TIV Issue 2 March 2015

Contents Page

Staff & Editorial 2

Editor’s Note

53

3

Assistant Editor’s Note

STUDENT VIEWS

4

Head of School & Executive Director Message

55

Importance of Maths

56 7

Head of Secondary Message

Romanian Presidential Campaigns

62

Summer 2015 Exams

8

Senior School Prefects 63

A Student Guide

11

Work Experience 64

Exam Pen’s Review

12

Celebrating Success 66

Blood of Olympus Review

14

MUN Istanbul 2015 68

Paris so Parisian

72

Tales of Vietnam

Coordinators Student Editor: Ruxandra Rogojinaru (Year 13) Student Assistant Editors: Andrei Dogaru(Year 12) Teacher Coordinators: Ms Andrea Carman, Mr Paul Jennings

CAS

Junior School Whiteboard:

19

CAS Term 2 Review

Alina Radu

22

Cartile Copilariei

Journalists/Contributors

SPORTS

Ruxandra Rogojinaru, Zoe Smarandoiu (Year 13)

27

Football Victory

Andrei Dogaru, Maria Mihai (Year 12)

28

Girls Football

Maria Ion, Maria Sousa, Catrinel Craiu, (Year 11)

29

Triathlon Fever

Lena Stefan (Year 10)

31

Welcome Message

Mr Kendall Peet

32

Early Years

33

Year 1

34

Year 2

35

Year 3

36

Year 4

37

Year 5

38

Year 6

39

Primary ESU

Mr Ciprian Tiplea Mr Robert Hewett Mr Trevor Kingston Layout: Ms Lea Cohen

CREATIVE CORNER 74

Poetry Corner

75

Creative Writing

76

First Language English

WHITEBOARD

Contributing Staff Ms Andrea Carman

Debating

Mr Florin Ghita

Public Speaking 40

Primary Ski Trip

SCHOOL EVENTS

Office Staff Contact Information: Address: 21 Agricultori St. District 2,

43

Caledonian Ball

44

Scottish Music At IBSB

45

Winter Show

47

London Art &

Bucharest, Romania, 021841 Tel: (+4) 021.253.1698 Fax: (+4) 021.253.1697 E- mail: office@ibsb.ro Website: www.ibsb.ro

EAL Trip 49

Winter Ball

51

Parent Workshops

52

Bonfire Night

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Editor’s Note My first article for the TIV was written around this time, but eventually published in the last issue of 2013. Eager to improve my skills as a writer and encouraged by the dedicated Mr Kingston, I wrote about the final of the ESU public speaking competition and when it was published I went around showing all my relatives and family friends the contribution to our school magazine that I was so proud of. So much has changed in the TIV since then: we have a new and ever-improving design, an increasing number of ads and a new but equally dedicated team. My journey with the TIV is also soon coming to an end. So I would like to begin by thanking the other members of the editorial team, who will continue to work on the magazine after I leave, even if this is not yet our last issue.

First of all I would like to thank Andrei for preparing to take over as editor. It is a great responsibility and that is why I think that he will do a great job next year. Thank you to Ms Andrea Carman for helping us publish great creative writing pieces and for contributing herself with exciting tales from her travels. Thank you Mr Paul Jennings for grammar checking the publication and running the TIV editorial meetings. Lastly, thank you to Lea Cohen for the cool design of the magazine.

at university. Yet that is far from the burning passion I imagined I had to demonstrate on my university application, it is simply following one’s dream. A simple way of deciding which course to study is to imagine yourself doing so for the next three years, after reading the content of the university courses on offer. If you would like to spend a month reading and writing about a specific topic that will be covered by the course, then that is the course for you, no matter what other people think about your career prospects, because you will have the greater satisfaction from studying something you like.

I hope you’ll enjoy this issue of the TIV in which we celebrate the school’s success an offer some advise on how to prepare for the upcoming summer exams session. I wish everyone good luck with revision and I look forward to the next TIV issue coming out and to receiving our feedback!

Another big thank you goes to Mr Trevor Kingston, former English teacher and TIV supervisor at IBSB. Mr Kingston steered me towards joining the TIV editorial team and encouraged me to be more proactive by volunteering me, with his characteristic enthusiasm, for every project available.

Thanks to Mr Kingston I went on a trip to Dubai to attend the World Scholar’s Cup, taken part in the Winter Production, learned how to design programmes for events, almost participated in a public speaking competition and, most importantly, became the editor of the TIV. Although circumspect about my involvement in all these activities at the time, I realise now that I have learned many things by getting involved in almost everything that was going on and it helped me grow as a person and gain confidence. I think it’s a pity for anyone not to get involved in what’s going on around school, be it debating, sports or writing for the TIV. I also want to say a few words about passion, a word that has haunted me this past academic year. Passion, said those around me offering advice on my university application, is what you need to demonstrate in order to get a place at a good university. This was very confusing at first because I had been previously told by most family acquaintances that History, and before that English, were not worthy subjects to study at university, even if I was passionate about them.

So is there the right kind of passion that will get you a place at a good university? No, the morale of the story, if there is one, is to listen to what others tell you, but to follow your dreams nonetheless. In my case, even if History might not help me get the best paid job there is, which to some is the only measure of success, I can’t imagine studying any other subject 2

Ruxandra Rogojinaru (Year 13)

Assistant Editor’s Note Dear TIV Readers, Coming out right between mock exams and actual exams, the March issue has always had exams and academic performance as the overarching theme. This issue is inevitably going to be no different, so I am going to focus my Assistant Editor’s Note around this topic.

Exams have been around probably for as long as education itself, and they have been traumatising students ever since.

Maybe it’s an overstatement, but they are certainly not the most enjoyable experience we had (or will have). Everyone knows this. Everyone accepts this. Everyone has been through this. So why is it that exams are still central to the education system?

The obvious response is that they are the best method to evaluate academic progress and the level of knowledge a person has. But are they really? Exams are not indicative of a person’s true potential because of many reasons. The main reason – that I often have to deal with – is stress. Humans do not work best under stress. I produce a much better essay if I have a day or two to think about it and plan it carefully, rather than having to write it all out as fast as possible within 50 minutes.

Also, why should one mark make the difference between an A or a B, or an A* and an A? Why should my chances of getting into a (top) university depend on one mark? And why should they even depend on a grade that is not representative of my true potential anyway?

I ask myself these questions, realising these things can get frustrating, but then I also realise that there really is no other way, given how we have laid out our world to function. For example, unless timed and controlled, you cannot know that a candidate for university sat those exams themself in which they claim to get As. And truth be told, I personally think that the best people will manage exams well enough to get the best grades, even if they are stressed. And also, if a person puts effort into what they do to strive for the best they can, this will become apparent during exams as well, stress or not.

Stress will almost never leave our side for good, so we have to learn to deal with it. Should we have to? Again, given our modern context, I believe that unless you want to live a bohemian life and travel the world or something (which is totally fine!) there really is no way around it.

However, even if a person gets bad grades, that does not necessarily mean that they will have a bad future. Bill Gates famously said, “I failed some subjects in exams, but my friend passed in all. Now he is an engineer at Microsoft and I am the owner of it.” He certainly doesn’t have a bad future. But he also certainly did something else that was at least as constructive as studying for an exam.

So, if you are working on something revolutionary, or if you want to travel the world and nothing else, or if you want to do something constructive that will determine your future success and happiness - Mr Peet may strangle me for this - go ahead and forget studying! Go against the system if it suits your purpose (Please note that I am not encouraging anarchy, as I myself choose to study). But if you are unwilling to go against the system, because it is not of advantage to you, then exams are quite important. They decide what standard of higher education you have access to and that in turn may decide how your future career will turn out. Or not.

The main point of this contradictory amalgam of words is that we have many options- too many. Study, not study, become successful, either way, or not… Aargh! Too much! Figuring out which option is the best for us takes so much time and sometimes we may not even choose the best option. But I would like to think that in the end, things work out for everyone.

I will now go back to revising for my Maths exam… Enjoy this issue!

Andrei Dogaru (Year 12)

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Head of School ISI (BSO) Inspection: November, 2014 When Issue 1 went to print, we were just a week out from what was then our next ISI (Independent schools Inspectorate) Inspection, and our first BSO (British School Overseas) Inspection, under the standards introduced by the UK Department for Education in October, 2010, to ensure that British Schools Overseas meet the minimum standards established in England. I reviewed these new standards in Issue 1, October, 2014 (http://ibsb.ro/despre-noi/schoolmagazine/), so will not again elaborate on them in this issue.

What does remain to be elaborated on, however, is the outcome of this inspection. A letter was sent home to parents (a requirement of all ISI inspections) with a brief overview of the inspection, along with a link to the inspection report, which can be found on both the IBSB and ISI website, as well as the Department of Education Website, and no doubt many of our parents will already have taken the opportunity to review the report in detail, so for those parents, I do apologise if I am stating here what you now already knowthis article will no doubt be of most interest to those parents who have not yet had time to read the dull report, along with those prospective parents currently considering enrolling their children and IBSB

A Brief Overview of the Report.

For many people the most important section of the report is the first the section in which can be found the main findings.

This section overviews the overall performance of the school and is in effect a summary of the key findings of the inspectors. As such, it is particularly gratifying to discover that the inspectors found that IBSB “fulfils it challenging aims in exemplary fashion.”

And what are the ‘challenging aims’ mentioned? (Which you can find on our school website and in our Parent Handbook). In their most condensed form, you would say that they are the aims as reflected in both our School Mission and Vision Statements:

IBSB Mission Statement ‘What we do’ Students

STRIVE

ASPIRE

ACHIEVE

INSPIRE

CELEBRATE

SUPPORT

Teachers Working together to

EXTRACT FROM IBSB ISI INSPECTION 2015

Inspire, Support, and Celebrate student achievement

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Executive Director

Breaking the Mission and Vision Statements down into Parent Questionnaire Feedback workable, bite-size chunks, you will discover that IBSB has 12 As a part of the inspection process, parents at IBSB had the very specific and clear aims: opportunity to complete a confidential Pre-inspection Questionnaire, with the school provided with a simple THE IBSB AIMS summary of the general findings. From this questionnaire the 1. To provide a learning environment which values inspectors usually make specific mention of the three highest academic success, high moral standards, self-discipline and the three lowest categories below 90%. In the case of and mutual respect for the cultures, opinions and values IBSB, all but one of the questions received a positive response of others over 90%, which the inspectors said was high unusual, 2. To focus on the total development of each child: spiritual, indicating even before their arrival that IBSB is an outstanding moral, intellectual, social, emotional, and physical school and that parents are generally very happy. The 3. To provide a learning environment in which all students inspectors also said that IBSB was the first school ever in their are encouraged to actively participate and where students history of inspections to receive a 100% positive to one of the understand that making mistakes is an important part of questions, so a big thank to our parents for this vote of the learning process confidence.

4. To provide a curriculum and the support needed to enable our students to become confident, successful, The three highest Parent Reponses were: independent learners The school encourages me to be involved in its life/work.

5. To provide a rigorous curriculum which develops critical thinking skills, challenging each and every student to strive 100% to be the best they can be I am satisfied with the governance of the school.

6. To encourage students to set high goals, which can be 98% broken down into a series of smaller achievable targets, and to motivate and inspire our students to work toward Information about the school and its policies is readily available. achieving their goals 7. To provide support programmes to enable each and every 98% student an equal opportunity to succeed in their studies 8. To provide each child with an individual learning The only questions with less than a 90% positive response programme and a rich extracurricular programme to was: enable them to discover and develop their special I am content with the work my child has to do at home (if talents and abilities applicable).

9. To provide a pastoral care system which ensures that all 89% students feel included and valued 10. To provide a safe, comfortable learning environment This parent response can in part be explained by the fact that where students feel secure, happy, and cared for in the Romanian Education System parents are used to the 11. To ensure that our students leave IBSB equipped with the students receiving much more work in the Primary School and knowledge and skills, the confidence, mind-set, and lower age groups. In the British National Curriculum, the level communication skills needed to succeed in higher of homework progressively increases toward an expectation of education and life thereafter 3-5 hours a night at A Level, which is intended to ensure that 12. To ensure that our students leave IBSB solutionstudents are working at their optimum level when they reach orientated, community-minded individuals willing and able their final University Entrance exams and do not burn out to make a positive difference to the lives of those around before this time. This combined with individualised learning them programmes at IBSB, low teacher to student ratios, and detailed tracking, with regulation communication with parents, ensures that the results of the school remain high.

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ISI (BSO) Inspection Report Recommendations As with all reports, however, the team did find a number of areas for the school to focus on in our Long Term Development Planning, which included the following: 2.5 The school is advised to make the following improvements:

Technology in the classroom, which is already having an impact of teacher lessons. Monitoring has continued to improve, and will continue to do so in the year ahead, with a number of changes planned for 2015-16 and beyond that will no doubt lead to yet another step forward in the unrelenting pursuit of Excellence in Education.

1. Identify an enable widespread sharing of the many examples of excellent teaching , encouraging peer lesson observation and its effective monitoring by heads of department.

We would like to say a very special ‘Thank you!’ to all the staff at IBSB for their outstanding work highlighted in this report, and to the inspectors who carried out the inspection, including Mr John Sugden (Lead Inspector), Ms Clair Doubleday, and Dr Christopher Greenfield.

(ii) Recommendations for further improvement

2. Consider ways in which time may be found for leaders and managers to offer comprehensive support and monitoring to their colleagues, particularly in the primary school.

3. Consider integrating pupils’ creative use of ICT into the curriculum to further enhance standards of learning.

The inspectors found many examples of excellent teaching taking place across the school, but also felt that more peer observation would lead to the improved sharing of this excellent practice. It is precisely for this reason that peer observation is a core part of the IBSB Teacher CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Programme, and it is an area that we are currently working to improve, in combination with improved staff mentoring. We are also working to improve the level of ICT embedded across the school curriculum, with the Secondary School Computer Lab receiving a complete set of new computers this year and the Primary School a set of Notepads, with plans to upgrade the computers in the Primary School in the year ahead. We have also just had a specialist

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trainer over in January for two days of Staff Development focused on the use of Computer

We would also like to invite current, as well as prospective parents to read the full inspection report at the following web addresses: www.ibsb.ro/accreditation www.isi.net/schools/7583; www.education.gov.uk/edubase/ establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=133496 If you have any questions about the recent school inspection, we would be only too happy to speak with you personally and would encourage you to arrange a meeting through the school office.

Aura Bogdan Executive Director Kendall Peet Head of School

Head of Secondary The importance of exercise on the mind As demands on all of us increase it is sometimes the case that we the stop doing some of the most important things.

Students and staff often have to balance the demands of being at School with extra homework and assignments, examinations, preparing for a lesson, assembly or presentation. It is not difficult to see with the pressures of daily life that we might reduce the number of breaks that we take, stop eating healthily, and also put off our exercise plans.

