Year Book 2013 by British Council Madrid

MADRID YOUNG LEARNERS

2012/2013 www.britishcouncil.es

Coordinator and Editor David Kavanagh Assistant Editor Laurence Doyle Photographs Laurence Doyle, Resource centre staff, David Kavanagh, and others Design www.baetica.net Printing Cromograf Artes Gráficas S.A. Contacts david.kavanagh@britishcouncil.es laurence.doyle@britishcouncil.es Cover drawings by: Ivan Ojeda Pink, Pilar Romo Red, A. Student Yellow

Acknowledgements Thanks are due to Ángel Calvo for administrative support, to José Llanos and David Méndez for logistic support, to Catriona McDermid for typing and proofreading to Alfonso Jiménez and Steve Evans for IT support, and to all the teachers who contributed their students work.

YearBook

Contents 2

Welcome

My Funny Valentine

Editorial

All around the World

My family, my friends, and me

Teacher, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor

Food Glorious Food

That’s what I think!

MasterChef

TYLEC

Halloween

Reviews

Christmas Card Winners

What will be, will be...

What’s the story?

Sport

Poetry in Motion

Staff Stuff

All Creatures Great and Small

102

Nine days of wonder

YearBook 2012/2013

Who knows where the time goes? It seems only a short time ago that I was writing to you to explain why the patio had been fenced off, and now another school year is coming to an end and the new Adult Centre, hiding behind that fence, is almost finished. Speaking of obras, I’d like to thank all students, parents and staff for their co-operation during this period. We’ve had to make some changes and you have all helped make things work. You’ve probably noticed some holes in the walls recently. No, we are not infested with giant mice. We have been fitting a new air-conditioning system. This should be finished soon in time for us to repaint in summer. Enough about painting and decorating!

Our Yearbooks gather together just a small sample of all the great work that you students and your teachers have created during the year. It’s important to show your mums and dads what you can do and you should be proud of your achievements. I enjoy looking through the book and being reminded of the lovely displays that have featured in the classrooms and on the corridor walls. Let’s not forget the help and encouragement you got from your teachers, classmates and friends. As always, I am particularly grateful to David Kavanagh who does a hundred and one things to make the Yearbooks appear each year. Thank you, David. Enjoy it! John Pare Teaching Centre Manager Madrid Young Learners

Editorial As a student moves up through the levels here at Madrid Young Learners she will encounter teachers with different teaching styles and approaches, but at every level she will be taught by teachers who create the conditions necessary for successful language acquisition and learning; teachers who actively encourage their students in the learning process, who will challenge them to progress, think creatively and produce the best work they are capable of. The yearbook endeavours then to make this work widely available; to provide a stimulus for creative thinking and to give students confidence in their own creativity by giving them an audience - their parents and family, their classmates and friends - and giving students the excitement of knowing that their work is being read and admired by thousands of readers! Each and every piece of work included in the Yearbook is a landmark for the students on their road to communicating effectively in English. Again this year the yearbook allows us to peer into Madrid Young Learners’ and see the hard work done and the fun that was had in the classrooms. Students try their hand at issues that range from studying abroad to advertising, from writing emails to writing poetry. Readers will enjoy some old favourites such as the review section, where students dissect the

films and books they have seen and read, and the perennial “My Family, My Friends and Myself”. Once again the activities that take place here during the year, like Christmas and Halloween celebrations and international book week are included. Photo stories are also back in abundance and the writing circle students have used the “What’s the story?” section as a platform for their literary talents. Students share with us also their thoughts on sport and food, while some of our new colleagues are introduced to readers in the “Staff Stuff” section. Thanks are due once again to Laurence Doyle who worked so hard throughout the year to get the Yearbook ready for publication and to all the students whose work is included and to those whose work, through constraints of space, could not be included. And finally, as always, a reminder: contributions to Yearbook 13 will be welcome from the first day of the summer courses.

David Kavanagh Yearbook Editor and Coordinator

My family, my friends, and me

Alberto’s life Alberto Ballarín Senior 7

I was born on August 10th 1996 in a little town in the south of Italy, Taranto but I spent all my childhood in Madrid, in fact one year after my birth, I left Taranto and moved to Spain. In Madrid I started primary school at the age of three. I can remember my first day, I can remember being very happy and emotional. I was really good at maths in primary school and I liked horse riding.

A Special Place Elena Barbosa Senior 6

In my life, I have a lot of special places, with my family, my friends and my neighbours. But I think the most special place for me is a secret place that I have with my friends. Sorry, but I can’t write the address, because if I told you the place, my friends would kill me. But I can describe it!

but we painted and repaired them, and now they are really cool! For example, we have been saving money for a long time, and last

This place is important to me because it is the place where my friends and I go when we have problems and secrets to tell each other, or when we want to celebrate something, or just when we want to be alone and to be really ourselves. It’s nice because it was decorated by us with old things that nobody wanted,

About the things that we do inside there, well, we eat, listen to music, watch TV, and also we have had some parties, which were amazing. My favourite thing in the world is when we sleep together in this place. I recommend everyone to have a special and secret place, because it’s wonderful!

week we bought a TV for our secret place. Now we can watch series, programmes, and all the films that we want together!

But when I started high school things got bad with Maths and a lot of scientific subjects. I tried a lot of sports during my school period, but I wasn’t really good at them until I found the sport that was made for me and that I’m still playing, rugby. I play in a very good team, C.R. Cisneros, we won a lot of tournaments last season and we have been getting good results for many years. I really enjoy this sport and I’ve been enjoying it for five years, I can definitely say that rugby has been the highlight of my short life. Also friends make an important contribution to my life and they are all very important for me. Now I’m still attending high school and my marks are getting better and better, so I am quite proud of it. I hope to continue with my life as it is and when I finish school I want to start university. My plans for the future are to have a good job, get married and start a family.

YearBook

Manuel Canton Manuel Canton Yellow

My school is Nuestra Señora del Pilar and my favourite subject is swimming. I like ice-cream and playing with my Scalextric. I don’t like broccoli. In the summer holidays I go to Benicasim. It’s fantastic!

My favourite things. Claudia Gomez. Pink

Lucía Arranz Lucía Arranz Yellow

Hello, I am Lucía and I’m eight years old. I was born in Madrid like my father and my brother, but my mother was born in Barcelona. I always walk to school with my Mum, but my Dad takes me by car. I love playing tennis. I play it every Saturday. I like drawing pictures and writing about my things in my diary. My favourite food is Italian food; I love pasta and ice-creams. I like going to school because I learn a lot of things and I have a lot of friends.

My family, my friends, and me

Cristina Romero. Junior 1

The best day of my life Guillermo Iglesias Senior 4

The best day of my life started as the worst day of my life, because I was supposed to have two exams, one of maths and the other of chemistry. When the maths class started, the teacher started to look for the exams in his bag, but after five minutes he said he had forgotten it. Now, that was better! The second exam, of chemistry, when the class was going to start, the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s file fell and all the papers were completely disordered so we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the exam. That is called luck! The best part was that for dinner, me and my friends went to Pizza Hut. After dinner, when we were going to pay, the waiter said that the group that had sat near us had paid for the dinner and one pizza more if we wanted, because they had been making a lot of noise. We started to clap. That is not called luck. That is called the best day of my life!

