasons. The creative subjects were once thought of as 'poor relations' to other subjects and the Career opportunities Art is a compulsory subject in Primary on graduating were not the best. However, times are changing School and KS3 in Secondary School and fast! With the opportunities the Internet now offers, there is an explosion of opportunity for any creative soul! From Multimedia Artist, Digital Designer to Animator, Photographer, Bachelor of Art is an Option for a whole array of choices are out there for anyone with a Fine Art students in KS4 / IGCSE creative imagination, self discipline and a forward thinking subject (2 years) mind.

BA in The work load for an Art & Design course is large, and students have to learn to adapt if they want to survive on the course.

But the skills gained at the end, equip students' for life. These include, along with many others, self focus, great organizational skills and time management skills

Art is an Option for students in KS5 / AL subject (2 years)

Art at University UK, Europe, USA

BA in Art & Technology

BA in Design & Business

BA in Retail Design Fashion and Furniture

Architecture

Bachelor in Design Management

BA in Character Animation Bachelor in Art/Science

These are just a few examples of what you can specialise in at University if you decide to follow this path. A BA degree in a several areas related to Art followed by a Master Degree could lead to a variety of wonderful careers related to Art and Design.

Although there is the prevailing belief that some students are better at math and science or art, recent studies reveal that all students are equally capable in all subjects. We are all multiskilled people, well-rounded as people, and are therefore capable of excelling in a wider range of professions.

Just a few Possible Careers with an Art Degree

Above - just a small sample of our students work at IGCSE and Advanced Level

Video Game Design, Computer Animation, Comic Book Artist, Cartooning, Architecture, Design, Tattoo Artist, Muralist, Museum Exhibit Design, Fashion, Screen Printing, Layout Artist, Textile, Book Cover Illustrator, Set Designer, Toy Designer, Furniture Design, Floral Design, Art Teacher, Art Therapist, Museum Curator, Art Historian, Cinematographer

Amazing work I would say!

By Ciprian Tiplea, Trevor Kingston, Angel Militaru

Congratulations!

and Jane Broadhurst 8

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Message from the Head of Secondary at the Close of Another Great Year It has been a busy year both on the academic, pastoral and sporting front. The summer can be a stressful time with final examinations in Key Stage 4 and 5 and the chance to study subjects at a higher level in the Autumn or to graduate and attend their first choice university, possibly studying abroad.

For the younger students, they too are having to work hard to demonstrate that they have the new skills required and a broad knowledge base to tackle the Checkpoint and Progression Tests.

Students have performed on stage and worked hard behind it and are, as I write these words, preparing for another summer show.

This year we were proud to see four IBSB acts at the annual Talent Show, hosted at AISB, with one group of musical students winning the runners up prize.

Along the way they have been met by other challenges, including termly assessments, Kangaroo Tests and the Maths Challenge, to name but a few. All these have been undertaken while keeping up with IBSB’s busy curriculum.

Outside the classroom, IBSB really excels. We have our own publishing committee that produce the glossy Yearbook and TIV, packed full of past events and interesting articles from students and staff.

IBSB CAS carries out some wonderful work, much of it behind the scenes and it is not until they have the opportunity to present their work and experiences, that you realize the impact they have made and the impact on their own lives and sense of duty. Some examples include working with `buddies` in both the primary and secondary school and helping children by fundraising and working with Light into Europe and Speranta pentru Tine as well as attendance and `Clean Romania` Days and other events.

On the playing field, our students excel in football and swimming and both groups have brought back medals, despite the fact that they have to travel every week to train or attend a match.

We have had some amazing Open Days, with hard work behind the scenes, preparing props as well as singing and dancing in front of it.

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This year, many senior students, for a small fee, offered their expertise to entertain with games, jokes, and fortune telling, further increasing the amount of money that IBSB donated to charity. New ventures, like the Healthy Eating Competition, have been fun and have taught students the importance of a healthy diet and how it can still be tasty.

More activities and challenges, include public speaking and working at the Model United Nations, which have allowed our students to grow in confidence and work well in a team.

The Outward Bound Programme and the International DofE Award, too have allowed students to expand their horizons, challenge themselves physically and mentally as well as learn how to coordinate and work well together.

These expeditions have taken place in some lovely and demanding surroundings and given the students wonderful memories and the skill to face challenges.

As we come towards the end of the academic year, Years 11 to 13 will be taking their final examinations and preparing for the journey ahead, which for many will involve a week of work experience. While short, these periods offer students an insight to working life and should guide their career choice.

All will gain valuable skills of working as a team and learning how to problem solve. It will also be invaluable when attending interviews.

We are already looking towards the next year and planning out the various elements of the year. They will include the popular Open Days, events and the Key Stage 3 Outward Bound Expedition early in the Autumn Term. The Senior School Prefects will be busy organizing events and working ways to improve the community. The new Year 10 and 12 students will be coming to terms with their new academic programme and Year 12 in particular will be managing their new timetable and planning out their independent study programmes to make sure that they keep up to date with their studies and grades.

All that remains is to wish all the best to those leaving IBSB, both students and staff and thank them for their contribution to life at IBSB. For those that plan to return, we hope you have an excellent break and return, refreshed and ready to work hard, contribute to school life and make a real positive impact on others.

By Robert Hewett, Head of Secondary School 11

Editor’s Note The end is nigh, and I must say it has been a fabulous two years. This may not be the Oscars, but I still need to thank the wonderful Mr Kingston for having put up with my rant and philosophical articles. I would also like to convey my deepest and most sincere gratitude to Alexandra as well as Ruxandra and all the writers in this final issue of the TIV for having done a wonderful job with this issue. I would also like to wish the best of luck to the next TIV editor, Ruxandra! She has constantly proven that I can fully trust her to run this ambitious project as well as improve it. Without further-ado I present to you my final article as the TIV editor!

We always want to do more than what we are capable of.

We try to bend time to our will; however we quickly realise that we do not control it — it controls us. In the day and age we live in we strive (well most of us) to be the best person that we can be, but what does that mean? “Being the best you can be.” This phrase is quite possibly one of the most subjective to define in such a way as to satisfy everyone.

Some find it a redeeming quality to be kind within their lifetime, some have more of a Machiavellian approach, and some will be utterly and completely lost, powerless to impact on the events surrounding them.

No matter what kind of person you are, most people try to over-achieve, and that very well may be a result of the ideology that society tends to force upon us. I can relate to this, seeing as across the years we were always told to have targets, and often we were told to have goals which were a little above what we expected from ourselves. If we manage to achieve this target, then we will be deeply motivated and driven to continue to succeed, and if we don’t manage to reach that target then its ok, it was above what we expected from ourselves. This mentality isn’t flawed, quite the contrary, it is a mentality which may often separate the average, good, and the extraordinary from each other, however ,when this perspective is applied to other matters, it proves problematic.

When we try to find a balance between our personal lives and our work program, it is often very hard to balance it out.

People who over achieve find themselves with too little time to juggle around, whilst the underachievers have too much time on their hands, which is in fact a severe problem. It is almost impossible to find a point in which we have the balanced scales of life.

I would like to, for the moment, focus on the over-achieving side. Once you find yourself pushing yourself to achieve more than you can actually do, that is the point at which you start under-performing. Many people consider it difficult to find a solution to this problem. The key is simple: Prioritisation! I know it may sound like a straight forward thing, but in reality it is something which very few people take notice of, and even fewer people actually know how to do effectively.

I faced this issue myself in Year 12 when I wanted to do 5 ALevels; however, I quickly realised that it was humanly impossible. What I did, and what I think everyone should do, is have a nice sit-down with yourself. Grab a pillow, turn the kettle on, and light the incense (maybe a chocolate bar if you’re feeling especially daring). One must then continue by evaluating what you want to achieve in your lifetime. Where do you see yourself in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, in the future and so forth? Once you have realised your true calling, you must take into consideration what is necessary for you to become this self-proclaimed better version of yourself. Last and not least, put these plans into motion and try to reach your full potential.

With that, I conclude my final editor’s article for the TIV and I hope that this read has been interesting as well as productive. I wish you all good luck in the years ahead, and an enjoyable summer break, as I surely will be enjoying mine!

By Sebastian Mararu, Year 13

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Assistant Editor’s Note As the year comes to an end and we publish our last TIV edition this school year, I would like to thank everyone involved who either wrote articles or took photos or encouraged our work for this wonderful magazine. I think this year has seen an incredible change in our school magazine which gained a very professional look thanks to Sebastian, from whom I am honoured to take over as editor next year. I have learned a lot from him and I will have large shoes to fill in our exciting next school year.

The beauty of the TIV really is that it captures the essence of our school, our vibrant and friendly community, and without this excellent raw material it would not be the same magazine. I also love the fact that it promotes and encourages creativity. In a fast-moving world, creativity is, in my opinion, a most vital skill to possess. Nothing is really as the manual describes it and once we learn the basic rules and ways of our world, that manual is not enough and we might get stuck. This is where creativity comes in, bringing with it the ability to adapt to challenging situations. Seeing as how important this is, I wish more and more students would get involved in our school’s activities. The opportunities to learn new things and take part in exciting activities, which will help you grow as a person, are plentiful at our school if we want to see them, if we choose to participate. As basic formal education is now accessible to the majority of people, universities and, later on, employers are looking more and more for people who have a multitude of skills and who have engaged with various aspects of life.

And on a less practical note, passing through life without getting involved is what I’ve always found to be a great pity.

Look up Beyoncé’s performance of ‘I was here’ at the United Nations headquarters. I found it incredibly moving and it consolidated my belief that being part of change and helping the world move forward is vitally important. And it starts in school where we must first learn to combat apathy. We are citizens of this world, something that we can see visually in our multicultural school, and therefore we do not live apart from the world’s problems. As I am about to begin writing my personal statement I am proud of having what a host of extracurricular activities to choose from whilst talking about the experiences that define me and I think that you should strive for this too, starting as early as you can.

Serious talk aside, the holidays are approaching and you can sense our excitement from the featured articles about some of the student’s holiday plans. Whatever plans you have for this summer, I wish you all a great time, especially those of you looking forward to some much needed relaxation after the tiring exam session. To all our departing colleagues, I wish you all the very best in the future. You will all be greatly missed! As will the teachers who won’t be joining us again in August. Everyone else, see you again in the next school year and have a wonderful summer!

By Ruxandra R., Year 12

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CAS CAS Gala FAREWELL TO CAS 2014!

It feels like only yesterday we were gathering in the school’s Business Room, being introduced to the representatives of our affiliated associations and now the year has come to an end and the CAS teams of IBSB are once again rounding up to determine this year’s winner – the IOMC hospital volunteers (Seb M, Andra, Stergios, Andrew, Lara and Seb S).

“One of the most important things to do as educators is, perhaps, to open doors and provide opportunities, to encourage our pupils to try and instil in them a culture of success that is not confined to academia,” said Ms Croci, who was also very happy to notice visible changes in her students.

“I am really proud of all of them,” she added. “I am pleased to see how our Community Service programme has become one of the greatest sources of personal satisfaction, growth and understanding for our children. I am happy to see them looking forward to it, being motivated, challenging themselves, planning thoroughly, working hard, and achieving wonderful things.”

It would be unfair to compare this year’s teams with the ones from last year, because you can tell the differences in personalities and approaches from afar. Letting the younger years participate more this year proved to be a good choice, as there were several names from Years 11 and 12 called out to be congratulated, even for extra work put in.

IBSB’s Community Action Service brings out and makes good use of our students’ helpful streak and whether you realise it or not, the cases you are going to face within CAS will doubtlessly make you want to get involved. As I finish my last CAS report for TIV, I will briefly remind potential volunteers for the upcoming year of some of the projects available.

It would be a shame to say that some projects are more favoured than others, but as the sixth form becomes busier and busier, choosing a CAS project becomes a rather difficult task. The opportunities, however, are grand and touching and the best way to go about is to join the cause you feel the most connection with. Among them is the British charity “Light into Europe”, which has continuously worked for helping sensory disadvantaged children and young people to adapt to the 14

Romanian community and to no longer regard their disability as a major drawback in their life goals.

many of the representatives interviewed about their CAS experience stated, the tasks are demanding, but the results are equally rewarding. This was something many agreed on, as So far, they have greatly appreciated the help and dedication they spoke about their projects with smiles on their faces and of the IBSB students, who have joined forces in organising satisfaction evident in their voices. dance and drama competitions.

Another project we have been introduced to is “Speranta pentru Tine”, a charity that works with the Fundeni Paediatric Oncology Hospital. Also, “Touched Romania” deals with the abandoned new-born children and those dealing with leukaemia and cancer in oncology hospitals. They work both with Fundeni Hospital and IOMC Hospital, as well as with Casa Agar, a maternal centre providing support and alternatives to child abandonment.

On the animal side of the charity we have the HAR organization, short for “Human and Animal Rights”, who promotes the maintenance of animal health, while also seeking to encourage the adoption of stray cats and dogs, in the hope to putting an end to their suffering on the streets.

The Paper Tree and Environment Committee was, as usual, a sought-out team to be in, led by Ms Croci. It is no foreign fact that our school highly encourages recycling and has its very own Committee dealing with ecological issues. Their goal is to raise awareness among the students and also to educate them.

It’s safe to say that while the room was filled with competitive students aiming at the title of best CAS project, the entertainment was not absent from the Gala: all our attention was drawn to the hilarious Golden Retriever (an otherwise trained dog for the sight impaired) who patiently watched the event unfold.

It is always impressive to see a group of competitive and passionate young adults talk about community projects that had a tangible effect on their personalities and outlooks.

Needless to say, we are all curious to see the future generation of CAS volunteers and how they will choose to lead their projects, which have been so far carefully nurtured by this year’s students, who must now “pass on the torch” to the The jury, made up of Mr. Peet, Mr Tiplea, Mr Hewett and Ms. next generation.

Croci were faced with the challenging task to evaluate the otherwise impressive work of Key Stage 5 students, who showed that it takes a lot of initiative and hard work on the By Alexandra Arsene, Year 13 pupils’ part to keep a successful project up and running. As 15

Making Dreams Come True: The Bruno Shelter Dreams can seem far out of reach until the moment that you are forced to realise them. That’s exactly what happened to Elli Vlad, Owner & Operator of Bruno Shelter, when the Romanian Government no longer allowed her the time to contemplate her dream to house the homeless dogs of Bucharest.

Not long after arriving in Romania, Elli and I started meeting frequently, walking our dogs between the blocks of flats in our neighbourhood. I knew that she looked after the meals, medical care and sterilisation of many stray and abandoned dogs in Sector 6, including Bruno, the very dog whom her shelter was named after. Often, she would talk of her dream to get some land outside of Bucharest to convert into a shelter, where she could keep all of the unlucky, unwanted and unloved dogs in our area. It wasn’t until the autumn of 2013 that Elli’s aspiration became a necessity, rather than a distant possibility. The Romanian Parliament approved the mass euthanasia of Bucharest’s strays following the tragic death of a young child: if she wanted to save Bruno and the others from a terrible fate, she would have to act fast.

Borrowing some land from a friend, she got started despite the criticisms of others. Elli continued to work her full time job at a popular Romanian television channel whilst building a shelter to withstand the unpredictable Romanian winter ahead. Visiting daily and making veterinarian visits almost as often, she managed to rescue over 20 dogs in her first few months of operation. But remember, this was on borrowed land.

In 2014, she began planning a shelter of her very own. The frame and a handful of dog houses are now in place, but Elli’s project is still a work in progress. As of now, there are approximately 10 dogs living at Bruno Shelter, three of which are beautiful puppies less than two months old. Regrettably some human beings have the capacity to use the verb ‘to abandon’ with regard to living things. The CAS club is happily teaming up with Elli to assist her with her second shelter; along with a planned visit to actually pitch in and help on site. In addition, we hosted the latest Non-Uniform Day and collected donations for Bruno Shelter at the Spring Production of ‘Wedding Singer’. Elli’s story should inspire the students of IBSB to not to delay their dreams just because they may seem too big or near impossible. Like Elli, we should all start today, and along the way to our own success, contribute to the dreams of others in our local community and beyond.