However, there is literature emerging suggesting the benefits of physical activity and aerobic exercise on some aspects of brain function. Human and non-human animal studies have shown that aerobic exercise can improve a number of aspects of cognition (learning) and performance.

There are many claims that a lack of physical activity, particularly among children in the developed world, is one of the major causes of obesity, but exercise can not only help to improve their physical health, shape and tone, it might also

improve their academic performance, specifically in learning and memory. Articles claim that there are a number of positive effects on learning and brain function that support the idea that exercise is a factor that might lead to increased physical and mental health throughout someone’s life(1) (2) .

In addition, The Gerontological Society of America suggests that fitness increases the life of brain tissue in older people and that aerobic fitness plays a major role in maintaining and enhancing the central nervous system and cognitive functioning in older adults.

So it seems that exercise not only makes us feel good, relieves stress, improves our physique and overall fitness, but helps with learning, thinking, and memory, as well as maintaining a healthy brain in later life. All very good reasons to participate in sport, both at and after School.

Rob Hewett Head of Secondary

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Meet the Senior RUXANDRA ROGOJINARU Head Girl / TIV Editor / Pastoral Care Greetings! My name is Ruxandra, I am in Year 13 and this year I have the privilege not only to be part of the wonderful IBSB community, but also to lead the Prefect body as Head Girl. I am really grateful for this opportunity and I am looking forward to another amazing year. I was at IBSB for only one year and a half and the fact that I was granted this honour and responsibility shows just how encouraging and supportive the IBSB community is. I am eager to work together with the Prefect body to encourage everyone to be active in our vibrant community, as well as to strive for academic excellence. I will also continue working on the school magazine, The International Voice, being the Senior Student Editor this year. As a mentor I will work with Years 5 and 10. I hope that the Prefect body’s positive contribution to our community will make students enjoy attending IBSB as much as I do and I wish everyone a great school year!

ANDREI DOGARU Deputy Head Boy / TIV Assistant Editor / Pastoral Care Hello! My name is Andrei, I’m in Year 12 – this is now my 6th year here. I’ve been chosen as this year’s Deputy Head Boy, which I am really thrilled about! I am also the Assistant Editor for the TIV school magazine, as well as an academic mentor. I am really looking forward to undertaking these challenges, among others, to try to give back to the IBSB community at least as much as it has given me. I hope that all of us will collaborate as a team to make a difference in our school and to continue to improve it. I am excited about this year; it will not be an easy task for any of us, but I am confident that together we can overcome any obstacles coming our way. See you around school!

STERGIOS MALLIOGLOU Science Prefect / Pastoral Care Hello everyone! My name is Stergios, this is currently my seventh, and sadly final year at IBSB, and I can safely say that these have been some of the most remarkable times of my life so far. As a Senior Prefect this year I shall be responsible for aiding the Science Department, as well as helping out with the young Year 1′s over in Primary. I am determined to do all I can for our school, and bring our community closer. We have come very far indeed and we aim for even farther. Other than that I am looking forward to the year ahead as well as working with my colleagues and the Senior Prefect body, and I hope this last year of high school will be one of the best yet.

MARIA MIHAI Arts Prefect / Pastoral Care Hi there, I’m Maria and I’ve been studying at IBSB for 2 years now. I’m very excited about the year ahead and I really hope that we will change the school for the better. I am the Arts Prefect as well as the Academic Mentor for the lovely Year 4 A & B students and for Year 10. I enjoy being a part of this community and I will try to keep it as united as possible. I wish everybody good luck this year :) SEBASTIAN ZAMFIRESCU Music Prefect / Events Prefect / Pastoral Care Hello, my name is Sebastian. I’m in Year 13 and I’ve been studying at this school for just over 4 years. I’m very excited to be a part of the Senior Prefect programme for the second year running; I will be helping primarily with the Music programme and with organising our now famous school events. I will also help students academically, as I will mentor Years 6 and 7A. I hope that my presence around school will be beneficial and that this year will be fun for all involved.

KEVIN ZHAN Physics Prefect/ Pastoral Care Hi everyone! My name is Kevin and this is my 3rd year at IBSB. Throughout the past 3 years I feel that I have made the right choice choosing our school as I have learnt a lot. I’m glad I was chosen to be a Senior Prefect. As a Prefect, I will assist other Prefects with their responsibilities. Being a prefect is all about being a good role model, and as such I shall lead by example and work to enhance the values of other students. Promoting our culture is also one of the things I would like to do. I have always been a curious person and like reading new things. I also like taking photos. Apart from this, ordering Chinese food for people has become one of my unofficial duties at school. I really hope we all can do a great job as Prefects this year and wish everyone a great year ahead!

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School Prefects ANDREI CRETU ZIZHEN Music Prefect / Events Prefect / Pastoral Care Hello, my name is Andrew and I am very happy to have been selected as a Senior Prefect this year! My role as Music Prefect will be focused on helping the Events Department in any way I can. I am an academic mentor for Year 8, and I am also taking care of the little ones in Year 1. This school has changed me for the better and more and more I have been thinking about how I can return the favourand this is my chance. Now, something about me: I love eating tasty food, except for stuff that lives underwater (I tried it, but I didn’t like it). I love listening to music, spending time with friends, both in the virtual world, while playing video games, and in the real world, and being silly of course. My goal is to find my Personal Legend. I hope that I will do my job in a way that benefits both the school and me.

ANA DENIS CONSTANTINESCU Arts Prefect / Pastoral Care This year, being my last after 13 years at IBSB, feels kind of unusual; in my case I don’t think I ever fully comprehended that one day I’d reach this point, and that the next step waiting is this big leap of independence and adventure. I find that as long as you pursue some hobby outside of school you have a better grip on what makes you special and your future. On the other hand, this year I’ll be the Arts Prefect which is a role I have yet to play, but I’m excited about it. This means that I’ll be promoting the arts throughout school will work on the Yearbook alongside Maria.

STEVE SEQUIERA Assembly Prefect / Pastoral Care Hi, I am Steve Sequeira from Year 12. I have been at IBSB for a long time and I am very pleased to be part of the Senior School Prefect team. I am last year’s winner of the IBSB Student Award and I will give my very best shot to make this school a better environment for us and for you. This year I am the ViceCaptain of Muntenia because my fellow house members have chosen me to lead them to victory. I am also the Prefect in charge of the Assembly and of mentoring Year 5 and Year 7B. I look forward to lighting up the school with our young talent, as well as to giving advice to the younger students on how to succeed in their studies and to eventually become a Senior Prefect.

THOMAS FERFELLIS Sports Prefect / Pastoral Care Hi there, I’m Thomas and I have been studying in this school for over six years now. Coming here was the best decision I ever made because IBSB has so much to offer, both academically and socially. As a Senior Prefect I am the academic mentor of Years 6 and 11. I am also the school’s Football Captain and one of my biggest achievements here has been winning various trophies in many International Tournaments. My hobbies are: going out with friends, watching humorous movies, and spending a lot of my time close to my family.

VLADIMIR STANOI House Games Prefect/ Pastoral Care Hi, I’m Vladimir and I recently became a part of the prefect body. I also joined the school’s debate team this year and I run a basketball club for the Secondary school every week during club time. My hobbies include sports and debating and I have a passion for history, especially communism. I am also the prefect mentor of Years 2 and 11 and I can honestly say that I enjoyed helping students out. It is a very rewarding experience and I myself learned many things while doing it. I am looking forward to this year!

CORA MULLER DEMARY Events Prefect / Pastoral Care Hi! I’m Cora, and this is my 7th year at IBSB, and a special year as I can now proudly call myself one of IBSB’s Senior Prefects. This year I would like to give back to the school and its community as it has helped me develop so much in the past. As an Events Prefect I will be part of the group which will organise the school events of this year, hoping to make them even more enjoyable and memorable than the past ones.

I am also the mentor of Year 4A and 4B as well as Year 9. I believe that together with the other Senior Prefects we can bring the community of the school closer and improve it in order to make it even better than it is now. Hope to see you around school!

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Meet the Prefects

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Work Experience IBSB Work Experience Programme - A step forward towards a successful Career IBSB is running an annual Work Experience programme for KS4 and KS5 students, which usually happens in June after the CIE exams.

This is a very valuable contribution to students training for universities and careers. IBSB is lucky enough to have many supportive parents who are happy to open the doors to our students as part of this programme. As you will see around this article, we are covering a big variety of work domains which will give our children great opportunities to try and chose according to their passion, strengths and skills.

Understand more about work-related issues Develop presentation, interview, communication and decision-making skills

What is it?

Daniel Muller: “Incredible experience. I realised I can make a difference in the life of others”

Work Experience is part of the schools’ educational program where students experience the world of work, often for the first time. It is the short-term placement of secondary school students with employers, to provide insights into the industry, and the workplace in which they are located. Students are placed with employers primarily to observe and learn – not to undertake activities which require extensive training or expertise. It is undertaken at the employer’s premises and has enormous benefits for students.

Why is it happening?

Gain experience of the world of work Relate your own education/IGCSE/AS/AL subjects to the world of work Try out a particular job or career Very useful for application to university Discover something about your skills, preferences and talents Develop relevant qualities including, initiative, assertiveness, independence, confidence, respect for others and the ability to compromise and negotiate

A few students’ statements What have I learned during the WE programme?

Majd Badrani: “Work Experience changed my life and gave me direction”

Alex Puiu: “I had the chance to watch brain surgery first hand - it was incredible” Thomas Ferfelis: “Never ever give up. Never an obstacle, but always a lesson” Blanca Florescu: “There’s always something new that will surprise you” Andrei Dogaru: “You learn how important it is to be proactive - Be proactive when you are over there”

Many thanks to our supportive parents I will use this opportunity to express our gratitude to all our supportive parents. It is a great benefit for our students and your involvement underlines one more time the huge positive impact that the school - parents partnership will have on our children.

Ciprian TIPLEA Deputy Head of School

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Celebrating Success IBSB Head Girl

IBSB Head Girl

2013-14

2014-15

Offered place at

Offered place at

Yale

Cambridge Gonville & Caius College

Having made the decision to take a gap year to travel and participate in several short university courses along with some work experience programmes, Catrinel decided to apply to and was accepted into Yale University Catrinel was the first IBSB graduate to be accepted into Yale.

Head Girl, Ruxandra Rogojinaru is not only the first student from IBSB to be accepted into Gonville & Caius College, she is also the first Romanian student ever to be offered the chance to study history at the University of Cambridge.

Achievements Catrinel was Head Girl, School DUX, recipient of the ECIS and COBIS Awards, and Captain of the School Debating Team, achieving an A-A* average in IGCSE and an A*A*AA in her final A levels.

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Achievements Ruxandra is current Head Girl, recipient of the COBIS Award and a special MUN Award, and Editor of the School Magazine, with an A-A* average at both IGCSE and A Level.

‘Congratulations to both Catrinel and Ruxandra for their incredible achievements’

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Model United Nations Day 1 The MUN Team attending the conference in Istanbul have settled into their respective committees. The first day of our stay was dedicated to a student and cultural exchange experience. Each of our students had a unique insight into aspects of life in Istanbul. While some host families took our students to visit the buzzing Taksim sector, other groups explored the local markets and hit the big malls of Istanbul. From dog-walking to jogging, shopping to sight-seeing, they all spent the first day settling in with their hosts. I am sure the students will be happy to share quirky stories when we get back.

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Daily Reports Day 2 Day 2 started with an early morning tour (some of us woke up as early as 5:30 am) of some of the key spots in the European part of the city. All the international delegates had a guided tour of the Blue mosque and the Topkapi palace. Our group then took a brief detour to take a unique photo-shoot in traditional Turkish costumes, which the students thoroughly enjoyed. After lunch, we embarked on a one-hour guided ferry cruise on the Bosphorus strait, going from the European to the Asian part of the city. Though just last week the city was hit by snow storm and schools were closed, we had great spring weather, making the boat-ride very enjoyable for everyone.

For a sneak-peek, I have attached just a few of the amazing pictures taken by Mr Nastase.

from just 8 MDGs, which have not been fully met at the global level. The second guest speaker was Dr Belgin-San Akce, a professor of international security and conflict resolution, who specifically addressed issues in relation to the Middle-East, which is the over-arching theme of this conference. While they both lamented about how "no democratic state can afford too many coffins coming home", they both stressed that increased commitment particularly in investments is needed to fight the strong-hold of terrorist groups such as the ISIS which have usurped several regions and states in the middle-east. The students were urged to exercise leadership, engagement, and partnership in their debates and negotiations.

Following the opening ceremony, we attended the diplomatic After the relaxed tour, our students switched gears and got dinner at the Divan Asia Hotel, after which students returned into their formal MUN mood for the opening ceremony that to their host families, to catch some sleep. was organized at the Koc school auditorium with 600 The start of this third day has seen an active participation from delegates from 40 schools. The main guest speaker at the our students. Achille, being the Ambassador of France gave an opening ceremony was Mr. Faik Uyanik, the Communications opening speech at the General Assembly, while Catrinel and Officer at UNDP, Istanbul. His opening speech gave the Sophia openly questioned the commitments of Saudi Arabia students some perspectives on UNDP's plans on tackling key and Yemen, pointing out the fallacies of the promises made by developmental issues at the global level. It was fascinating for their respective ambassadors. Zainab, representing Oman, is instance to hear about the 16 SDGs (sustainable development already taking the lead within the Arab League to guide the goals), which will be the successors of the MDGs and how they lobbying in her committee. will be monitored with over 169 global targets: a massive jump

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Daily Report Day 3 was wrapped up with a party on campus organised for the students to socialise and strengthen their newly formed The third day of our Istanbul Trip was packed with friendships. negotiations and debate on resolutions and clauses. Each of our students managed to not only propose, but also pass from at least 1 clause to over 13 clauses within their respective committees. To put this in perspective, a typical MUN resolution has somewhere between 6 to 10 clauses.

Some of our students were the main submitters of resolutions.

Day 3

To give you a glimpse of a flow of negotiations, Steve and Zainab were representing Oman in the Arab League and one of their three topics was on "ending state sponsored funding of terrorist groups in the MENA region". The resolution debated on this topic was mostly founded on the primary notion put forward by Oman: the creation of a Terrorist-Response-Team (TRT) that is comprised of, managed, and monitored by the Arab states. Oman proposed 13 clauses out of a total of 15 on this topic. They tackled constant questioning, particularly pointed ones came from the representative of India (who was a guest in the Arab League), who tried hard to de-rail Oman's proposals. However, our students used multiple strategies to stay ahead of the game (they used the official notepaper to get other countries on their side, got other representatives to give speeches supporting Oman's proposals, and maybe some other more tacit strategies). Defending one of Oman's clauses, Zainab said: "the clause is about building a strategy that thinks 4 steps ahead - reaches victory faster with less lives lost".