YearBook

Elisa Traver Elisa Traver Junior 2

Hello, I’m Elisa. I love English, so I go to the British Council. I began in Red, then I went to Yellow, and my teacher Janet offered me an exam, and if I passed it I could go directly to Junior 2, and not Junior 1. So now I’m in Junior 2. The things are very interesting and I think I do the tests without any difficulty. OK, sometimes I don’t know some words and I don’t put anything in the gaps. In the first test I got 70% and in the second test I got 84%. You can pass the British Council tests with 60% but you can also pass if you have 59%. Sometimes we play games, for example there is a game about the past where there is a suspect of a crime and he has to have an alibi. The other students have to ask lots of questions about the alibi.

Carmen’s life. Carmen González. Junior 1

We also play many other games.

My family, my friends, and me

Ana Cortázar Ana Cortázar Junior Skills B

My name is Ana and I like tennis and basketball. Tennis is one of my hobbies and basketball too. I like swimming and football but I don’t have time to do them. I like going to the pool to swim with my friends and I also like to play football in the sand on the beach. I also like horse riding. I am attending this course to learn and speak more English. I like English a lot. This summer I went to a camp in Boston. We did climbing, archery and waterskiing. I also made a lot of new friends.

Inés Hidalgo. Junior 1

YearBook

Irene’s Grandmother

About Me

Irene Solana Senior 7

My Grandmother is one of the most important people in my life. At the age of eighty five, she can be proud of having influenced me. I really love her, what is more, I really admire her and that’s why I’ve decided to write about her. Born in the 30’s, the social background was very different from the one we are used to nowadays. She grew up in a small village near Cáceres, in the south west of Spain. Daughter of a painter, with whom she had a very special relationship and a housewife (the profession which was most common among women at that time), she was educated to get married early and to be a housewife too. However nothing could be further from what she dreamt of. She didn’t want to depend on any man. She wanted to move away from her parent’s house and see the world. I remember she told me that she liked playing tennis with the guys, but, once her mother noticed it she had to stop playing: it wasn’t appropriate for a lady. “I found it absolutely unfair”, she always says. She has always

Laura Ortega Yellow

been very active, energetic, talkative and warm. Even now, though she’s elderly, she’s always on the go. She got married at the age of nineteen, after finishing studying in a small state school, and she became a housewife. My grandfather and my grandmother had eight children. My father is the youngest one. On the one hand she regretted getting married so young but with my grandfather she lived first in Cáceres and then in Madrid so in some way she achieved her dream and moved away from her small village. Moreover when she was forty she was able to find a job. That meant she wasn’t just a housewife and she didn’t have that feeling of dependence that she hated so much. Nowadays she lives in Parla outside Madrid and has twelve grandchildren. My grandfather died two years ago but my grandmother is never alone. She is well loved by all of us and we all really enjoy spending time by her side.

Description: I’m very happy. My problem is I bite my nails. I like dolls and playing. My favourite animals are dogs, dolphins and tortoises. Where I live: I live in Madrid. It’s a very nice city. The weather’s sunny. It has museums. Activities and subjects I like: I like Drama and English. I like Science too. I have a teacher, her name’s Irene. This is a picture of my teacher. And I like Art.

My family, my friends, and me

María Bosom. Junior 2

My friend Adolfo

All about me

Cristobal Valdés Junior 1

Blanca Gutiérrez Junior 1

Adolfo is my best friend’s name. He is 10 years old and we go to school together. We have been friends since we were born. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He is a bit taller than me. He has got three brothers. I am faster than him and I play football better than him.

My name is Blanca, I’m 10 years old. I live in Madrid. I’m short and I have fair, curly hair and I have green eyes. I’m active and friendly. I like doing sport. I like running, skating playing basketball and playing tennis. I have one brother. At school I learn English, Maths, Science, Music and Arts and Crafts. I’m active. I like working with my friends, I’m loyal and generous and sometimes I’m a little shy!

I like being with him because he is very funny.

YearBook

Alberto’s self portrait

Who am I? Pilar Alarcón Senior 4

Alberto Salanova Pink

Who am I? I’m an excellent friend. Why? Because I worry about my friends. I help them and I listen to them.

My name is Alberto. I’ve got curly hair and I love playing football. I like playing games. I don’t like cooking.

Who am I? I’m clever. Why? Because I work every day to achieve success. I study a lot and I do my work correctly.

Pop Art Self Portrait Jorge

Who am I? I’m the best teacher. I have a dream. I have a dream that one day I’m going to be the best teacher.

Jorge Rodríguez Pink

My name is George.

Who am I? I’m the best in my work. I work hard daily. 1 want to stand out against all the others.

I’ve got straight hair. I love football. I like playing games. I don’t like cooking.

Self Portrait Marta Carrascosa Marta Carrascosa Pink

My name is Marta Carrascosa. I’ve got straight hair. I love painting. I like playing games. I don’t like playing football.

Who am I? I’m a nice person. Why? Because I help people to achieve their success.

My family, my friends, and me

Sandra Natalia García Junior 1

My best friend is Sandra. She is my classmate but she is older than me because she was born in June and I was born in September.

Cristina Herrero. Junior 2

Autobiography Elvira Vallés Senior 7

I was born on July 6th 1996 in Madrid. I was the second of three siblings, my brother was four years old when I was born and my sister came a year later. Both my parents used to work for long hours so we had a nanny who I’m really close to. When my sister was born I had to go to the kinder garden. I don’t remember it very clearly but I was only there for two years. When I was three years old I moved to my current school, Montserrat. When I started first grade, they switched classes so I made new friends. We were in the same class for six years but now I don’t talk to most of them in spite of being in the same school. Remember that when I was in primary school I was a very adventurous, energetic and outgoing girl. Now I’m shyer than I used to be.

Sandra is blonde and she has blue eyes. She is very beautiful and very funny and friendly. She loves animals and she has a dog whose name is Rufus. She loves dancing, like I do. In the summer we go to the pool and to the cinema. I love Sandra because she is my best friend forever.

When I was twelve years old, I did my first exchange programme to Denver, Colorado. It wasn’t such a good experience because it was my first summer far away from home, so I got homesick. Although since that summer I haven’t stopped going every summer to the USA or Canada. It was the best decision I’ve ever made because every summer is better than the one before. My first job was when I was fifteen years old, babysitting. It was a really good experience and I really enjoyed it because I love children. However, working as a baby sitter is not my dream. My plan is to be a doctor, specifically a surgeon or a medical researcher. I hope that in ten years time I will have achieved this ambition.

YearBook

A disaster in class Diego Iba単ez, Manuel Garcia and Eduardo Mazariegos. Junior 2

Food Glorious Food

Julio’s favourite pizza Julio Herreros Yellow

My favourite pizza has cheese, ham, mushrooms, anchovies, oregano, tomato, pineapple, salami, pepper, and chili pepper.

