EAL Newsletter - June 2015

Edition 7, Volume 1 June 2015

M6 - The EAL Newsletter The academic year at King’s Bruton is rounded off with the presentation of prizes and a speech given by an invited Guest of Honour on the final Saturday of the School year. This is a very important whole-school event and is preceded by a Leavers’ Service in St Mary’s Church. Parents are invited to the Prizegiving ceremony, and we present academic prizes along with prizes for Music, Art, Drama and Sport.

I also present my own Headmaster’s prizes, and one of the most important of these is the Headmaster’s Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement.

The prize this year goes to Samuel Chan who is also awarded the School prizes for Further Mathematics and Physics.

Samuel has been supported by the EAL department throughout his time at King’s and he has clearly excelled academically. Samuel has also been a member of the Headmaster’s Essay Society which is a small group of invited Upper 6th Formers who discuss an essay with me, the Director of Studies, and the other members of the Society. Samuel talked about his Extended Project Qualification on the 4th Dimension. I must admit, a lot of it went over my head but it was so great to see him get across his ideas so

Pure concentration from Eudes eloquently. Sam, who is from Hong Kong, is hoping to go on to University College, London and I have no doubt he has a very bright future ahead of him.

Corey Tam, also from Hong Kong, has been awarded the Upper 6th Mathematics prize and there are two EAL prizes this year. These are awarded to Christina Witte in the Upper 6th and to Jinyuan Zhang in the 3rd Form.

Christina is from Germany and Jinyuan is from China, and they have both shown outstanding progress in their English over their time at King’s.

I will also be saying good-bye to the School Prefects and one of the School Prefects this year is Bastian Maiworm.

Bastian joined King’s in the 4th Form from Germany and decided to stay on for the 6th Form. Bastian has been an

Even more concentration from Anton outstanding member of his boarding house and of the School.

I am delighted to see EAL pupils being awarded prizes in our end of year Prizegiving, and it is a real indication of the success of our EAL department that pupils from overseas, who maybe join us with limited English in some cases, will all grow and flourish at King’s. We wish our EAL and Upper 6th leavers all the very best for their future careers and we also look forward to welcoming the new pupils in September.

I am already planning a trip to Beijing and Shanghai in September 2015 where I hope to meet parents of our current pupils as well as talking to prospective pupils about the wonderful school community of King’s Bruton.

I wish you all a relaxing summer.

Ian Wilmshurst

Circus skills at the end of term for 3rd & 4th Form

www.kingsbruton.com

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The Dragons and the Light Houses

History under the bed

The story behind my DT project

3rd Form Old House

By Jaime Colomer

By Robert Yin My Grandmother told me a story about how many years ago the people who lived in her small rural village in China.

A group of dragons lived in the sea and they slept during the day and woke up at night to destroy the fields, fishing nets and people’s houses. There was a clever old man from the village who told everyone to build light houses on top of the sea to scare the dragons off.

If they make the light appear light as the day then the dragons won’t wake up.

So the villagers built many big light

houses and put them in the sea. During the first night with the light houses, the dragons were too dumb to find out that it was night. As a result, the dragons were deluded by the light of the light houses and they have thought it was day time ever since. The villagers no longer have problems from the dragons as they sleep all the time now.

My ‘Lighthouse in a Box’ is ready to be made into a mini light house should the dragons ever decide to reappear.

You never know what you might find under a teacher’s bed. During or to be precise at the beginning of WW2 the Head of History was searching through the archives like on any one of those normal days when he suddenly found himself with a very rare document

A copy of the school's Magna Carta related to King John. It was a treaty that the Barons wanted him to sign so that the taxes would be more reasonable.

After the war the Magna Carta was handed over to the Australian Government for the reasonably low amount of £12, 500,which eventually helped to put forward the construction of Lyon House and the acquisition of Hazlegrove prep school.