Oman also suggested the organisation of a meeting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; one that would invite the extremists to the table. They justified this suggestion with the argument that as ISIL calls itself a Sunni extremist, and as Saudi Arabia has a Sunni majority governed by the Sunnis, they may be able to draw ISIL to a discussion on the religious aspect of the issue at hand. Besides clear support for their ideas, the representative from Palestine for instance thanked Oman "for creating a political platform and presenting a suitable solution that is greatly favourable for all within the Arab League". With all the commotion and debate, the end to this story of statesponsored terrorism was all the more fascinating! The Arab League along with our Oman representatives colluded to eventually dissolve the resolution they worked on all day! This collusion was fascinating, and sent shock waves through the committee, with some members outraged while others enthralled. The game was very well played, and the representatives of Oman, along with their close allies on this issue (Djibouti - because they too had strong speakers) set the pace of the session to serve the interests of their country on this issue (neutrality, brotherhood, and participation without any significant disruption of ties - particularly with key partners such as the Saudis). This was just a snapshot of one part of the discussions on one out of 3 topics.

This same level of enthusiasm and rigour in debate and negotiations was visible also in the Security Council where two of our students (Maria and Sebastian) were representing the USA. 16

Day 4 While our students in the Security Council and the Arab League continued with their debates within their respective committees, Day 4 saw the developmental committees in their national caucuses, which is a unique feature of this particular MUN conference.

In the national caucuses, the students of individual countries go in to discuss the various resolutions that were agreed upon in various committees. It enables all representatives of a given country to pool their ideas and commitments made in different committees. Three of our students are in these developmental committees (Catrinel, Sofia, and Achille: all three represent France).

They then discuss and negotiate upon international commitments within an international summit that brings together all the delegates from all developmental committees.

Achille, being the ambassador of France is expected to take a lead and guide the negotiations on behalf of France. As this is the last day of the conference, the students will receive their certificates of participation and T-shirts in the closing ceremony. Since the THIMUN format of MUN conferences are trying to minimise aggressive competition, and are trying to encourage collaboration (in the spirit of the UN principles), they have removed the possibility of earning individual certificates based on merit or strengths of arguments during the conference; as such there will not be any certificates of excellence given out in this conference.

Tomorrow we intend to conduct a final sight-seeing tour of the Grand Bazaar and possibly visit Taksim Square for much needed relaxation after the long days of negotiations.

Ms Blessy Savu MUN Coordinator

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Community Action Service 18

CAS Term 2 Review The summer exam session is quickly approaching and thus many of us have started to prepare thoroughly, revising and rereading notes. However, amidst all the studying, there is another activity that has been quietly going on ever since school started: CAS. I say “quietly” because the majority of the projects happen outside school, so there is not much talk about them aside from 6th Form. This past term I have been visiting some projects, experiencing them first-hand and talking to the students volunteering there.

IOMC Hospital (Touched Romania)

circumstances, or sometimes even both. It is different from IOMC in the sense that it is not focused on the medical aspects, but rather on the social aspects: integrating mothers back into society, helping them find jobs, while offering them a place to stay in the meantime.

Our students help out mainly with house chores: cleaning the floors, windows and walls and doing the dishes, but also playing with small babies or helping out older kids with homework.

The mothers at Casa Agar also learn how to make jewellery in order to sell it, or various kinds of artwork, some of which is displayed around the house.

My visit at Casa Agar was very enjoyable and make no mistake – I was put to work as well; no one wastes time!

Yagmur says, “Fun fact: windows are actually fun to clean!”

The IOMC Hospital is a health centre aiming to provide medical assistance to mothers and their children. Our students help out in the babies’ ward, interacting with children as young as a few months old, as old as a little over a year. It was a pleasure observing our students hold and play with the babies, making them smile and laugh! I played with a baby myself and as much fun as it is, it is also a great responsibility that you feel when holding a small human life in your arms. The training we received at the beginning of the year, before choosing our CAS projects, came in very handy!

Participating in this project also made us realise that perhaps we gave too little credit to our parents for raising us, because caring for a baby, even for one hour a week is a challenging (albeit pleasurable) job! This is also why IOMC exists: to help mothers with successfully raising their children.

Aside from having to play and hold the babies, our students also perform other less entertaining duties, such as changing nappies. However, Ms Blessy emphasises that, “It is an important contribution as the students and the babies form a bond, and it also gives the nurses there a much-deserved break.” Our students also bring supplies that the hospital desperately needs to care for the babies, such as nappies, wet wipes, clothes, and toys. Anyone can contribute by offering these items as donations, which are much appreciated!

Casa Agar (Touched Romania) Casa Agar is a maternity centre dedicated to mothers who have difficulties with raising their children, either because they are underage, or because they have difficult

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CAS Term 2 Review Sfanta Macrina Centre Just a short walk away from our school, Sfanta Macrina is a centre specialising in helping children and families coming from a difficult socioeconomic background. They have a day centre – which is where our students help out – but they also offer a roof for 25 homeless children.

The students here plan activities, for example playing miming games or guessing games for the kids. Sometimes they also use the facilities available in the playroom where our students spend time with the children. On some occasions however the kids just need someone to talk to and it is also important to be able to listen. Our students at Speranta pt Tine have a difficult but highly rewarding CAS!

Bruno Animal Shelter Bruno is an animal shelter in Bucharest dealing in particular with rescuing stray dogs from the streets of Bucharest and putting them up for adoption.

The students also help out by bringing dog food for the shelter, as well as getting involved in the adoption process.

They organised a raffle in school to raise money for the shelter and they will also have a presentation in assembly to raise awareness about the dog shelter and to encourage people to adopt stray dogs.

Artwork by the children In the day centre, our students work with kids in primary school, assisting them with homework or other projects they may have. The bond between us and the children was formed instantaneously and I could not help but visit several times as I promised the kids I would return!

Aside from having a lot of fun helping the children, we also learn some things ourselves! I for one learned how to design the perfect paper airplane!

It was quite an experience to discover how open and extroverted the children at Sfanta Macrina are; always eager to learn something new or to tell us the latest thing they learned or, as I said, to teach us something for a change!

Speranta pt Tine – Fundeni Hospital This particular project requires determined students with strength of character because the work they do at this project is quite sensitive: making the stay of children with health problems – sometimes severe ones, such as leukaemia – at Fundeni hospital more bearable by playing with them and putting a smile on their faces.

It is a highly rewarding project because helping out a child and making them happy brings immense satisfaction.

However, at the same time the work can be difficult because you may not be able to see some children ever again on your next visit.

Vladi says, “I like interacting with children in general, but here especially because it is very rewarding when I realise that our help makes them forget about the disease they have and sometimes we forget ourselves.”

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Ivan says, “I like going to the shelter because it makes me happy when I am able to help the people working there. It is also very rewarding when I see that dogs find a new home.

Plus, working with animals is very fun!”

CAS Term 2 Review Light into Europe Light into Europe is a charity dedicated to helping people with sight impairment. Their latest project is to help bring more guide dogs to Romania. They also organise numerous fund raising events s,uch as the Bonfire Night, the Caledonian Ball, and the Burn’s Supper.

Our students help out in a specialised school for children with sight impairment, where the Light into Europe charity has volunteers working together with the staff in the school. Our students visit the children and play coordination games with them.

Denisa Neldelcu says,” The activities rely on sound and body movements and are very engaging for the children there! We also read to them and they like that very much.”

The Paper Tree The paper tree is an in-school CAS project. Its aim is to promote the recycling of paper in school and the long-term plan is to raise enough money only from recycling paper to purchase solar panels for the school. So far 2100 ron has been gathered since the project started, which is actually a large sum considering that all it all comes form recycled various products from school.

Cartile Copilariei A new addition to our CAS projects this year, this is an initiative started by the Curtea Veche publishing house and brought to our school by Ruxandra. Its aim is to encourage reading in today’s youth and to remind everyone about the pleasures and importance of reading.

For the Cartile Copilariei group, the term started off with a two-session workshop led by a professional from the Bucharest Faculty of Theatrical Studies. The workshop was highly informative, but also engaging: it was a practical demonstration as to how to conduct activities with children so that they learn and enjoy themselves at the same time. Designing games to keep them engaged and attentive is the key to a successful session.

Our students then applied what they learned from the workshops at the Sfanta Macrina Centre and at the Light into Europe school for sight-impaired children. The reading sessions were a success and slowly but surely the projects evolves and develops to raise awareness on the importance of literacy.

Denisa C says, “We’re trying to act as teachers, to give them a chance to discover a world hopefully most people enjoy.”

As you can tell, all of our students in the 6th Form have been very busy this past term and the number of times words such as “rewarding” appear in this article does not represent my inability to find synonyms, but rather it shows that the students are passionate about their projects and they work hard to make a difference in our community. It is important for us to realise that even that hour spent at CAS on Thursday makes such a difference (OK, fine! Here I could not find a synonym…)!

Every floor of our school has at least one Paper Tree box where paper is collected to be sorted and sent to a recycling centre by our students. This project is now fully embedded in our school system and around 80 kg of paper is collected weekly.

Andrei Dogaru (Year 12)

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Cartile Copilariei Project So far, as volunteers involved in the Cartile Copilariei Project, we have successfully raised 1000 ron from our winter stall and silent auction at the Winter Show and from online donations, allowing us to donate 65 books to the children reached by the programme. At our stall, kind people donated money to buy a card for our Wish Tree; each card having the cover of one of the books in the Cartile Copilariei collection.

Thank you to Denisa Constantinescu and Ioana Catuneanu who made the wonderful tree out of gift wrapping paper.

We would also like to thank BCR for their generous donation of 5000 euros, kindly arranged through Ms Claudia Marta, the President of the Parents, Teachers, and Friends association at IBSB. Thank you as well to everyone who contributed to our cause.

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CAS Diary Cartile Copilariei It’s a grey, cloudy day, but the gloomy background does not rub off on us as we walk to the School for Blind, Ms Croci and I for the first time, but Denisa already a veteran, leading the way. The school (officially ‘Şcoala pentru Deficienţi de Vedere’), a short walk away from IBSB, was founded in 1957 and has visually impaired students from all over Romania.

We run our Book Club with a 5th grade class of eight students, of which five are present that day. We get to know each other through a little fun game and with the help of a neon pink jelly dinosaur toy. It works like this: each person says their name and an adjective that starts with the name letter, and then passes the dinosaur on to someone else. In the second round it gets a bit harder: to pass the dinosaur on to someone else you have to repeat their name and the adjective they chose and describes them. We thus find out, for example, that Elena is enthusiastic, Anita is adventurous, and Alex is ambitious.

After everyone gets acquainted I ask the kids what happened in the story so far as I had missed the first session. Elena lets me know that they are reading the Hunchback of Notre Dame and in the first chapter a group of people has gathered to celebrate the Feast of Fools. I then read on to the next chapter in which we find out that the crowd is trying to elect a Pope of Fools through a contest to decide who can pull off the funniest grimace. To get the kids to better imagine the scene we ask them to make funny faces out of clay, to shape their own contestant for the Feast of Fools.

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The result is a range of different, but very amusing figures, which have long noses or pointy ears or even funny hats. We then ask the children to elect a Pope of Fools from amongst the figures and Alex’s figure, which has large ears and a funny crooked mouth, wins by three votes.

Denisa reads on, starting with the description of Quasimodo, the titular character of the book. As she reads his description we ask the kids to make Quasimodo’s face out of clay and although they have different interpretations of it, as all readers do, similar elements such as his triangular nose can be found in all the shapes they make. We find out that Quasimodo is elected Pope of Fools and it is no surprise: as can be seen from the clay figures the children made- his grimace is the funniest.

We then talk a bit about the importance of punctuation and as Ms Croci reads on we do a little exercise. Every time there is a comma in the text the kids have to clap, and every time there is a full stop they have to tap their desks. This proves a very amusing activity and although they hesitate the first time when identifying commas, they soon get the hang of it and we have a lot of fun reading the rest of the chapter.

It’s hard to say goodbye to the kids, but we promise to come back after the holidays and they say they are looking forward to the next book club when we will find out who the mysterious Esmeralda is.

Ruxandra Rogojinaru (Year 13)

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SPORTS 26

Football Victory

Last Season’s Champions, the IBSB U11 Team got off to another good start this season with yet another win under their belt.

Up against the ISB U11 Team in their first fame of the season, IBSB showed they are still a force to content with, winning their game convincingly 5-1.

Well done to Mr Paul Georgescu and the team. We wish you well in your future games.

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Girls Football IBSB Enjoy First 'All Girls' Football Tournament IBSB took away two teams to the inaugural International Schools Girls’ Football Tournament, on Saturday, January 17.

Although our teams were newly formed and relatively inexperienced, their abounding enthusiasm served the girls well as they played against some well-trained and organised opponents.

Ms Becky and Mr Ennion both said they left the tournament feeling very proud of the girls’ achievement, noting we have two superb goalkeepers in Melissa and Meea, two reliable defenders in Lara and Kathleen, and also some skilful midfielders in Alina, Elian, and Kiki. They would also like to remind all the girls that the Girls Football Club will start again in the summer term.

Interestingly, the most memorable game came when IBSB A Team played against IBSB B Team. Our A Team thought they Thank all the parents who came along to support, and had sealed victory before the B team scored an equalizing goal especially Deva (Pre-School) who was the biggest IBSB in the dying seconds to for a well-earned 1-1 draw. And in the supporter on the day. final game of the day, IBSB’s B team played incredibly well to earn a 0-0 draw with ISB. Peter Ennion/Rebecca Hunter Girls Football Coaches

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Triathlon Fever

The Mad, the Bad, and the lightly Clad There are changes going on in our very midst of our school community as triathlon fever slowly takes hold of the unsuspecting. One moment you are warmly snuggled up in your bed, with no intention of being anywhere else, and the next you find yourself standing amid a crowd of crazed fitness fanatics, ready to brave the elements wearing nothing but a thin layer of tightly fitting lycra, waiting for the starters gun.

Ahead lies a 5km run through a muddy forest, a 12km cycle in the chilly morning air, and after all that, when the energy levels are at their lowest ebb, a dip in the Olympics swimming pool to knock off 500 metres, and all before lunch. What’s it all about you ask? The answer is the first triathlon of the year– the Winter Tri Challenge– which rallied some 30-40 IBSB participants and supporters out to Izvoran on Saturday, March 28th.: www.trichallenge.ro/wintertri Who’s to blame for this apparent onset of dementia and madness that seems to be gaining momentum? None other than Mr Paul Georgescu and his growing cohort of enthusiasts, including Head of Secondary Robert Hewett (Who came first in his age group and fourth overall), Silvia Hewett (4th in her age group), and long list of IBSB students staff and parents in the team relays. Even our Head of School, Mr Peet has been infected and was seen splashing in the pool to bring his team home in 15th place.