Like Bruno Shelter on Facebook and contact Elli via message for any donation or adoption inquiries.

By Katie Bickell, Year 7 Form Tutor

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Sports The Day a Footballing God came to IBSB Asked why Romanian players, apart from his brother in law Popescu, had never cut it in the English game, Hagi replied, "You have to have a real desire to play in England. You have to have a big heart, a hunger, a passion." (Mind you, Mr Kingston seems to have forgotten Dan Petrescu who played over 100 games for Chelsea! But our honoured guest was too polite to remind him in front of the whole school!)

It's not every day of your life that you get to meet one of your heroes and one of the greatest players, so we were all delighted and honoured when none other than the great Romanian footballer Gheorghe Hagi paid a visit to IBSB.

Pressed on who is the better player, Ronaldo or Messi, the maestro replied, "Both are great players, both are making history. Ronaldo has great power, athleticism and skill, but for me Messi is the player I prefer. He has more skill, he plays more for the team. I also like the way he conducts himself off the football field."

The conversation was enlightening on a number of levels, not least when Mr Kingston asked if he had ever considered playing in England. Hagi smiled and said, "I had the chance to join Newcastle when Kevin Keegan was manager and the deal nearly happened. But it was not to be." Sadly, for Mr Kingston, it seems he never considered joining West Ham United!

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When asked who was the greatest player ever, he was reluctant to name anybody replying, "That is a question of opinion. I have a saying, the greatest player is the player who wins the most trophies. That is what counts at the end of a career, not what people say about you. For me, I admired most Pele and Maradona and it was a great honour to be compared to Maradona - the player, not the man off the pitch!” He added: “I also learnt so much from Cruyff and from the coaches at Ajax where I studied the academy.”

And which is the best league in the world? "At the moment Spain. England is second." And on playing for both Real Madrid and Barcelona? "It was easier because Brescia came in between. Moving from one to the other would not have been so easy."

“At Ajax they teach you to think about the game, to play the game in your head, to see the whole pitch and that is what I try to teach at my academy in Constanta."

He explained what made him special as a footballer: "It is all about speed, not speed across the ground but speed of thought. The best players think quicker. They see things quicker. You have to play with passion, with heart, with desire. When you lose it has to make you unhappy and that is the time to analyse, to work out why you did not win. But you fight when on the pitch, you never carry on the fight off it."

And his views on the England national team? "I like the England team very much because, of course, I never lost to them!" A great day meeting a great man. And Newcastle missed out on a very special talent as this link will confirm: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml0jqKw4

By Trevor Kingston, Year 9 Form Tutor 19

Lumina Cup 2014

In a world where private school students can sometimes be viewed by outsiders as spoiled and self-centred, this year’s Lumina Cup football tournament disproves these kinds of pre -conceived notions. Please do not get me wrong, our under16 football team deserve a colossal round of applause, and at the very minimum, a Subway lunch for their hard fought

second place finish, but that is not the main purpose of this article. I chose to focus on a rather different kind of win, one that will last long after the triumphant 3-1 match which earned them the tournament’s silver medal.

After the children from Sfanta Macrina spent Christmas with me, I wanted to offer them something more meaningful than just fun; I knew it would take more than a one-off experience to offer hope and instil self-confidence. Like many Romanian boys, playing football has always been Florin’s dream. Florin is 14 year old boy and a long time resident at the Sfanta Macrina Foundation, or as he is known on our team, ‘Number Nine’. Along with Mr Ciprian’s support, we were able realise this dream to an extent. In fact, two boys from Sfanta Macrina began weekly training sessions with our IBSB team: Florin with our older squad and Daniel with the slightly younger group. They were happy, enjoyed being part of a team for those brief moments; and none of us expected more. But we got it anyhow, much more.

Florin began looking up to coach Ciprian and Mr Ciprian in turn, took him under his wing. The team was not only passing the ball and working with Florin on the pitch, but they all began treating him like an equal off the pitch, despite obvious differences and occasional social faux-pas. Our coach, leading the way, followed by our players, welcomed Florin and offered him something he most definitely craved more than playing football, a sense of belonging.

Mr C. made sure that Florin belonged on the outside by 20

generously providing him with a custom made IBSB football uniform; the smile on his face was priceless. On the day of the Lumina Cup, when all odds were against us, it was that same team spirit and incredible character that allowed our boys (the underdogs by all accounts) to defeat teams that outranked them by a long shot, and come out just short of first place, narrowly defeated by Azerbaijan. It should also be mentioned that Achille Rutten received the prestigious award of ‘Goalie of the Tournament’.

There are plenty of individual highlights that stand out, such as Victor C.’s unwavering leadership as team captain, Mr Ciprian losing his voice, and Radu Florea playing through an agonising injury. Florin even scored two instrumental goals in the final match securing the win, but again, this story is undoubtedly more about the unity, remarkable character and sheer grit of an entire team. A huge congratulations and thank you to Coach Ciprian, all the players and parents!

By Ms Katie Bickell

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Making the Biggest Splash of All!

Final results:

Team IBSB Win Interschool Swimming Competitions Avenor Hosted EventCongratulations to Paul and Ciprian the IBSB Swim Team for their win at both the Avenor Interschool Swimming Competition and the IBSB Interschool Swimming Competition, and their 6th Interschool Swimming Competition in six straight years at the Izvorani Olympic Swimming Complex. Attending teams this year included IBSB, Avenior, Lycée Français ‘Anna de Noailles’, INSPE, CSB, Colegiul German Goethe, Pro Ingenio, and ISB. All in attendance said the events very well organised and a great success. Well done also to all students participating.

March 14th

IBSB Hosted EventMay 10th

1st Place

IBSB

1st Place

IBSB

2nd Place

Avenor College

2nd Place

Pro Ingenio

3rd Place

CSB

3rd Place

SB

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One Team, One Family, One Mission – And Yet Another IBSB Champion!

IBSB has another sporting champion! On Sunday 25th of May, Giovanni's basketball team ACS Dan Dacian won the U13 basket National Championship, beating BC Slam in the final by a comprehensive winning margin of 82 to 59. This final victory came after a series of successful tournaments held all over the country. Giovanni has an additional reason for celebrating as he was awarded with the "Cel mai bun aparator U13", the best defender, for 2014.

The politicians and people of Europe would do well to adopt the ACS Dan Dacian’s Motto ‘One, One Team, One Family, One Mission’. If we work together as a team, right across Europe, there is no limit to what we can achieve, but if we divide into factions and discriminate, there is no limit to the harm that can be done.”

Giovanni, in best Hollywood fashion, gave a victor’s speech acknowledging the contributions made by others. He said: “For such a brilliant result I have to thank first of all my super coach Andrei Beatu - a former Liga Nationala player himself and now a school professor - who worked at a very high professional level. Obviously, I was part of a team so I also have to thank all my colleagues and commend them for their responsible attitude, and last but not least, the families behind each player in the team – we couldn’t have done it without the support of our families. In fact, ACS Dan Dacian's motto is One Team, One Family, One Mission, and that was exactly how it was!”

He added: “I was the only non-Romanian in the team and I have to comment on how well I was accepted and received by the other players. At no point was I made to feel like an outsider, and this caused my family to reflect on the general attitude of many Italians and, dare we say other Western Europeans, who are responding negatively to Romanians who are migrating under the Treaty of Rome.

He continued: “IBSB is the perfect model here. There are so many nationalities joining together under the canopy of one school, and there is no sense of negative nationalism. Yes I am proud of being Italian, and Romanian students are proud of their country as Chinese students are proud of theirs, but that doesn’t stand in the way of us all being part of the IBSB family, working together as one team, one family with one mission – to succeed personally and as a multinational, multiethnic community, strong because of our diversity.”

By Giovanni B., Year 8

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SPORTS DAY Against all odds, after a week of heavy rain, the skies cleared, the sun came out, and all the students, teachers and parents attending the Annual IBSB Sports Day, on Friday June 6th, at Lia Manoliu Stadium, had a wonderful day in the sun, running, jumping, throwing, and cheering for their House Team in pursuit of the Lia Manoliu Sports Day Cup.

Open Team Rely Results: 1st Place: IBSB Boys 2nd Place: IBSB Teachers 3rd Place: IBSB Parents 4th Place: IBSB Boys Team 2 1st Place: IBSB Girls 2nd Place: IBSB Parents 3rd Place: IBSB Girls Team 2 4th Place: IBSB Teachers

At the start of the day is was Dobrogea who got away to an early lead, winning all but a few of the Reception-Year 13 sprints. However, as the day drew to a close it was Transylvania in a sea of yellow that surged past to win the day by a comfortable margin.

Well done to all the students, teachers and parents who participated this year, and congratulations to all those students who collected medals throughout the morning.

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support and enthusiasm, to Ms Liliana Nastase, 3 time World Heptathlon Champion and former Olympian for presenting the House Sports Day Trophy this year, to Irinel Ciocioc for kindly allowing us to use Lia Manoliu Stadium, to Ciprian Iacob and Paul Georgescu and to all the staff for setting up the venue and running a great programme to time, and finally, to everyone who prayed for good weather as it was a great day.

Final Results: Lia Manoliu Cup, 2014 1st Place 2nd Place Thank you to Key Event Sponsors, BCR and Borsec, and to 3rd Place Tchibo, who helped to wake us all up and kept our energy levels high throughout the morning with fresh coffee. Thank you also Claudia Marta, who played a huge role in helping us to organise the event this year and so we thank her for all her

Transilvania

1170pts

Dobrogea

844pts

Muntenia

770pts

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IBSB TRIATHLON IBSB Students and Teachers Contact Triathlon Mania It seems over the past year that triathlons have become increasingly popular at IBSB, with our resident PE Teacher, come Romanian Triathlete, Mr Paul Georgescu, spreading his passion for running and triathlons amongst the staff and students.

It all started back in September when Paul arranged the first interschool triathlon to be held at Mamaia. Just two schools were involved in that event, and this planted the seed that would soon become a passion for a number of students and staff at IBSB

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This year in Term 3 our staff and students participated in two triathlons: the 2 Mai Fara Asfalt Off-road Triathlon and Buftea Herbalife Triathlon. In Fara Asfalt Triathlo, Paul participated along with Rob and Silvia Hewett, and for eth students Anton Z. and Victor C. Anton was the youngest swimmer in the event and Rob managed to finish 31st place overall, out of over 300 entries, and 4th in his age group. In the more recently held Herbalife Triathlon, we had the youngest relay team in the competition: Anton Z., 11 years old (swimming 750m: sixth best time), Stanislas R., 10 years old (20km cycling in 20.33sec.), and Alina B., 8 ½ years old (5km run: 7th best time overall racing against adults: she also won the children’s 400m race). All students received a diploma for their efforts, with Anton and Alina both being interviewed by Antena 3.

For the future of Romanian triathlons, the future looks bright with young and rising stars.

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White Board Early Years Early Years welcomed Spring through fun, hands-on activities.

The children planted flowers and learned how to take care of them. They also participated in a floral workshop together with the Secondary School children.

Then at the end of the visit we celebrated Spring with an assembly presentation.

From all the EYFS student—Enjoy Spring!

By Ms Manuela Constantin, Ms Irina Ruse, and Lorena Diculescu

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Year 1 Year 1 has had lots of fun this past term. We learned about Dragons, Knights, and Castles and found out many things about the medieval period in history. We learned about fictional and non-fictional characters such as dragons and wizards from medieval tales and we also learned about some famous knights and kings. We painted portraits of William the Conqueror and made a coat of arms when we learned about the kind of armour knights wore. Year 1 studied different kinds of castles and examined how they are designed and built for protection during battles. The children made castles of their own at home as an end-of-term project. They were very impressive to say the least! We displayed them in the window, full of colour, with lots of interesting details and even invited Year 4 to come and have a look at them in our class. We also took a wonderful trip to Oraselul Copiilor to play in the big castle and have a picnic in the sun. We had our assembly this past term and we wrote some poems about dragons, knights and castles and also some funny rhyming poems about teachers in the school. We wore our best costumes. It was a big hit and everyone laughed and applauded! It was a great spring term and we are looking forward now to learning about “Living Things� in Term 3.

By Ms Chelsea Corvino and Ms Alina Radu

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Year 2 Year 2, The Zoo and Gerald McGrew “It’s a pretty good zoo,” Said young Gerald McGrew, “And the fellow who runs it Seems proud of it, too.”

“But if I ran the zoo,”

The children also had a very grown up discussion about whether or not zoos are, in and of themselves, a good idea.

There was a lot of very high level thinking going on, and the consensus seemed to be that if the animals are well looked after and have everything they need, then zoos offer children a fantastic opportunity to learn about animals that they would only otherwise read about or see in pictures and video.

By Mr Simon Quysner and Oana Marcu

Said young Gerald McGrew, “I’d make a few changes.

That’s just what I’d do…”

In Dr Suess’s book “If I ran the zoo”, Gerald McGrew dreams of transforming his local zoo into a madcap menagerie of weird and wonderful beasts. Year 2 used the book as a starting point for developing our own zany zoos, and we were lucky enough to visit Baneasa Zoo so that we could think about some of the things we would need.

We had a fantastic day at the zoo in wonderfully warm weather. The children were able to identify many different animals and talk about how their enclosures were appropriate (or not), and how visitors were catered for with some of the amenities on offer.

Back in the classroom we used collage techniques to create our own crazy animals. Have you ever seen a Cat-odile? How about a hors-ephant? Or a Zebr-igator? We created leaflets for our zoos using important information and persuasive language to convince people that they should come and visit, and worked in small groups to create large maps of our new zoos on paper.

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Year 3A

Artistic Impressions!

In Year 3a we recently studied artists and different styles of art. We found it a very enjoyable subject to study as we learnt so much about various famous artists and some of the very different styles and skills involved in art. We noticed that many artists did not become famous until after their death and some artistic styles were not accepted at first, simply because they were different. We studied the difference between impressionist, pointillism and modern art just to name a few and we went on a very interesting trip to an art gallery where we saw many pieces of art by Romanian artists using various styles. Each week we also tried our best to emulate many styles of art drawing inspiration from the artists who specialized in these. Altogether it was a great topic to study and we certainly learnt a lot.

By Mr Gareth Jones and Ms Alexandra Cojocaru

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Year 3B Art appreciation!

One of Year 3b’s topics this year was based on appreciating the works of world renowned artists. We began to appreciate and understand the art of different eras, movements, styles and techniques, which allowed us to better develop, evaluate and improve our own artwork. Having generated our own questions about what we would like to learn about many paintings, we then worked co-operatively to create our own representations of these works of art. In order to support our work in class we paid a visit to an art gallery where the curator spoke to us about lots of paintings. As well as this we also took time out in the park to draw sculptures and have fun in the sun! We even had time to complete our projects at home based on the life of famous painters and enjoyed presenting them in front of our class. It was art-tastic!

By Ms Orla O’dwyer and Ms Alina Mereuta

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Year 4 Let’s save the world together with Year 4 Year 4’s final project of the year was quite a simple challenge: Save the Planet! As always the work and talent on show during their presentations were impressive and they have started to do their bit to save the planet at home and at school. Want to do your bit too? Well here is Year 4’s top tips to saving the planet… 

Follow the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.



Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth, if you do you could save 8 litres of water every time you brush your teeth. Sebi did the science.



Turn off the lights when you leave the room, it will save your dad money for the electricity and save the planet.



Take shorter showers instead of baths.



Think. Do you really need to take the car? Instead take the metro or bus or bike or even walk.



Plant a tree.