Maria’s art display

EPQ Project on The fourth Dimension

Sasah’s art in detail

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Sasah’s GCSE art

Interview with Sam Chan, U6th Blackford, Winner of the Further Maths, Physics prizes and the prestigious Headmaster’s Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement talking about his 5000 word EPQ project on the 4th www.kingsbruton.com

dimension which he presented and spoke about at the Headmaster’s Essay Society. (Unfortunately, we can’t publish it until it’s been marked.)

What’s an EPQ? It’s an Extended Project Qualification which universities like to ask for in addition to your subjects. It would be very good if you can do it as it’s most likely to be the subject you study in your first year at university.

What’s the criteria for choosing the topic?

You can choose any topic you want except the topics you are doing for your A‘level. So for example I’m doing six Maths topics and I couldn’t choose any of those six for my EPQ. The idea is that you do extended research into a different but related area.

What’s the topic that you chose and why?

I chose the fourth dimension because we looked at it in last year’s Physics classes and I found it quite intriguing. I think I will continue in this area in the future.

How did you start to approach the topic of the fourth dimension?

I was with my friend one day and we just kind of discussed how the fourth dimension evolved and I thought it was quite fun.

What are the names associated with the fourth dimension?

Tesseract is the shape of the fourth dimension object. Stephen Hawkins, he studied black holes the relation with the fourth dimension.

Can you briefly tell us what the fourth dimension is?

It’s basically the dimension above us, that is, we can’t comprehend it, as we can’t comprehend any dimensions that are higher than us. It is like an extended tube. A square is a two dimensional object and a cube is three, and you just extend it perpendicularly. So if you think of a cube extended perpendicularly upwards that should be a fourth dimensional shape but we can’t really imagine that in our head because we’re restricted with the rules in that www.kingsbruton.com

dimension and our vision. Black holes are the tunnel to the fourth dimension and basically we can’t get into a black hole and get out of it because of the gravitational pulls and we would be ripped apart.

So do you see a time when our brains will evolve to be able to see it?

No. We just can’t. I don’t think we can ever think in the fourth dimension as it’s just impossible.

What are the applications of the fourth dimension? Is it purely a Physics area?

Yes, and maybe Maths, Astronomy and Quantum and Abstract Physics.

What was your angle for the EPQ? My specific topic was: time and the fourth dimension and to discuss why it is the fourth dimension or not. How parallel universes relate to it as well as

Black Holes and dreams; our subconscious. It’s very hard to explain!

Have you seen the movie ‘Interstellar’?

Not yet but I’ve bought the book which explains how they did the movie with my prize money.

Did you reach any conclusions in your EPQ? My conclusion was it doesn’t really matter as it doesn’t affect us even if it exists as we can’t reach to the fourth dimension as it’s physically impossible to reach it.

I’ve got one more question. Is there a fifth dimension?

Yes, they’ve extended to the tenth dimension of size but I think if we can’t understand the fourth dimension why are we talking about the fifth and beyond? I think if we just think about the fourth dimension we can get further instead of extending it to the fifth and

sixth.

I know I said last question, but where are you hoping to go to university and what have you got to get, along with your EPQ? UCL and I need A* A* A. A brief introduction to the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) from Mr Cupit, the new Director of Studies.

The EPQ is a free standing qualification that allows students to explore a topic of their choice. This self-motivated project allows students to explore an area of personal interest and extend themselves beyond the curriculum. The EPQ carries the same amount of UCAS points as an AS level and students are able to achieve A*-E grades.

Students completing an EPQ will participate in a course of study skills that include areas such as researching, referencing, ICT skills, presentations, academic writing and critical thinking.

This will provide students with the skills required to complete this independent project.

All Lower Sixth students at King’s will complete an EPQ unless they are completing a BTEC. This requires students to complete the study skills sessions, fill out a log-book and produce either a 5000 word essay or an artefact.

We believe that the skills that students will develop through the completion of this project will help them with their AS/A-level examinations and also prepare them for life beyond King’s.

Many students that have completed the EPQ have found that it has helped enhance their UCAS application and many have been questioned on their EPQ titles and project outcomes at University interviews.