IBSB Participants Winter Tri 2015 IBSB Team 1 Time 1:19:45 Alina Barbu Student Victor Cristea Student Anton Zamfir Student IBSB Parent Team 2 Time 1:19:08 Andrei Minculete Student Al Kamara Parent Kendall Peet Staff

IBSB Team 3 Cristina Amariti Gabi Ghita Marius Roates IBSB Parent Team 1 Madalina Alba Sorin Cristea Sorin Cristea IBSB Parent Team 3 Adela Rusu Vlad Rusu Cristi Sporis IBSB Men's Team Claudiu Dinculescu Ralph Khachouk Claudiu Dinculescu IBSB Team 2 Andreea Albu Mihnea Radulescu Ana Cristescu

Time 1:21:43 Parent Parent Parent Time 1:29:21 Parent Parent Parent Time 1:31:40 Parent Parent Parent Time 1:29:27 Student Student Student Time Student Student Student

19th Run Cycle Swim 25th Run Cycle Swim 26th Run Cycle Swim 30th Run Cycle Swim Run Cycle Swim

All that remains to be said is a BIG “THANK YOU’ to Mr Georgescu for raising us from our slumber.

See you all at the Triathlon "Fara asfalt" at 2 Mai-Vama Veche May 30.

7th Run Cycle Swim 15th Run Cycle Swim 29

WHITEBOARD 30

Head of Primary Letter One of the many delights of coming to IBSB each day is the way in which we are greeted by our wonderful children, always ready with a beaming smile and a big hug. I witness acts of kindness on a daily basis, where children notice that somebody in their class is unhappy, and seek ways of supporting and helping them. Relationships are not always positive, and the boundaries we set for behaviour can be pushed, but reflection and empathy are constantly promoted and it is impressive to see children work out for themselves ways of putting things right, and learning from the mistakes they make.

Throughout our curriculum relationships have an underlying importance. Whatever the topic, there are always opportunities to think of people of different cultures and different times, to understand different ways of life, to learn to respect people wherever they come from and to respect the world in which we live. By working in groups, in pairs, independently and as a class we learn to complement each other, use strengths and support weaknesses, respect our differences. We have been developing the Religion component of our PSHE programme to ensure that by the time children leave the Primary School they are aware of the beliefs and customs of the world’s main religions, so that awareness and understanding promote tolerance and acceptance.

One of our most important resources is of course our parents, and we very much appreciate the contribution that you all bring to our life in school. Our children have benefited from first-hand experience of festivals including Hanukkah and Diwali, and learned more about countries that they will perhaps never visit in ways that books and the internet are unable to provide. This enrichment of our curriculum is so valuable.

Educational Visits are another essential part of our programme, whether planned to provide a fun day at Christmas time (and perhaps not compliant with our healthy eating policies) or extending the Science classroom into a park. The residential visits at the end of this academic year are so vital for all our children, to the extent that we are looking to change the timing of them to increase the benefits of all.

Recurrent throughout our year are also our performances, beginning with class assemblies, culminating in our EYFS/KS1 show at Christmas and undergoing preparation for the KS2 show at the end of this term. More and more the children themselves take responsibility for the inspiration, creation and rehearsal of class presentations and it is particularly rewarding to discover a sense of humour that pervades. Very often performance skills are the last to be developed, but not in our Primary School! How privileged we judges were to be able to witness eloquent and informative public speakers from across Bucharest, not least our own talented students, and how lovely to finish term 1 in a full school celebration of Christmas at the Anglican Church.

Yes, our curriculum is underpinned by English and Maths, but as you can see there are many other aspects, just as important. Whilst having the confidence that we provide opportunities for all our children to acquire skills and knowledge across a breadth of subjects, let’s turn to Albert Einstein, the subject of a fascinating Powerpoint presentation created by one of our Year 4 EAL students, who stated that “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Ms Stephanie Jones Head of Primary

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Reception & Pre-School The EYFS children have experienced varied hands-on activities this term, meant to facilitate their understanding of the world around or of different mathematical concepts.

They were happy to experiment with shaving foam, which gave children the joy of having fun and playing together.

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They also had the chance to practise their (pre-) writing abilities, as well.

We also prepared delicious cereal nests, which offered us the possibility to talk about changes- freezing and melting- and measures. Everybody enjoyed their cooking!

Year 1 This term in Year 1 we have begun our topic of Country and Culture. The children have started learning about the continents, climate zones, and habitats, along with the foods and traditions in other countries around the world. They used an atlas to locate the continents and learn about the basic features of a map, including what the equator means. When we studied climate zones by looking at the weather and plants found there, the children placed the animals in the correct habitat. They even made a basic food web with

carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. In Art, we painted a replica of a landscape by a famous Romanian painter, Camil Ressu and we also painted the Olypmic rings to symbolise the unity between different countries around the world. Later on we will plan a fictional holiday and decide what kinds of clothing we would need to take with us and plan our method of transportation to get there. It is sure to be a lot of fun and a great global experience!

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Year 2 A & B

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Stories are everywhere. They are the fabric of life. This has certainly been true in Year 2 this term as we have delved into the wonderful worlds of ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, ‘The Three Little Pigs’, ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, and ‘Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.

Teachers were there to guide and facilitate, but it was ultimately down to the children to decide what they wanted to do and how. The results were fantastic and enjoyed by children across the primary school in performance after performance.

The children started off thinking about characters and settings as they wrote their own version of the Bear Hunt story and then produced their own books complete with barcodes and price tags! They then spent a truly inspiring week working in small groups to produce their own puppet shows about the three little pigs.

The links with geography, science, and history practically wrote themselves as we learned about the properties of materials, physical and human features in the environment and the lives of the Grimm Brothers. At the end of term we planted our magic beans (in different combinations of light, water and soil) and waited for the beanstalks to grow. In retrospect we might have been better off keeping the cow!

Year 3 Year 3 are studying volcanoes and earthquakes as the theme for this term. As part of our cross-curricular topic we combined our knowledge of earthquakes so far with creating our own earthquake proof structures! Students learned how engineers construct buildings to withstand damage from earthquakes by building their own structures with toothpicks and marshmallows.

Each child tested how earthquake-proof their buildings were by placing them on an earthquake simulated in a pan of jelly.

The bottom of the pan was tapped to simulate compression or primary waves. It was a shaky but enjoyable experience for the children!

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Year 4 A & B The year is flying by as our Year 4 children mature into independent learners and find new ways of extending their knowledge and skills both in the classroom and at home.

Many children have created presentations at home, the best of those being when they use their own words and design their own layouts.

A half term topic on ‘Transport’ provided opportunities for Year 4 to be Scientists, investigating the effect of different surfaces and mass on friction and making their own circuits with switches; to be Historians researching the first forms of transport, with the wheel in around 3,500 BCE, through to

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inventions in the 19th century that led to the transport of today, and then imagining the transport of the future; to be Geographers, focusing particularly on mountain trains in Peru, Wales, and India. Stories from other cultures enlivened our reading and writing and took us to other parts of the world. Our Educational Visit allowed all of us to use our creative talents designing plates, which are no doubt occupying pride of place in the home.

Now in Rome, we look forward to more discoveries and adventures. Valete!

Year 5 The human body

Year 5 Activities

This term Year 5 has been learning in science about the human body. Firstly, we learned about how the heart pumps blood to all the different parts of the body. In class we played a game where we were the blood and two children were different parts of the body. We wrote a paragraph about what we know about the circulation system. We went to test the pulse rate after running two minutes. After we finished the experiment we returned to class and recorded our results on a line graph.

Year 5 have been very active this term. We started by playing a circulation game where we had to understand how the body works, with different people being the lungs, the heart, the brain and other organs. Everyone else were the blood.

We were also taught about the respiratory system. Some have stronger lungs because they do more exercise. The plasma, in our blood, is another thing we were taught. It’s a yellow liquid which contains platelets, white blood cells and red blood cells. We got to understand how our body works.

That’s not all, we also learnt about different myths and legends. Miss Becky made activities where all these amazing topics were combined. For example we mixed different animal bodies to create our own mythical creatures.

Myths and Legends This term, in cross-curricular, we learnt about Myths and Legends. We did an assembly about Greek gods. We also learned about Roman gods and studied two famous myths: Perseus and Medusa, and Theseus and the Minotaur. I can tell this was a very interesting term with an interesting title.

By Millie and Medeea

By Ion and Or

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Year 6

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This year, we have been able to take part in many art and design activities. Following our Aztecs topic, we were challenged to create our own imaginary civilisations, complete with capital city! Here you can see models made by Meea and Ioana.

We have also found time for more traditional styles of art.

After examining Wildly Dancing Children by Emil Nolde, the students tried to recreate the effects of movement by using careful paint strokes and blending colours. You can see that Alexandra, Matei and Ion had great success!

Another interesting task was to design a “wordle” (look it up on Google) based on a survey about science fiction. Basically, the results of the survey were converted into areas of rectangles which were then drawn and filled with carefully designed letters spelling out each word. This task required maths knowledge, drawing skills, and experiments with shading and colours.

Matei and Ion also designed and made their own periscopes at home, following our science topic about light and vision.

So you can see that Year 6 are always able to incorporate some extra creativity into their studies, and we’re sure there’ll be more to come!

ESU Public Speaking ESU Regional Primary School Public Speaking Competition

The final IBSB placements from the 8-11 Regionals are as follows:

Every year the students in both the Primary and the Honourable Mentions: Ana Cristescu (Year 6), Melissa Secondary school prepare and give speeches in front of their Aydogan (Year 6), Meea Stanca (Year 6), class, with the best speakers going on to compete in a school 3rd place prizes: Maria Sticlea (Year 5), & Aryan final. From here the best 8 students are selected to go on to Agarwal (Year 5), compete in the regional ESU Public Speaking Competition, which this year included more than 130 students from some 2nd place prizes: Shashwat Kumar (Year 6), Matei 25 schools across Bucharest.

Atimariti (Year 6), & Beatriz Souza (Year 5).

Public speaking is an important part of the IBSB programme, All 8 of our students were placed in the competition and as helping to develop confidence and an important life skill, and such deserve a big congratulations! in so doing providing students with a challenging experience A special thank you to Mr Ennion and Ms Hunter for and a real sense of achievement. preparing the students and to Ms Hewett, Ms Jones, and Mr Peet for helping out on the day.

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Primary Ski Trip Diary Day 1 The Primary School Ski Trip got off to a good start with plenty of snow and sunshine welcoming us upon our arrival. Once arrived and settled in to our accommodation, we wasted no little and were soon out again on the slopes for some afternoon skiing, managing to squeeze in a good two hours skiing and boarding, which was a good way to start the trip: the beginners began, the intermediates got back in the groove, and the advanced group put the rest of us to shame.

The day ended in the pool, enjoying some down time, with many children feeling rather tired after a full day, ready for an early night‌we hope!

Smiles from Poiana.

Day 3

Another full day of skiing today and although the weather has turned a lot colder, the snow is wonderful and the sun has been shining in a blue, cloudless sky. The slopes are not too crowded and our excellent instructors have been working hard We will all sleep well tonight! to make sure all children are improving their skiing and having a lot of fun in the process. Today was Ioana's birthday and after dinner we were treated to a birthday cake big enough to Day 2 feed us all handsomely with more to spare! La Multi Ani, Today all the children we eager to get their boots and skis on, Ioana. We also spent some time in the Kids Club Playroom keen for an early start...even forgetting gloves, hats, and other where the ball pit was the most popular activity by far (for kids items in their rooms (which meant the teachers had to run of all ages). Let’s see what tomorrow has in stall. More fun on around the hotel collecting everything up!). the snow no doubt!

Out on the slopes we were greeted with the early morning sunshine and smiling faces from our instructors. The beginners learnt how to turn, stop, and generally move on the skis; the intermediates spent the day practising their skiing skills; and the advanced group had an exciting day exploring the various slopes Pioana Brasov has to offer.

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Day 4 Wednesday was another wonderful sunny day in Poiana Brasov with excellent skiing conditions and lots of happy skiiers. We have eaten well and made the most of the hotel pool after a long day on the slopes. After dinner the children organised themselves into groups to prepare for the big finale - the annual IBSB Talent Show. Can anyone top the fantastic Day 5 acts from last year's extravaganza? Watch this space to find Its Day 5- our last full day on the slopes- and we keep on out! rolling, rolling, rolling. We are very proud to say the beginners made it to the top of the mountain and came down slowly and smoothly. A successful couple of first runs. With our wonderful ski trip coming to an end, everyone had to take part in the timed slalom, with some very quick times from different pupils. As it was our last night, our pupils shone with other talents in the Annual Talent Show! We had some comedy acts, acting, jokes, and even a wonderful poem from Mr Quysner, whilst Ms Becky used her powers to make everyone smile.

So after a long day all pupils headed off to bed to pack and sleep. We look forward to our last runs tomorrow.

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SCHOOL EVENTS 42

Caledonian Ball This year, like the years before, we had the opportunity and honour to be invited to the marvellous Caledonian Ball. This happened to be my first year experiencing such a remarkable charity event It all started out with the Scottish dance rehearsals every Sunday night at 8 o’clock; the first time I attended it was all a hassle: every dance move was so confusing to me and even though the ever so patient dance instructors tried to help me along with the perplexing dance pattern, I was a complete and utter mess. However next time I came to the dance lessons, everything seemed familiar and every step I took was more often than not correct. Scottish dancing might seem like a complete enigma at first, however, with practice you end up enjoying the lively and cheerful dance and you have the chance to meet a wide variety of people as you constantly switch partners. By the last rehearsal our team (made up of Cora, Maria M., Zoe, Seb Z, Andrew, Andrei D, Steve and I) were confident we wouldn’t step on each others’ toes (too much)!

Fast forward to the night of the ball. We all met in the fabulous foyer of the Intercontinental hotel. We were greeted with calming jazz music and everyone was so elegant: the women in their picturesque dresses, alongside their partners, in their sleek and finely tailored suits; it was as if you had fallen mysteriously into the era of the Roaring Twenties. Finally, we realised our time had come as we started hearing the bagpipes beginning to play, and so with our hearts beating out of our chest (at least this was the case with me), we took our positions and began to dance the “Eightsome Reel”- the dance for which we had practiced countless times.

It was completely exhilarating as we were the only ones dancing, with all eyes were on us. Thankfully it all went well!

We’d like to think the audience laughed with us, not at us...

As we had used up our 15 minutes of fame within the night, we were took to our table, where we were served delicious Scottish cuisine! The haggis was without doubt the highlight of the dinner; I have always wanted to try it, and I can honestly recommend it to everyone. It’s a-ma-zing!