A Memorable Meal Blanca Santiago Junior 3

Four years ago, I had one of my most memorable meals; I celebrated my first Holy Communion with all of my family and three good friends. It was in a restaurant called “Gijón”, which is in Paseo de Recoletos, and it is a very beautiful place. This restaurant is very famous because a few years ago, writers and actors used to go there to have lunch. For starters we ate salad with lobsters, and then potatoes with onion sauce and Iberian ham. It was so delicious! For the main course we could choose fish or meat. I chose meat because it is one of my favourite dishes, it was very tasty! Then, for dessert, we ate profiteroles with chocolate. I love chocolate, it is my passion, it was fantastic, but afterwards my dress wasn’t clean! I had a really good time because all of my family and my best friends were there, and everybody wanted to take a photo of me! I will never forget that day.

Antonia Romera. Tigers Blanca de Castilla

YearBook

Sergio Anta’s sandwich Sergio Anta Junior 1

My sandwich is perfect for me because it has my favourite ingredients: ham, cheese, hamburger, barbecue pizza and bacon, sausages, eggs and brown and white bread. But my favourite ingredient is barbecue pizza.

Banana and Hamburger. Adrian. Tiger (Blanca de Castilla)

Marta Torres’ sandwich Marta Torres Junior1

This special sandwich is special because it’s a normal sandwich. That’s funny because it’s not special; it’s just a normal sandwich. But it’s special because it tastes good. My sandwich doesn’t have sweets or anything like that, it just tastes good and I like it. Mmmmmm……..

Food Glorious Food

Food Marta Bonet, María del Mar Jarillo and Lucía Carrascosa Junior 3

We did a survey in our class about food and we discovered many interesting things. The people in our class have many different tastes. A big part of the class love pasta or steak with chips, but a lot of pupils like all the food, and two people like sushi and other types of Asian food. People’s dislikes were varied; a few students didn’t like guacamole, olives or fish. The rest of the class hate lots of vegetables. 91% of the class prefer savoury food to sweet food, and 80% of the class prefer meat to fish. The majority of us eat 2 or 3 pieces of fruit a day, but there are some people who don’t eat any piece of fruit and some students who eat 5 or more than 5 pieces. 7 people in the class prefer Italian restaurants, but the rest of our class including the teacher prefer Spanish, American or Asian restaurants.

Cutlery Penknife Marina and Elena Junior 3

You must buy this product! This object combines a knife a spoon and a fork. You can choose the spoon you need to eat at each moment. If you travel to a place and want to eat but you don’t have cutlery you can use it. It’s made of stainless steel and plastic. It’s useful and practical and it’s light to carry.

Something strange I have eaten recently Javier Rueda Senior 9

Two weeks ago I ate the strangest meal I have ever eaten. On Saturday while hanging out with two friends of mine we went to a restaurant to have dinner. At first I thought we were going to an Italian restaurant but soon realized we were heading to the Japanese one. My friends persuaded me to have dinner there, although I had never gone to an Asian restaurant before. My friends therefore ordered their favourite meals and soon the waiter arrived with all the dishes. The Sushi was delicious as well as the duck. What really struck me was a little thing called Dim Sui. The presentation was not nice and at first I did not want to eat it. My friends forced me to eat one small piece and finally I did. In the end it was not as bad as I had thought and I liked it after all.

YearBook

The Star Fish, Australia Gonzalo de la Torre Ruíz Junior 1

The Star Fish is a submarine restaurant in the sea. It has a small aquarium, and also a big aquarium eight metres high and fifty kilometres long. It’s the biggest aquarium in the world. It has two swimming pools where you can swim with the fish, and it’s a brilliant restaurant in the west of Australia. It has a big bubble the shape of a star so you can’t die.

The Brits in Spain Café Álvaro Valencia Advanced Writing Course

Situated just across the road from the British Consulate, the “Brits in Spain” café offers a home to any hungry British, Irish, Welsh and obviously Spanish person, and a warm-hearted welcome, as well as a gorgeous breakfast, lunch or dinner, if you’d like one. Food We have adapted our menu, so you will be able to delight in any of our English dishes, like fish and chips, or the famous Sunday roast, with which you’ll be able to delight your stomach any day of the week. Also on our menu there are many vegetarian meals. Newly added to our menu are the English breakfasts, so typical there and so famous here.

Offers and Menus Apart from lowering our prices, we’ve decided to create some special menus, like the children’s menu, in which the youngsters will be able to choose from up to fifteen different main courses, and eight desserts. Another thing we’ve added are the special offers, like the birthday offer, which reduces the total cost of your meal by 60% (you’ll only get this discount if you bring an ID card). As George J. Barton said: “the better the food and the lower the prices, so much the better!” We are waiting for you!

Marcos Sobesano. Tigers (Blanca de Castilla)

Food Glorious Food

MasterChef Lara Burgos Anastasia Dominguez Rebeca Formariz Santiago Rodriguez Yolanda Rubio Álvaro Sánchez Cesar Serrano Daniela Chavez Junior 2 (SEK)

Hi Tom We really enjoyed watching you on Junior MasterChef. Congratulations on winning! Here are a few questions from a class of eleven-year-olds who are learning English. They are very interested in your achievements! How did you feel when you first cooked on TV? It felt really cool. I tried not to think about it because it made me really nervous. It was also strange cooking with cameras all around me. What do you want to be when you grow up and why? I would either like to be a chef, a football player or a musician because they are the things I most enjoy doing now.

Master Chef Tom Barlow Kay, pictured here with the judges top chef John Torode and TV cook Donal Skehan

11 year old Tom Barlow-Kay, nephew of MYL teacher Joanne Kay won the BBC Junior MasterChef competition! Finola Griffin’s Junior 2s watched highlights of the show and then emailed Tom some questions which he kindly agreed to answer.

How has winning the competition made you feel? I felt amazing when I found out that I had won because I had spent so long trying to get to the final, but then to actually win it was just fabulous. If you had a restaurant, what would you call it? Tast’E What do you think is true for you: natural talent or practice? I think I had a bit of natural talent but it did take a lot of practice to get to where I am now. What animal would be your ideal pet? A cat, because they are really cute and they snuggle up to you to keep you warm. Why do you like to cook with vegetables? Because they are really good for you and they add a lot of colour to the dish.

YearBook

What was the most difficult dish that you have ever cooked? Chocolate fondant, because it’s really easy to cook it for too long and it doesn’t come out all oozy and gooey. How do you feel when you cook something new? It is exciting because you don’t know how it is going to taste. What’s your favourite hobby outside cooking? I love playing football. I play for my school, Painswick FC and I love playing footy in the garden with my dad. I also play a lot of music especially electric guitar and piano. Football or rugby? What team do you support? I support Liverpool FC What food have you prepared that you didn’t like? I made something called a crepe soufflé but did not like it. When did you get interested in food? I’ve always really liked food and like to try new dishes and flavours. I got interested in cooking food about 2 years ago. How did you discover that you were good at cooking? Probably when I first made up a dish and it came out really well. It was trout and chorizo and tomatoes on potato rosti and I cooked it on Christmas Eve.

