Park Lane Press June 2019 Secondary

Park Lane Press June 2019 / Secondary

02 Topics June 2019 Secondary

Secondary June 2019 Introduction 03

Topics

Introduction

03 Introduction

Welcome to the final edition of PLP for 2018–19. Our summer term has been such a productive period at

04 Highlights

‘Park Lane Secondary’ that selecting the highlights is quite a challenge!

Our first-ever ‘Chapters Day’ was a huge success and it was such a joy to see students from Year 6 to Year 12

08

Arts in Secondary

attending sessions led by teachers, parents, guests and – of course – our older students themselves. I must

10

Poetry Café

very successful Poetry Café for Year 8 on the same day!

11

IB students’ activities

If the Matinée Classic and the 4th Sound of Park Lane had not already convinced everyone that ‘Park

12

Student Council

our small-scale secondary school can compete with the largest international schools and match their

13

IB review

two individual first places along with another first place for his contribution to The Heroes’ success in the

13

University insights

14

Upcoming events

congratulate the English Department for organising such an ambitious event and for hosting another

Lane’s Got Talent’, the performances of our KS3 pupils at the COBIS Music Festival proved once again that success. Guitarist Jan Dudak’s incredible hat-trick certainly deserves a special mention as he achieved rock band category.

On the sporting front, while our footballers, golfers, tennis and badminton players all excelled while competing against their counterparts from other Prague international schools, our sporting star of the term (the year… the decade) is Jan Vacek (12P) who proved that years of dedication and determination are really worth the investment. For those of you who don’t know, Honza and his crew won Gold for the Czech Republic in the quadruple sculls at the European Junior Rowing Championships in May. The 5th edition of the Park Lane Film Festival showcased some excellent short films created by our 11–14-year-olds. Undoubtedly, production standards were higher than ever and the artistic merits of each film were clear to see.

My other highlights include the Smile project’s charity photo auction; Hana R’s success in the COBIS Poetry contest; KS3/4 French students’ splendid DELF scores; our mathematicians competing in Vienna and Malaga; and our KS3 team once again winning the Prague international schools’ Geography Challenge.

So much to be proud of – and so much to look forward to when Park Lane becomes a fully-grown secondary school in September! Happy reading indeed!

Park Lane International School Valdštejnská 151 118 01 Praha 1 – Malá Strana +420 257 316 182 +420 734 265 243 info@parklane-is.com www.parklane-is.com

Paul Ingarfield Principal & Head of Secondary

04 Highlights June 2019 Secondary

Secondary June 2019 Highlights 05

Highlights

classification. This is truly an outstanding achievement and it is magnified by the fact that Lukáš is significantly younger than other competitors (the majority of whom are from Years 12 and 13).

Congratulations! made moviemaking look a little less glamorous. It was a nerve-wracking time too because the cost of shooting each scene is huge and we were so close to the shooting I was worried that we might spoil the shot, either by being visible or by talking.

Indeed at one time, we had to stay inside an elf house while the shooting went on around us.

Later we were able to go to the costume department, a massive four floors jammed with costumes of all kinds. There was no surprise that the boys liked the uniform room best while the girls preferred the Renaissance room.

Many thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Kenan and Marketa Toms for making the experience possible and for being so hospitable.

Shakespearean Presentation Luckily for us, Dr. Jitka Štollová was able to find time between attending research conferences around the world and teaching at the University of Oxford to return to Park Lane. While she was here, she

Sue Gifford, Learning Centre Leader

Music is Art for the ears

A Magical Visit to the set of ‘A Boy Called Christmas.’

“A once in a lifetime experience” Sanda 6M Eight Year 6 students were fortunate to visit the set of the filming of the book, “A Boy Called Christmas.” The magic began almost immediately as we entered into a snowy scene in the middle of May! Ironically, even though we knew that the snow was fake we all felt much, much colder when we were near it.

The set is an elven village complete with houses, a drawbridge and a huge hall with a windmill. The level of detail was truly amazing, every item and piece of decoration was made from scratch and looked good on close inspection, even down to the cogs that turned the windmill.

We watched the cast film one brief moment in the movie. Although the scene may end up being only 2 minutes in the actual movie it was filmed at least four times while we were there. It certainly

The creativity and talents of Park Lane students were clearly on display during March and April, the months of Art and Music. The Sound of Park Lane and the new Matinée Classic were both fantastic events that really demonstrate the musical ability of our students.