Buy locally if you can. Romanian strawberries taste so good!



Tell people and spread the word. That’s what we are doing here.

We made a difference in Year 4. Imagine if all children at IBSB and their families try too, then each small difference will make a bigger difference. So let’s save the world together!

By Mr Alan Cornish and Ms Andreea Cazacu

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Year 5 Exploring the Solar System To conclude the Space topic, during which the children discussed the Solar System at length, the children had some homework to do! Even Galileo Galilei would be proud of the amazing 3D Solar Systems created by Year 5 over the Easter break! Their creativity and inventiveness are endless! We had projects with electricity, made of shells, Lego (there is always Lego!), play dough, and on stands, hanging‌ The children in Year 5 had the chance of voting for the projects in the following categories: the best, the most scientifically accurate, and the one that took the longest time. You can see some of the projects below. Great job everyone!

By Ms Sylvia Hewett and Ms Ana Maria Boiangiu

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Year 6 Trip Kingswood UK Adventure After the success of the previous Year 6 Residential Trip, Year 6 decided again to return to England, but this time to Dearne Valley in Northern England. We stayed at a Kingswood Outdoor Education Centre-a well-established provider of school excursions- enjoying a variety of Geography, Science, ICT and team-building activities, along with opportunities to take part in activities with students from UK schools during our a six day stay, from May 25th-30th. We also enjoyed a daytrip to the city, which was a nice day out for the students.

At the end of the six days, all the students agreed that it was an incredible trip, and so a big ‘Thank you’ to Mr Ennion, Ms Hunter, and Ms Luiza for running a safe, fun trip for all our students. I’m sure the Year 6 children will be looking forward to their end of year trip next year. If you want to find out more about the programmes available through the Kingswood Centres, you can visit: www.kingswood.co.uk.

By Mr Peter Ennion, Ms Rebecca Hunter and Ms Luiza Stoica

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School Events Farewell Head Boy & Girl

Yes, yes I know what you’re thinking;” Didn’t I just pass this article before?” You did, however this time I am writing as the Head Boy, and this article will be more of a formal ‘Thank you’ to all of the people with whom I have worked with across the years.

I would like to start this article off by thanking the people within the Senior Prefect community that made this year, in my opinion, one of the best years for the Senior Prefect body.

It has been wonderful seeing the prefects so involved when it came to visiting their primary classes. I had the pleasure to witness the coming together of our two schools, and the forming of bonds, which sadly for me will have to be severed.

We aimed to bring this school together and I believe in this department we were successful. There were also other projects which we tried to implement which were, to some extent, also successful; however, I believe some of the things we have put forward require more time to sink in.

This year has been a challenging year for us all, but I think it’s safe to say that we buckled our seatbelts and drove through the rough terrain that have been the last months of school.

It’s amazing when I think about the fact that the Year 12’s will become the next Year 13, and 2 individuals from that group will aspire to lead the Prefect body, and I think that there are quite a few prime candidates for the job, it all depends on how the exam session goes and how their interviews will be. I wish the best of luck to the future Head Girl and Boy, and I would also like to wish the future Prefect body good luck, and I hope that they will seek to become an even better community.

The variety present in this year’s Prefects has been astounding; however, I firmly believe that there will be an even larger variety present next year and, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. One thing I am very thankful for is the

fact that this year I had Catrinel alongside me. I consider her to be a very strong leader, and having skills which have complemented mine, and I sincerely hope that she feels the same way. I am glad that there were no power struggles and that we handled this year’s team successfully, with no incidents. It has been a pleasure working with Mr Peet, Mr Ciprian and Mr Hewett, to better this school.

One person which I have worked very close to and I wished I had worked more with is definitely Mr Lee. I had the pleasure to sit in together with him on several of his behavioural Committee meeting. Ever since he first few years in this school I found Mr Lee to be one of the most diplomatic people, and it has been a pleasure to work alongside him and have some sort of insight into his opinions and thoughts regarding how conflicts should be solved. I also on several occasions have asked him about his opinion on certain matters to make sure that I am doing the right thing and his advice has always be valuable. I believe that I helped him by providing a second opinion as well as making him understand some things which he might have not related to as well as a teacher. I hope that he has found working with me as pleasurable, and rewarding as I did with him.

Finally, I would like to thank all the teachers which I have worked with across these years for having helped me to evaluate the Prefects which they had exposure to and worked with. I have found this year an eye opening experience, in terms of my relationship with teachers, which has slowly evolved from a simple teacher student relationship. Again thank you to everyone that has helped me across these years and I would like to yet again wish you a wonderful holiday and an eventful summer!

By Sebastian Mararu, Year 13 38

When asked to write my Head Girl farewell letter this year, the first thing that came to my mind was “What? Already?” .

I seem to be continually under the impression that there is still time in which I can call myself an IBSB student, that graduation is not in fact right around the corner.

Frankly, leaving IBSB will be hard. I’ve been a student in this school for 13 years, and cannot imagine studying anywhere else. I wanted this farewell letter to be a celebration of my school, not only in terms of its academics, but it terms of the life lessons I received as part of this community. As such I have compiled a list of “3 Things IBSB Taught Me” which I wish to share with you. #1: Dream Big Initially a small pink school in Bucharest educating students up to the age of 12, IBSB has grown before my eyes into the institution it is today. Throughout this time, it has always encouraged its students to look beyond its gates, beyond this city, beyond Romania. IBSB has always strived to be a force within the local community, a value which it has passed on to its students through initiatives such as Clean-up Actions and Citizenship Days. IBSB students are more than passive pupils, they are global citizens.

where everyone knows everyone, where you can sit down with your teacher and simply talk, where classes are in fact tutorials. As students we are spoiled with attention and kindness and it is the staff of IBSB which makes this possible. #3: Make the most out of the system Rules can sometimes be detrimental to the individual’s development. IBSB is a school which follows the Cambridge Curriculum, but which gives its students a certain level of autonomy in terms of what and how they study. My now notorious study leaves were initially met with relative controversy , but my teachers trusted me, and it is this trust which allowed me to achieve results. IBSB respects what works best for you, and I am really grateful for this.

It has been an honour for me to work with such a great Prefect Body this year and of course with this year’s Head Boy, Sebastian. I feel we made a great team and look forward to finding out who will be elected in these positions in the coming years.

I wish you all a pleasant and active summer.

Lots of love!

By Catrinel Vlad , Year 13

#2: It’s about the people What I loved most about my school is the degree of trust which exists between its members. One rarely finds a school 39

Motion to Present the Wonderful Experience of HMCE With confidence and, dare I say, oodles of class, we walked into the lobby of the Melia Castilla hotel in Madrid for the first time, ready to master the international committees we had been assigned to at the Harvard Model Congress Europe (HMCE). But before doing that we had some free time on our hands to relax and enjoy the amazing culinary experience that is the Spanish tapas (a variety of tasty snacks and tiny sandwiches that I greatly missed when I got back to Bucharest). That first night a challenge was issued by Mr Munteanu and accepted by everyone in our group: ‘Whoever wins the highest award keeps the limited edition Harvard Model Congress flag which each delegation only receives one of’.

Andrei D. was in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and I represented China in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The highlights of the day included a brutal takedown of the delegate of the USA in the WTO that some of our delegates were involved in and Victor and Anemona getting interviewed by the Media (a group of students taking on the roles of journalists for the conference).

Boring speeches aside, the Opening Ceremony was especially thrilling when we all stood up and repeated an oath to work towards peace. Then we each headed towards our respective committees, which we had chosen before the conference. Andra P. and Alexander P. represented India and Morocco respectively in the World Health Organisation (WHO). Andrei C., Teresa S. and Sebastian Z. were Germany, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Denisa C. and Anemona B. were the representatives of the United Kingdom and Canada in G8.

Victor L. represented Brazil in the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA).

The first evening, like all the others, was passed tasting different kinds of delicious Spanish food, including steak, a sort of omelette-looking tortilla thing and on the last night, and suckling pig at one of Madrid’s most traditional and oldest of restaurants. Besides the cuisine, we also enjoyed the city’s marvellous architecture and vibrant atmosphere.

The way a committee works, whether it has many members such as the WHO and WTO or a more intimate feel such as the UNSC (which only has 15 members), is pretty much the same. Each session usually starts with a list of speakers and delegates can choose to get up and speak for about three minutes about their country’s position on the topic being debated. The topics range from Cybersecurity to Mental Health or Renewable Energy Subsidies and depend on the committee you are in.

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After the initial speeches the committee can move into moderated or un-moderated caucus, meaning a discussion between delegates either supervised by the committee chairs or not. The aim of discussions is to write resolutions which are then voted on by the members of the committee and hopefully adopted if everyone agrees that the resolution in question can help solve the problem(s) the committee is dealing with.

Besides the usual MUN experience, Harvard Model Congress Europe also had some original and creative programs afterwards. The international committees, including those our delegates were in, gathered together at the end of each day to vote on resolutions and discuss each committee’s topics.

My committee, UNSC, had a crisis session in which we had to make quick decisions based on top secret documents that only we were allowed to see! For example, at the end of the last session our committee authorised NATO military intervention in North Korea - which is interesting given we started the conference with an oath pledging to work towards peace: military intervention can be, you see, a step towards peace!

After these special sessions, we all participated in International Risk, a HMCE special program. Risk was about trading resource cards to get as many points as you could and it felt like, to quote one of our delegates, ‘being in the Wolf of Wall Street’. Plenty of shouting and bargaining went on, resulting in the general conclusion that no one wants biomass or timber.

Anyway, what about Mr Munteanu’s challenge that I was talking about at the beginning of the article? It was Victor that took the flag home as he received an Award of Excellence, while Alex and I received Honourable Mentions.

Overall the HMCE experience was amazing, as could be seen by the sad faces everyone had during our long flight back home via Frankfurt. I would love to participate in this conference again next year and I hope that many more students will join us in discovering the exciting world of international relations.

By Ruxandra R., Year 12

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Being an Active Member of the COBIS Network In Issue 2 of TIV this year I wrote about the changing front of programme with other schools around Europe to offer our Education in light of changes taking place currently in England, students more opportunities to interact and to experience under the guidance of Michael Gove, and his party, and how new cultures, to use a foreign language, and to and make new this might impact upon international schools abroad, who, broadly speaking, follow the National Curriculum of England and Wales, and whose students go on to take IGCSE and A Level Exams. The sum of that article was that whilst a lot is changing in the UK, there is little evident impact on IBSB in general as many of the changes they are currently making such as implementing a bilingual programme of study, which IBSB has always had- simply bring the National Curriculum in line with the programme we are already running.

In this issue I would like to focus a little on just a few of the benefits of being an accredited COBIS school. The first benefit is the opportunity this provides us to network with other COBIS schools and the students and staff working in these schools around the world, benefiting from the sharing of knowledge and in many cases experiences between both students and teachers.

friends, which is perhaps the most important part. Our teachers on the exchange also have time to mix with teachers from another department and to learn and grow, and as such school exchanges offer a wonderful opportunity for both students and staff CPD (Continuing Professional Development).

Annual COBIS Heads’ Conference 2014

Student Exchange Programme It was through the COBIS network, whilst away at the interschool COBIS Debate Competition in Prague two years ago, that we had the good fortune to bump into another COBIS debate team from Berlin, which planted a seed that, in the following year, sprouted into an annual IBSB/Berlin British School exchange programme. This programme is now in its second year and, having now had two very successful reciprocal visits, we are looking to expand the

Attending conferences is another opportunity available to COBIS members. One such conference is the COBIS The Heads conference- referred to as simply “CONEFERENCE”- as in, ‘Will we see you at CONFERENCE this year’ - having been coined as such by the current CEO Collin Bell - which takes place annually in London each year, offering IBSB another great opportunity to integrate into the international community.

The Conference, as the title suggests, is just what it proclaims to be, namely an annual convergence of Heads coming together from around the world for 3 days, to be informed, to learn, and to share. Throughout the three days there are various workshops focusing on the latest developments in curriculum design, or staff management, or in this case aspects relating to building a new school, which of course has a direct bearing on us at IBSB with plans for a new Secondary School, expected to open in September 2016 42

results on a continual rise, we have to give credit to our teachers for being the centre of this process of continual change.

Workshops and Seminars In addition to the various Key Note speakers, Ciprian and I also had an opportunity to attend a number of focused workshops each day, and selected a number of sessions relating to different aspects of school management, from designing new

The conference started with an AGM in which we had the chance to look at the growth of the COBIS network, which now has 154 schools across 59 countries, with a further 90 applications for membership currently under consideration.

This is all good news for IBSB as all schools joining the network are now required to undergo a BSO (British Schools Overseas) Inspection, which follows the Department of Education inspection criteria, in order to become a fully accredited member, which assures members that we all offer a similar high level of education and as such can recommend other COBIS schools to our parents moving on to other countries with greater confidence. It also means we have more schools to work with on various projects. This is greats news all round.

schools, to leading teams effectively, to coming to grips with changes taking place in the curriculum and in areas of teaching and learning. On Day 1, I attended a session on Changing Cultures by Changing Space, which focused on designing schools and classrooms for the future, followed up by Enhancing Your Teachers’ Professional, Reflective Practice – Teachers’ Standards in Practice, whilst Ciprian attended a The standout Key note speaker at session on Leading for Excellence and another titled All the conference this year was, Together Now: The Peculiarities, Pitfalls, Perils and People without a doubt, Sir John Jones – an Behind Successful Leadership. inspirational educational presenter, international speaker and author of Exhibitors’ Lounge ‘The Magic Weaving Business’, who There was much to be gained from our time at CONFERENCE, ran a captivating session on Living in including having time to walk around the exhibitors’ lounge to a Culture of Change Where Change discuss new educational products and services now available is Mandatory but Growth is on the market. This is especially important in this modern age Optional. The message sent out of technology in a world where the pace of change is ever from his session was that leaders and leadership make the accelerating. There are an ever increasing number of online difference. In particular, he talked about the need for vision programmes designed to improve teaching and learning across and the strength and conviction to see it through. In all the curriculum and adopting, embracing, and integrating this new technology will become ever more important if we are to regards, students were central to the picture. keep pace with the rate of change. On that note I am happy to The word that perhaps came through most powerfully in his say that we have just purchased two class sets of notepads for speech was PASSION, noting that a good Head looks for staff the primary school and over the summer will set up a new with a real passion for their subject and a love of teaching. At wireless network across the school, as the first phase of the IBSB we are lucky that we have developed a community of ICT rollout plan to be implemented over the next three years. teachers who sincerely love teaching their classes and We also plan to update the school computers and to subjects, and are continually striving to improve what we do, encourage students to use technology more in every day reflecting on classroom practice, asking for continual feedback lesson. Change is in the air. from other staff, our students, and parents in an effort to do what we do better with each passing year; and with exam By Kendall Peet, Head of School 43

A Quick Healthy Snack

As part of the school’s PSHCE program, a Healthy Eating session was run by Ms Cristina Marascu in which students were challenged to create a healthy, tasty and exciting to eat fruit based breakfast. I have interviewed Ms Marascu to find out more about the project.

The project was also designed to bring the students from our community closer together. Through this project we used different approaches that to help young people learn new skills and give them opportunities to practise healthy eating and food preparation.

How did you come up with this idea in the 1st place?

This term we have been studying “Healthy lifestyle” as part of the PSHEE programme. Thus we have decided to do a creative thinking, fun and educational activity for our students. The purpose of the project was to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage ‘wellness’ in our community, educating students to care about their health and wellbeing issues, countering the common belief that young people think that their health does not matter.

Who thought of this idea and why did the event take place?

Everything started from a question: How are we going to educate our community with regards to wellbeing issues?

The answer came at once: the idea of a project realised by Ms Diana and myself following two simple guiding principles: “Stay Fit and Healthy!”

Is this something that the school is looking forward to do every year from now on?