What would you really like to cook that you haven’t so far? I haven’t cooked much Indian food – I’d like to try some interesting spices. I also just started cooking bread – some are quite complicated like sour dough and ciabatta but I need to practice a bit before attempting those. Can you talk me through your favourite recipe? I like to pan-fry fish like trout and salmon. I leave the skin on the fish and score the skin, add salt and pepper and fry skin side down in butter. When it’s nearly cooked through I turn it over and squeeze in lemon juice and spoon over the butter. What kind of letters or messages have you received from fans? I didn’t get many fan letters, just a few from friends saying ‘Well Done’. Finola Griffin then asked, Is there anything you wouldn’t cook? I can’t think of anything – if it looks tasty and I’ll learn something new, I’ll have a go at cooking it Apart from British food, what is your all-time favourite foreign dish? Pizza!!

Halloween

Halloween A delicious bite Paula Molina Senior 6

An exciting celebration for all ages: children sing catchy songs, and young people and adults play with unusual fireworks. Guy Fawkes was born in York. He helped the Catholic Spanish people in the “Eighty Years’ War” against Protestant Dutch reformers. Guy and more people planned to kill King James I to bring back a Catholic monarch. The authorities found him guarding a lot of gunpowder to do it.

red cheeks, a long moustache upturned at both ends and a tiny vertical beard. This mask appears too in a film called “V for Vendetta”.

Ana Carrasco and Laura Trujillo look terrific in their witch outfits

On bonfire night, many shops sell fireworks which have music. These are very expensive, but they are beautiful too. People who take part in this event really enjoy it a lot, so come and see it!

Alvaro Tijeras, the Athletic Zombie from Reds

He was going to be executed by hanging, but he managed to jump from the gallows and died of a broken neck, and so he suffered less. Every 5th of November in Great Britain, Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated to commemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot. Every year, Guy’s figure is burned on top of a big bonfire. People dress up outrageously and many of them wear a strange mask, which consists of a white face with a scary smile,

Andrés García Consuegra gives us a scary stare!

Panda student Ana Moro and Secretary of Death Sara Martín give each other a big fright

YearBook

Bonfire night Fernando Moré and Marta González Senior 7

Once upon a cloudy midnight, Patricia, Michael and Kevin were drinking in a graveyard because it was Halloween night and they wanted to see ghosts and zombies. When they arrived at the main grave they started playing with a Ouija board. Michael didn’t really like playing with spirits, so he went for a walk. “I need to spend some time alone, I think I’m a little bit drunk”, he said. He started walking around and suddenly a vicious wolf appeared in front of him. “Hi Michael, let’s play a funny game”, the wolf whispered. Michael fell down with terror. A few weeks later, Michael woke up in a hospital; he didn’t remember anything but he had a big scar on his neck. When he left the hospital, his friends threw him a surprise party. At midnight everybody was having fun, except for Michael who was starting to feel a little bit weird. “Guys, I don’t remember what I am doing here and why everyone is in my house. I’m starting to get hungry and I haven’t got any food in my fridge”. A moment later the party was a complete chaos, everybody was screaming and trying to get out of the house. But it was too late … Michael had turned into a big wolf, and with a diabolical voice started shouting; “time to eat”!

Alberto Salanova, the Zombie with a headache

María Caballo, the Ghostly Panda

Hannah Norwood´s Pink class were so scary, they made the camera shake

A great variety of spooky students; Marta, Violeta, Juan, Guillermo, Raquel and Natalia

Halloween

Dracumonster

The Mummy

Marta Martínez Junior 1

Teresa García Roberto. Junior 1

Do you drink blood? Yes I like drinking blood but I prefer cat blood. Do you eat portions of rats? No, I like portions of brains and eyes of rats. Do you like having screws in your head? No it’s uncomfortable and it hurts. Do you have a bat? Yes, and it’s green. How old are you? I’m a million years old. What do you think of Wolfman?

What do you eat? I eat the brains of very very old people because the children are silly and they hit me with a broom. How old are you?

(not my blood). My sister is a ghost and my brother is a skeleton. Where do you live? I live in Egypt, in a pyramid with Cleopatra.

I have been in the world about 5,000 years but I’m in great shape. Do you like children? Nooooo, I don’t like children, they shout all the time and hit me with a broom. What is your family like? My mam is a wolfwoman, my dad is a vampire: his name is Dracula and he drinks blood

His blood is very good but he is very bad.

Jo Kay and Laura C. with Yellow students Eva, Eugenia, Andréa, Lucía, Paula and Inés.

YearBook

Caroline Jimena Rodríguez Junior 2 (Esclavas)

Where did you die? I died in a haunted house in 1822. My family and I were buying it. A piece of wood fell on my head. My family were very scared. The man of the house was a vampire and he bit me.

Do you kill people because you enjoy it or not? Hardly ever, but sometimes people ask me to kill a person that had done something bad to them and I kill him. After, I get the blood or the head.

How many people do you kill everyday?

What were you doing when you died?

I kill around twenty people more or less. More kids than adults, kids of six or seven years old.

I was playing hide and seek with my brothers. Suddenly we heard a noise, I looked up and a piece of wood fell on my head.

Who was the person you first killed? It was a young boy. He was very beautiful. I sucked his blood. It was very fresh. Why do you like killing and sucking blood?

Do you like nasty mice, bats, toads, lizards and fleas?

Pablo Marrón and Sara Martín show us how to deal with difficult customers

Yes I like them very much. I have three mice, two bats, one toad, two lizards and fleas all around my coffin.

Because I like it and I enjoy seeing dead people. How old are you? When I died I was twelve years old, now I am 210 years old. Where do you live? I live in a coffin in a strange and haunted graveyard.

Captain Mush dishes out the treats

Halloween

Another way to enjoy Halloween

Halloween Poem

Luis Albaladejo Senior 6

Javier Rodríguez Junior 1

Are you tired of celebrating the same Halloween part every year? Without changes and always dressing up and going to the same parties with the same theme? Don’t worry! In England there is an alternative festival (which is more popular than Halloween there), called “Guy Fawkes festival.” It is celebrated in a different way from Halloween, but it is just as exciting and good fun. People go out and do crazy things like throwing fireworks at night, that’s why you can enjoy every fifth of November doing different things for a change. Guy Fawkes was a man who was born on the thirteenth of April of 1570 in the English city of York. At first it is a sad story because his father died when he was only eight, but soon his mother married another man, a recusant Catholic, so Guy Fawkes grew up into a Catholic context. When he became an adult, he decided to go and fight for the Spanish army against the Protestant Dutch reformers. He made this decision because of his catholic beliefs. Working as a soldier and fighting in the “Eighty Years War”, he became also known as “Guido Fawkes”. A few years after, he took part in the “failed”

Gunpowder Plot of the 1560s, whose objective was to kill King James I, who was an Anglican. The religious beliefs of the king and the desire for a new catholic king were the facts which inspired some men, including Guy Fawkes, to plan and carry out the plot. But finally, when Guy Fawkes was very near to the culmination of the plot and the killing of King James I, he was caught and arrested by the guardians and soldiers of the king, and afterwards tortured until he told them the names of all the conspirators of the plot. Guy Fawkes was executed and quartered on the thirty first of January of 1606, at Westminster in London. Now, these days, English people celebrate this festival (which is only celebrated in England and is called after the man of the plot), to remember that the plot “failed”, and the king stayed alive. So if you are bored of celebrating Halloween always in the same way and you are interested in having a nice day doing crazy things, don’t think any more about it and come to England to enjoy this traditional festival which is very nice and great fun on the fifth of November next year!