Art was well represented with visits to a film, video and animation exhibition at the Rudolfínum. Year 6 interpreted music through art with stunning results. They also created a very spring-like origami with the help of Zoe and Natalka from Year 9. The LC stair display featured musical scores interpreted throughout watercolours also looked great.

I fully expect to see at least one famous artist from Park Lane some time in the

future, allowing me to say: “I used to teach him/her!” Watch this space!

Sue Gifford, Learning Centre Leader

Cipher Challenge Lukáš Chládek competed in The Cipher Challenge (an online codebreaking competition that runs annually from October to January and is organised by the University of Southampton.) The competition is structured as a series of viciously encrypted messages that competitors have to decode weekly.

Amongst 7,341 students across the UK and Europe, Lukáš not only made it to the final, but finished 9th in the overall

delivered two lectures on key Shakespearean texts and offered a range of comments and insights that prompted an even deeper engagement with these plays. It was such a wonderful opportunity for students to stretch and challenge themselves with texts that will come up in their exams and to ask questions to a truly bright intellect who has made the study of Early Modern Literature her life’s work. We wish Dr. Štollová all the best with her move to Cambridge University next September.

Sporting activities Over the last few months there have been some exciting events taking place on the sporting side for Park Lane students. Boys and girls from Year 8 and 9 competed in a football fixture against PBIS and our first ever entry of four students ( Jan M, Marek Z, Anna Z, and Natalie P ) competing in an International School Golf Tournament.

In football our students displayed excellent responsibility in organising themselves into teams and planning training pre-match as well as resourcefulness in their formations and tactics. Despite a rocky start to their match, the boys team pulled back to a competitive finish winning on penalties. The girls’ team also had a difficult first half but by the second half they had improved so much in gameplay

and performance, it almost looked like a different team was on the pitch!

At the golf tournament, despite snowy conditions causing a less than perfect playing surface on the golf course, students from Park Lane played excellently.

Anna came 2nd in her age category, Natalie came 4th, Jan came 4th and was nearest to the pin, and Marek was 3rd.

Overall students not only performed well at both events but more impressively displayed the five R’s respect, responsibility, resourcefulness, risk-taking, and resilience consistently in their sportsmanship.

The PE department congratulates all involved for their efforts and looks forward to many more competitive sporting opportunities in the future for Park Lane students.

Sarah Powdrill, teacher of PE

Gardening with ‘Wine and Food’ The gardening club continues to introduce students to the joys of gardening and there are clubs held throughout the week.

The collaboration with “Wine and Food” also continues to grow. This year they provided the school with what seemed like a mountain of compost, many different seedlings, and seeds. As part of the collaboration members of the gardening group have been invited to a cookery class at the restaurant.

As part of the upgrading of the gardens at Valdštejnská new wooden raised beds have been installed on the upper terrace and lower terrace. The upper terrace beds are planted with salad leaves, tomatoes, and cucumbers. The new beds have been planted with herbs, vegetables, and wildflowers.

Whenever we get out the gardening tools there is always a willing band of volunteers who offer to come and dig and look after the plants. After a lifeless winter, it is amazing to see the transformation in the gardens and the students’ interest is growing as quickly as the vegetables!

Sue and Mark Gifford

06 Highlights June 2019 Secondary

Debate Club hosted at Park Lane In mid-February, our school hosted an ‘English Speaking Czech Debate League Tournament’. Four teams from Park Lane participated against a host of debaters from across the Czech Republic. The students from Years 10, 11 & 12 had a fabulous time discussing motions such as, “Nuclear weapons have brought more harm than good” and “Doctors should be forced to report domestic violence to the police.”

countries with a French connection. Also, in relation to the IGCSE curriculum, we have looked at the role of Médecins Sans Frontières as a humanitarian organisation and learned about the support of “Les restos du Coeur” with poverty in France.

Moreover, just before the Easter holiday, our Year 8, 9,10 and 11 students passed their DELF exams with a 100% success rate once again. Top 3 for A1: Beatriz B. Alex R. Nela R. A2: Peggy E. Josh A. Liam T. B1 (our first-ever candidates: ) Hana R. and Jakub C. Well done to all!

PORGMUN Park Lane’s small but dedicated delegation of students attended the 6th edition of PORGMUN, which was held in the building of the Czech Parliament. A number of guest speakers and organisers discussed the theme of this year’s conference, which was “Eliminating Fear”. During the weekend, our students participated in the following committees:

Well done to all involved!