The EPQ course starts in September of the Lower Sixth year and will run until the end of the Easter term. Links to website for more information: www.aqa.org.uk/programmes/aqabaccalaureate/extended-project/theaqa-epq http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQ A-W-7993-SP.PDF page 3

A brief history

History under the bed

By Eudes Locqueville You never know what you might find if look under a teacher’s bed at King’s.

You could find money, exam papers or even… But you would never expect to find an original Magna Carta unless you are looking under a History teacher’s bed at King’s. You would never believe it but it happened in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War. There are only four original copies of the Great Charter of Liberty in the whole world, and Tom Tremlett, who was the Head of the History department at King’s during the WWII, found one dating from 1297 in the archives. He protected it by keeping it safe under his bed. page 4

Seven years after the end of the war, in 1952 the Magna Carta was sold to the Australian Government for the sum of £12,500. It is now on show in the Parliament House in Canberra. The money was used to build Lyon House at King’s and buy King’s prep school,

Hazlegrove House, which is seven miles away.

Does this mean we should look under Mr Bunday or Mr Fletcher’s bed in the hope of finding more hidden treasure…?

Handing over the Magna Carta to the Australian government

www.kingsbruton.com

Examples of GCSE DT Final Projects

Prize Winners U6th Further Mathematics: Samuel Chan U6th Physics: Samuel Chan U6th Mathematics: Corey Tam Painter Stainers’ Company Prize: Alexandra Kostyuk Most Improved English as an Additional Language Pupil, Junior: Jinyuan Zhang

Alex’s DT project

Henry’s DT boxes

Most Improved English as an Additional Language Pupil, Senior: Christina Witte Headmaster’s Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement: Samuel Chan Third Form Effort Prize: Guillermo Brey Fifth Form Effort Prize: Julia Feron

Edward’s DT project

Eunice and Nicole with Ross, King's very own Justin Bieber

www.kingsbruton.com

Sasha’s DT project

Outside New House

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Top Tips for FCE - Thanks to Ece, Anne-Sophie and Raimon.

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Keep eye contact Answer examiners questions clearly There’s no reason to be nervous Find out who your speaking partner is going to be and try to make contact with them to get firstly warmed up and secondly get used to their accent Try to use adjectives

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better to say something relevant than repeat yourself.

Think outside the box: if they ask you about “weather” don’t just give a simple answer but add experiences or things you know about it, THEY LOVE IT!!!

Anticipate: if the examiner just asked your partner what he/she sees in the two picture exercise (people cooking,

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On the answer sheet there’s a section where you put one letter in each box and leave a space between the words, write the letters in capital Listening: - listen carefully and don’t tick an answer just because they say the word , because they try to confuse you For the listening always try to listen with your right ear: we are better detecting words with our right ear, the left ear is better for songs and melodies.

The time is really important in all sections.

After each exercise there is going to be time to read.

Try to read all the key words.

You can underline the words.

It is your paper and no one is going to use it again so you can do whatever you want to it: even draw cats if you want. The examiners wouldn’t care!!!

Grammar exercises on the surface tablets for Guio & JY ●

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Don’t over prepare, this happened to me and my partner, we couldn’t remember what our names were and where we came from Listen to the examiners’ questions and answer clearly Answer+1 ( don’t just give a simple answer) This is going to be the first part of the exam and the examiner will know you are nervous so use that to win points.

Make the examiner know you are not nervous - do that by breathing before you go in.

Think you are better than your partner.

But don’t control the conversation!!!!!

Speak fluently and if you don’t know what to say, think for a sec, it’s

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explain the difference) the examiner will most probably ask you if you like cooking. Put yourself in that situation and think what you could say, like: I’m glad you asked that because I really like cooking.

Make things up instead of not saying anything.

Listening ●

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Listen to the whole thing before ticking an answer Don’t just tick an answer if you hear the same word in the question, they’ll probably use similar words Don’t worry if you didn’t get it the first time you always hear the speakers twice Follow instructions (e.g. Capital letters)

Eva, Ece and Anne-Sophie play one more tennis game

www.kingsbruton.com

Lluis & JY try fencing ●

Eliminate answers: the audio is played twice so always try to eliminate answers the first time and then come to a conclusion the second time. If you don’t know the answer always put something.