Dealing with healthy eating and active living, from the school perspective, entails having general programmes and activities that provide appropriate challenge, participation and support for all young people, and have a positive effect on their overall health and well-being. Therefore, from now on, we will try to include this project in the PSHEE programme, along with other new ideas.

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I already have another idea in my mind, which I hope we will put into practice next year, but let’s keep it as a surprise for the time being!

Personally, I am more than pleased with the feedback of the project and I would like to thank all the students and staff for all their support and kind words. This project could have not been done with Ms Diana’s support especially, and I would like to personally thank her for it.

What was the judging based on?

I had observed a group of students for a couple weeks, and I noticed that they were eating too many sweets, unhealthy food, with no salad in their daily menu. Knowing how important breakfast is to our lives, we decided to let them discover themselves how easy it is to prepare a healthy meal.

The winning team had to put together a variety of quick snacks in a limited time: the result was a tasty, colourful and attractive healthy quick breakfast. I was happy to see that in the succeeding days, many students added fruits to their meals, which has made me realise that our project has been successful.

Do you consider that the students benefit from this kind of activity?

Health education programmes help young people to know and accept themselves for who they are, have increased selfesteem and teach young people to make responsible decisions about their health behaviour. Good eating habits mean encouraging regular healthy meals and snacks, especially eating breakfast. It is important that young people experience a wide range of foods, including different fruit and vegetables, so that they have the opportunity to develop a taste for healthy options. In conclusion, it is true that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but we should also eat an orange, a grapefruit, some strawberries, and at least one vegetable!

Do you think that the goals were achieved? I mean, when you thought about doing this action, did the result match the expectation?

As a part of the learning experience, the young people have shared with others what they have learned by presenting their healthy snack to the other groups, and participating in group activities that helped promote good health practices in the community. The students enhanced and demonstrated their knowledge and skills in a fun competitive setting.

By Loren Bardani, Year 9 45

Talent Show This year was a very competitive year filled to the brim with talent. Both our school and the American school were ecstatic when we left the Talent Show. Each and every student put lots of effort in their performance, and we definitely gave it our all. We had numerous and different performances that kept the public on the edge of their seats, and the entire show enticed the audience.

This clearly was a successful show full of ambition and courage! Good luck for all planning to participate next year and keep up the great work!

By Andrei C., Year 12

Street dance, band performance, opera, choir, just name it ,and you would’ve seen it! It was indeed very hard to decide which performance was the most interesting and, as in previous years, the acts kept our curiosity peaked, making us wonder what would they come up with next. It is very hard to describe the sensation and the atmosphere and the only way to see it is to be there yourself and witness it with your own eyes.

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I Want to Grow Old With You! The course of true love never runs smooth and, as if to prove the point, the tetchy Bucharest weather intervened and forced the postponement of this year’s Summer Show, a stage adaptation of the Adam Sandler RomCom movie, ‘The Wedding Singer’, merged with the main storyline of ‘Ten Things I Hate About You!’ But not to be denied, the cast polished up their performances and took to the stage at the end of the long weekend, delighting the audience with a truly wonderful rescheduled performance.

As the Director, this show marked a fitting end to my all too brief tenure as Head of English and Drama at IBSB. Sadly, I must return to England for family reasons, but I will treasure for ever my experiences in the school, in Bucharest and in Romania. It truly has been a joy and a privilege to work in the school and to live amongst the people of such a proud European nation.

And the chief privilege of all has been the opportunity to work with such a brilliant body of young people – typified by the shows we have produced over the last two years. This time around, we boasted our youngest cast ever, with all the actors drawn from Years 7 & 8 – but that was no impediment because the students embraced the dramatic challenges with an amazing gusto and joie de vivre.

For once, it is not unfair to pick out individuals, because the performances of Victor and Lena were nothing short of stunning. Faced with the monumental task of learning literally hundreds of lines and dozens of entrances and exits, our leading man and leading lady rose to the challenge fabulously, making my job as Director so much easier because I could simply concentrate on the team acting around them.

But to suggest that Victor and Lena carried the show unassisted would be terribly unfair. A superb team of students came together, without a whiff of ego, to play their part in bringing the production alive. Yes some lines were forgotten along the way, but who cares, when the performers clearly took so much pleasure from what they were doing?

So, it falls upon me now to say a huge thank you – to Ms Aura and Mr Peet for giving me the opportunity to work in such a great school and to my colleagues who have been so supportive during my time in the IBSB family, but principally to the students, who have made ‘work’ such a pleasure. Like Robbie in the Wedding Singer, I can honestly say ‘I want to grow old with you’ guys, but for now that is not possible; however, my sincerest wish is that, one day, sooner rather than later, I will have the opportunity to return. Until then, have fun, work hard and show the world what a great country Romania can become!

By Trevor Kingston, Year 9 Form Tutor 48

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Paris Paris— —French and Art Trip

La ville de l’amour. Doesn’t one week in Paris sound amazing to everyone? That’s the opportunity some Key Stage 4 & 5, Art and French students, had on the 2nd of March, when they showed up at the airport, all packed and ready to learn a lot; and also to have a lot of fun. We were accompanied by Ms Diana Lia and Ms Jane Broadhust, who took a lot of time and effort to plan this trip, and who also were brave enough to take on the responsibility of taking care of us while in Paris.

When we got to the hotel on Sunday, we were left to explore the area and find some place to eat.

On Monday, our first visit was the Louvre, for a look at the popular Mona Lisa and other classics, but first we stopped on the Pont de l'Archevêché, also known as the “love lock bridge”, for a look at the vast amount of locks, and some photographs with the early morning sunlight. Even though it was very crowded in the Louvre, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing, many for the first time, one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpieces. We visited The Pompidou Centre next, a great contrast to the Louvre, seeing as it shows all the great modern art and has its ventilation pipes on the outside, like an animal wearing its entrails outside its body!

On Tuesday (the only weekday they are open to the public), the Catacombs were open for a visit, which was very interesting, but mildly frightening. We had high hopes for the visit, and they were all met. We then went to Musée Rodin, where most of the famous sculpture’s work is collected.

Wednesday was full of stairs! We visited Montmartre, the part of the town where most artists used to live (as it was very cheap), and where the famous and majestic Sacre-Coeur Cathedral is located. As some of you might know, this Cathedral is situated on a hill, and so we spent a large part of our day going up and down stairs. We enjoyed our morning there, after recovering our breath, having had lunch in an Italian restaurant nearby. After lunch, we explored 50

impressionism in Musée d’Orsay, an absolutely gorgeous museum, and then we went to Musée Carnivàle for a feel of what life was like before the French Revolution. In the evening, while the A-level French students went to watch the play L’Avare, based on the book they had studied in class, we went to Paris’ most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower, where we took lots of pictures and enjoyed the beautiful view.

Thursday was the day everyone was waiting for. Disneyland!

We got the train there early in the morning, and once we got our tickets, we were free to explore, as long as we weren’t on our own. We went on many rides, laughed a lot, and had lots of fun. Most rides were very amusing, but others were slightly scary. After some souvenir shopping, we all went back to the hotel, dreading the fact that the next day would be our last one in Paris.

Friday was our last day: we were sad to be leaving Paris but looking forward to sharing our adventures and stories with those who had stayed back home. We had a little time on our hands before our flight, so we left our bags at the hotel, and off we went. We went to Shakespeare’s Company, an oldstyle, beautiful, cosy bookshop with a lot of character. We had a lovely time there. Hours passed, and we went back to the hotel, saying our goodbyes to Paris (for the time being).

Thankfully we returned to Bucharest safe and sound, and I, on behalf of everyone who went on the trip and their parents, would like to thank Ms. Diana Lia and Ms. Jane Broadhust for organizing this trip, because we had great fun while learning about the French culture.

By Maria S., Year 10 51

Berlin Student Exchange Programme IBSB VISITS BBS AND ROMANIA TRIUMPS IN GERMANY!

with a dark history. We concentrated on 20th century history involving Berlin, including the Nazi and cold war periods.

We spent 2 days in the trip in the Berlin British School where

Premium quality trip for a low price are the words which best describe the experience of the six students who accompanied Mr Shaikh to Berlin at the end of March for a glimpse into the history of this cosmopolitan, flourishing city. Missing a week of school right before an exam session is not usually regarded to as smart or responsible thing to do, but this time it was worth it because not only did we learn something useful for our general knowledge, but we made new international

friends and learned more about how British schools work in other places too.

As we roamed the streets of Berlin, we witnessed the clash between new and old architecture and infrastructure, saw how people there managed to achieve something great with limited funding, and also covered every small corner of a city 52

we got to attend the classes of our host families. The classes we attended there were almost identical to ours, as they work on the same curriculum. Their school was just better because of its large yard and forest location, right near a pizza delivery which offers all pizzas with mozzarella in the crust!

After a full day of stuffing our brains with facts about Hitler,

we retreated back to our host homes (without a Scorched Earth Policy) where the more fortunate of us could take boat rides on the lake or have barbecues, and the less fortunate were just forced into sleep by their host families.

Towards the end of the trip we were all offered the opportunity to take part in a friendly debate, located at the British Embassy. Only one of us was confident enough to attend, and my experience was useful and the effort rewarded – and it was only because of me that Mr Shaikh was allowed in! We got to debate on a real time subject - whether or not the current crisis in Ukraine is a renewal of the old cold war. I am happy to report that I, Vladimir S., was on the winning team, doing my bit to improve the reputation of Romania in Western Europe!

By Vladimir S., Year 11 53

Going Dutch for University Study Four students from IBSB attended the Dutch University visit in Utrecht and Tilburg from 9-12 March, 2014. The students travelled by air to Amsterdam and then on to Utrecht and Tilburg by train, using Holland’s excellent public transport system.

The following day we made our way to the Utrecht College and Utrecht University by foot and bus, narrowly avoiding collisions with the streams of bicycles in the city. We were then presented with the vast array of courses that the college offers and told about the versatility and flexibility of these degrees. After a short tour we were then led to the University of Utrecht Economics department to listen to talks on the Business and Economics courses available. Students then had lunch and met up with former Romanian and IBSB students to discuss the transition from Romania to Holland and the highlights of living and studying in the Netherlands.

On their arrival they were met by Mihai, a former IBSB student and taken to the hotel and from there out for their first evening in the Utrecht city centre. Our restaurant and bar was one of many situated along the banks of a beautiful lit canal and bridge ways.

On Tuesday, the students departed for Tilburg, which was an hour by train. The campus has its own train stop and some 10,000 students, making it far larger than any of the other campuses that we had visited. Some of the students were much more interested in the variety of courses, the course structure, as well as the lively campus atmosphere. After our final tour, students decided to revisit Amsterdam for some shop therapy and souvenirs for the family.

Wednesday was a relaxing morning, some shopping and then, sadly, the return journey home.

By Robert Hewett, Head of Secondary School

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Graduation Ceremony 2014 was for me the most difficult part. It seems surreal that another year has passed and we now find ourselves saying farewell to the Graduating class of 2014. In the words of my co -presenter Stergios, watching the graduates’ backs as they left the podium after delivering their speeches was heart-breaking, as it symbolised their departure from our school and our wonderful community.

At this year’s graduation and end of year award ceremony we were honoured to have three guest speakers: the Vice Rector

As presenter of this year’s End of Year Senior School Prize Giving and Graduation Ceremony, keeping my composure and not bursting into tears, at Mr Lee’s honest and heart-felt parting advice, or at Yan Yang and Kira’s emotional speeches,

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of Carol Davila University, Professor Dragos Vinereanu, His Excellency the Irish Ambassador, Mr Gerard Corr and HRH, Prince Nicholas. Their speeches on working in the field of medicine, internationalism and the importance of not believing in failure were an inspiration to us all.

Congratulations to all the award winners, students who were acknowledged for their academic results, for their involvement in community projects, and for their outstanding charity work and engagement in extra-curricular activities. I hope other students will be inspired to work hard and be more involved and they too can stand on the podium next year and receive an award.

Taken together- the Award Ceremony, the speeches, the musical ensemble performed by Steve S. and Anemona B., backed by our very own Mr Militaru, the graduates’ speeches, the laughter, the tears, the photos and live media interviews, the food, wine and champagne- it was a very full night, with many happy memories surely to remain in the minds of all those present for that brief but important moment in time. To those moving on this year, you will all be missed greatly- to be perfectly honest, the school will not be the same without them.

By Ruxandra R., Year 12 57

Student Views Making a Seismometre It’s not every day that a student decides to make a seismometre for fun, but then Alexandru I. (AKA Gekko) is no ordinary student, as we all now know. Some students are happy to idle away their hours thinking of nothing in particular, but Gekko’s brain is always on the go, always running a marathon whilst the lesser mortals amongst us are happy a mental doze! So it should have come as no surprise to me really when I was asked if Gekko could take over half of my scheduled assembly so he could present to the whole school the seismometre he had decided to knock up in his free time. So, I asked Gekko to tell us exactly what we need to build our own earthquake monitor and below is a step by step guide!

Principle The basic idea is of a writing, or marking, instrument which is positioned in a vertical position in a very delicate balance where only the gravitational force can act upon it. When the support system of this writing instrument is in movement, the balance breaks and the writing instrument begins to oscilate with a small or great amplitude depending on the grade of movement. Opposing the writing instrument is a running paper which can record the oscilations.

How to use in a test Once the gear is all set, you have to put it on a foldable table (to have very unstable legs). Once the paper is pulled out at a steady rate and the marking instrument leaves a line on the paper you have to quickly skake the table (to mimic a horizontal shock wave).If the paper has a zigzag on it, you can measure the amplitude.

Materials Used 

Marking pen

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Cup

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Ball bearings

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Paper

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Cardboard box

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String

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Glue

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Tape

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Ink (red)

The only disadvantage to my seismometre is that it only measures horizontal shock waves, not vertical ones too.

By Alexandru I., Year 7 58

The Road ‘Not’ Taken Who am I? What do I want? What will I be when I grow up?

There is only one answer I have encountered so far; an

Will I succeed? What if I don’t?

answer whose very simplicity complicates things even more: you just don't know!

All are common inquires which invade the mind of any human being who is not yet sure what they want exactly from life.

The choices you make will affect your life, that is a widely

Uncertainty is one of the two constants in a person’s life, a

known fact, but which choice is the right one, you have no

concept which can be as frightening as it is true. Not knowing

possibility of ever knowing until events play themselves out.

yourself or what you want is one of the many struggles you

You have to assume that your judgment is sound and take the

have to face in life, and one of the most terrifying aspects of

plunge. Moreover, good and bad are notions created by our

being alive. If you don’t know who you are, then how can you

perception of life. What we now think is respectable might

be sure you are going in the right direction? If you don’t know

end up being completely atrocious in reality. But this raises

what you want, how can you be sure life won’t pass you by

the question: what is truly good and what is truly bad?

and you won’t be left to resort to doing something that will make you unhappy?

We shape ourselves through our thoughts and actions. We aren’t born knowing who we are or knowing what we want.

Many never have the possibility to be what they want to be ,

But by living how we choose and by making the decisions we

which makes the burden of the ones who do opportunities all

do, we learn and slowly figure things out in a process which

the heavier. The ones who do have all the choices in the

only truly ends with the last breath that leaves our lungs.

world, are the ones whose choices are the toughest, and even

Life, ultimately, is a maze and the fun thing is to keep making

for them, the question still remains: what if I choose wrong?

choices all the way through until we happen upon the exit!

Or later, how do I chose correctly?

By Catrinel C., Year 10

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The Evolution of Cars I personally like everything about cars. Even though I am not yet able to have a driving license, I am still very, very passionate about them. My favourite television programs are the ones related to cars. My favourite console games are car racing games. I race Remote-Controlled Cars and tweak them as a hobby. Carting is buried deep within my heart, and in the art class, and this is all totally true, I have built a V8 engine out of plain sheets of cardboard. I am overwhelmingly passionate about cars and engines, etc.