Maths competition in Malaga A fast and furious group of mathematicians (Zoe Ilinceva, Simon Ilincev, Alex Rapala, Ori Goldshtein, Charlotte Comstock and Anička Karakolevová) visited Aloha College in Malaga for the Middle Years ISMTF Maths Competition. They tested their maths acumen against students from international schools from all over Europe, India and Africa. Park Lane students gave a strong performance coming 17th out of 63 teams in this fast-paced and challenging tour-de-maths. After the competition, students enjoyed the maths enrichment talks and ‘Sunday Chase’ where they were able to mingle and work with students from other schools.

Secondary June 2019 Highlights 07

● Arab League – Simon Ilincev and Marc van Gansen. ● Security Council – Jack Johnson and Emma Everettova. ● Special Political and Decolonisation – Lukáš Chládek and Hana Růžičková. ● Legal Committee – Alex Koval and Alex van Gansen. ● Historical Security Council – Jasmin Zakie and Jáchym Šetka

Spring has been another successful period for the MFL Department To celebrate “La Semaine de la Francophonie”, students from all year groups made some presentations on areas and

After the screening of the award-winning film Generation ‘N’ at the Goethe Institute a few months ago, students from Year 11 and 12 began a German/Czech history project, learning about the Sudeten Germans. The students wrote letters to the film directors and participants asking them about their feelings making the film.

The Generation ‘N’ eyewitnesses were children at the time of the “odsun” and are now in their 80s. The students were delighted at the long and detailed answers they received. They discovered how the film was made and were able to learn a lot about the participant’s experiences post-WW2 and also the human spirit. The students have now gathered the letters together with English translations so that other Park Lane IB students can find out about the project.

In addition, Ms. Triana and Ms. Hernandez hosted the first Park Lane Spanish competition. It was a small but talented group of students and teachers competing against each other. It was so much fun that we are sure that interest will be extremely high for the next competition.

Death Chute

Big congratulation to our Y11 student Hana R. for achieving the first place in Literární soutěž o cenu Filipa Venclíka. Her poem called 1968 was chosen as the best contribution of all the competing poetry entries.

Well done, Hana!

The miners left and the earth sleeps, But in the shadows, someone creeps – A heavily clad silhouette.

Flamelight gleams and pirouettes, Then darkness falls again.

1968 vocabulary when explaining to their friends how their “tapas” were prepared and which ingredients they had used.

Hiart Hernandéz, teacher of Spanish

Reading by numbers This year a staggering 32 students from Year 6 to Year 9 read more than a million words as measured through the Accelerated Reader programme. ● 27 students read over 1 million words ● 5 students read over 2 million words ● 1 student read over 5 million words.

That is a lot of words and a mindblowing number of books.

659 books read!!!!!

Congratulations to you all and keep on reading!

Sue Gifford, Learning Centre Leader

¡Vamos de Tapas!

The Year 7s learnt about Spanish food vocabulary during their unit topic, while also practising their cooking skills preparing some delicious “tapas” to share with the rest of the class. The fun atmosphere of sharing a meal together allowed the children to practise their Spanish

Poems by Hana

5 million words queen Zoe Ilinceva, Year 9

Hodiny přestaly tikat, když ulicí jely tanky.

Lidé stáli u dveří, tváře bledé.

Nevěří.

Lampy zhasly v oknech domů, v očích.

V každém beze sporu a z naděje budoucnosti zůstaly jen střepy zlosti.

Když ulicí jely tanky, ukápla ti z očí slza.

Na zemi se roztříštila a zrůda strachu ožila v tobě, ve mě, v nás.

Před strachem se neschováš.

Zavři dveře.

Zavři okna.

Hlavu dolů.

Ticho! Šeptat!

Místo hodin kulomety.

Z lidí jen marionety. Žádné světlo.

Tma. Život krutá hra.

Když ulicí jely tanky...

A damp blanket thrown over him, A wick in hand, his features grim, The man tiptoes on silent feet And stops where two dark tunnels meet.

He looks and walks straight on.

Black chutes and shafts appear and pass; He searches for explosive gas.

Rocks slide and fall and water drips; A prayer moves the withered lips.

Eyes twinkle in the gloom.

The wick flares up. What to do now?

Escape! Escape! Escape! But how?

Yet luckily the pocket’s small.

It doesn’t harm the man at all, So on again he goes.