After the meal, the auction began... The “Light into Europe” outdid themselves with the spectacular items that they offered for everyone to bid for, some of them being a weekend for twelve people in a castle in England with all types of facilities, a champagne breakfast in Cannes for a lucky couple, a yearly supply of beer or the privilege to name a puppy which will be trained as a guide dog. I believe the highest bid for the last one was 1000 Euros. The bids were a massive success and raised thousand of Euros for this wonderful charitable trust; Mr. Peet also did an excellent job encouraging those present to bid for a good cause!

As the night went on and the adults had a couple of more drinks, it was time for everyone to attempt to dance.

Everybody was shown how to perform the dances and from then on everyone danced the night away, especially Mr. Hewett in his “Oh so Scottish” kilt! The night ended up being spectacular and it is all due to Mr Platt’s amazing effort and his contribution in trying to make Bucharest a friendlier place for people with sight issues. Everybody from our dancing team was delighted to be invited to such an incredible event!

Maria Ion (Year 11)

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Scottish music at IBSB This week a number of students at IBSB were treated to very special visit from a wonderful Scottish music group over from Inverness for the Caledonian Ball, who took the time to stop by to offer a concert in the Primary School during the their Monday afternoon assembly, and to run a Scottish session for the students from Key Stage 3. The musicians Fiona, Mischa, Conal and Innes won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award earlier this year (See www.mischamacphersontrio.com).

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It was an honour to have them as guests at IBSB. We would like to say thank you to Stan Platt and the Light into Europe Charity for making this visit possible. It was a truly enriching experience for all the students and staff and we are already looking for to the next Light into Europe Ball.

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Winter Show A BIG thank you to all the students and supporting staff for putting on yet another great Winter Show this year, which took place at the Tandarica Theatre on Friday, December 12th. The EYFS Carols, the Key Stage 1 Play ‘Christmas with the Aliens’ and the Secondary School Eclectic Compilation of shorts entertaining Skits were all warmly received.

In total over 3000 lei was raised to go to the Student Council who will allocate the money to the various CAS projects. 5000 euros was also donated on the night by BCR to the Curtea Veche Community Project to help raise literacy levels in poor communities throughout Romanian by ensuring children in these areas have access to books.

Thank you also to the many parents who donated food for the PTF Bake Sale and/or something for the Winter Show Charity Raffle.

All in all, a night very much enjoyed by all and a lot of good achieved for the local community.

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London Art Another year another Art Trip, but this time we were joined by some of the EAL Students. We returned again to the bright lights of the UK Capital, London for a week of Art Galleries, Museums, sightseeing and, of course, fun!

Our hotel was perfectly placed in Russell Square, allowing us to see as many sites as we could, returning in the evening to sample the large selection of delicious restaurants in the area.

Our whirlwind six day trip meant we got to see Art exhibitions at Tate Modern, Hayward Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, as well as some smaller west end galleries.

We also visited The Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, and The Science Museum. One evening we went to the Christmas Markets along the Thames, another evening we spent at the fairground in Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park. The last night we went to see the hilariously funny musical 'Wicked' at London's Apollo Theater, Victoria: a musical based on the witches from the Wizard of Oz.

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& EAL Trip The highlight though, has to be the Harry Potter Tour at Warner Brothers Studios in Leavesden, just outside London. Here we got to see behind the scenes of the making of the iconic series. We saw the original scenery, props, and costumes which were all created specifically for the film. We even tried the Butter Beer and a few of us bought Magic Wands! An amazing experience and you really get to appreciate the amount of work and the number of people, who work on these productions.

Overall a fun and memorable trip had by all.

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Winter Ball 2014 On the 4th of December, 2014, the Secondary School students all went to the charming Sky Bar Dorobanti to enjoy a nice evening together, with a lot of different James Bond related activities and dance.

That was the moment; the moment we all found out we actually have a lot of future actors and actresses in our school.! We then had a little break from the activities, where a lot of pictures were taken and a lot of dancing was done.

The event started at 19:00, and for the first time, key Stage 3, 4 and 5 all stayed until 23:00. The occasion started with was a heart-warming moment between Toni in Year 7 and Anisia in year 8, in which he gave her a lovely bouquet of flowers.

We all enjoyed dancing so much that the Student Council had some difficulty getting everyone to return to doing the activities planned for the night. However, once the activities started again, everybody was back to being very interested in them. We then had the announcement of the prince and princess: Anisia and Toni! Congratulations to them! It’s true, the couple that started the night also ended it.

The theme was James Bond, and the Student Council organised some entertaining activities for people to amuse themselves with.

The first activity was for the younger ones- couple dancing.

The Key Stage 3 students had a lot of fun dancing with their friends. They then had to act out a couple of scenes from one of the James Bond’s movies.

Overall, I would like to congratulate the Student Council and the Event’s Committee, with a special mention of Zoe, Vladimir, Andrew, Andrei Dogaru, and Catrinel for having organised such an amazing night for everyone.

Maria Sousa (Year 11)

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Parent Workshops Each month at IBSB there are Parent Workshops offered to help support parents in the process of raising their children. There are works for parents in EYFS and Key Stage 1, run by Manuela Constantine, on the Second Wednesday of each month, 8.459.45am, and Whole School Parents Workshops run by our Student Counsellor, Aida Ivan, which take place each half term on a Monday, 4.30-5.30pm. Tea and coffee is provided and there is always time at the end of the presentation for questions and answers and a friendly chat with the teacher and other parents.

Some topics coming up in 2015: Feb 11 Building Resilience in Young Children Feb 23 Effective Communication – Tackling sensitive issues (death, sexuality, etc.)

Mar 30 Moral dilemmas for children/teens - Case studies Apr 27 Challenges in modern parenting styles May 25 The future of my child – career education at home

If you are interested in attending one of these workshops, please email: manuela.constantin@ibsb.ro aida.ivan@ibsb.ro

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Bonfire Night Every year we celebrate Bonfire Night on November the 5th to commemorate the capture of Guy Fawkes due to his traitorous plot to blow up the Parliament, which would have ultimately killed King James I, for his Catholic beliefs. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bonfire Night happened on the 7th of October, once again in the Crowne Plaza Gardens< As most of the international schools were invited, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet up with old friends and catch up with old acquaintances- the extremely delicious scent of mulled wine was in the air accompanied by the exceptional food offered, making for a good night out for all present.

embraces them, toddlers running around and playing pretend, whilst the adults laugh at the punch line of some bad joke. The whole concept behind this memorable night is to bring the international community together and have a blast, whilst raising funds for access to education and a better life for the Romanian children affected by sight and hearing disabilities. Even though there was no Guy Fawkes figurine created by schools this year to uphold the tradition, it was still an outstanding night in the shivering breeze of the upcoming winter.

Maria Ion (Year 11)

What makes this event so special is the act of friends getting together and conversing as the warmth of the majestic fire

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Debating 54

1st place - Sir Winston Churchill Classic 3rd place - COBIS World Championships The IBSB team achieved their target of going one better than last year, reaching the Semi Finals of the COBIS World Debating Competition this year. And this on top of winning the Sir Winston Churchill Classic held in Bucharest earlier this academic year!

Having beaten the COBIS champions for the previous two years running, BSN (British School of the Netherlands), the team lost the Semi Final to the Mexican School, Edron Academy, who went on to win the Competition and were clearly the best team this year (they are already champions in the World School debating Championships). Everyone agreed, the standard of debating is getting higher and higher each year. The IBSB team worked hard for a number of weeks and weekends and then put in an outstanding effort this weekend against tough competition all the way.

Moreover, it was the first time Sebastian Zamfirescu, Andrea Serban and Vladimir Stanoi had debated at COBIS. As so called-veterans, Andrei (Dogaru) and I strategized all the way through. We had that in mind as a target. Debating is not just a bunch of people in a room on two opposite sides saying things that they read off the internet. Aside from every single minute we spent researching topics already set and possible topics for the impromptu debates, we also had to make sure that everything, from our attire (much to the boys' dismay), as well as our image as a team was , as the expression goes, "on point".

Overall, we were as proud as can be of the extensive progress visible as we advanced through each and every round (and trust me, there were enough of those). Debating has helped all of us improve in the area of public speaking and critical thinking. It is in its nature to do so for they are two very important elements of it.

To be completely and utterly honest, the whole preparation for COBIS as sixth-formers was a whirlwind. It taught us to prepare in advance and that the work we put in actually pays off. We also made new friends from all over the world, which is another important part of the debating competitions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at the end of the day, regardless of who wins or loses, we can all agree that we forged new friendships.

I would like to thank everyone on the 2014-2015 school debating teamfor a wonderful experience. Our amazing debating coaches Ms Blessy and Mr Afzal deserve a big thank you for their continuous support, together with Mr Peet for his valuable input and moral support. I can only hope that the students taking part in debating in the following years will have as much fun as we have had.

Zoe Smarandoiu (Year 13) Debate Captain

The team was amazing. It was most amazing because, aside from The Winston Churchill Debate (which IBSB won this year for the second time in three years), it was the first time we debated in this formation. Our school was always admired during competitions for being a close-knit team.

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SCHOOL VIEWS 56

Importance of Maths We decided to carry out a class interview to answer the question: ‘Why is mathematics important?’ Here are a few of the answers from some of the students in our school:

“Could you ever imagine a day in your life without this subject? Math is one skill that you have to master”- Anda (Year 7A)

“The matter of life is an equation which you have to solve to fulfill yourself”.–Tony (Year 7B)

“Maths affects every single part of our life!”- Marius (Year 7A)

“Mathematics develops analytical, logical, and problem skills in the subject itself and everyday life.” – Ioana B (Year 8)

“Without Maths you are a puppet!”- Andrei (Year 7A)

“Mathematics is all around us, believe it or not! And we should take into consideration its value”- Kiki (Year 9) “In Math if you do something wrong you can erase it and start over again, but in life you can’t erase it, you simply learn from the experience”.- Yunus (Year 9) “Math is more than you’d even imagine; its everything and everywhere”- Marina (Year 7B) ‘Mathematics is important in day to day life because if more kids know Math, when they become adults, the next generations will be smarter and will have more advanced technology”.- Olivia (Year 7A) “Maths gives you the satisfaction that you are smart and can do whatever you want in this world, it’s true!’- Tamara (Yr 7A) “Our life and health depends on Maths”- Sophia (Year 7A) “Mathematics helps you understand things in your life, but also in other subjects”- Luca (Year 7A)

“Mathematics helps you in everyday life with your problems– it enables you to solve them easily. It affects your life by making it better!”- Nico (Year 7A) “Maths gives logical thinking and paves way to scientific reasoning. From small electronic gadgets like calculators, mobile phones and laptops to measuring distances between planets, starts and countless galaxies, mathematical calculations have their impact everywhere”- Vinayak (Year 8) “Maths is more than a stepping stone towards achieving the insights of other similar subjects such as Science, and even Music and P.E. Maths must be learned in a realistic way!”Gekko (Year 8) “Maths helps us count the money for everything you need to buy”- Anisia (Year 8) “You see, without math we just cannot live or survive. How much you want to run away from it, it’s like a boomerang, it comes back.”Alexia Savin (Year 8)

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2014 Presidential Overview I am writing this article in retrospective of the 2014 Romanian Presidential Elections. This was a phenomenon that intrigued me, angered me, but also made me feel proud of my country. For these reasons, I felt compelled to write an article in the TIV giving my own view – a student view – of the elections: what happened, why, and what the effects on the future of Romanian politics might be.

I am splitting this article into 3 main sections: the current one or the overview of what happened, including my own analysis of the event, the next one about my own experience of the elections from the perspective of my voluntary work at Monica Macovei’s campaign, with the last section containing an interview with her.

Pre-Elections Syndrome Every four or five years – five in the case of Romania – a country goes through what I like to call the “Pre-Election Syndrome” – not the most original name, but it’ll do.

Although rather self-explanatory, it refers to the agitation, anxiety and tension the majority of the population feels leading up to the election of a new head of state. I felt it this year more than ever, alongside many of my fellow countrymen. Partly why I felt it now more than before was because this year I was a bit of an insider: I volunteered to help out in one of the candidates’ political campaigns: Monica Macovei’s. But more on that later in the article.

If we were to plot on a graph agitation over time, it would look something like this hypothetical model:

It manifests itself just like the autumn flu: in the early stages, between weeks 7 and 10, it comes mildly and goes away quickly in repetitive cycles: there’s a talk show about the elections here and there, maybe an article or two; it doesn’t affect your life too much. Then, after weeks 4 and 6, it gets progressively worse: media coverage is more and more frequent and you and your friends have regular talks about it over a coffee. Then the political campaigns start in week 4, marking the intensification of discussions over what are now two or three coffees, and media focusing on predictions, interviews and supporting some candidates while criticising others, dividing public opinion. It hits hardest in the two weeks leading up to the elections, when discussions become passionate debates, talk-shows become political soap operas, and shocking opinion polls are published. Everyone is wound up. Then, as the weeks pass, the waters start to calm down and the agitation trend line starts falling.

The latest elections were in my opinion the most interesting so far, both from a sociological and political perspective. I also feel that this time, more than in any other elections, all candidates had one major supporter at their disposal: the internet. More specifically, Facebook.

The war of likes In the first round of voting, Ponta had 40.4% of the votes and Iohannis had 30.4% of the votes – a 10% difference. By the second round everything changed radically: Iohannis gained 54.4% of the votes and Ponta had 45.5% - almost a 10% difference.

It is not uncommon for politicians to make Facebook pages; quite the opposite: it would be strange for them not to! But what is uncommon – or was until now – is for their pages to play such an important role in the outcome of the elections.

Klaus Iohannis, one of the candidates, became the politician with the most liked page in Europe (at the time of the elections), and, not coincidentally, went on to become the next President of Romania.

It is a no-brainer as to why the politicians choose to use Facebook: it is free, it can be updated easily and the information reaches a ridiculously large audience ridiculously fast, more than any billboard can. In one word: the epitome of efficiency. But why did it have such an impact? I’ll have a go at an explanation.

In Romania, there are 7.8 million Facebook users. 82.9% or 6.47 million of these are between the ages of 18 and 54. 11.3 million people voted in round 2, the decisive round of the

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Elections elections. Out of these, 58% or 6.55 million were aged between 18 and 49. At a quick comparison of these figures, it is safe to conclude that the majority of those who voted had a Facebook account, since the 18-49/54 age group is the largest both of Facebook users and of the voting population.

In sum, the younger generations were the majority when voting and also in terms of Facebook accounts. Iohannis and Macovei especially targeted this age group, focusing on corruption and Romania’s future, whereas Ponta appealed to the older generation, focusing on pensions and the likes. This was my impression at least.

In the first round, the results showed that Facebook and the message of Iohannis’ campaign did not have such an effect on his target audience. The youth probably remained indifferent, resulting in a quite disappointing presence to voting of 52.3%. But then came the diaspora scandal…

The game changer

Nothing changed in the second round of voting and by the afternoon of the 16th of November, massive queues at voting booths from abroad were being televised. This in my opinion was the catalyst of change, that alerted the younger generation (and not only) to go cast their vote. If it wasn’t for this instigator that gained momentum on Facebook, fuelling the anger both of the diaspora and of the Romanians in Romania, then in my view the results from round one of voting would have remained consistent in round two as well.