And I am especially fascinated about how they came to be, how they evolved into what they are today.

This entire success story started in a garage, like all great inventions. The first car was designed and created by the extraordinary visionary, carrying the name of Carl Benz. Just imagine, in the 19th century, trying to design one of those marvels of technology we see all around us today, with next to no start point whatsoever - and actually being successful! I admit, it was extremely basic, and looked nothing like the sleek shapes we see thundering down motorways today (see picture at top of page). But, what he had invented, was the very first horseless carriage (thus the abbreviation “car”!

But, weirdly enough, his wife was actually the one who drove it around Germany for the very first time; broadening people’s imagination, and leaving them in complete awe as

was not the case at all.

Only a handful of the wealthiest people on Earth could afford a car at that time. They cost a huge amount, and took weeks to complete. Before Henry Ford stepped into the picture.

He invented the modern production line, which is now used absolutely everywhere to make all sorts of mass-produced products.

The story behind this is actually quite interesting. It all started when Ford was visiting a slaughterhouse which had recently employed a new system, consisting of different people scattered across different parts of the factory carving up different parts of carcasses.

Each group of people had one single job to do, the next group later in the line, another job. This gave a spark to Henry Ford’s grand idea. He replicated this with cars, and actually invented the pulley and belt system that would drive them along. Now, a Ford Model T could be fully assembled in less than ninety-three minutes! And at a fraction of the cost. This caused an entire revolution, all around the world. This caused the car to be bought by the masses. Just like today.

Between that time and today, however, cars have evolved drastically. Nowadays you have all sorts of electronic fuel injection, common rail bi-turbo diesel engines, even electric and hydrogen-powered electric cars. We have clearly gone a long, long way. But without the intervention of Carl Benz and Henry Ford, who in my opinion are the most important people in the automobile world, I would have to get a horse -riding license in three years’ time, and not a driving license!

she passed by. Now, back then, the church was still very influential, and the horseless carriage was considered the work of the devil. But it was such a huge step in the right direction that it actually went forward regardless.

Years later, more advanced cars were rolling down the streets, all around the world. However, today we are used to being surrounded by automobiles, but back then, this

By Matei S., Year 10

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The Case For Violent Video Games We have all heard the Moaning Minnies: “Video games are

Doing this feels so good that, after the game, your real life

dangerous…they are turning our teenagers into killing

worries and stresses have evaporated and you carry on with

machines…they should be banned and banned now!” But

your daily life with a smile on your face. Why exactly do the

where is the evidence exactly? For starters, violence has been

anti-gamers focus on violent video games when they are not

a part of human nature since the ancient time when the

the only violence that teenagers see? What about violent

Roman Empire created the gladiator games and before.

movies and television programs? Even cartoons contain

Romans realized their thirst for violence by watching

violence. Let's take for example, the ever popular Tom &

gladiators fighting and killing each other in cold blood. They

Jerry, which has brought joy into the hearts of many

were even more excited when they got to choose if the loser

generations.

lived or died.

Also in the medieval times, people were organizing jousting tournaments in which the players riding horses and wearing armour and tried to knock each other off the horse with a lance; a “sport” which often resulted in maiming or death.

These “games”, in the age before computers, were designed to distract people from their problems and to entertain them.

To sum up my first point, video games are today’s teenagers' more civilized way of unleashing their in-built frustration and genetically coded instinct for violence. It is not true that video games make teenagers more violent, they in fact calm them down by giving them an outlet for their inner rage. Beating or killing somebody in the game makes us forget why we were angry in the first place. In addition it prevents some from doing it in real life, by acting out in a virtual world, where they can't harm anyone, what they might otherwise do for real.

It is funny when you see Tom chasing Jerry, and when Jerry tricks Tom, but what is even funnier is when somehow Jerry pushes a piano which falls on Tom, flattening him like a pancake, and he then gets up with only a few scratches. Now in real life, this would kill him so what sort of example are we setting to young children exactly? Isn’t a child more likely to throw something heavy at another child than to develop blades instead of arms and start cutting up his playmates?

That makes cartoons more dangerous than video games because they model behaviour that a child can actually copy!

Would you like that to happen? For example, in my case, when I am very angry I play a game called Prototype in which

All in all, video games should be legal, because there is no

you are a man with deadly powers such as transforming your

hard proof that they are hurting teenagers. It is the duty of

hands into huge sharp blades with which you can spin and cut

the parents to decide if they want to allow their children to

several people in half, or transforming your hands into huge

play a certain game and it is not the job of the state to take

fists with which you can crush somebody or even into cutting

away parental choice. But enough for now. I would write

whips with which you can slash or grab somebody. My

another paragraph or two, but I have this sudden urge to turn

favourite ability is the power to absorb someone, which gives

my hands into sharp blades and if I do that and keep typing, I

you their memories and abilities, and also it increases your

will make a terrible mess of my tablet!

health.

By Ali A., Year 12 61

Teenage Angst or Opportunities?

Moving Forwards into the Sixth Form Being a teenager may be the only part of your life that seems easy and difficult at the same time. This paradox creates what may be the most beautiful years of your life or a period of time that you would like to erase from your memory.

We should try new activities and learn about different topics so we can discover what we like best. But on our way, we will discover that it is very difficult to choose our calling when we have so many different subjects that we enjoy equally.

In these key years, we are very easily influenced by the entourage that we find ourselves in. Whether it is helping us to study more, or distracting us from what we should mostly focus on, we, as teenagers, still consider it the best way of spending our time. Sadly, some of us don’t realise when it’s the time to stop the parties and prioritize our education and on the other side, there are those who don’t give themselves the precious free moments for fun, relaxation, and recuperation.

It is very important to realise that this is just the first step we are taking alone in this challenging world. Some of us are more independent, some of us prefer to stay next to our parents as long as we can. They play a very significant role in our lives, but at some point we have to start to make our own decisions, detach from the family and friends, and act alone.

We have simultaneously, more freedom than a child but less responsibilities than an adult. It should be the perfect time to discover our world, get engaged in projects, and have fun with our friends while simply enjoying what we have.

Adolescence is the right time for experimenting and failing without too many worries. The fact that we get involved counts more than actually succeeding. And by training and memorizing the basic knowledge and abilities we need in life, we assemble the basic building blocks for success later in life.

We can make mistakes without having to pay such a heavy price for them, unless the same mistake is repeated over and over again, in which case you may need some help.

I personally can say, that it is not easy to get lost in the fun, forget about the work, and think at all about the future. It is even easier to take the wrong path, if you know what I mean - which may be the biggest mistake you can make at this stage in life! Our world is changing so rapidly, in such a short period of time. We can’t just ignore our obligations and the work we have to do. Some teenagers have to understand that success doesn’t come without work and all the money and support we get now from our parents, will stop coming eventually.

This is the time for discovering ourselves by seeing new things, trying out new activities and making friends. It is a time for learning from our own mistakes and becoming more mature. It is the time, when we get prepared for real life in the real world. The skills that we develop now, the things we learn and our passion at this moment, decide our destiny.

This is what forms us, what gives us an idea of what we may prefer to study in the future, it gives us the springboard for the rest of our lives. So we should make the best of it, and experiment until we find what is right for us, and what we enjoy doing.

As we suddenly have more freedom and time, it is necessary that we make the best of it and realise what is that we want and start working towards that goal. We need to recognise the bad and good patterns in people’s behaviours and become conscious of what is helpful and what is harmful. And lastly, we must not be influenced by anyone into doing anything we don’t agree with. This is a time of great opportunity, a time of experimentation, consolidation and discovery. So don’t worry, be happy, but after a summer of leisure it is a time too for working hard!

By Maria M., Year 11

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Did Man Really Land on the Moon Did Man Really Land on the Moon?

The Evidence

Will we ever know if man landed on the moon? A lot of people believe they did, some of people however, believe they didn’t. What do you think? In this article, based on what I learned during Year 9 history on The Cold War and The Space Race, you will find arguments on whether it was genuine or faked.

Look at the photos below. You could see the flag waving and the fact that the photos show no stars. Besides the ‘moon rock’ shows the letter C, so the moon landing was faked some claim. Moreover ‘the moon surface’ is very similar to the US desert – Area 51 -, where it could have been filmed. As well, the footprints could not be there, because on the moon you do not have water. And if you hear the recording of the moon landing, there is no engine noise on the microphone, and remarkably the landing was stable. Suspicious or what?

Why was the USA so desperate to send a man on the moon?

The USA wanted to show that this country was the strongest and most advanced, so they came up with the idea to put a man on the moon. The USA was in a Cold War with the USSR (the old name for Russia when it was communist, till 1991) and so wanted to beat it in any area. As it was a Cold War (which we learned with Mr Afzal in history could not become hot, meaning actual fighting as it would mean nuclear destruction) both sides competed with each other whenever they could. But what was the Space Race?

Was the moon landing faked?

The Space Race took place because both the USA (Capitalist) and USSR (Communist) believed their systems were better and wanted to show they could do the more amazing things because of it – and so began the Space Race, which right the way through to 1969, the USSR and the Communists were winning: First Intercontinental Ballistic weapon – USSR; First satellite is space – the Communists; First man in space – a Russian; First woman in space – a Soviet; first man to walk in space – he wasn’t American! Then in 1969, just before Kennedy’s deadline of sending man to the Moon before the end of the decade, the USA miraculously, some say, leapt ahead! One small step for man, one giant stride for Capitalist propaganda some claim!

In conclusion, the USA came with the strongest weapon; after all, they landed the first man on the moon. So, the people could remember the USA doing a wonderful thing, finally beating the USSR. But is it actually true or not? To land a man on the moon would be brave and a way of show casing the Capitalist ideology and the USA’s power. In other words, it was almost too good to be true (NASA had estimated that there was less than a 1 % chance of landing a man on the moon as late as 1967), so many think it was, indeed, too fantastic to be true!

The astronaut who was the first to land and walk on the moon refused to talk about it. Neil Armstrong said in a very rare speech in the White House in 1995, when he was being honoured by the president, that he compared himself and others astronauts to birds which don’t fly very well - parrots!

This could mean that he repeats what he is told, like a parrot!

The second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, once punched a man who asked him to swear on the Bible that he really went to the moon! Let’s also look at Gus Grissom, who was the second American to fly in space and the first member of NASA Astronauts Corps. Grissom was killed in a test for Apollo in 1967, along with his colleagues, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. Some people, including his family, believe that NASA was hiding something because they died in a mysterious way.

The family assumes that NASA hid the facts about his death because he openly criticised NASA for not being able to land on the moon. He even said on record just before he was killed that NASA couldn’t even get the communication system right, so how could they land astronauts on the moon when the astronauts could not even talk to each other!

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Also, because of the Van Allen Radiation belt, many think astronauts could not have survived the belt-which surrounds the earth and which you need to pass through to get to the moon; only the moon landers ever have! The Russian spacemen said they never thought it was possible to pass through! In addition, the Apollo mission happened during a radiation storm which would have killed human beings in outer space. So did the Americans really land on the moon?

Even now, given events in the Ukraine, President Putin would seize upon the opportunity to make America look foolish and dishonest. The Lunar Module which carried the astronauts to the moon, was covered in reflective panelling, and so this would have had a major effect on the way light was reflected onto the surface, so no stars apparently. The Apollo program also collected some 382 kilograms of moon rocks and came back with them . When they got the rocks to Earth, scientists demonstrated that those rocks were from the Moon. The scientists found out this fact because Moon rocks have a very specific geological composition which is different from rocks on Earth – pretty conclusive don’t you think? And astronaut Charlie Duke made an excellent point when he said, “We have been to the Moon nine times. Why would we fake it nine times, if we faked it”. Sooner or later, somebody would surely give the game away! The fact that no one ‘called it out’ surely shows that the astronauts really went on the moon.

Was the moon landing real?

On the other hand people believe that the moon landing was genuine and the most remarkable achievement in the history of Mankind.

If it was faked, why did the Soviets never produce evidence that the whole mission was phoney? In fact, why didn’t they even make that claim? It would have been in the USSR’s top interest to do so but clearly the Russians were never convinced by the evidence that it might be faked. As well as this, the project was too big to fake in that time, when you consider how many thousands of people worked for NASA. Also, they did not have the technology to fake it and even if they did, it would have taken years. NASA employees said nothing, there were no conspiracy claims, and decades later, no single NASA employee has so much as whispered a concern about the mission’s authenticity. 400,000 people were involved ,so a huge number of people would have to remain silent for the fraud to be maintained. Meanwhile NASA’s space suits were very tough- and so could survive the radiation in the Van Allen belts easily, so say NASA anyway.

Moreover, if you look at all the evidence, like flag waving, that suggest the moon landings were faked, there are rational explanations, such as those offered on the Discovery program Myth Busters (google search it on YouTube!). Many people know it is true because they (or their family members) watched the moon landing on the TV. If there had been any way to ruin the USA’s plan, as said above, the Soviet Union would surely have found it.

Conclusion What would I conclude? Many people believe that we did land on the moon, on the other hand a lot of people don’t. It is a hard decision. But I have always believed they succeeded in this project. Many people watched it live on TV, worked on this project and, most importantly, they could not sustain a lie for such a long time. I keep hearing, “We have been to the Moon nine times. Why would we fake it nine times, if we faked it?” and I can’t come up with a plausible reply to that!

Anyway, genuine or not, the Moon landings are a beacon of hope for us all, showing what Mankind can achieve when we set our minds to it. As Buzz Lightyear might say, “To the Moon and beyond!”

What do you think, it was real or faked?

By Sorana C., Year 9

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Has Video Killed The Camera Star?

Will video kill photography? I’m really passionate about this so I have decided to express my thoughts about this issue.

Since its discovery, photography has played a significant role in our daily lives as it immortalizes a single moment; a moment in our lives, a moment we won’t get back. A photographer can express feelings, ideas and opinions through a photograph. When people look at a picture, they have a direct connection with the photographer and may share the same emotions

I’ve heard people saying that videos will replace photographs because photographic art is on the decline or that soon photography won’t even be considered an art form anymore.

When you take a picture you frame a second from our life, which will become, an everlasting memory. An image can be interpreted in so many ways: “How was this model feeling?

“Is he sad or happy?” While a video only shows what is there.

Videos have their own attributes and importance in our lives.

The discovery of videography changed a lot in our world. As technology advances, videography and photography continue to evolve, giving us new ways to capture life around us and communicate globally. We can download, upload, stream, edit and share a digital photo or video and send it around the world for people to see in a matter of seconds. Both have come a long way since their beginning.

The first photographic negative was taken in 1835 by William Fox Talbot. Today, 179 years later, consider what we can now do with a photo and use of the Internet in a matter of seconds. Will it evolve more? How? The first patented video camera was made by Frenchman Louis Le Prince in 1888.

More than 50 years after that first picture was taken. Now, we see new developments every year, indeed almost every day!

Nowadays, the number of citizen journalists is growing rapidly because we have our phones everywhere, every important (or unimportant) event can be filmed by anyone, in high resolution quality and sent to a news station straight away to be broadcast across the world. This has changed the way we see news and the world around us compared to the days of being dependent on newspapers and black and white television.

Think about all the social media sites and applications that connect people every second through pictures and videos.

Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Vine, YouTube, and so on were all created to serve the purpose of communicating through photos and videos. How many of you use them?

Although photos and videos are great for that reason, they also have other purposes. Two of these main purposes are the reason why videography will never kill photography; despite what the majority of people might people say.

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Video has the purpose to inform and to entertain people since its discovery and it will stay like that. In order to understand the story in a video, you have to watch it till the end but in order to understand the story behind a picture you just have to look once at the same frame to get the story.