Happy horrible day All the people are wearing costumes Lots of people are in the street Lanterns made of skeletons Old monsters in your house Witches in the street Evil monsters are taking you Eerie and dangerous people Night is terrible in the city.

Mónica Babio, a witch with style

Panda Student Miguel Brau offers us a Trick or a Treat

YearBook

Halloween in Spain Elvira Vallés Senior 7

Carmen Romero Junior 2 looking for another victim

Elegant witches Lara Meiji and Clara Lloret

These kids are seriously scary! Celia Zhong, Rafa de las Peñas and Elías Cobas

Who’s your tailor! Tiger students Álvaro Fariña and Ciro González show off their great costumes

Halloween, also known as All Hallows’ Eve, is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on October 31st, the Eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows. Typical festive activities include trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, telling scary stories and watching horror films. In my opinion, Halloween in Spain is an imported celebration, introduced mainly by the commercial industry and it is used to make a lot of money. I mean, in Spain Halloween is used by this industry to sell costumes, candy and pumpkins. It isn’t a traditional celebration here. However, it is not as commercial as mother’s day and father’s day, where the only thing you do is to buy presents for your mother or father. On the other hand, teenagers use Halloween as a reason to have parties or to go to the disco. We like partying, so we look for as many reasons as we can to do it. I think that Halloween in Spain is becoming very popular because it is a fun celebration where people get together and dress up as monsters or witches. Now Halloween is celebrated in every school, so the children are turning it into a tradition.

The best dressed ghouls in town! Class Junior 1

In conclusion, Halloween in some years from now is going to be a tradition in Spain, adopted by future generations.

Halloween

The Night of Halloween

Halloween day Inés Varela Senior 7

Marta Molina and Ana Rodríguez Senior 4

Here in Spain it is not a very important day because nobody goes trick or treating and only a few people dress up. But on Halloween night young people usually have parties, stay at a friend’s house to sleep, go out clubbing… Sometimes little children go to school in fancy dress and teachers give them sweets, I love seeing little children running around the playground. This Halloween four friends and I went to a village 60 km outside Madrid. We walked around the streets and did some scary dares. It was the best Halloween of my life because it was the first time I spent Halloween in this village and I had a lot of fun. I think the most important thing about Halloween is having good company. Halloween is such good fun but the next day we have to get up early and take flowers to the cemetery. Then we normally go to mass and pray for all the dead people. It is a sad day and after this horrible morning it is very difficult to remember all the fun we had at Halloween. I think it is a shame that nowadays many people use it as an excuse to go out and get really drunk. No one anymore is really interested in the history of Halloween.

Teacher Amy Jones spreads her wings!

On the night of Halloween, Everybody screams, If you don’t run fast, You will be caught by a witch. Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat, If you don’t give me a sweet, You will smell my feet. Witches, elves and monsters, Are hanging out tonight, Cats, ghosts and zombies, Scared guy this twilight. Trick or Treat, Give me something to eat, If you don’t, I don’t care, I’ll pull down your underwear.

What frightening faces! Lucía Sánchez and Natalia Larrazabal, Reds

YearBook

The Bloody Scarf Cristina Fonfria and Ángela Blázquez Senior 7

It was a sunny afternoon when Lisa and Miguel went to the forest to have a romantic picnic. “Oh, what a surprise! I didn’t expect you to bring me here”, said Lisa. “You deserve this and more, because I love you”, declared Miguel. “You are so cute”, Lisa replied. Two hours later… “Oh my God, it’s very late! We have to go home!” said Lisa. The night was as dark as the inside of a coffin. “Wow, I’ve heard some noises that sound like wolf howls. Let’s walk quickly!” warned Miguel. Later, when they got home, they carried on the conversation. “OK, we are safe here”, said Miguel. “Oh no! I’ve left my scarf in the forest”, wailed Lisa. Miguel reassured her saying, “Don’t worry sweetie, I’ll look for it”. “No, Miguel! It’s dangerous outside. Wait until tomorrow, please!” begged Lisa.

“No, I know it is very important for you because it was a present from your dead grandmother”. Miguel said goodbye and left. That was the last time Lisa saw Miguel alive. Miguel went into the forest but he didn’t come back. Lisa woke up in the middle of the night and started to hear the sound of some steps coming upstairs towards her room. She saw some shadows moving but she ignored them and closed her eyes. Suddenly, the steps stopped in front of her bed, but soon they disappeared. When she got up at eight o’clock in the silence of the morning, she realised that her scarf was on the floor dripping with blood, so she immediately called the police. She was feeling shaken, and she started shouting.

Three cool witches Ana Jiménez Laura Rodríguez and María Fernández Reds

Celia Zhong and Amalia Guzmán in their great costumes

The police found Miguel’s body lying in the forest. The wolves had bitten him and torn his body. Now five years have passed since Miguel’s murder, and Lisa still doesn’t know how to explain the mystery of the bloody scarf.

Grab that skeleton by the legs! Jo Kay and Laura del Castillo

Christmas Card Winners

Winner Pablo Hervรกs. Yellow

Runner up Blanca Barbero. Junior 2

Runner up Pablo Hernรกndez. Red

YearBook

What’s the story?

What’s the story? A Lucky Escape

E-mail to Natalia

Cristina del Río de Francisco Senior 4

Nadia Olmeda Junior 4

It was a cold night and I was in the living room watching TV with my sister and my dog. My sister was on the sofa and the dog was near her. I felt sleepy so I went to my room.

Hi Natalia!!

Suddenly I heard my dog making a strange noise, so I went to see him. He seemed to be fine so I didn’t know what was wrong with him. During the week he continued making strange noises, so we decided to take him to see the vet. He told us that my dog had a little stone in his stomach, and that they would have to operate on him. I was terrified because he was very little and the operation was very dangerous for the dog. One week later we went back to the vet because it was time for the operation. All my family was at the vet’s too and we were waiting for the result of the operation. Finally, the doctor came out and told us that it had gone well, and that the dog was perfect. I can say that it was a lucky escape.

How are you?? I have a problem. Yesterday my sister asked to borrow my Samsung S2, well I said of course, because she lends me a lot of things. Well, here is the thing, in the morning she gave it back, and I realised that it was broken. I said “don’t worry”, but frankly I want to kill her. I don’t have enough money to buy a new one, that’s why I’m working, washing cars, and my sister will help me to buy a Samsung Galaxy S3. She told me that with her money she will buy a part of this. That’s great because I have never before seen her giving her money to another person. My father gave me €20, my mom €40 and my sister €100, but the Samsung is €300 Well, if you are bored some day you can come to wash cars!! See you soon!!! Your best friend, Nadia

YearBook

Fame at last

Jack

Víctor Fernández Senior 5

Jara López Pelayo Senior 6

I had never felt so nervous before in all my life. One day I was walking down the street when suddenly a famous actor passed by my side. He stopped and came towards me with a surprised look on his face. He took out a piece of paper and a pencil and asked me for an autograph. After that, he took out a camera and asked if he could take a photo of us together.

Although she felt quite nervous, Laura smiled as she walked into the room. Sitting on her bed were her parents, waiting for her.