It would explain the increase of the voting presence from 52.3% to 62%, again a 10% difference. There seems to be something special about this 10% figure!

The result was therefore that many people did not necessarily vote for Iohannis, but rather against Ponta, who was blamed for the poor organisation of the diaspora voting (as the government he led as Prime Minister is responsible for overseeing the voting process – a rather questionable practice if you ask me; not in Romania specifically but anywhere in the world really – for complete transparency I believe there should be a special politically independent institution overseeing the process, but that’s perhaps another article). This is also the reason for why about 10,000 people gathered first in Piata Victoriei and then moved to Piata Universitatii to protest as a sign of solidarity with the diaspora. Posters from Ponta’s campaign were taken down and stomped. Iohannis also did not miss this opportunity to boost his popularity by joining the protest, making his way through the crowd soon after the voting process stopped.

Monica Macovei also travelled to London to vote there, waiting in line for hours alongside many other Romanians.

Queues of thousands of people (source: gandul.info) It started off as a protest of about 100 people in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, who at the time recently got the news that Romanians abroad – the diaspora – could not all cast their vote in round one of the elections. This was because of massive queues at the Romanian embassies as a result of insufficient operating voting sections and the existing ones not having enough stamps. Voting had to stop everywhere in accordance with the law at a local time of 9pm on November 2nd, leaving up to thousands of Romanians unable to vote, standing disappointed and angered in the streets of large European cities such as Rome, London and Paris. This of course caused outrage both in Romania and abroad, which was quickly picked up by Romanian media, becoming a popular topic on Facebook as well, particularly with Iohannis’ and Macovei’s target audience.

Protest conjuring up in Piata Victoriei

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2014 Presidential What happens now?

A little over three months have passed since Romania has a new president. Although it is too early to speak of change, what we can speak of are prospects for the future.

to talk a little about who Monica Macovei is.

She started off as a prosecutor in the 1980s until 1997,

In my opinion, Iohannis seems to be a promising president.

He is definitely a change – let’s hope that for the better. It will be interesting to see how much he will be able to achieve by the end of his first mandate. His message was that he envisions a “normal” Romania: corruption free, better healthcare systems, better schools, economic reform, etc.; all of which are achievable if they are followed through thoroughly and fairly as he promises.

The justice system for one seems to be finally functioning as it is supposed to; let’s hope it stays on track and it does not deviate into an abusive system or into what it used to be. The healthcare and education systems have not yet been properly discussed in parliament, but as I said it’s still early days (that and they were busy lifting the immunity of the former Tourist Minister Elena Udrea so that she can be investigated and arrested preventively as she faces corruption and money laundering charges).

It will also be interesting to see if Iohannis can successfully negotiate Romania’s entry in the Schengen area. Following through with our country’s target of adopting the Euro by 2019 (the last year of his mandate unless he is re-elected) will also be one of the challenges Iohannis faces and I for one am curious to see how he will manage it. It will also be interesting to see how his plan to increase government spending on national defence evolves in light of the conflictual context of our neighbouring country Ukraine, but hopefully there will be no correlation between the two.

Overall, what civilians and politicians alike can learn from these elections is that the power of social media can no longer be underestimated. It cost Ponta his position as President for one. Social media will definitely become a major part of politics as it will be used as a tool for politicians to market themselves and their policies, but also for shaping public opinion. And I am not a big fan of the sound of that; not that there is something seriously wrong with politicians using social media, but rather that this sounds a bit too much like propaganda. It can be benign, or not.

Monica Macovei’s campaign I mentioned earlier in the article that I did voluntary work last year in Monica Macovei’s campaign for presidency.

Before I go on about my experience there, it would be useful 60

working in the Romanian criminal justice system. She then trained to become a lawyer and also worked in various NGOs and European institutions as a human rights activist. Then, from 2004 until 2007 she became the Romanian Minister of Justice, being credited with invigorating the National Anticorruption Directorate, giving it the authority and political independence it has today. She is now a member of the European Parliament and in 2012 she was declared the most active member out of over 750, with 35 reports passed.

In a (rather small) nutshell, this is who Monica Macovei is.

The main reason for why I decided to get involved in her campaign was because I was curious to see what exactly lies behind that billboard on the street, that Facebook post or that slogan that becomes the candidate’s mantra. It turns out that the answer is, not surprisingly, a lot of hard work.

I joined their campaign in early October, when the main focus was on gathering signatures from the general public.

Romanian law requires that an independent candidate (Monica Macovei did not run for president as part of a political party) must gather at least 200,000 signatures to be taken into account as a candidate for presidency.

Fortunately, they already gathered enough signatures by the time I joined them and so I helped with filing the papers and numbering pages – administrative jobs. I also assisted the lady at the reception, interacting with the public. I did small tasks like internet research or as I said filing paperwork, but

Elections nonetheless I still observed what was going on around me. I was very pleasantly surprised to see how many people were willing to get involved and how enthusiastic they were about it! What also amazed me was that almost everyone at Macovei’s campaign was a volunteer: they willingly gave up their free time and they weren’t paid for their hard work – the only incentive they had was their eagerness to help change Romanian politics. I say I was amazed to see so many volunteers working towards a common goal, but I shouldn’t have been that amazed: there is at this time too little voluntary activity of this sort going on. Or if there is, it is not given enough credit. The volunteers there worked probably harder than people in paid jobs.

The atmosphere at the campaign offices was always welcoming and friendly, but at the same time everyone was working: there was no lazing around. But the most exciting day I had during the campaign was the day of the first round of the elections, the 2nd of November. The campaign offices in the morning were quite calm. People were working to set the place up for the press and there was a general atmosphere of expectation and to a certain extent suspense – everyone was patiently waiting for the time when the first partial results would be announced, later at night.

By 11pm, the press had cleared out and only the campaign members were left. Some of them went to the organised protests in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building, while others went around starting to collect data from voting sections in Bucharest. (The law states that shortly after the voting process stops, each voting section must display visibly the results they have). I went home as it was getting late, and I was falling asleep thinking of those who would stay up all night expecting partial results and carrying on working.

Even though the results in the end were slightly below expectations, Monica Macovei’s campaign managed to mobilise an electorate that no one else did or could have the same way: the young generation, especially students. Her campaign was financed entirely through crowd funding – small donations of 50/100 RON each and bearing this in mind, I would say it was successful. She may not have won the elections, but she did change the political game for the better and showed that one does not need large financing for a more than decent campaign. Her newest project is the “Asociatia M10”, an NGO, formed in hopes of forming a political party in the near future.

By 7pm, press started coming in. Slowly but surely the offices got crowded with phtographers walking around taking pictures and reporters sitting on the floor in a corner as most of the desks were already taken, busily working away on their articles or interviewing members of the campaign.

Voting stopped at 9pm, marking the climax of press activity in expectation of Monica Macovei’s press release that every candidate gave after the voting process stopped. The conference room, where the press release took place, was swamped with a mass of cameramen operating devices that did not look like video cameras, but rather like something that was about to come to life – those tripods, I’m telling you…

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2014 Presidential Interview with Monica Macovei, 02.11.2014 Andrei Dogaru: How did you start your career in politics?

Were you always interested in it or did it simply come to you?

Monica Macovei: I was a human rights activist, leading the Romanian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, taking cases to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, working for the Council of Europe and other international institutions, again on human rights and also on justice reform. For instance, from 2002 to 2004 I was in Sarajevo working for the Council of Europe on justice reform.

I joined politics by accident – that was not an objective in my life. In December 2004, I was in Romania for my winter holiday and I received a phone call from the newly elected president at that time, Traian Basescu, whom I had never met or talked to before: he asked me to be the Minister of Justice. I was shocked and he asked me to decide quickly, in an hour or two. I decided that evening, because the next day the government was to be announced. I asked for independence: I was not a party member and I stayed like that. I was just supported by one party.

That was very good because now, looking back, I can see that if you are in a party, any party, in Romania, and you want to start a fight against political corruption, meaning against corrupt politicians, then it is very difficult because obviously there will be members also from that party who are in the government. As it happened in my case, there were four parties in the government of coalition.

Also, you have friendships and networks and someone says, “That guy did something for you two years ago, you owe me this” and so on. In my case, I didn’t know anybody, I owed no one nothing, so I could freely start the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office and I could say, “Here is the door” any time any of the politicians, including from the government, came to say, “Maybe that guy should not be investigated, he’s from our party” and so on. So, there was pressure, but it was easy for me to say no. I would have said no even if I was in a party, but it is better to have this guaranteed independence.

AD: In your opinion, what areas of study are vital for a successful career in politics? For example, who would be a better politician: an historian, an economist, a philosopher, etc.?

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MM: A lawyer, because you have the legal mind and because of the importance of law in a society. Otherwise, I think it depends on the skills of that person, on the logic, on the values of that person. So I do not think there is a specific background necessary. The legal background seems very important for me because again, a society which does not respect the law and does not value the law, is not going forward.

AD: Can you briefly describe what your activity consists of now, compared to the past?

MM: Well, I am in politics, but on the other hand, I am also a technocrat. I mean, I am doing concrete things. I am doing politics by doing things like confiscation of assets or creating anti-corruption institutions, or ensuring the independence of justice – things which I was working for when I was in the civil society as an NGO activist. The difference is that when you are in politics, you have the power to do them, whereas in the NGO you ask for them. But I didn’t change my values, my beliefs, my behaviour, so I just use that power to inforce what we dream of when I was in the civil society.

AD: What main duties does a member of the European Parliament fulfil?

MM: It depends on the speciality, but essentially we make laws. The European Parliament and the Council, formed by member states, are co-legislatives. The European Commission is like a government in a country: they draft legislation, which is sent in parallel to the European Parliament and to the Council. As a European member of the parliament, if you are given a law to deal with all the way through the Parliament, from the Committee to the Plenary, then basically you can rewrite it, then ensure the majority of the vote in the Committee and then in the Plenary.

This is really a challenging job, but I enjoy it very much. You have to negotiate: sometimes you make a majority for one paragraph, and another majority for another paragraph, but then you may have to go back because those whom you made a majority for the tenth paragraph would want a change in the first paragraph, so you have to go back to it.

We negotiate all the time. It’s important to decide where the limits beyond which you don’t go are.

For example, in the “Directive for Extended Confiscation”, which was my last law in the European Parliament, I had three objectives, but I reached two and a half. I was still happy, because you can’t reach all in a difficult directive such as this one, especially with over 700 MPs having to vote, and 28

Elections 28 member states having to agree. And it took 2 years in this case to finalise the directive: one in the parliament and the second one in negotiating with the member states. I negotiated with ministers, ambassadors… Still, many of them were not happy with this directive.

AD: So then what would you say is the most difficult aspect about being in the European Parliament?

sun so to speak [laughs]. Politicians from those two categories of countries have to reflect the wish of their people. This came up very clearly during the economic crisis, when the people in the north of Europe were saying “responsibility” and the south was saying “solidarity”. The south wanted financial support, but north wanted the south to be more responsible: they wanted the implementation of a system to reduce tax evasion, for example.

AD: In September 2013, at your appearance in DIGI24, when asked if you were running for president you said you weren’t taking it seriously. What made you change your mind?

European Parliament MM: I can’t say there is something particularly difficult because I enjoy it very much. I like negotiating; the rule is that something is final only after all aspects of it have been finalised. However, like in any place, in the European Parliament you have people who work, and people who don’t. I have colleagues whom I never saw ever in five years: they didn’t come to the Parliament. I know it is disappointing, but that’s it! And it depends on the work: if you are given one law and you do not succeed to have it passed in a good form, then you are never given a second chance. That, or you can be given small things to do, like unimportant laws.

MM: I decided to run in August this year [2014], when I saw the candidates. I realised that they would take Romania backwards, not forwards. Again, it wasn’t my objective to become president, but I decided I wanted to change the game: I resigned from the party, became an independent candidate. I worked with many people during my campaign and it has been a fantastic experience, which we all want to continue, without having a party, without having strong funding, just donations, and most importantly, without any dirty game or without promising anything to anyone, like a contract or a position in the government or whatever. So far, I would say we have been very successful.

AD: And now, the last question: Can you say 3 things that define you?

MM: I don’t give up, I love people, and I love skiing.

AD: Now on to more general issues, what do you think are the faults of western democracy?

MM: I don’t think there is necessarily anything wrong with democracy; it’s the best way of living and working which we reached until now. Looking at what is happening today in Western Europe, I see as a weakness the poor reaction to the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine and of the reasons for why this reaction was weak was that many quite big and important European countries are dependent on the Russian gas. Also, what I see, talking to my colleagues in the European Parliament, is a split between the north and south of Europe. Basically, the people in the north say, “We work and pay taxes” and those in the south stay too much in the

Andrei Dogaru (Year 12)

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Summer 2015 Exams: marked papers as a guide to help you study.

These can be found on www.xtremepapers.com/CIE

BEFORE Let’s face it: exams are approaching; the sooner we accept this the better. It is now March, so we have almost two months before our session begins; too soon for all of us, but it is what it is. Aside from starting to consume unorthodox amounts of sugar to calm our nerves (or is it just me?), many of us are also probably starting to revise what we did earlier in the year (if not, then now is the time to start!).

In my view, the key to passing exams, especially with top grades, does not lie in how much you revise, but rather in how the revision is done. Wasting time remembering ultimately useless information is perhaps one of the most dangerous things a student can do because it can give a false sense of security, as well as lead to exhaustion from too much revision. It is very important that you are fresh during the exam session! So, for this reason, I aggregated some revision tips I picked up along the way into a revision guide. It has three sections: before, during, and after the exam. You can take some of the advice, none at all, or you can follow it entirely: it’s up to you. But make no mistake: regardless of whether you are sitting IGCSEs or AS/A-Levels, preparation is the key!

But before I start, a brief overview of exam lingo:  Syllabus: not only is it your bible for the duration of the course, but it is also a detailed document outlining all the content you need to cover for the exam  Mark scheme: a document outlining what the answer to past paper questions should be like and how you are awarded marks

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1. Plan It is important to revise with purpose and efficiently, otherwise it is almost as bad as not doing it at all. The way I usually plan is as follows: 1. Find out the exam dates and writing them down as well as putting them in my calendar.

2. Print out the syllabus (but only the sections relevant to you) for each course.

3. Get one notebook for each course to take chapter-bychapter revision notes (NB: it is important that you have the syllabus next to you at all times when revising so that you can be sure you cover everything) 4. Set deadlines for when you want to finish each chapter, according to how much time you have left before exams.