Sweat trickles down his hidden face; It criss-crosses and twines like lace.

The wick grows shorter, shorter still, But there is yet some time to kill.

The hidden killer lurks.

The lit end of the wick dies down, Then relights, a dazzling crown Of bright red and blazing yellow – A monster, a mighty bellow.

It buries and engulfs.

Last sand falls through the hourglass, Each little grain a second past, And if life could be read from books, A type that saddens, gladdens, hooks, The final page’s been turned.

Another poem written by Hana R., which was a runner-up in the 2019 COBIS poetry competition.

08 Arts in Secondary June 2019 Secondary

Secondary June 2019 Arts in Secondary 09

Arts in Secondary

COBIS Senior Music Competition and Festival The hosting school was The British School in the Netherlands and Ms. Lada Bartošová visited the Hague with 10 students from KS3.

Park Lane Matinée Classic We are called the “Rock School” because we currently have 13 rock bands. However, rock is not the only genre of music we practise at Park Lane and we wanted to show that our students can also perform classical music to the same level.

21 students from Years 7 to 12 were invited to take a part in Park Lane Matinée Classic and play a solo piece.

The House of Professed is a beautiful concert hall with a capacity for 200 people.

This concert was one of the most successful events of the academic year. Therefore, our plan for next year is to invite parents and members of the public to another wonderful performance.

Photos on this page were made by our talented Year 9 students Kristyna Melicharová and Jáchym Rudolf.

Lada Bartošová, Music department leader

April 10th was a day when many students came to school both nervous and excited, happy and full of expectations. After a whole day at school, we began a three-hour acoustic rehearsal and then immediately afterwards the concert began. My compliments to everyone involved; no one complained and everyone understood that now ... today ... we would show the audience the results of all our hard work and dedication.

What we heard was a truly professional concert. The winner of our new competition, “Park Lane’s Got Talent”, was hard for the audience to decide. Jessica Stogel (Year 11) accompanied by pianist Jakub Cvrček was the winner, followed by The Heroes – rock band.

It is our great pleasure to share their phenomenal results with the Park Lane community.

for the third time since the festival started.

Our theme this year focused on all types of phobias, their effects – both serious and light-hearted – which were explored by the many filmmakers who took part.

The 5th edition of our annual Film Fest was held on Thursday 15th May. The screening took place at the Institut français de Prague

The production of the films themselves was separated into three types: animation, real-life and a combination of both. ‘Run to

PARK LANE FILM FESTIVAL 16 May 2019, French Institute, Štěpánská 644/35

PARK LANE FILM FESTIVAL 16 May 2019, French Institute, Štěpánská 644/35

As a memory, you can also download Mr. Pavel Kubička’s artistic photos,

PARK LANE FILM FESTIVAL 16 May 2019, French Institute, Štěpánská 644/35

Telephonophobia

BY:TOM FISHER,DANIEL HEINLEIN MAX BARTOŠ AND TOMÁS CHEMINADE

Kristýna Melicharová

Lilly Pospíšilová

PARK LANE FILM FESTIVAL 16 MAY 2019 FRENCH INSTITUTE, ŠTĚPÁNSKÁ 644/35, 110 00

"Next time, rather text me than call me..."

Eliška Hovorková

Eliška Hovorková

Eliška Hovorková

fear fear fear

Laura Lhotáková

Sophie Wells

Laura Lhotáková

Sophie Wells

Laura Lhotáková

Sophie Wells

by Archie. B PARK LANE FILM FESTIVAL 16 Ma y 2019, F r e n c h I n stitute, Štěp á n s k á 644/35

The winner in the category “Rock Instruments Solo” was Year 8 student Eliška Hovorková. The 3rd Prize in the category “Piano Solo” was awarded to Teodor Jan Pašek from Year 9. And an extraordinary result was achieved by our Year 7 student Jan Dudák who won thanks to two brilliant performances in the category “Rock Instruments” (joint 1st prize with Eliška) and also “Classical Instruments Solo”. “The Heroes” – Year 7’s Veronika Ilinčeva and Jan Dudák, Year 8’s Alex Musil, Kuba Hanausek, Maks Bona and Sacha Desrosiers won the “Rock bands” category.

Year 7 made an immediate impact on the festival with one notable film. Possessed by Daria Reshtovaniuk, Bara Hartmann, Laura Kodadova and Veronika Illincev was a very impressive debut film that used a number of techniques to create both tension and narrative. We are already looking forward to seeing their efforts again next year.