As people passed by, they stopped and took photos of me too. In a short time, I was surrounded by people shouting my name, asking for autographs and taking my picture. A journalist approached and started to ask me questions. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Meanwhile, one person who had been shouting my name asked me if I wanted to be the singer in his band. He told me that his group was very famous. I said yes! This had been my dream since I was young.

She knew that day she wasn’t the best daughter in the world. And she also knew what they were going to talk about, but she hated that kind of conversation, so she tried to ignore her parents. I think Laura was crazy and jealous of her little brother Jack, and that’s why she left him alone in the countryside near their house, telling him “I’m going to hide and you have to find me as fast as you can.” Jack was so young; he was just six years old. Laura thought her parents were going to tell her they had found Jack walking alone somewhere, but they didn’t. She realised that her mother was crying: they had found a body, covered with blood, in the street. It was Jack, but his eyes weren’t in his face. They looked out the window, and saw two blue eyes. Suddenly, they heard a voice, saying “Laura, I’ve just found you!”

Finally, when I arrived home and told my sister, she started laughing. She told me that she had recorded me when I was singing in the shower, and that she had uploaded it onto the internet. Now, thanks to my sister, I’m a celebrity, although I’m not sure if I want to be one. Nuria Pérez, Candela Garrido, Carlos González. Senior 8

What’s the story?

The Monkey’s Paw

Guided Meditation

Beatríz Sánchez Jiménez Junior 1

Junior 2

Old Mrs White was watching television with her son Herbert and her husband, when a friend of Mr White’s knocked on the door. His name was Tom Morris. Mr White went to open the door. Tom had been a soldier in India for 21 years, and he told a lot of beautiful stories, but the most interesting was about the monkey’s paw. Tom Morris said that the monkey’s paw could grant three wishes for three people. He gave the monkey’s paw to the family, but he said that they had to be careful because the monkey’s paw can’t give you happiness.

Finola Griffin told her Junior 2 students they were going on an imaginary journey. The students closed their eyes and listened to a description of a walk in the countryside. When they opened their eyes they told their partner about the journey they had imagined. Then they wrote it down …

When Tom Morris had gone home, Mr White made a wish. He wished for 30 000 pounds. But nothing happened, so he went to bed.

Jaime Pérez

The next day Herbert went to work at Mew and Meggings’ factory. Three hours later, a stranger knocked on Mrs White’s door. She opened it, and the stranger asked if she was Mrs White. Then he told her that Herbert had died that day at the factory, and that Mew and Meggings wanted to help with 30 000 pounds, the amount that Mr White had wished for. Three days later, Mrs White woke up in her bed and asked, “Where is the monkey’s paw?” When she found it, she wished to see Herbert, but Mr White didn’t want to see Herbert and he made the last wish. When Mrs White opened the door, Herbert wasn’t there.

I was in a village, on a path, I saw oaks, chestnuts, pines lime trees and beeches. I was in the forest! Near the trees were cats, dogs, sparrows, squirrels and parrots. I could hear the birds singing. Then I continued on the path and the path disappeared, I had to climb a cliff to continue walking for a long time. I could see a beautiful village; there were lots of houses and shops with very kind people.

I imagined that I was in Africa and I saw beautiful pines then I saw some guys speaking a strange language called Swahili. Suddenly I heard a loud noise, it was a lion and there were many ponies. When I entered the big city it was so hot! I like Africa so much! Claudia Pérez

I was in a forest. I saw a lot of pine. I saw a snake. I ran to the mountain and I climbed it. I saw a city, the people spoke Chinese. The houses were golden and I ate an apple. I went to the beach. I swam and I saw a shark. I smelled food and I went to a restaurant and I ate meat. I went to the mountain to sleep. I saw a bear. Daniel Carbajosa

YearBook

Mini Sagas Senior 4

Kara had been crying and begging her mother not to go to English class again. Her evil classmates had been laughing at her because she had glasses. But she had to go again. When she went into the class, everyone was wearing glasses in honour of Clara. She never felt different again. Marta Dueñas

The bell had rung two seconds before she appeared in class with her hair soaked. Maria was angry. Lately the weather had been unbearable. Diego looked at her, smiled and said: “Calm down, only forty days for the summer.” Maria sighed and thought of summer camp in England.

While David was reading, Maria put a hand into her pocket. She pulled out a turtle. She held it in her hand, magically it turned into a bird. It began to fly, rested on David’s shoulder. He turned into a bouquet of flowers for the girls of the class. Paula Pernas

Mario García

Martin Cristina Talavera Senior 6

As soon as he got out of the car, Martin felt uneasy. Something was wrong and he didn’t know what it was. He thought that he had left the oven turned on, he returned to his house but the oven was off so he went back to his job. When he came home that evening he saw that everything was untidy. Martin went to a drawer where he hid a knife which was very important to him, but the drawer was empty. Martin phoned the police immediately. When they arrived he explained what had happened, he explained everything except that the knife had disappeared.

The next few days were normal until one day while Martin was watching TV he heard some noises in the kitchen. When he got there one of the drawers was open and some knives were on the floor, including the knife that had disappeared. He was scared. Suddenly the TV and all the lights went out. He didn’t know what to do so he picked up the knife with which he had killed his wife and he felt cold. Now he knew what was happening. She had returned for revenge.

What’s the story?

Obsession Juan Armando Senior 8

Bob, an ordinary secretary, was coming back from his office. He was very tired, and he was walking slowly and looking down at the pavement. Suddenly, he saw a folder with some papers in it. He picked it up, looked quickly at the papers, looked around to see if they belonged to someone near, and as he didn’t see anyone he went home with them much faster than before. Why? What were those papers? He had found no less than the plans of a machine that could transport him into the future. For a week, Bob didn’t go to work even though he wasn’t ill, but he was making that machine. It took a long time, because there were a lot of details, and he had to travel very far to buy some of the pieces, but he couldn’t stop working on it. Finally, he finished it. It looked like a phone booth, and it had some buttons with numbers on. He got inside and pressed the buttons 2, 0, 8 and 2, because 2082 was the furthest year the machine could let him travel, but it was enough. He pressed the red button, he heard a lot of noise, and then the noise stopped. He was in 2082. Was he in 2082? That was what he was thinking. He saw in a bank that he was not in 2082, but in 2052.This is much more tragic than it looks. Bob understood that there was a problem, and so he turned around to look at his machine, but he just saw some wood and pieces of metal. The machine was broken! And he hadn’t brought his plans with him! He thought about a lot of ways

Writing Circle

he might get out of this difficult situation, and when he was on the point of despair, he realised that the plans would be just where he had left them forty years ago. He went to his flat, called at the door, and an old man opened it. Bob asked him if Roberto Gómez (himself) was living there, and the man told him that not since forty years ago, but he gave him Bob’s new address. Bob went to Bob’s new house, and an old lady told him the same thing. And that is how Bob visited Barcelona in 2052, because he had to visit nine houses. With this problem, he didn’t pay attention to the differences between his time and this one; he just noticed that people were always looking at small computers, and that there were a lot of small flying machines. He finally arrived at his house of the future. It was a small, poor and ugly house. He called at the door and an old man answered. The man looked very like him, but much older of course, because it was him! As Bob didn’t like what was happening, he didn’t ask a lot of questions, he just asked for the plans. The old Bob agreed to give them to him, but he told him not to become obsessed with the machine, but to try and be a normal happy man. Thanks to the plans he was able to return home, and he told himself that he would never travel into the future again because it felt very strange, and he had decided to follow the advice of himself in the future. If the advice came from himself, it just had to be right!