Without photography, videography would have never been invented. The techniques to take a picture are the same as the ones used to record a video. Nowadays, the message matters.

Some of the most famous photos in the world, taken years before videography was even invented, still have impact today. The famous Sudan Famine photo is one of the most iconic pictures of the world; Kevin Carter took it in 1994 and three months later, he committed suicide due to depression.

Then there is that picture taken at Tiananmen Square in 1989 when a Chinese student tried to stop tanks rolling into the square by standing in front of them with shopping bags in each hand; who can ever forget that image of people power in the face of the state machine? These pictures are still here to remind us both what we did wrong and what we did right – they serve as a visual conscience for the whole world to see.

And they will be with us forever, tangible evidence in the face of whatever lies people try to serve up in the form of textual and video graphic propaganda.

Video will never kill photography, just like video will never kill the radio star. Planes haven’t killed cars. Mobile phones haven’t killed computers. Electric cars haven’t killed petrol fuelled cars—or at least not yet and the list goes on and on. If there is a new discovery, it won’t necessary kill the old one, it will simply challenge the old to improve. Where will photography go from here? How about holographic stills, three dimensional images spilling out of our cameras and taking shape in our living rooms? Now there’s a thought for you all to ponder as I take a few more shots and, through practice, hone my photographic skills.

By Mihnea R., Year 10 67

In Glorious Technicolour or Good Old Black & White!

Everyone has their own passion whether it is reading books, studying the depths of religion, learning how to play instruments or the drawing and painting landscapes; everyone has their own unique activity, which defines themselves.

In my particular case it is movies, which is why I am writing this article. In the future I would like to be part of this industry seeing as I believe that Film is a way in which you express yourself or serves as an escape from the world, a temporary shut down if you will. Ever since I was a toddler I have been obsessed with watching movies, especially with my father: we went to the cinema every Sunday as a tradition and I guess that is how I fell in love with film. It gradually turned into a passion where films weren’t just a form of procrastination whilst avoiding my homework.

It became part of my personality, a subject I loved to talk about, so naturally I would adore being part of the process of making such magic for the future; but who knows what the future brings or has in store for me.

In my family only but one person is in the business of film, my cousin studies acting/film and now she is in her 2nd year of university. Every time she tells me her stories of what it’s like to be on stage or plan a scene in New York she illustrates a picture beyond belief for me and stimulates my creativity, which, I guess, is why studying film seems so enticing for me.

Film is an art, which like any art requires a huge amount of effort in order to obtain a good result. When watching a movie most people only think about the actors, however that shows a degree of ignorance, as behind the scenes there are countless people needed in order to portray the movie, such as directors, screenwriters, producers, editors, cameramen, construction managers, multimedia artist and several other jobs as part of the crew!

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Please don’t perceive my view wrongly; actors are vital to movies as they are the ones on screen, some of the world’s most famous actors at the moment being Cate Blanchet, Jennifer Lawrence and Matthew McCougney, but whilst they are front of camera, there is a massive team of people involved in turning them into stars.

I myself find older movies better since they are so much more charming, witty and beautifully simple. Take for example Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Psycho, or Cactus Flower: all iconic films with terrific actors such as Walter Matthau and Audrey Hepburn. I feel like movies in the 20th Century had so much more heart and time put into them than movies nowadays, which decidely mediocre in comparison and reliant on CGI. An interesting fact is that in the 1960’s ten films were released per month; nowadays however 10 films are released every week. The terrific scripts and exquisite camera angles are what made older movies so special for me.

Although some modern movies can also be unfairly underrated: movies such as “Dallas Buyers Club” or “12 Years a Slave” which were up for Oscar nominations and which had such potent plotlines with new up and coming actors; in my personal opinion they were both strangely enchanting and both take you upon a journey into another world.

Could you picture a world without the magnificent joy of film? I surely couldn’t accept such a world seeing as film is a part of me at the moment and hopefully it will be in the future too. As Ingmar Bergman, a Swedish producer, wisely said, ““Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.”

By Maria I., Year 10 69

Read a book and change your life!

Books influence us in many ways, of that there is no doubt, whether they are fiction or non-fiction. They can, and will affect us in some way, they may affect us by leaving us gloomy and melancholic or madden us, but they are also able to make us warm and cozy or thoughtful. They can make us go through a roller coaster of emotions that, often unknowingly, will influence the rest of our lives, including our thinking and the decisions we make.

So maybe, if possible, it would be wise to limit the amount of time spent watching TV or playing video games. While I find nothing particularly wrong in any of those activities, I do believe they represent the primary competition for reading time. That being said, less electronics and more reading is probably better in all cases.

I love books and find great ones very often. And they do evoke emotion and thought and do stimulate me in different ways, reinforcing or reshaping the way I think and feel with great subtlety.

Reading is good for everyone, but I believe the reason why some children and teenagers don’t like to read is because they are obliged to, and so I think that teachers and parents shouldn’t force children and teenagers to read, but rather encourage them to do so, both for school as well as for pleasure.

Some American statistics were compiled about how reading for pleasure has declined over the last twenty years, particularly among the younger generations. While the amount of reading for school and homework has remained about the same during this time period, the amount of reading for pleasure has gone down. It is the daily habit of reading for pleasure that makes the difference. Data shows that while those with more education tend to read more, the decline in reading for pleasure was just as evident among college graduates as it was with those with no college education.

The most probable reason given, not only by these studies but by others, is the explosion of electronic media that pleads for our time and attention. The internet, video games, movies, television, cell phones, and other electronic utilities are responsible for sucking up vast quantities of time that once might have been devoted to reading.

One fascinating part of the study showed that the number of books in a home had a great influence on the test scores of students. It turns out the students who had more books in their house, scored higher in those tests. Interestingly enough, the test scores measured were in science and history, not literature or English. It appears that the mere presence of books, and the more the better, allows for opportunities for children to pick one off the shelf and hopefully read it.

So my challenge to everybody is to read at least one book this summer. Our library has a wonderful selection or you could ask a parent to buy you a book – maybe the best book your Mum or Dad has ever read. Or maybe you could borrow a book from a friend – because if a friend enjoyed it, you will probably enjoy it too. Go on, tear yourself away from the screen and open the covers of a book. You will be surprised how much you’ll enjoy it – and your grades will improve too!

By Maria Sousa, Year 10

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The Secret MTT! Sometimes your English teacher gives you a task to write a story from your imagination but you can’t get yourself together to write anything. What do you do? You might try to copy your colleague’s story but that wouldn’t be a very good idea because the teacher would recognise it and give you a detention. You might try to look out of the window seeking inspiration, but the teacher would think you are daydreaming and give you a detention! You could try googling a story on your smart phone, but the teacher would catch you out and give you and your phone a detention. Or you could just leave your page blank but, guess what, the teacher would give you a detention. Yes, Mrs Carman teaches me too!

But Ms Carman doesn’t just give out detentions; she also has great ideas for helping us to start a story. She puts music and pictures on the board to inspire us. She once put up on the board a lovely painting of a wooden shack in a forest and we ended up writing stories full of zombies and blood! That’s not what she expected; but this time we didn’t get a detention!

But now I’m going to share with you a way of cheating without getting a detention. Not even from Mrs Carman!!!

The idea is simple: you base your story on somebody else’s story but you reverse everything you read so that what you end up with is very different from the original. So if the story is about a sad rich man in a big mansion you change it to a happy poor woman living in a tiny shack. If the man is fat, the woman is thin. If he owns a Porsche, she owns a donkey. You get the idea!

For example I started with a story written by somebody else which began: ‘A larger building stood next to the square. A wide river ran through the village. Many of the horned people were filling big pots of water from it.

A group of children were splashing around.’ I then reversed it and came up with this: ‘A smaller building stood next to the square. A narrow stream was moving slowly through the city.

A throng of the zombies were filling small glasses of water from it. One was working particularly hard.’

Now that has the makings of a good story!

I then took the opening of Oscar Wilde‘s ‘The Happy Prince’ and reversed that and my story started: ‘Deep in the city, on a small bench beside the road, wrapped only in a thin blanket, slept a beggar. The wind was strong and he was cold.

Cars were driving through the puddles at speed and splashing him.’ If you check out the original you will see that I only changed the first sentence and then used this as a springboard for the rest.

Why don’t you try this method yourself, the Matei Transformation Technique or M.T.T.? You will see that it works perfectly and is so good that even Mrs Carman won’t give you a detention. But, when Mrs Carman sees this article in the TIV, next year she will probably give me the detention instead! I can’t win can I?

By Matei C., Year 8

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Eat Yourself Slimmer Throughout this term we were provided with a plethora of information regarding healthy eating. I find it easy to get lost in the midst of all the information presented, as some of it may be overwhelming or hard to swallow (pun intended). So as to avoid any confusion which has been created I shall be debunking some of the myths that were clad within the nutritional industry.

Eating carbohydrates makes you fat This assumption is made by people because of the fact that when they cut the carbs from their meals they see weight loss. Sadly this is only short term because of the increase of water loss as a direct result of decreasing the amount of carbohydrate in a meal. The key thing which people do not realise is that most things aren’t unhealthy, unless taken to the extreme.

All cholesterol is bad for you The second we hear about cholesterol the first thing that comes to mind is “Heart attack!”, but that shouldn’t be the case. Quite the contrary! High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is the cholesterol which we should be thanking.

HDL cholesterol glides around the body removing LDL (lowdensity) cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is the evil brother, which tends to deposit on the lining of blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular diseases. HDL successfully escorts LDL to the liver where it can be converted to more useful substances which are less harmful. Other than reducing the risk of heart disease, it also is a prime part of every one of our cells, assuring the fluidity of the cellular membrane.

Eating chocolate is bad for you Now this may give some of you hope, however let’s not jump to conclusions. It pains me to reveal (seeing as I am a milk chocolate lover) that the type of chocolate which is healthiest is the chocolate with the highest cocoa percentage content. Now don’t worry 60% is just fine, but the higher the cocoa content, the better. The reasoning behind this is that darker chocolate tends to contain more stearic acid. Now acid might not sound like the best thing to ingest, but it is a saturated fatty acid which is directly attributed to the decrease of LDL Cholesterol

Short term dieting is beneficial Yet again we visit a topic which may seem as if it is true. That is because of the fact that in the short term it may seem as if you have lost weight, however if one does not keep to a diet an effect, which has been coined as the Yo-yo effect, occurs.

What this means is that the person undergoing the diet will start to gain weight again, and will then try to lose it again.

This is a sign of a poor diet or nutritional intake, or even lack of exercise.

I would like to sign off by saying that nutrition is a very important part of our lives, and we often forget to have a healthy diet consisting of 3 balanced meals. Lastly I would like to recommend that all of you watch Food Inc. which is, in my opinion, a very interesting documentary aiming to reveal the monopolisation of the American food market as well as the secrets that have come as a direct result of this industry. I recommend you watch this only if you have the stomach to digest that sort of information (pun intended again).

Remember being healthy, doesn’t mean being unreasonably thin, it means exercising and eating healthily!

By Sebastian Mararu , Year 13

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International Aid: The Great Debate You can fit eighty-five people in a modestly sized room. But I’m not talking about the everyday people that you may see on the street. These eighty-five people are the richest in the world. These eighty-five people have accumulated as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion in the world! Eighty-five people with the combined wealth of £1 trillion! This staggering statistic is only one of the many that attempts to put into perspective what the poorest of the poor in this world have – or don’t have to be more precise. These people do not have access to a steady supply of food, water or adequate sanitation. While the top eighty five people may own charitable organizations even they do not have as much purchasing power as the world’s wealthiest governments. The question that I ask today is: should richer and better off countries give aid to poorer countries?

Aid is used to provide people that are less well-off get vital vaccines, education, infrastructure, and other sanitation and health services. These investments in the future reduce the infant mortality rate.

I know that people vastly overestimate the amount of aid and underestimate its effectiveness. The most generous countries spend less than 1% of Gross Domestic Product on foreign aid, not 10 or 20 % as is often believed.

Some may argue that this accelerates the problem of overpopulation. However this is wrong: there is a high birth rate because there is high infant mortality rate; if mothers do not expect all their children will survive past their fifth birthday, they are more likely to have more children out of economic necessity; but once there is a low infant mortality rate, expectations of survival rise and due to investments in education, especially for girls, and family planning, birth rates are reduced and families get smaller and smaller.

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For example, in Afghanistan 10% of children die before the age of five and the population is set to almost double from 30 million to 55 million by 2050. In Thailand, however, the infant death rate is lower and so is the birth rate: women have gone from having six children in 1960 to an average of 1.6 in 2010.

Some opposed to foreign aid cite the fact that corruption and stealing of funds is a factor and it is, but with proper international and domestic supervision, the stealing of funds is something that affects only tiny percentage of these charitable donations. And most of these crimes are eventually detected and the perpetrators brought to justice.

However, I am against the way aid is given to governments currently, who, instead of protecting their citizens, persecute them for being gay or for their religious beliefs. I am against governments who endorse slavery. I am against governments who turn a blind eye to human rights violations. However stopping aid has not worked in the past and might even work against the goal of advancing human rights and helping people.

A solution to the way aid is given is attach objectives to what the country must achieve in order to receive more aid in the future - like the IMF, the International Monetary Fund does.

This way the aid givers are happy that things are getting done.

I want to highlight an act of generosity not by a billionaire and not by a government but by an ordinary individual. I want to say something about Jonas Salk a virologist, who after years of research developed a vaccine for polio, a crippling disease that affected children. He did not patent the vaccine, he gave it away. And In doing so, according to Forbes, he forfeited $3billion. This vaccine has almost cured polio - there are only four countries left that are affected by polio – and so I ask, if Jonas Salk can do this, why can’t the billionaires and governments follow his lead?

Most western nations have a social safety net: if someone falls through the cracks of society and hits rock bottom, he or she is helped up by government services paid for by their fellow citizens. So what applies inside a nation should apply inside the World Family. The world does not benefit from poverty, it does not benefit from leaving people behind. Poor countries can be viewed as being on welfare, something that helps while a country tries to rebuild itself. Countries that will be helped up will then, in turn, give aid.

There is a saying, “Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime” and whilst this is true, I ask, “Could you fish without a net?” It is our duty to help the less fortunate to help themselves, to give them the jump start they need to selfsufficiency. International Aid is not a cost, it is an investment, and it is an investment we should all be happy to make.

By Freddy K., Year 11 75

Year 11 IGCSE Choices IGCSE Choices: A Year 11 Perspective Ah, I remember the times back in Years 9 and 10 when I was faced with the reality of having to choose the subjects I would have to study for at least the next two years and also get good grades in, knowing little about the courses then. Would I like them? Would I be able to handle the workload? Would they be useful in my future studies?

I can only seem to recall being stressed, partly because I could not decide which boxes to tick in Mr Munteanu’s list of subjects, and partly because he would never cease to remind us that he needed those lists as soon as possible to make the timetable, stressing the word “soon” every time. I do not blame him for anything (or do I? :D), but choosing your subjects is never easy; I am now going through the same experience with my A-Level choices. Through this article I will hopefully guide you through the process, give you a better understanding of the importance of choosing the right subjects and show you how to avoid the mistakes I made.

Looking back, I can say I could have chosen a bit better. At the end of Year 9 I took Art, Business and Coordinated Science IGCSE to study in Year 10, aside from the compulsory subjects. I sat Business last year and got a B, and I dropped Art at the very beginning of this year to do Economics IGCSE (which I am doing in one year instead of two because I only started this year). Sorry Ms Broadhurst – I really liked your lessons but I would have never finished my coursework in time… She will always disagree with me, arguing that I could have if I tried hard enough and that “It’s all in here!” – pointing her index finger to the head. I do not at all regret having done Art, because I learned many things from there as well. For example, in the science papers we have a section where we have to accurately draw a cell, fruit, leaf etc and having done many drawings to please the critical eye of Ms Broadhurst, I found it much easier. It also really gets you to think outside the box, which is a useful life skill.