Daria Reshtovaniuk

Barbara Hartmann

Laura Kodadova

Veronika Ilinčeva

SCOPOPHOBIA

P0SSESSED 16th M ay 2019, Fr en ch i nst it ute, Štěpá nsk á 644/35, 110 00

ANNA

As our concert’s reputation has grown, the recording of the event has become a joint project led by our older students Danil Reshtovianuk and his classmates David Dana and Liam Moeller from Year 12. Danil’s and his colleagues’ attitude during the many hours of the acoustic rehearsal and the concert were the attitudes of real filmmakers.

I was happy and not surprised at all when Danil told me about his intention to apply to a filmmaking school next year.

Get There’ was a great example of the combination of both production methods with its thoughtful editing by Ron Goldshtein.

Tension and atmosphere were supplied to the audience with the film Telephonobia

by Tynka and Lilly from Year 9 with its excellent use of camera work and visual suggestion.

5th Annual Park Lane Film Festival

THE TINY SPIDER

Annual Musical Extravaganza Sound of Park Lane

Park Lane’s 5th Annual Film Festival

fear fear fear

which you can find on his website: www.photobypavel.com. The Sound of Park Lane has become an important and special annual project for us all. Thanks to everyone for their support.

LAURA

EVA

VERENA

CLAUSTROPHOBIA

What an achievement to be proud of! Thank you, my dear musicians.

PARK LANE FILM FESTIVAL 16 May 2019, French Institute, Štěpánská 644/35, 110 00

Theme: Phobias

Date: 16 May 2019

Time: 16:15

Place: French Institute / Kino35 - Štěpánská 644/35, 110 00 Nové Město

Along with the films themselves, Ms. Edwards exhibited the wonderful work of her pin-hole photography club. These evocative images were taken with nothing more than a cardboard box with a pinhole made in it. The photo exhibition was a very pleasing introduction to the evening’s events.

Tommie Teasdale, Art Director

10 Poetry Café June 2019 Secondary

Secondary June 2019 IB students’ activities 11

Poetry Café

IB students’ activities a community which was so welcoming, kind and friendly; especially to a complete stranger and outsider like myself.

poem floats in the midst of all that. Then ask how those same ideas might sound to you, in your own language. Avoid making it sound poetic; try to make it sound like language that you or your friends would use in conversation.

What are your favorite types of poems?

Are you more in to Shakespearean poetry or modern-day poetry?

Although I like lots of different kinds of poetry– the old stuff and the new stuff – my own poems are rhymed in the old style, but I try to make them sound like modern speech.

What types of poems are the most enjoyable to write for you?

On 4th of April Park Lane held it’s 4th annual Poetry Cafe as part of Chapters Day. For the first time, it was held in the magical Werichova vila, in a nicely decorated attic space where there was a small podium on which students would recite their poems. Because of the students’ hard work, it was a huge success with students reciting beautiful poetry not only in English but in Czech, Russian and German too. A few students even recited their own poetry! Groups of all sizes recited poems together, often in two languages, in front of over 100 people. It was a wondrous event which will certainly live long in the memories of those who performed and attended. Many thanks to the language department, since they helped their students learn poems in a foreign language.

Park Lane had the huge honour of having Justin Quinn, a poet and poetry translator be a keynote speaker in the Poetry Café. He was a great inspiration for Park Lane students because he taught himself through hard work and determination.

He also held a poetry workshop, where he helped students translate poetry and write their own poetry.

It was an evening of great poetry and inspiration for parents, students and teachers, and it will be remembered as a great experience. Some of our students asked Mr. Justin Quinn some questions and here they are:

There’s no one particular type. The most fun is when an idea comes out of the blue and I write it down very quickly, almost without thinking. A half-hour later it feels as though some huge wind has blown through you, and you want to relax for a while. That feeling is no guarantee that you’ve written a “good” poem, but it is a “good” feeling writing that type of poem.

How did you learn Czech? Did you simply catch it from the locals after some time or did you have a tutor of some sort?

What is the best way to get inspiration for writing a poem?

Stay alert. Stay open to things. Listen to strange sounds. Listen in on bits of conversations on public transport. Take in these things, then let your mind wander where it wants to.

What are some good techniques for translating poetry that you would recommend for Year 8 students?