5. Get cracking with note-taking! Get creative: use colours, post-it notes; the nerdier the better!

6. Do past papers as well, but too late or too early will not help; talk to your teachers for advice on this.

2a. Stick to the plan (as much as possible) You spent precious time planning, so adhere to it! Be warned, however: you will probably find that you fall behind with revision, which is ok! I always did. The more you can cover the better, but if you are seriously behind, you should consult your teacher to see what it is vital that you revise and what you can brush over.

 Grade threshold: a document showing the number of marks necessary to achieve a certain grade

2b. Doing Past Papers This is inevitable: your teacher will either make you do them in class, or you will do them on your own voluntarily (ideally both).

 Examiner report: a document detailing the overall performance of candidates worldwide for the course, available for each paper and for each question. It is useful for preparation as it outlines some “requirements” for answering, tips, etc.  Standards booklet: a booklet with examples of past

When doing them, it is important to do so under timed conditions, because time pressure is something you have to get used to (if you cannot finish the exam you will have a lower grade).

A Student Guide Also, consult the marks scheme and examiner reports only after you have completed an entire question paper. It is useless to do questions with the mark scheme in front of you.

3. Take breaks and relax Although from what you read so far you probably inferred that I am encouraging you to work like a robot 24/7, this is completely not the case. Breaks are what make or break your revision. If you feel the need to take a pause, do so. But not for too long!

Also, when revising, eliminate all distractions: get your phone out of your room (unless you use it strictly to revise), turn off the TV, get off Facebook (ideally until your exam session is over, i.e. consider temporarily deleting your account; I did!).

Close the door, put pen to paper, and immerse yourself in what you are revising.

4. Make sure you have all you need Although it may sound obvious, the amount of times I heard, “Do you have a pen/ pencil/ eraser/ calculator/ ruler, etc?” in the exam room is quite high. I myself was in that situation once. It is vital that you have all you need for the exam. It just stresses you more if you don’t and you can lose considerable amounts of marks if you do not use geometrical instruments for example.

NB: it is important that you have a good ballpoint pen (not and never a fountain pen) to write with. For details, consult Ruxandra’s article dedicated specifically to this issue.

5. Get a good night’s sleep It is vital that you are not tired for your exam. You should go to bed no later than 10pm to stay fresh. You should start going to bed this early a week or two at least before your session starts, so that you get used to going to bed this early if you are not.

DURING 1. Breath in, breathe out.

First, go to the bathroom before the exam if you have to. This is very important.

Second, don’t open the question paper straight away. Take a few seconds to breathe in and out: it relaxes you.

2. Write Only now you can start writing like mad. But for certain subjects, especially essay-based ones, you should think for a few minutes first about what you write, jot down some ideas, plan, then start answering questions.

AFTER Move on. It is the only thing that you can and should do. You cannot go back to change what you wrote, so focus on what lies ahead: the next exam.

This is pretty much it: a brief guide to approaching exams.

Remember: revise smart, take breaks (but not too many!) and keep track of where you are. It is important to know this and to acknowledge it if you are not on track, so that you know how to improve.

Best of luck in your exams!

Andrei Dogaru (Year 12)

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Exam pens review

With the summer exam session fast approaching, whether you are a school supplies enthusiast like myself, Andrei and Mr Jennings, or not, you might soon be looking for a new supply of pens, especially if you’re studying one or more essay-based subjects. ‘Why would I need special pens for exams?’ you might be wondering. The main fault with your standard ‘snatched from my mother’s workplace / a conference / a hotel room in Madrid’ pens is that we rarely end up having two of a kind, which means that if we run out of ink during an exam, we risk having half the exam paper blue and the other black. Now, I’m not sure this is against CIE regulations, but it would make me worried and it does look a bit sloppy. That is why I believe we all need ‘exam’ pens.

What are exam pens exactly? Firstly, they are in line with CIE regulations which state that you must ‘write in dark blue or black pen’. Secondly, they are at least two of the same kind.

Thirdly, they are light so your hand can flow over the exam paper instead of wrestling with the pen and tiring quickly. The third rule thus rules out any fancy pens that are incredibly heavy because they were made for signing important documents, not answering exam questions. It’s also not a good idea to use erasable pens like Pilot Frixion, the parts of your writing might become unintelligible while the papers are transported to the UK for marking and the ink is not as strong as with normal pens. Having outlined the basic rules I 66

recommend you follow in choosing exam pens, here is a short review of pens I used for essay-writing or exams: Maped – Ice Clic These are ball pens that come in packs of five and are made of 80% recycled plastic, so they are the most eco-friendly choice. They have an odd triangular shape that you will have to get used to, but they write pretty smooth and are light.

However, the ink is not so strong and they seem to run out of it unusually fast. Can be found in most supermarkets and libraries, probably, I bought mine from Carrefour for example.

Paper Mate – Inkjoy 300 RT 1.0 M

BIC – Round Stic M

The king of all pens- the one and only most amazing pen in the world- flows on paper with the grace of all that is graceful in the world. Writing with it feels like your hand is flying across the page and every word looks pretty and elegant. This pen has it all – the perfect weight, ink in a strong and vibrant colour, and a comfortable feel. Both the blue and the black pens are superb and I only regret not discovering it sooner.

Sadly, it cannot be bought in Romania as far as I know and thus you need to use either Amazon or the kindness of relatives or friends going on a trip to the UK (or other West European countries) to obtain it. However, it is more than worth the trouble. 10/10 would recommend

This is a very simple pen, but incredibly light and reliable. I used these when I sat AS exams in four essay-based subjects last year and they were great. They are also an economical choice and helped me write 9 pages in both two hours long English Literature exams. Mine came in a pack of four – two blue pens, one black and one red, but there are more options and I’m pretty sure they can be found everywhere.

Ruxandra Rogojinaru (Year 13)

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‘Blood of Olympus’ Review By the popular teen-fiction author, Rick Riordan (who is mainly known for his Percy Jackson series), this is the last book in the ‘Heroes of Olympus’ spin-off series of what happens after Percy defeats the titans in Manhattan. Rick Riordan’s series is set in our time with the Greek Gods co-existing in modern society. The Gods consort with mortals, resulting in offspring that are half-god, half-mortal or demigods. The series follows the tale of seven demigods who have been chosen to defeat the old forces rising in the east.

The ‘Blood of Olympus’ is the story of the final battle between the demigods and the giants.

I have followed the Percy Jackson fandom since I was forced to read ‘The Lightning Thief’ in Grade 5. Before that, I had clearly been against Percy Jackson, despite the fact that I had utterly no idea what it was about, and vowed never to read it.

Well, let’s just say that my school made me break that vow. I remember grudgingly taking the book and thinking to myself, oh, this is going to be so good. Before I knew it, after a few evenings at the seaside and delicious crab, I found myself hooked. I soon devoured every book about mythology that Rick Riordan had written and adored it. This is how I discovered ‘The Heroes of Olympus’ series. Take heed, these are the opinions of a devoted fan, not a random reader.

I admit to have been extremely impatient when it came to waiting for the last book, as I remember moaning as October seemed to draw closer and yet, I wouldn’t be able to purchase a copy as soon as it was out since it wasn’t set to be released in Romania. However, to my delight, I received a copy for my fourteenth birthday from my aunt and proceeded to read. Read, I did. I finished the book that day and was pleasantly disappointed for a mixture of reasons.

Since it has been a couple of years (almost ten) since Rick first wrote ‘The Lightning Thief’, society has changed. I noticed with slight frustration that his jokes in his latest books have started to seem forced. Amusing, yes but only up to certain point. His references to modern day fads and whatnot do seem a little irrelevant when one is writing about Greek monsters but it can also be refreshing and close to home. Yet, the natural flow of the stories that he used to have is gone. I am also concerned about the large amount of plot holes. He left a lot of loose threads throughout the series and that tends to disagree with a lot of readers. Much to my dismay, he also did not clarify these untied strings of story. For example, the quest of Annabeth’s. He did not truly explain the full purpose of the task and what how if would benefit her mother if she succeeded. The character development was epic, as usual, and painted a very vivid impression in one’s mind.

In his last book, he decided to focus on underestimated and/ or shadowed characters. The growth in Piper’s powers and her true potential will leave everybody who despised her biting the dust. Nico, the mysterious young son of Hades, finally sheds light on who he truly is and we learn that sometimes, those that seem the darkest are, in fact, often the ones who light our way through chaos.

The action was delightful and fast-paced but in a way, rushed and too easy. The final battle happened faster than a lot of the conversations in the last books did. Not to mention the fact that most of the antagonists mystically became way worse in fighting then they should have been and the demigods defeated them easier than one should. For goodness sakes, defeating the Goddess of Earth, the mother of chaos itself, in less time it takes to go to the bathroom?

Excuse me, but it seems a bit ridiculous, especially since everyone was panicking since she was apparently the ‘strongest’ foe yet. Uncle Rick laid off the fluff and romance for action in the last book but that didn’t stop him from putting a very happy-go-lucky ending. The casualties suffered were minimal and no-one truly important died (somehow).

Except the odd enemy, though I suppose they just got vaporized and sent back to Tartarus. I’m glad that the Greek and Roman demigods got over their old rivalry and could come to an understanding. Everyone will miss Chef Leo the tofu expert though, despite the fact that, he isn’t dead. So, there really isn’t anyone to miss.

Overall, I believe that yes, it is a nice topping to the end of the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles and that everything resolved itself nicely. Yet, one can see that at some point, Rick just lost the spark that fired his Greek masterpieces. He couldn’t stop midway, however, and he pushed himself to end the story, hence the forced, rushed ending. It is a nice, light read and should be read after reading the books before it. I’d recommend it but it isn’t on my list of ‘absolutely divine books’. Following the story has been a journey for me.

Engaging in their daring battles with Empousai or meeting Bob the Titan in Tartarus is what kept me going through these years and knowing that ‘The Blood of Olympus’ would be the last book about Greek mythology that Rick Riordan would write made my heart break. Like Arachne would know, weaving a story is harder than one thinks and that if often takes a lot of talent, patience and sweat but the finished masterpiece can be stunning and we need to take into appreciation all his efforts. Buy it. Read it. Trash it. Throw it.

Adore it. Do whatever, because in the end, every reader has their own opinion, right?

Lena Stefan (Year 10) 69

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Paris. So… Parisian!

"I like The Eiffel Tower because it looks like steel and lace." ― Natalie Lloyd The recent holiday in Paris has created an assortment of memories I wanted to share with others; for those that have yet to visit, and for those whose own fond memories might be stirred in turn.

First of all, the rumour about the French being rude is just that. We only came across one snob the entire time--a young waiter at a lunch place we visited. I made the "mistake" of requesting a glass of the House wine and he responded with a mini lecture and a raised eyebrow about how I wouldn't find House wine in any part of France, only---and he subsequently rhymed off a pretentious list of possibilities. Excuuuusaaaay moi! The meal itself was only so, so (the steak was too chewy) and very expensive, so that was a disappointment.

Fortunately, we had so many other good meals and experiences to compensate.

Memories...

The Foie gras! The "salade gourmand" with smoked duck and those perfectly cooked French green beans served in an edible bowl. The melt-on-your tongue macarons, the fluffy almond croissants, the huge variety of buttery soft odiferous cheese, the inexpensive but delicious wine and the ubiquitous warm baguette for one euro. The plethora of sidewalk cafes with heat lamps; the ever so fashionable people: men in shiny leather shoes and jaunty scarves; the women in brightly colored hats and high heels riding bicycles with their market purchases. Then there's the Notre Dame, the La Fayette store windows decked out for the season, the Monet's and the Renoirs,the bakeries with confectionary creations one can only imagine in a dream; the music: violins in the subway, Jazz in the bars, accordions on the pavement, Turkish strains from the plethora of kebab eateries, and the constant jangle of traffic horns, the crush of the crowded subways shooting through dark tunnels towards the light of the Louvre or the Champs Elysee or the grand homes of Haussmann Avenue; a total paradoxical melange of experiences merging to assault every sensory receptor at once. Victor Hugo said it well:

by myself early each morning at a small cafe near the arches of Strasbourg-Saint Denise, watching the pigeons strut and peck in unison, the shops' shutters clattering open, the street sweepers trundling by, workers keeping a brisk pace as they head for various jobs, and me, slowly savouring the ever so freshly baked croissant dunked into my Cafe au lait.

Watching. Thinking. I'm inside a painting.

Our cozy apartment on a narrow side-street, skeleton key, heavy wooden door and then six flights of winding, wooden stairs. The most amazing view over the rooftops of typical Parisienne homes complete with crooked chimneys spewing grey smoke against the inky sky. It was like living inside the pages of a Victor Hugo novel. Stefano, the friendly Italian landlord who suprised us with his fluent Spanish picked up on many trips to Mexico and Cuba. The ladies of the night (or day) in their thigh high boots dispersed about the Fashion district, waiting. The crowded tables of conversing men smoking and jolting down their morning espresso, always gesticulating to make a point, as the French do; the towering Gothic church spires, hidden food markets, ornate plazas, tiny parks and patrolling policemen. Vintage clothing stores, fantastic falalfel joints, sushi, fresh oysters and kebab offerings on a single street; the slick dotted rainbow of umbrellas viewed from a bridge over the Seine. The book stalls.

"He who contemplates the depths of Paris is seized with vertigo.

Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic.

Nothing is more sublime." ― Victor Hugo Yes. Random memories of Paris include the following: sitting 71

"Paris is a hard place to leave, even when it rains incessantly and one coughs continually from the dampness." â&#x20AC;&#x2022; Willa Cather Highlights include visiting the Eiffel tower at night, three generations of us together, when the sky was perfectly black with only a toe nail clipping of a moon above. The colored lights flashing in rapid rhythm percisely at 8:00 pm and the tourists (ourselves included) staring in awe at the wonder of it. So iconic. Taking Mom for a two hour lunch at L'Attelier du Joel Robuchon where the food was so good it almost made me weep with pleasure. What a country. The days I spent trolling the back alleys with my daughters hunting for vintage clothes or novel trinkets, then stopping to enjoy a coffee break and another pastry at an adorably eclectic cafe. Sensual and sensory. Ah, I could go on forever...

"The people that I liked and had not met went to the big cafes because they were lost in them and no one noticed them and they could be alone in them and be together." â&#x20AC;&#x2022; Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast As I sit in my Bucharest apartment gazing out the window at the thick fog, I can't help but long for those Paris views--those rooftops, or the imposing ancient stone arches of Ludovico Magno that contrast so starkly against the glass windows of 72

the Sephora store nearby. Or the ferris wheel at Place du Concorde, or the Seine with it's milk-chocolate current hurtling along as it has for centuries. It's all part of what makes Paris so visceral.

It gets into your soul. You take it home with you.