It was interesting to challenge myself in a new way because I haven’t done much art before, but I found that it was too much of a challenge for me – again I can hear the exasperated voice of Ms Broadhurst telling me that “I can if I try hard enough”. Overall however, it seems now that Economics would have been a better choice from the start because I can (hopefully) get a better grade and because I actually like it very much, more than I expected to.

The problem I had with Business is that my fondness of the subject became inversely proportional to the number of pages read from the textbook – I disliked the syllabus, I disliked the way it was taught, I disliked the types of questions and I disliked the exam. That doesn’t mean that Business Studies is a bad course, not at all, it just means that for me it was a bad choice. Maybe for you it is ideal, but I wished I had chosen Economics instead, which I – emphasis on I – find more interesting. It is for these reasons that I got a B in the Business exam and not the A or A* expected of me.

Coordinated Science on the other hand was a very good choice for me because I find science fascinating and I study for it with pleasure, so taking all three Sciences is what I wanted. I am pretty sure Mrs Senzaconi wouldn’t have let me take anything else anyway, but as I said, it was a very good choice for me. English Literature IGCSE is another choice I am very pleased with as well. I like creative writing and analysing, which is essentially what this course is about.

But before I go any further, there are two things you should keep in mind throughout the whole process: IGCSE stands for “International GENERAL Certificate of SECONDARY Education.” Key words: General and Secondary.

IGCSE knowledge is the basic knowledge you need to have in order to function in society. This is why in the UK you can leave school at 16, after finishing these exams. Therefore, at this level you should consider a wide range of subjects across most if not all departments, such as History, Geography, Economics, Art, Sociology, English, Science, Maths, etc. in order to have a good general knowledge and a solid foundation for AS and A Level.

Universities, especially good ones, look for around 8-10 IGCSEs. You should try to have around this number to maximise your chances later on.

So how should you choose your subjects? Research.

Research. Research. You cannot make a sound decision unless you find out beforehand what each subject from the choices you have entails, because you may have the unpleasant experience of finding out you dislike the subject or that it is simply not your thing. Here are some tips on how to carry out a thorough enough research: 76

Talk to the subject teachers. They know best what the course requirements are and they can answer the questions you may have about their subject. Remember, they teach it, so they know it inside out. Whenever you catch them, strike up this conversation. They will talk for ages. Listen.

Talk to students taking the course. They too have experience with the course and they are more likely to give you an objective view on the subject. They can tell you what it’s like, if they find it difficult; they can also give you useful insider tips if you seriously consider taking the subject or if you have already decided to do so. I for one will gladly answer any questions and I am sure others will, too – just ask.

Look at the syllabus and past papers. You can find these on www.xtremepapers.com. Perhaps you could skip this step, but in my opinion it is useful to have an idea of what the exam structure is like (e.g. how many papers, how much time you have for each, multiple choice, structured questions or essay questions) so you are not taken by surprise. It can also give you a general idea of what you will study for the next two years and you can see if it would interest you.

Drop in during a class if you can. I know it is difficult because you may not have time, but if you have a chance you should take it to have a first-hand experience of the course. But remember to keep quiet or else the teachers will get angry – I can tell you from personal experience.

Be realistic about your strengths and what you enjoy. For example, if you consider yourself particularly gifted in a subject, for example Art, you should take it because you will probably enjoy it and also get a good grade because you do it with pleasure. It is unlikely that you will do your best in a subject you dislike.

On the other hand, if you are not good in a particular subject or do not like it, then do not make it your fist choice.

However, take care because you may find that once you really look into it and discover it, you may find that the course actually interests you. Also, if teachers tell you that you are good in a subject and you should take it, chances are, they are right.

Check out this useful link for making your subject choices: www.russellgroup.ac.uk/informed-choices.aspx.

Again, perhaps you could skip this step, but this is a link to a handbook that tells you essentially all you need to know about this process and it gives you information about ALevel exams and “facilitating subjects”, that is, courses that universities look favourably upon. I say you can skip this step because maybe it too much to think about right now, but a scan through it won’t hurt and it is useful to be informed – I wish I had known these things when I made my choices. The foundation that put this handbook together, The Russell Group, work closely with top UK universities such as Oxbridge, Imperial College London, LSE and others, so they know what they’re saying.

Overall, if you follow these tips you should be set for making your subject choices. You shouldn’t follow these exactly – unless you want to. Extract what you think is useful to you personally and apply it. Keep in mind that you should be relaxed. Think carefully before coming to a final decision, but don’t stress too much as it is not constructive.

Best of luck with your choices!

By Andrei D., Year 11

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Life is the Most Difficult Exam To begin, I will share with you one of my favourite mantras: as Thomas Edison said- "I have not failed yet. I have just found 10,000 ways that will not work."

We are young, you, me, even Mr Kingston who is editing this edition of the TIV. We have, as yet, unfathomable amounts to learn. The biggest challenges that we share at the moment, are academia and our seemingly endless responsibilities and tasks, that sometimes make me wish there were 48 hours in a day. I cannot speak of the demons we all must face as individuals, but I can say one thing that I am sure applies to everyone of us. From my experience, however limited by my time on this earth, few if any of us will be ready to face life full on once we fly the hypothetical "nest" and finish school.

Why is this so?

Because at school there are no friendship classes, no classes on how to build a good reputation, run a bureaucracy nor build a family. There are no classes on how to spot a scam, love a child, nor raise yourself up from nothing. No classes on how to make someone smile, figure out what is important to somebody, figure out who to trust, nor even how to talk someone out of suicide. And these are the biggest challenges we face as we run the great marathon of Life. Ever since I was but a young child, my father has told me how life is going to test me, constantly with increasingly harder challenges, and, until recently, I did not possess the capability to comprehend what he meant by that. But now, standing on the threshold of adulthood, his advice is italicised and imprinted in bold in my head: "Whatever you do, never falter in front of life, never stop competing just because you have fallen down, do whatever it takes to keep going. And if you are too weak to jump, then crawl, climb, just keep moving forward until you find the strength to get back up." Years later, I found myself going into my first exam; I was frightened at the prospect of the unknown, the idea that I may not be good enough or that I may simply be incapacitated by the situation. It felt like my stomach was doing somersaults and little girls were braiding my blood vessels meticulously. I eventually got over it; with time. But that was not the sort of test my father was talking about. Because when life wants to test you, there are no sign up sheets, no warnings or set dates for when it happens, there are no retakes or rechecks to make sure you have been judged correctly.

We are taught that with the right amount of determination we can conquer anything that is thrown at us. Mind over matter, we actually like challenges as they are part of our nature. We crave the greater difficulty, as the glory in surmounting it will be more significant. But what happens when life throws something massive at you unexpectedly?

Which WAY do you look to dodge it? The answer, could be sleeping with one eye open and looking everywhere simultaneously at all times of course, but besides the paranoia that this brings, the sad part is that that the test will most likely still come from where you expect it least, accelerating towards you like an express train in your peripheral vision.

Many say it is a lack in determination that keeps us from striving forward. But have they considered the possibility that maybe the psyche is not the problem, but the sheer physical challenge of it all? What happens, in Life’s marathon when your mind wants to keep going at turbo speed and the body just decides to quit it all of a sudden, when the knees give way, when the ankles go floppy, and when every muscle screams out “Enough!”? You collapse, that is what happens.

Your mind struggles to keep your body advancing, but it is just a matter of time before reality triumphs and the Will is downed.

Life truly is a marathon which, if you try to sprint from beginning to end, you are doomed to fail. So the answer is to have a plan, to try to predict and plan for the obstacles as best you can, to pace yourself, to save energy in the tank for those moments in life when you need to get your head down and sprint – in short bursts – before returning to a sustainable pace. And Life isn’t always about coming first, Life is about competing to the best of your ability, it is about crossing the finishing line with a smile on your face, knowing that you have faced the challenge and triumphed in your own way, recording your own personal best, having enjoyed running the race – every yard of it, from beginning to end.

And what should you do when Life knocks you down for the very first time? My advice to you is to stagger back onto your feet, wipe away the blood, fix Life in the eye, smile and demand, „Is that really the best you can do? Well that’s not stopping me!”

By Zoe S., Year 12

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Top Disney Movies The Lion King Year: 1994 Cast: Voices by Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons Did you know? To really understand lion movements, Disney brought lions into the studio! And two cameramen discovered first-hand the meaning of the Circle of Life!

Frozen Year: 2013 Cast: Voices by Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel Did you know? Who attended Queen Elsa's royal ball in Frozen? Why, Rapunzel and Eugene from Tangled, of course! So COOL!

Beauty and the Beast Year: 1991 Cast: Voices by Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson and Richard White Did you know? Bambi’s mother makes an appearance in the movie. In the opening shot of the film she can be seen drinking from the stream in the lower right. Bambi also features.

He’s the main dish in the banquet scene!

Aladdin Year: 1992 Cast: Voices by Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman Did you know? Aladdin was modelled after Tom Cruise. But Aladdin is taller and isn’t a Scientologist!

Finding Nemo Year: 2003 Cast: Voices by Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe Did you know? Nemo actually appeared in Monster’s Inc as one of Boo’s toys, two years before “Finding Nemo” was released! So that’s where they found him!

By Kira Hagi, Year 13 80

Science Summer Schools Hey everyone! As some of you may know, I am a Senior School Science Prefect and I thought that it would be useful to give those interested in science some useful ideas for the summer holiday: specifically some, information about going to a summer school. Personally, I find it extremely important to keep my mind active, even during the holiday period, through relaxing, and having fun, but also doing challenging activities that can be encountered by participating to a summer school or camp. This is why I also decided to take this opportunity to go to Oxford Medical Summer School this holiday. Not only is it very important for your university application, but you, as a student and a person, will benefit from it as well.

Now, in Years 11-12 you start worrying about university applications and extra-curricular activities, but at the same time you are expected to get your grades, so it is kind of too much to take on in the final stretch, which is why I recommend Years 7-10 to also think about it.

First, let me tell you exactly how it helps with your application for university. Summer Schools can take place in a university, for example, and if it is one of the top universities, this will really make a difference between you and a student with the same grades as you, but no Summer School experience. If you are called for an interview, that is the time for you to express yourself and explain all your experience to prove to them why you want to follow a science career (or any other subject) and what it is that motivates you to do so.

And if you have been participating in Science Summer Schools and you come up with arguments and proof of your passion for science, they will see how committed you are and they will see that YOU know and feel this is the right path for you.

These Summer Schools really help you to understand whether or not you enjoy science, if you really see yourself doing something related to science at university, and if you can work with people that you never met before in an environment like that; so this is why it can also be a useful challenge; to test yourself, so that you can draw some conclusions afterwards.

This doesn’t apply to Years 11-13 only. I would also recommend years 7-10 to think about attending a summer school programme, because you might think that this is something that is not necessary right now, but it really prepares you and gives you that ambition for the upcoming years. When I was in years 7-10, I didn’t really take those Summer School too seriously, because I always thought that I could do them later, but now I realise how much it would have counted.

I have researched science summer schools, and found a couple that I personally found interesting. For example, you can visit the site www.oxford-royale.co.uk/ if you are interested in a summer school at Oxford.

Targeted mostly at students in KS 5, aged between 17 and21, there is also the London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF). For the younger years, there is the Youth Science Institute (YSI), which is based more on nature, but it is mostly for primary school students.

I believe it is worth thinking about such opportunities because it is also a really fun experience and you will learn so many new things! So I hope I have triggered an interest in Science Summer Schools.

By Denisa N., Year 12 81

Mr Cornish mamaliga! Through one of these varied interests (we guess over a plate of delicious mamaliga), he met his lovely wife Flori and they now have two beautiful children, Fia and Lucas. Their It was January 2007 when Mr Cornish stepped off the plane in departure to the UK means that Lucas won’t get the chance to Bucharest to take up his new teaching position at IBSB. Having terrorise our Reception class like his sister has, but we are sure recently completed a stint as a Deputy Head in his native they will find some new victims back in Blighty.

Essex, he arrived with nothing more than an appetite to see the world, a suitcase full of dreams, and head of flowing locks of golden hair.

So, his Romanian Odyssey over, it is time for Mr Cornish to say goodbye. We wish him and his family the very best as they return to England and we know he’ll be back to visit in the Seven years on, he has seen the world as far as Sinaia, future. His contributions to IBSB will be felt for years to come, replaced his suitcase with a couple of carry-cots and – well, and he will be a tough act to follow. Goodbye and good luck to you can see the rest! the Cornish family, from all at IBSB!

Passing on the Torch

By Mr Peter Ennion In all seriousness, the IBSB Primary School of 2007 was a very different animal to what you see today. There was an average class size of about 8 students, so you can imagine that House Games took around 15 minutes and it was possible to fit all of the students and teachers into the Anglican Church for the annual Christmas Carol Concert.

Mr Cornish became the Head teacher of the Primary School at the beginning of the academic year 2007-2008, which coincided with the most rapid expansion in the school’s history, as class sizes virtually doubled over a matter of months. That the new students were so seamlessly combined with the existing population was testament to Mr Cornish’s management skills; the fact that he managed to forge strong connections to all Primary School students and parents was due to his own sense of responsibility towards the school community. Of course, the school has continued to grow, so Mr Cornish has had to give out hundreds of certificates, Head’s Gold Awards, and unfortunately a few detentions also along the way.

From a teacher’s point of view, working for a supportive Head Teacher who wants only the best for the school is a great advantage. Many teachers have passed through the school in the last seven years, and most have enjoyed their time here at IBSB. It has been a bilateral process - Mr Cornish will be the first to admit that he has gained a host of new ideas and experiences thanks to the many colleagues he has had during his stint in Bucharest.

Away from the school, Mr Cornish has usually been found exploring the mountains of Romania on skis, following the misfortunes of his beloved Southend United, or celebrating the idiosyncrasies of Romanian life – traffic, bureaucracy and 82

Mr Blythe

Have you ever experienced that special atmosphere, the state of flow, almost close to a trance, when you are not just enchanted by the personality of the teacher in front of you, but you are incredibly curious and engaged in discovery? For two years I could witness the “eureka sparks” in pupils’ eyes on a regular basis and if you had physics lessons with Mr. Blythe, or happened to be around when he was teaching, then you should know what I’m talking about. And to those who will have the amazing fortune to have him as a teacher from now on, you should know that we believe he has super teaching powers because… …he knows the answer to your almost every question; whether it is physics, chemistry, mathematics, computing, psychology or subjects that have nothing to do with science. …he is always patient, whether he’s explaining the workings of the universe or helping you rewrite the ninth draft of your personal statement. …he won’t just discuss rocket science with you; he will show you how to build a rocket, or a robot, or whatever else you are interested in. He will then help you launch the rocket, and will be there to celebrate your success. … every lesson is a new mystery to solve and another adventure; you might find yourself calculating the angles and forces involved in saving a princess from a tower, or the trajectory of projectiles in James Bond movies, accelerating Pikachus and Pokemons, pondering on which law of physics to abolish over Christmas, or helping Marzipan the cat to save his friends by solving a problem. …he cares about your learning and about you as a person, and you know that he will be happy to discuss your extra question at the end of the lesson, be it on the topic he has just taught or artificial intelligence, alien life, cryptography, the latest technology, or anything else that is worthwhile.

...he taught us that errors in scientific measurement are not to be feared, as they are just the unknown, and he encouraged us to use our imagination as well as our knowledge. ...he showed us what rigorous research really means. …you can learn from him, whether or not he intends to teach you. You can learn kindness, respect, generosity, subtle humour, high standards, hard work, personal integrity, elegant and concise writing, modesty, English language and the art of conversation and many other useful things... if only you pay attention.

Thank you for everything that you shared with us, Dr. Blythe.