If the original poetry is rhymed, then rhyme your translation. Try to understand the poet’s life and times, and how the

I took lessons for a while, but I was a very poor student. Then I started going to the pub every evening and tried to talk to people. It was very hard. For a few nights I found a very friendly man who was willing to talk to me a lot. But he turned out to be Slovak – I couldn’t even tell the difference at that stage. So, essentially, I listened a lot and read a lot (my favorite magazine was the Respekt and it would take me a week to read each issue with a dictionary, and I’d be finished just before the next one was published).

Last of all, we would like to ask how you enjoyed our Poetry Cafe?

Great fun. You were amazing – skipping through so many different languages, unafraid to get up on a stage in front of 100 or so people. It’s so difficult to do that.

Well done!

Eliška Hovorková, Year 8

Volunteering in Ghana During the recent Easter holiday, my friend Max and myself from Year 12 decided to travel to Ghana and volunteer at a local school. In this short account I would like to share with you some of the remarkable things we did and saw, and perhaps encourage you to take up volunteering as well.

The first thing that struck me about Accra (the capital city where we volunteered) was how it looked. Put frankly, it looked dirty and poor; the streets were filled with garbage, puddles of filthy water and piles of rubble, while the houses around looked more like unsafe tool sheds rather than homes. But that is the only bad impression the city made on me. When I started to meet and learn more about the locals, I forgot all about what Accra looked like. The people were undoubtedly the most wonderful thing about the city. Despite their apparent poor living conditions, Ghanaians don’t let hardship get to them. Everyday, when I walked through the streets, I would have strangers strike up conversations with me. They would ask how my day had been and when I’d ask them the same thing back, they would always respond with how great of a day they were having. Even in the slums, everybody seemed to have enough food to eat, clean water to drink and their poverty didn’t leave much of a visible mark on them. Never in my life have I been in

The reason Max and myself came to Ghana of course was to work as volunteers, having arranged positions through a local NGO, the “Dream Africa Care Foundation”. This organisation runs an orphanage (picture on the left) and is in contact with numerous local clinics, schools and other charitable organisations in Accra, so they offer a wide range of volunteer work. We chose to work on a construction project in one of the schools – Faith Academy – which had been damaged in a recent storm. Two of the classrooms were at risk of collapsing, so, along with the rest of the volunteers, we were tasked to reconstruct them. One of the most enjoyable things about working at the school was having the schoolchildren around. Even though we had to give them a stern telling-off-or-two for stealing and playing with our saws and hammers, seeing how gleeful and eager to help the children were (although they did get in the way most of the time) was quite heartwarming.

The work itself was very hard and physically demanding – the scorching heat and smothering humidity didn’t help either.

Knowing however, that we were working for a good cause made the ordeal fulfilling and enjoyable.

If there is one message I’d like to share with other students, it is that if ever presented with an opportunity to go and volunteer for a good cause, especially if it entails travelling to a new place and discovering a new culture, they should definitely take it. The only regret I had when I left Ghana was not having stayed longer.

Paul J. Popovich and Max Bebr, Year 12

CAS Students’ impressive achievements During the last two terms, Year 12 students have shown their commitment and perseverance in becoming real followers of the IB mission statement. Their engagement to the topics of local and global significance shines through many of their CAS projects.

A great example of this was one group of

Year 12 boys, who went for 3 days on a long bike trip to Dresden. They planned the whole event independently and managed to cycle more than 200 kilometers. This was a huge challenge for them but they managed to arrange the activity strand of their CAS projects.

No further comments are needed to highlight Emma Nováková’s marvelous SMILE project which has already been mentioned a few times in PL Secondary weekly updates.

Honza Vacek’s charity H. E. A. T. challenge raised money for a small African girl through exercising.

Last but not least, Paul Popovich and Max Bébr’s project included two weeks of voluntary work in Ghana and of course much more.

As a totally proud and impressed CAS coordinator, I know we are on the real path to fulfil IB expectations and I believe that many of our students are fully prepared for their future occupations.

As proof of this, last week, I was told by my students: “Miss, I have totally forgotten that I did the project for CAS, it was a really great time” and “Miss, I don’t need any other prizes, the main reward was those happy children.”

Iveta Martinů, CAS coordinator

12 School Council and sporting achievements June 2019 Secondary

Student Council

Great success for Park Lane sportsmen!

Secondary June 2019 IB Diplomma review 13

IB Diplomma University and Careers review Advisor’s update This year has been the first year of the IB Diploma Programme at Park Lane.