"I never rebel so much against France as not to regard Paris with a friendly eye; she has had my heart since my childhood.... I love her tenderly, even to her warts and her spots. I am French only by this great city: the glory of France, and one of the noblest ornaments of the world." â&#x20AC;&#x2022; Michel de Montaigne Ms Andrea Carman Travelling Aficionado

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Tales of Vietnam Saturday evening. We have been dropped off on an idyllic island in Halong Bay. There’s nothing here except a floating jetty and a dozen or so wooden bungalows with views over a tranquil turquoise bay, studded with green coated rocky outcrops soaring a hundred or so feet into the air. A Vietnamese worker has spent the afternoon scraping barnacles from the bottom of a gently beached junk and, apart from the pleasure of hearing somebody hard at work whilst we relax on sun loungers, the only sounds to disturb our peace take the form of an occasional cawing bird and the genial hushing and shushing of the rippling waters kissing the shore goodbye as the tide recedes; until a fisherman’s boat puts out to sea, it’s engine coughing into life before tum- tum -tumming into the distance, the sound of its passage broken for several minutes as it passes behind the largest of the monolithic rocky outcrops, before spluttering back into consciousness as it emerges on the other side. Could anything be more sublime?

Well yes, actually. Because this is December; and in North Vietnam, as in Northern Europe, December is winter. So we are wrapped from head to foot in everything we could lay our hands on: two and a half pairs of socks each, three t-shirts, a jacket, two blankets; and we are still teeth chatteringly cold!

Meanwhile, our wooden bungalow looks down upon us menacingly. There is no heating and the windows don’t fit properly, leaving a one inch glass exclusion zone between adjoining panes.

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It is so cold that the mosquito nets have been sacrificed to plug the gaps on the basis that even malaria is preferable to hyperthermia. Any plans for a brisk walk to warm up are thwarted by the narrow confines of the bay. Behind us, massive piles of rock climb up to the sky and, apart from the jetty, there is just a narrow stretch of sand to explore, no more than fifty meters in length. The only restaurant is open to the elements and so offers no relief from the biting cold and the prices for all beverages, hot and cold, have been hiked for the, literally, captive customers. In case anybody has had the foresight to bring supplies of coffee and alcohol with them, the standard Vietnamese hotel prohibition of lewd material, prostitutes, drugs, pets, weapons, explosives, napalm and Agent Orange has been extended, to include the consumption of any food or drink not purchased from the hotel. They have us over a Vietnamese barrel and they are intent on squeezing our dongs!

This is the second night of our Halong Bay excursion, the first was spent more convivially on a cruise ship sailing around the bay. The landscape / seascape is genuinely breath-taking and our tour of the prehistoric “Surprising Cave” would have been truly awe inspiring but for the need of the Vietnamese guide to turn her laser pen on every single limestone shape before announcing, “Lady Buddha you see! Turtle you see! King Kong holding up roof of cave you see! Mickey Mouse you see!

Uncle Ho Chi Minh signing over soul of Lenin to the Disney Corporation. You see!”

This is the climax of our tour of Vietnam. We started in Saigon, travelled up country in a series of hops on night buses taking in Mui Ne, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue and finally Ha Noi (as it is written in Vietnam), which we used as a base for visiting Sa Pa, a rural region to the north west close to the Chinese border, and the world famous Halong Bay. The Sa Pa jaunt was an “experience”. We travelled overnight on the noisiest sleeper train in the history of decibel counters – rejects from Stalinist Russia reputedly. I had so looked forward to this, having yearned for as long as I can remember to experience the joy of falling to sleep to that lovely rhythmic sound of dubblededum – dubblededum –dubblededum; but what I got instead was “Bang- Clang-YeeearrrrBANG-CLANGBang- BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-CLANG” for nine hours solid.

Imagine the iron girders in the Twin Towers putting into their own words the feeling of agony moments before the terrible collapse and you may come close to this onomatopoeic cacophony. And to make matters worse, we shared our cabin with a lovey dovey middle aged couple who wanted to talk into the night. And to cap it all, they had Welsh accents! The traumatized train made for less jarring listening!

We opted for Sa Pa so we could trek over the hills and take in that Vietnamese picture postcard view of the terraced rice fields studded with water buffalo; but as our bus from the railway station circled higher up the mountain, so the clouds and mist descended as a greeting party, such that by the time we reached the hotel, we could barely see a yard in front of us. But no matter, we came to trek so trek we must and the next three days were spent walking through, rather than on, clouds, with lots of stopping points so that our guide could stretch an arm into the rapacious fog before telling us what we would have seen had we been in Sa Pa just two days previously. “Over there”- Pause so we can look in direction of arm, just about detecting the shrouded shape of a pointing finger - “Beautiful waterfall. Most beautiful in Vietnam. But we can’t see it. Over there” – same length pause – “tallest mountain in this region. But we can’t see it. Over there” longer pause because some trekkers are no longer paying complete attention – “terraced rice fields and beautiful gorge.

Such shame we can’t see.” Thank you Binh for rubbing it in.

Our second night, mid trek, was spent in a homestay, which involved: walking on uncarpeted concrete floors with no shoes; eating dinner crossed legged on that same floor, except my legs refused to cross so I had to be perched on a kindergarten stool like a little emperor looking down on his feasting minions; drinking toasts of the most revolting rice hooch; and sleeping in a curtained off room on a, thankfully, wooden upstairs floor, covered in ten million blankets to keep out the biting cold; oh and bashing my head on the bloody roof struts EVERY time I walked around. This was SOOOOO authentic!

Except that when I retreated to bed at 7.45 pm to escape the cold, the other trekkers were huddled together watching “The Matrix” on a very C21st flat screen TV and the host family were nowhere to be seen – probably because they were sitting on their Made in Vietnam Ikea sofas in their other centrally heated home, laughing at the bloody silly foreigners who pay good money to sit and sleep on the floor in the freezing cold!

When you come to a place like Sa Pa you see in sharp focus the double edged sword of international tourism. The local tribes are Pariahs in their own nation state, hated by the Vietnamese because they are ethnically Chinese and because they are, to quote our guide, “Dirty people. Dirty and lazy.” (We stayed in a Vietnamese homestay because, again quoting our otherwise charming guide, “You could not eat what they eat. They boil everything and eat everything. They boil animal poo and eat animal poo. This is the truth I am telling you.”) Think of the very worst Romanian attitude to the Romanian Gypsy and you come close to the standard Vietnamese attitude to these outcasts who now survive exclusively on the tourist dollar, the women, in packs, some with babies in baskets on their backs, following the trekkers up and down treacherous mud slides pleading, “You buy from me. You buy from me. Maybe later?” whilst offering an assortment of useless woven trivia which is only ever purchased out of a sense of guilt or as a thank-you for the helping hands offered on the trickier stretches on the treks.

The men, meanwhile, stay at home “babysitting” and rotting in idleness because they are too proud to beg and too lazy to learn the strange sounding tongue that their women folk acquire through daily contact with the strange eyed invaders.

And so the tourists pour in to see the real Vietnam and the real Vietnam disappears into the tourist fog before their very misty tourist eyes.

Mr Trevor Kingston Former Head of English at IBSB

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CREATIVE WRITING 76

Poetry Corner The Seasons

The City of Wonders

The air grows warmer

The city was heated and

The meadows are full of blue The bears are waking

pressed and born from oysters.

It used to be the best in mining, but now it is the best

Now it is so hot Now rainbows grow on the ground Now bees buzz loudly

When it starts to cool When trees are burning orange When squirrels hide nuts

Then it all freezes

in hosting. The roads are lined with iron horses and the paths with tumbleweed. Iron, marble and gold, these are the elements that form the tallest trees in the world. These man-made marvels can bend, twist, curve, spiral, rise and slant in all possible ways. At night, all of the spaceships light up and want to be the first to get launched out of the sands of time. The sheikh of Dubai lives

Then the ground is covered white

on the world and two

Then animals sleep

palm trees.

Sometimes it warms up Sometimes you see plants grow back Sometimes you wake up

Petru Neagu (Year 9)

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Creative Writing Orca Cave I can only hear my breathing and the sound of the bubbles being released from my Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. I feel as hot as the core of a processor that has been left on for 5 days. All I can see is the royal blue of the Pacific Ocean and the occasional fish.

With my two thousand hours of S.C.U.B.A diving experience I should feel as fearless as a lion on the savannah. But I am actually scared to death and I don’t know why!

“Just Swim!”, I told myself.

I saw a hole in the seabed, like a bullet hole in a sheet of metal. This is it, the Orca Cave!

I let myself sink in through the hole. There was artificial lighting down here.

A shadow seemed to come from behind me.

“Don’t turn around”, said a woman

I think it’s because I am going to go to the world’s most dangerous cave. The Orca cave. This cave is known for its sulphurous water and the strange creatures you can find there.

I obeyed. My limbs were shaking and I started sweating underwater!

It seems I have been swimming forever, but I have no way of finding out because my watch decided to stop working.

Petru Neagu (Year 9)

The Lilliputian town of Izola pulled me towards it like a mosquito lamp. It glimmered brightly in the morning sun. The angelic contrast of the royal sea blue with the dark green trees and tangerine houses left me dumbfounded. I started walking down the street towards the little sanctuary. Walking down I admired the staggering beauty of the vegetation here: olive trees next to pine trees next to palm trees an all in one perplexing mesh.

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“You shall be my slave” she said…

The road was a snake, twisting and turning abruptly down the mountain. In the city the sound of laughter filled the ornate streets. The houses were painted venetian-style, colors ranging from green to yellow and red. The buildings celebrated the arrival of each new visitor by displaying their welcoming colours.

Petru Neagu (Year 9)

First Language English

Narrative assignment for First Language English: write the story of a rich man who suddenly wakes up poor.

It was a cold winter night in. Jack was fast asleep in his kingsized bed, his head resting on a warm silk pillow. The fire place was filled with burning embers that let out a dim red light which embraced the whole room. An antique armoire stood proudly in the corner as if guarding the jewellery and wealth inside. An aged, half-drunken bottle of rye whisky lay motionless on the coffee table, next to a leather armchair.

The old armchair had small droplets of alcohol which Jack never had the time to clean up. The ash tray was filled with the remains of finely rolled Cuban cigars. On an iron hook hung a woollen coat with silver buttons and a cashmere scarf slung loosely next to it. The whole villa was created in such a way to resemble a wealthy 1920’s mansion, packed with all sorts of antique and expensive furniture and items of décor. It was Jack’s dream house. A house he had yet to work for as nearly everything in it was either inherited from his previously deceased parents or bought using the same inherited Swiss bank accounts. As lazy as he was, Jack had never experienced the slightest taste of poverty. Everything from the gloves on his hands to the water he drank was of the finest quality, but, overnight, that was all about to change.

Jack’s abundant snore was covered completely by a series of thunderous knocks on the main door. Jack moaned, shifted and turned his head towards the window. Moonlight shone over his face which seemed to annoy him even more. The banging continued. Jack sighed. The gilded clock on his nightstand read 1:03. He stood up and slid his feet into his silk slippers. He walked slowly and aimlessly towards the door. He gripped the iron knob and twisted. Who’s there? He questioned. There was no answer. Jack asked again, yet there

was still no answer. Then suddenly a strong yet frightened voice echoed from behind the door. “Help, my fellow friend is in danger; we just were in a car accident and he is injured gravely. You must help us at once good sir!” Jack was astonished, yet a bit confused. He expected nothing of this at such a late hour in the night. With a puzzled look he inquired, “Who is this? What do you want of me?” the answer came quickly; “you must let us in for I need to take care of my mate’s wounds, he will not make it to the hospital in such tremendous condition, please help us!” Jack was baffled yet again. ‘The accident seems serious…’ Jack thought. Jack looked closely at the scared figure in front of him. The ‘kind’ man was in his mid-20’s, had pale pink lips and a scrawny nose.

His emerald green eyes looked such as if they were punctured with a strong brown essence into a fantastic marsh kind of colour. He wore a bowler hat from beneath which thick, greasy dark hair poured from. His hand was placed on the door, revealing its aspect. His hand was stout and muscular, covered with scars and small cuts here and there. His fingers had vibrant nicotine stains on them while his nails were slightly cracked and un-even. The most peculiar aspect of this strange man was his apparel. He was dressed in an all-white shirt with a white vest and a white tie. He wore white pants and white suspenders.

However he wore heavy black shoes that matched only his bowler hat. ‘Peculiar’ Jack thought. The man persisted in being allowed in again and this time Jack submitted. “Ok, he said, but please be careful. You can lay him in the dining hall.

I’ll give you my supplies but be sure to call a doctor for I know not how to treat injuries as severe as these.” The man smiled and with a strange delight he exclaimed, “Oh, but I can’t thank you enough dear friend. I shall bring him in fast for he is in dying need of shelter!”

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Yet the moment Jack opened the door, in swarmed five or six men who stormed the whole room, all carrying bats and knives and what not. One rushed at Jack laughing and swung as hard as he could, smashing his laminated wooden bat across Jack’s stomach. He tumbled down crouching. Another of these aggressive boys kicked Jack’s teeth out onto the floor like shattered glass whilst another broke his nose, yet singing in the process. At last they stopped and stared at Jack, who lay on his back breathing heavily. He turned around and spat some blood onto the polished wooden floor. “What… do you… want with me?” asked Jack wheezing. The man with green eyes looked at him profoundly and smiled. He then asked one of his men a question in an accent Jack could not identify.

“This fellow is quite foolish, what should we make of him?”

Grinning impatiently another said: “Before we break the rest of his bones, can we knock him down and ravish all of his lux and make all of his ice and cheddar our own?” They all started laughing and hissing as if what he said was somehow extremely funny. “We won’t take this boy’s life. We are no killers; just kick him in the head and let him rest.” At which point a brawny, fat man emerged from the commotion with a nasty looking bat. He stepped on Jack’s chest and with a wide evil smile he whispered, “nighty-night.” He landed a violent final blow over Jack’s head, knocking him unconscious.

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When Jack woke up he felt strange and so broken from the strong beating he received the night before, but also as if something had been taken from him. Something he cared most about; his wealth. He lay in the dirt, somewhere in the forest. He looked around as if searching for his attackers. It was minutes before Jack fully realised where he was. He was nowhere near his home. He was alone somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And in that moment Jack felt something he had not felt in his life. He felt vulnerable. He was defenceless.

He was un-needed and for once, he was alone. He stood up and started walking through the forest, never once knowing where the road ahead might lead.

It might have been days until Jack finally made his way home, his clothes ripped and dirty, missing a slipper, but when he returned, he realised he had nothing to return to. The place in front of him was nothing but the burnt and dark remains of what once used to be his home. Everything burned. There was nothing left. He’d lost everything. He fell on his knees. For him, this was a sign, a sign he had to change, for if he couldn’t come out and embrace the world tightly, the world would squeeze the life out of him. This, he did.

Alex Ciolan (Year 10)