Whatever you think is most related.

Writing ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

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Know who you’re writing to Is it in a formal or informal style?

Magazine, newspaper etc.

Answer the question Keep it accurate and brief Use paragraphs / punctuation Introduction-main part-conclusion What are you writing? Report, article, letter, review (different characteristics) You have to distinguish between 5 different types of writing ( they all have to look and sound different)

History under the bed

By Lluis Montalat Verheyen 3rd Form Blackford You never know what you might find if you look under a teacher’s bed at King’s. You could find money, exam papers or even a ticket for a boat trip to Greece. But there was something very unlikely to find that had been under a teacher’s bed. Guess... well, I bet you’ll never get it so I’ll tell you anyway. A Magna Carta.

A Magna Carta is a kind of testament with all the laws written on it from a very long time ago. I’m talking

about 1297! We had been keeping it for more than 600 years until we sold it to the Australian Government for £12,500 in 1952. The school still has a copy of it which is situated between the English and Music departments in the Memorial Hall.

Now, let’s move on to some history.

The Magna Carta was written by the King’s Barons during King John’s reign when there was feudalism. The Barons wrote it for one simple reason. They wanted a fair and efficient society. They threatened the King to sign it! If he didn’t the barons would revolt, so King John signed it and happy days. Actually, my Housemaster, Mr Bunday is at Runnymede today with the Queen, 15th June, as it is the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta. I hope he’s not revolting…

Use of English ●

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Prepare as much as you can (it`s going to be really hard) The difficulty of this part depends on your 2 hours before.

People will tell you it is the most difficult part but if you have practised and know grammar you have nothing to worry about.

Divide up the time for each part.

It is key to have the time sorted up otherwise you run out.

Fill every gap: it counts the same if it’s wrong than if you didn’t put anything.

www.kingsbruton.com

Lucky Yan!

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The lift to success is out of order

By Nikita Bogachev 4th Form, Old House “The lift to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.”

Joe Girard No person can reach success just by taking the easy routei. I have just read a book by Sally Gardner, ‘Tinder’, based on Anderson’s ‘The Tinderbox’, where the main character used the power of the tinderbox as an easy way to success to achieve his goal.ii Just to lose it all in the end because of one small mistake.iii Life is the same.iv If you use a ‘cheating’ way eventually you will lose it all; like Otto Hundebiss did.v You have to build your life from nothing and keep it safe and secure so no one piece will fall off.vi But sadly none of this success will save you from Death in the end of your journey.vii Life is an illusion between Birth and Death so does it really matter which success we choose? viiiYes. Because it is better to make this illusion worth watching, doesn’t it?ix

Why is this an excellent piece of writing? Let’s analyse why. i

Snappy, short opening sentence gains the reader’s attention immediately. ii Longer more detailed sentence with good use of vocabulary. iii Short sentence. A mix of sentence length makes it easier for the reader as we must always keep our reader in mind when writing. iv Snappy and short, expressing an opinion which he encourages you to agree with. v Effective use of semi-colon punctuation gets extra marks vi Effective use of collocations and phrasal verbs gains you extra marks. vii Good use of contrasting ideas. viii Rhetorical question near the end maintains the readers’ interest. ix Question tag – nice!

He really is smiling behind the board!

Mrs Maistrello gets the last word.

Michael learning circus skills

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We’ve had some really lovely international pupils this year; be they here for a term or all year. All but one who sat an examination passed. That includes the Cambridge PET, FCE and IELTS. We continue to achieve 9 in the IELTS for listening, well done to Christina and Sasha, and Eva achieved our first ever 9 in the speaking exam.

We are also running our first intensive English course for pupils coming in September, something we hope to continue next June. Lots to say but I’ll let the pupils speak for themselves with their work and pictures included in this M6. Looking forward to meeting all our new EAL pupils on September 6th. www.kingsbruton.com