Our Year 12 students have successfully embarked on their studies in their chosen subjects and have also started fulfilling the requirements of the core components (CAS, Extended Essay and ToK). Many Year 12 students quickly recognised the rigour and depth of such a comprehensive programme.

Jan Vacek (Year 12P; 3rd from the left): European Junior Rowing Champion in the Quadruple Sculls – Essen, Germany, May 2019. Honza and his crew now have their sights set on the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo!

The Spring term was a busy one for the Student Council. However, it was a great success!

The end of the term is dedicated to focused work on the Extended Essay and completion of the ToK presentation. Both of these components aim to strengthen and expand students’ research, writing and critical thinking skills which, again, are essential at university level.

We worked really hard to meet the school’s expectations and together with Ms. Gifford’s and Ms. Martinů’s help, we achieved our goals.

On February 14th, the school celebrated Valentine’s day by anonymously distributing roses to students from their secret admirers and friends.

Our IB students have matured reasonably well over the year and their initial worries about the unknown have been replaced by sustained hard work. We are all positive that next year this will result in the successful graduation of the first cohort of IB students at Park Lane – we believe that all prerequisites for success have been met.

It was a pleasure to see that even teachers and office staff took part in this commen­ dable project. All the money raised was donated to the Zambia charity event.

On Friday 15th, the school hosted a party, which was also an enjoyable evening for students who attended.

It is worth mentioning that such events would not be possible without the school’s support. Thank you!

The third term of 2018–19 has been a busy one – the IB students have already completed some of their internal examinations as well as their external assessments in various subjects according to the assessment calendar. An important benchmark of how the Year 12s are doing is the mock examination held between 24th and 30th May. This assessment provides both teachers and students with important feedback on individual students’ performance and indicates further areas of focus. The mock examinations serve as one of the sources for the predicted grade which will be submitted to the universities during the first term of 2019–20.

Jan Čihák, IB Coordinator

Matouš Bubeník (Year 7P): National Champion of Junior League Baseball! Mat has now been selected for Czech U15 team for the European Qualification of the World Series Little League in July.

A quick review of a very busy year It’s a well-known axiom that the key to a solid structure is a good foundation.

This has indeed been a foundational year for upper-secondary students, especially Year 12s, from full-immersion into their IB programme to delving into their higher education prospects.

I am pleased to say that quite a bit has been established at Park Lane in such a short, albeit pivotal, time. Some of the things I have been able to set-up include: becoming a registered UCAS Centre for university applications to the UK and establishing Park Lane as a registered SAT test centre through the US College Board. Many thanks to Mr. Paul Ingarfield, Ms. Jana Řídelová and Mrs. Karolína Schreiberová for their assistance throughout the lengthy and detailed application process.

As of May 4th, having established our inaugural test date, we are now the second school in Prague to offer the SAT exam- generally a required component for aspiring applicants to US universities.

For many Year 12 students who plan to apply to US universities, this was the first time they took the SAT. To help guide them I held several workshops covering everything from the registration process on the SAT College Board website to an overview of the different SAT components, access to practice tests and online tutorials as well as contacts to highly experienced and accredited SAT tutors.

University prep-workshops have been another regular feature throughout this year.

My initial university overview workshops were held with Year 12 students during October and early November and has led the way to weekly University Prep and Careers Development courses.

The aim is to provide more in-depth knowledge and build better personal awareness of the individual preparation required as students begin to transition out of high school and encounter the demands of higher education. This means covering topics ranging from professional email etiquette and time-management to writing stand-out personal statements and creating

a balanced, well-researched university shortlist. There are plans to continue this for next year’s Year 13s, Year 12s and to some extent, Year 11s.

Of course, no new undertaking is without its challenges. The key is to be able to implement effective and beneficial solutions.

Short-term and long-term forecasting is a huge part of being a University Advisor.

Despite this rather independent role, nothing can be done in a vacuum and certainly not without the endorsement or support of others. That is why communication remains at the fore of everything I do. Together, we can lead our upcoming Year 11, 12 and 13 students confidently toward their IB and higher education decisions.

Onwards and upwards….

Nioucha Banna, University and Careers Advisor

14 Upcoming events June 2019 Secondary

Our School calendar Upcoming events

20. 6. Park Lane’s End-of-year celebration 24. 6.–28. 6. Learning Without Borders Week 30. 8. Meet and Greet + orientation day for new pupils and Y7 2. 9. School Year 2019/2020 begins 6. 9. Welcome picnic