YearBook

Revenge Luis Ramos Senior 5

Everything started with my father’s friend Steve. He asked my father to play poker with him in his house. First of all, my father didn’t know his friend very well, and he started playing poker as a hobby. But after some months, everything started going wrong. My father only wanted to play for fun because he didn’t have much money. One day, his friend and two other men came into our house; they were looking for my father. Fortunately, my dad wasn’t at home. Steve told me to tell my father to call him. When my father arrived, I told him what that man had said to me, and he looked very worried after that. He told me to leave home with my brother and to go to my grandparents’ house. I accepted, but the next morning, the two men who had been with Steve turned up. They fought with my father, and one of them hit me and knocked me out. When I woke up, I was in the countryside, but I didn’t know exactly where. The two men were sitting in front of me, and they started telling me that I was there because my father had to give money to Steve. They told me that as my father didn’t have any money I was being kidnapped, and that they would only let me go in two years time, when I was eighteen. I wasn’t alone there, there were more than ten other boys and they were all about my age. They made me work in the fields for more than twelve hours a day. When I was eighteen years old, I was finally allowed to go back home, but my father wasn’t there. My mother told me that one day those men had turned up and taken my father away. She didn’t know if he

Writing Circle

was still alive, so I wanted to get revenge. First of all, I needed a gun, so I went out to buy one. When I was buying it, I met Paul, the person who is my best friend right now. We met in the gun shop, and he asked me if I wanted to kill people for money, and I accepted as I needed some training for my revenge. When I started I didn’t know anything about guns, but I soon learnt. After five months, I told Paul what I was going to do with the people who had kidnapped my father. I went to the countryside where those men were making children work, and I started to look for them. When I found them, I followed them to the house where they lived and I went inside. I walked along the corridor leading to their bedroom. I didn’t know if I was going to kill them, I only knew that Tim’s revenge would be carried out. They weren’t going to suffer, but the only thing that I really wanted to do was to rescue my father. Finally, I decided that I would have to shoot them dead, but my first enemy wasn’t there. I found my father. He was very thin, so I took care of him. We came back home, and I thought that Steve would be in his old house. I went in, and there he was, but I didn’t want to kill him immediately. I told my father to play a revenge game of poker with him. If my father won, Steve would die, if Steve won, he could go away. They played, and my father won, so Steve died and we buried him in that place where they had taken me when I was young. It was all over for us. We went back to living like a normal family, but with a small secret that nobody else could know.

What’s the story?

The Prime Suspect María González de la Rivera Senior 7

Writing Circle

I have never seen Alice since that day. It was five o’clock in the afternoon and I was reading the newspaper in the café like every Wednesday. I used to read it trying to find an interesting case to be resolved. Yes, I am a detective. Suddenly, the door opened and I saw a young girl wearing a long black dress enter the café. It was not usual to see girls in there, but the thing that astonished me the most was that she came to my table and took a seat besides me.

She was right, I should never have thought about resolving the case, but I did, and that is why I am there, handcuffed and with a dagger to my throat. Of course, the burglar was Alice, and also she was the person who was holding the dagger.

She just said; “if you appreciate your life you should not do what you are about to do”. Then she got up and she disappeared as fast as she had come in.

At that moment, he was in front of me laughing. Alice whispered to me; “I told you, now you only have one chance, believe me”. Then I felt her putting a key in my pocket, the key to the handcuffs. I opened them, and when she made a gesture, I started to run.

I would have thought it was a dream if her perfume had not still been in the atmosphere. I cannot describe what she smelt like, but when I close my eyes I can still remember it. I started thinking about what she had said, but I was not sure about what I was going to do at that moment, so I carried on reading the newspaper. When I turned the page, I found exactly what I had been waiting for since five weeks ago, a crime. “The Prime Minister’s ex-wife has been murdered. It is reported that the motive was the theft of her million-dollar watch. It is reported that the Prime Suspect is a woman”.

I had been close to the solution of the crime. In fact, I had resolved it, but he was faster than me. The Prime Minister called Alice to make me disappear.

Next morning, the first thing I did was look through the newspaper. On the front page there was a headline which said; “The Prime Minister will be on trial tomorrow morning because it is thought that he has killed his ex-wife. If he is found guilty, he will go to prison for thirty years. The witnesses have said that a woman had been present when the crime took place. She has not been found.” That was the last time I heard anything about Alice.

YearBook

The Story of Tristan. Part I Sara Vázquez Senior 8

Once upon a time, when magic still existed and fairies were alive, there was a king whose son, named Tristan, was the strangest prince ever. He was very handsome, but he was lazy, cowardly and boring. Instead of hunting or riding a horse he preferred reading romantic stories or walking around the castle’s garden. In another kingdom there was a feared giant, respected by everybody. His name was Caious. He had a lot of enemies, but no one could fight him. He went from one kingdom to another whenever he wanted, destroying everything in his way. That’s why they called him “The Destroyer”.

Writing Circle

The king laughed. Tristan didn’t know which question he should answer first, so he just stayed quiet. Those days were fantastic. His uncle was a friendly person, very funny sometimes but serious when he had to be. Tristan trained very hard. Three days passed and no one came to the castle to go and kill Caious. “Aah, Tristan, maybe I’m just a fool and we can’t stop the giant.” “Don’t say that,” said Tristan, “I’m sure you have a lot of brave soldiers here. I think you should send one of them.”

That day, Tristan had been sent to the lands of King Robert, his uncle, to learn how to fight and become a soldier. When he arrived, everyone was in the main square listening to the king.

The king didn’t like the idea at the beginning, but suddenly he smiled and stared at Tristan, who couldn’t imagine what King Robert was thinking about.

“My dear people,” he was saying. “Caious, the Destroyer, has been making us suffer for a long time. He breaks our homes and kills our animals, but now it is time we finished with him”

In a land very far from there, the Destroyer was getting a message from King Robert. He wanted to challenge him. He was furious. “How can he imagine that he or his men can hurt me?” he thought. “I accept, but only because if I don’t they’ll call me a coward.”

Tristan was so frightened about that idea that he hid behind some beer barrels, but he was so nervous that he hit them and they fell to the floor with a loud crash. “Who made that noise?” exclaimed the king. “I want him to come forward.” But when he noticed who had made the noise he relaxed and talked happily. “Oh, my dear nephew! How is everything going? And what about my beloved brother? Has he got many problems?”

Tristan was sent to fight the giant by his uncle. He trained for five more days and then he started the trip to the island where the fight had been arranged. The prince didn’t like the sea, and he liked even less giants or swords. There was only one thing that made him better than the Destroyer: he was very clever, even though he didn’t know it yet.

What’s the story?