We wish you all the very best, wherever you may be in the future!

“He constantly throws a joke or two in lessons which make the studying atmosphere relaxing. He also shares a lot of his university experiences with us, which I find interesting. He is always very positive and patient; he never gets angry.” Toby “Mr Blythe is the perfect physics teacher any student can ever have and he has a charming personality. When he explains something, it is always the clearest explanation we could get.

He is the one who made me realise that physics is actually simple, physicists are not.” Mamta “Too many words to write... It is endless to describe him. To begin with, he is a very kind teacher and is willing to teach everything we would like to learn. Even though I did not have any proper lesson with him, at least I have been with him during the science club for several weeks. He talked to us about our university choices, some of the currently popular courses and about the careers available in science. He has devoted a lot of time and effort into special projects like the science week; we couldn’t have learned so much without his help. I still think the rocket launch was the best assembly moment this year. I wish him to have a great time in Hong Kong, and I hope he will learn to speak Cantonese. I’ll cherish all the chats we had enjoying Chinese food together.” Kevin

By Ms Johanna Croci

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Mr Trevor Kingston Throughout the past two years, Mr Kingston has been a lot of different things to a lot of students and staff here at IBSB. He has been a teacher, Department Dead, Director, Shakespeare’s clone, the devil’s advocate in many arguments, a mentor, an editor, an animal lover and a supportive friend. His mischievous smile leaves you anticipating his next witty comment, waiting for a new far-out idea that he plans on bringing to life.

For anyone who had the good fortune of being taught by Mr Kingston or to work under his guidance in any capacity, you have experienced first-hand that below his firm facade, there is a caring and generous soul who gives his entire self to his passion and profession, which are one and the same. Not only inspired to pursue knowledge in his own field, Mr Kingston loved to drop into all classrooms and chat with a variety of subject teachers in between lessons; it would be difficult to find a teacher or student among us that did not learn something from Mr Kingston. If you ascribe to the concept of a calling, Mr Kingston answered his everyday as a teacher.

Is he in Bangkok, or in Guildford’s Shell?

That damned elusive Kingstonel!

So he’ll go no more a roving Into meetings so late into night Though his heart be still as loving And the moon be still as bright Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the stray dog from barking with a juicy bone, For In Guildford Kingston Khan A stately pleasure-dome decreed: Where Wey, the sacred river, ran Through caverns (of the mobile home variety) Down to a very sunless, Southend-on-Sea.

By Mr Afzal Shaikh

Having directed four spectacular shows, with vast improvement to the standard of the TIV, it is my guess that Mr Kingston will still be remembered more for his minor roles, like the English teacher who wielded his wooden sword as he embarked on many journeys to bring literature to life for his students or the fierce opponent who took Mr Shaikh’s money at poker tournaments. It is his daily commitment, visible in word and action, to his students, colleagues, and the school itself, that makes him irreplaceable.

He will be heading back to the UK at the start of his retirement, with a street cat and a dog in toe, rescued on one of his countless long walks throughout Bucharest. He and his wife plan on giving their new pets to their grown children because it will not be long until they are off again. You may see him globetrotting around Europe and Asia; and if we are lucky enough, we may get a visit of our own.

Alas, we bid Mr Kingston a fond farewell; he was a significant part of the fabric that brought our school community together. We thank you and wish you luck as you embark on the next exciting chapter.

By Ms Katie Bickell

Ode to Mr Kingston Kingston, Kingston, burning bright In the verbal jungles of the night What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry They will seek him here, they will seek him there Next year, those students will seek him everywhere 84

Ms Thomas, Mr Jones and Ms Cojocaru A Goodbye to Ms Thomas Who says numbers are boring? Most people, it’s true, but most people have not been lucky enough to be taught maths

by Ms Thomas! Not many people know this, but with the Thomas family growing from three to four, just as our Head of Maths was making her move to Bucharest, the very numbers that she thrives upon nearly stood in the way of her joining IBSB as she offered to resign before even taking up her position – and what a loss to us all that would have been!

Fortunately, the school decided to honour the job offer and cover the maternity leave, and that has proved a brilliant management decision.

An excellent teacher, an excellent Head of Maths and an excellent tutor, Ms Thomas wore all three of her hats with great composure during her time in the school, but now sadly departs for the UK because her husband Peter has completed his time at the Embassy. Everybody who has benefitted from Ms Thomas’s teaching will miss her enormously and we wish her and her family the very best for the future!

We Will Miss You Mr Jones!

There’s no holding a good man down! Given how many countries Mr Jones has worked in, he really should be made an honorary Harlem Globe Trotter – except he is a much better teacher than he is a basketball player! Wherever he has gone, Mr Jones has left his mark, from Wales to Bucharest, via Nigeria, Spain, Columbia, Tanzania, Egypt and Togo – where he met and married his wife. Now it off to Italy!

Mr Jones will be hugely missed, as will be his son Iwan, who is a popular member of our reception class. We wish the Jones family a happy sojourn in Italia and wonder what country will be next!

Thank you for all your hard work Ms Cojocaru

Known for her quiet, patient presence and her excellent listening skills, Ms Cojocaru will be missed by both her students and her colleagues and we wish her the very best in the years ahead, and hope that she will come back to visit us when next in Bucharest.

The final staff member moving on next year in Teaching Assistant and EAL teacher Alexandra Cojocaru. Alexandra has been with IBSB and leaves us this year for a change of scenery and a new challenge.

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Summer Plans Maybe a break from the atmosphere of stress that pervades school when the exam session has started would be welcome, so with that in mind, I went around campus and asked people what they have planned for this summer. It turns out that students think about their exams during holidays as well, which can be a sign of responsibility and madness alike. I also found out that people actually do constructive and very fascinating things with their summer, which got me thinking about my own holiday plans.

Cora M., Year 11 How do you plan to spend your summer?

At the beginning of summer I will do an internship at a friend’s architecture company here in Bucharest. Then, I want to spend some time with my family and a friend in Holland – we are going to go the beach…[she notices my perplexed expression and adds]: Yes I know, not the usual, but it is actually quite nice! Towards the end of the summer I intend to go to Munich to do an internship at an organisation that helps foreigners who do not speak the language, especially those from third world countries, integrate in society better and get jobs. I want to help there and I think it will be a nice experience.

How did you come up with this plan?

Well, actually it was not me who came up with it, it was my Mum’s idea. She came up to me and asked if I wanted to do this and I was thrilled because I told her I wanted to do something to help people this vacation. She talked to her friend who works at this organisation, asked if I could help there, and that’s how it happened.

What is the ideal summer like for you?

I would like to spend time travelling with my friends from two different countries in order to learn and see for myself how different cultures and people mix and to better understand them.

What do you want to get out of this summer holiday?

I would like to have a nice and new experience and now that I am older and people take me more seriously for a job, I want to try different things to try and decide on a future career.

Give me a recommendation for what I should do this summer.

I think you should figure out what you enjoy doing, for example if you like travelling then you should definitely do that. If you want to do social work then try to do that. I would say you should do something that develops your personality and that will help you with your future. But don’t forget to have fun!

Blanca F., Year 12 How do you plan to spend your summer?

Well, firstly I cannot wait to finish my exams and relax, and then I plan on going to the seaside with some friends, to some concerts or to a festival.

How did you come up with this plan?

Well, you know that I am a maniac when it comes to concerts – I love them very much so I check up on every single one that is coming up. I find them on Facebook and special websites for events such as eventim.ro and I also look at the websites of the bands. That is how I found out that one of my favourite bands, Bastille, is coming to Romania this summer.

What is the ideal summer like for you?

Hot weather, spending time at the seaside on the beach, and just relaxing… [she says while seeming to drift off into daydreams as though already picturing herself on the sand, or as if she is in a Business Studies lesson in Year 11, Mr Kingston adds!]

Which countries would you like to visit?

The ones that are slightly underrated, in the sense that people do not look at them as ideal travel destinations. For example, many people do not realise think that Romania is as beautiful a country as it is and I would like to visit such countries because I think that each has something to offer.

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What I should do this summer?

Definitely come to Summer Well, the music festival. It’s going to be fun!

What do you want to get out of this summer holiday?

Quality time with my friends and family because next year will be my last year here.

Give me a recommendation for what I should do this summer.

You should do something related to your future or something that really interests you and that you wanted to do for a long time. Or you can prepare for your exams for next year [she says with a WICKED smile!].

Denisa N., Year 12 Yan Yang Xin , Year 13

How do you plan to spend your summer?

How do you plan to spend your summer?

I will go to a summer school for medicine in Oxford University. The preparation will help me for the application next year.

First of all, I want to get my driving license and then I will go back to China to visit my family. Maybe I will also go to Beijing and visit my own country.

How did you come up with this plan?

Well, if you think about it, it’s the last summer that I can have my own time because afterwards I will go to university and get a job, so this is the last summer that I can really spend together with my family.

What exactly will you do there?

Well, in the UK for applying to university for medicine courses you have to take some tests, the UK CAT and the BMAT and here I will learn more about the tests and how to get ready for them. We can also do interview simulations and activities with students already studying medicine. This way you have a better chance for a successful application.

What job do you want?

At university I will study Hotel Management, so something related to this. I don’t know yet, I will have to see exactly.

What is the ideal summer like for you?

I want to have all my family around me and do everything that I want and eat a lot too, because I miss Chinese cooking.

I want to eat everything that I can! (I back away just in case!)

How did you come up with this plan?

As a Science Prefect, I was looking for science summer schools, I came across this and I thought it would be useful for me as well. I am going on my own, so I hope it will be okay.

What do you want to get out of this summer holiday?

I want to relax first of all and also do something useful such as this. Maybe I will also go to the seaside after the exams.

Give me a recommendation for what I should do this summer.

What do you want to get out of this summer holiday?

Well I don’t know. I want it to be useful and memorable, so I don’t want to waste it. Maybe I will work in a restaurant, a steakhouse. That would be cool.

Something useful. You shouldn’t waste your holiday because that is what I did last summer and it wasn’t good. I came to school unprepared and I forgot stuff. But relax and take it easy as well.

By Andrei D., Year 11 87

Creative Corner COBIS Poetry I fall into complete darkness,

We were talking about rivers,

Which suddenly turns to light.

But I knew about those.

Blue, red, yellow, purple

We were talking about metaphors,

Mix together to form the sky.

I step on the fresh green And feel it smoothly run along my feet The flowers bloom one by one

I knew those too.

But then we talked about love.

I didn’t know that.

My eyes are blinded by the view.

I became interested.

The birds are chirping and flying rapidly,

Then she was talking about your glittery eyes,

So quick they blur away.

Your shiny lips,

White, fluffy balls bounce along the land

Your bright hair that was as golden as the sunlight.

Munching the vegetables in the ground.

Peace falls on this land, but suddenly…

She talked about two people touching their lips softly.

I was thinking about you

The cheetahs pounce, the lions roar, The carnivores go for their prey.

The delicate deer is the unlucky one

Thinking about me

But surprisingly, I’m no prey

Thinking about us

I watch and get close, but no one seems to mind me.

How we are going to be.

Bang and roar is all I hear.

I still feel your lips touching mine.

Predators running and demanding food is all I see.

But then she started talking about the future,

But then to my complete surprise, Everything fades away into darkness I am cornered by black.

I cannot move, nor see, But I slowly start to realize that sadness is conquering me.

I can never come back out, or never go back in, For this wild experience was just my daydream.

Marriage, babies, I got scared.

I want this; I am happy and I don’t want to go further, Then the terror came, it shot me down, I was dead, the bell rang.

And I found myself still staring at the wall,

By Adela C., Year 7

I opened my eyes, And found it’s just A Dream of Day-Dreaming

By Alexia S., Year 7 88

The salty wind is blowing in my face,

Nothing can mend me.

As I gaze upon the azure ocean.

Not even music,

It all feels so real,

Not even the smiles of my loved ones,

When it isn’t.

And it all feels so true,

Not even the laughter of my little sister, You destroyed me.

When it’s only a fragment of my imagination.

How I wish it was true.

My heart still skips a beat

I can almost taste the salty water of the sea.

when I see you, But I remind myself

I can almost picture the cheeky seagulls, Stealing the catches of the fishermen.

I can almost hear the waves crashing on the sea-shore,

That you're the one who Shattered my heart to a million pieces, The one who placed that barbed wire around it.

Screaming out my name, inviting me in.

I can almost touch the cold,

Every time I see you, with her,

Yet refreshing, water of the sea.

The wire tightens.

I can almost smell the briny scent of the sea-side,

Every time I pass our favourite places,

Irritating my nose, yet being somehow nostalgic.

The wire tightens.

Every time I see your picture,

But as I come back from my usual summer daydream,

The wire tightens.

I realize that it was in fact a daydream, And not some kind of mental time-machine, But I must wait patiently, for summer is a long way off!

But then, I wake up, And I realise what you didn't.

By Kyriaki M., Year 7

I'm not a one in a million type of girl, I'm a once in a lifetime type of woman, Who you will never deserve.

By Mya P., Year 7 89

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COBIS Poetry As I dive into the abyss

I dream of you every night and day,

Voices of different thoughts talk to me.

Flashbacks make me weep,

Your face is so bright like the sun I would say.

When I see your face in the cloud,

Whether it’s for sorrow or joy.

I have got nothing figured out.

My imagination floods with ideas.

Yet still day by day I dream of you,

Should I do this, do that?

When you touch my hand replying ‘I love you’!

No time for making up your mind,

It makes me shiver but I have no way…

Just let it conquer you.

To escape from your fathomless dungeon of broken hearts.

The never ending questions.

I don’t want to be your daily victim,

Some of which we may never find the answer to.

But the mind…Hungry for answers

Who stepped inside your hallway of hope, Who was almost strangled by the barbed wire,

Makes you answer them with the most outrageous results.

That you put around me when you see that something doesn’t work.

I feel sceptical about you,

Memories of friends, of childhood, The memories of people we don’t see anymore, And the people who we see everyday.

But I know that I have to stop.

Cause’ your soft muscular hands, Make everything disappear in my shadow of fear.

The memories, memories…

I suddenly wake up, But I can’t see you near.

The portals of imagination

I know that you have not gone,

And like white holes, Leading you from one point to another

Because I feel your heart right here.

From visiting a new country to playing with a new toy.

And in my daydream, I could indomitably feel,

Suddenly a snap of fingers

That our love was strong, Our love was real!

Brings me to reality, In front of the teacher looking to me.

No worries. There’s always more time for daydreams.

By Shirin M., Year 7

By Gekko I., Year 7

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My Love (The Cry of an Abused Wife) The poem below was written during our Enrichment Day based on Women’s Action Against Violence in the Home.

Students had a choice of activities based on poetry, drama or case studies. Ken opted for poetry and rose to the challenge of writing a theme based poem using techniques taught over the day. The language is therefore violent for a reason, but Ken has captured brilliantly the ugly horror of physical abuse against women in the home. For a Year 8 student, he has displayed amazing maturity and produced a poem rich in imagery and carrying a powerful message for all who engage in, tolerate, sanction or even simply ignore domestic violence against women. The irony of the title, ‘My Love’, captures brilliantly the trap that too many women around the world find themselves in.

By Trevor Kingston, Year 9 Tutor

My love looks like death’s hungry fangs, Trying to cut open my chest.

The hatred inside me frightens me, Trapped by the hungry claws coming closer to me.

My love smells like boiling blood, The blood splashed everywhere.

The only exit leads to death, Your hand slowly fades away.

My love tastes like rotten meat, That you ripped off my body.

You blood thirsty little monster, With your sharp thorns piercing in my chest.

My love sounds like creepy echoes, That will never be forgotten.

The repetitive sound smashing my brain into pieces, The echoes bring the walls alive.

My love feels like burning flames, Like living on the sun.

The lovely rose beside me, Burns like guilt.

By Ken S., Year 8

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