The Camp Marta and Sofía Junior 2

YearBook

The Eerie Outing María Granados Senior 4

As soon as they opened the door, they knew something was wrong in that rural house. It all started when Susan had an idea, she thought that her friends and she could go on an excursion to a rural house. She immediately sent them an email telling them about her plan. All of them answered Susan saying that they were excited about the idea, so Susan began to prepare the outing. A few days later they were driving to the rural house which was in Gijón. When Susan and her friends arrived there they were amazed, the house looked like an old haunted mansion. Susan, who was so brave, tried to cheer her friends up and went into the house. She was fascinated with the interior of the house. There were many photos on the walls and some of them looked so real that they seemed to be alive. While Susan was walking down the hall, she felt as if hundreds of eyes were looking at her. Suddenly, she heard a noise and the wall started moving. She realised that somebody or something was touching her back and pushing her into the moving wall. A second later, loud desperate screams were heard by all of Susan’s friends who called out to her, but she didn’t reply. They were searching for Susan for a long time after that, but there was no trace of her and she was never seen again. But there was one thing that they didn’t notice in that haunted house. There was a new photo on the wall. It was a picture of a girl, and she looked a lot like Susan.

The Legend of the Girl that killed people with Hair Gel Laura Sánchez Senior 4

A long time ago there was a girl who was apparently a good child. She was tall and she had brown eyes and long wavy brown hair. She was pretty and she liked going to school and playing with her friends, but one day she was no longer the girl that she had been. On Christmas Eve, her cousin came to visit her and her family. At Christmas, her cousin gave her some nice hair gel. Her cousin said; “take this hair gel; it’s to put on your beautiful long hair. But be careful, the person who sold me the hair gel told me that if you looked at it for a long time … well, it doesn’t matter! It’s a joke”! The two girls laughed non stop, but something had changed inside the girl. When she returned to school, she went down to the computer room with her friend and her class. Everything went well until she started laughing and couldn’t stop. Her friend looked puzzled by her behaviour and realized that the girl had put on a lot of hair gel. Everything was out of the ordinary. The hair gel suddenly shot towards the friend’s face, and inexplicably her head was cut in two. All the people in the room began to run in all directions but she was chasing them and killing them one by one with her hair gel. It was very strange. Everyone died at that school. No one survived. The girl disappeared and was never heard of again. The police only found a little hair gel shining among the corpses. This legend is very strange and inexplicable, but true.

What’s the story?

The Mysterious House Lucía Martínez Senior 4

As soon as they opened the door, they knew something was wrong. They stared at each other and no one said anything, but they were thinking the same. It was a cold day and the sky was cloudy. Tom, James and Kate were bored. Tom called them and proposed a plan. James and Kate accepted immediately. Javier Domínguez and Belén Gónzalez receive their prize from Mushtaq Mohamed for their Dreams and Ambition project

Summer course student working on the Charles Dickens Project

Each one took their coat and scarf and they went to the forest. They knew that there was an abandoned house and they thought that it would be good fun to record a scary movie. They went to the house and it was amazing. Everything was very old and some things looked a little scary. Tom and Kate went upstairs and they saw the dark rooms. Meanwhile, James prepared the scene to start to record. Tom and Kate went into a small room without a lock, but in its place there was a hole. The door closed with the wind but they weren’t afraid. Suddenly Tom saw an eye in the hole of the lock. Kate started laughing with him and then said; “James, we can see you!” James didn’t answer. Tom opened the door while Kate was watching

the eye. Behind the door there wasn’t anyone! They ran downstairs and shouted “James! James! Where are you?” Then they heard James say “What’s going on?” Kate and Tom knew that it was very odd because it couldn’t be James. They returned to the house. As soon as they opened the door, they knew something was wrong. They stared at each other and no one said anything, but they were thinking the same thing. Something strange was happening … Suddenly James said; “Why have you moved the chairs”? Kate and Tom said together; “We haven’t moved anything!” Tom, James and Kate started to run and didn’t look back. When they were far from the house, they stopped running, and Tom and Kate told James about the strange occurrence with the eye. James swore that it wasn’t his eye. Everyone promised not to return to the mysterious house, but all three of them agreed that it had been an incredible adventure.

YearBook

The Audition

S.O.S. Rebel Soldiers

Sara Mozo Senior 6

Ana María Albaladejo Senior 6

Although she felt quite nervous, Laura smiled as she walked into the room. Months ago she had applied for an audition, and finally she was there, one step closer to making her wish come true. She pulled the door with her sweating hand and smiled at the people who were going to judge her talent and her voice. She walked into the middle of the room and picked up the microphone to do the presentation she had been preparing for a week. Her lips moved fast, pronouncing every word correctly without making any mistakes. One of the judges who was there asked her some common questions like “why are you here?” or “why do you want to do this?” Laura answered him smiling to make a good impression.

Imagine being close to death simply because someone thinks differently, only because some people want to change your government. This could have happened in England in 1605, but instead of that, we celebrate Bonfire Night. So let’s go and gaze into the past.

Then, after a few more questions, she was told to begin singing. Laura pulled back her hair and closed her eyes while her mouth got closer to the microphone. Then she opened her mouth widely to start singing. While she moved her feet, doing a little dance according to the song, she started to think about her life and how much effort had been required to convince her family to let her be a singer. Her lips whispered the last lyrics of the song, as one of the judges stood up from his chair. Then he started clapping, saying she had been chosen. Laura couldn’t believe it. Her dream, her most precious dream, had come true. She burst into tears, laughing nervously. Finally she could show the world what she was able to do, what she was made of.

On 13th April, 1570, Guy Fawkes (also known as Guido Fawkes), a humble soldier, was born in York, England. Fawkes later converted to Catholicism and left for the continent, where he fought in the Eighty Years’ War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch Reformers. A certain Thomas Wintour introduced him to Robert Catesby, a man who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic Monarchy to the throne. But he was arrested while he was guarding explosives in the House of Lords during the state opening of Parliament on 5th November. Nowadays, English people commemorate the wonderful day on which this dangerous man was put to death. Truly, this holiday is great because it represents the right of the English people to decide if they want a Catholic Monarchy or not. And also, there are other ways of restoring a Catholic Monarchy without using violence. Certainly, English people are very proud of this event, although in other countries people have never heard of this story.

What’s the story?

The Trick Alicia Martínez Rodríguez Senior 6

Although she felt quite nervous, Laura smiled as she walked into the room. There, she saw Tom, a good-looking boy, dressed as a wizard. At that moment they were ready to go outside. Laura was wearing a black dress and a black hat with a star on it. They were both really nervous because they didn’t know if their performance was going to be good. The other contestants looked very concentrated and seemed really confident. The bell rang! It was their turn. They stood up and started walking along the long corridor. A few metres from them, the other contestants were practising all their magic tricks. Laura and Tom looked at each other and tried to keep their cool. They arrived at the stage. At the front, there was a huge audience staring at them. Laura started talking to the audience while Tom prepared their trick. When Tom finished, Laura stopped talking and got into the box that Tom had prepared for her. There wasn’t anything inside that box apart from a few holes, from where she could see all the people staring at her. Tom started explaining what the magic trick was going to be about. When he finished, he picked up a sword and put it inside the hole. After that, he took some others and did the same. The audience thought that Laura was dead because there wasn’t a door to escape from the box. Tom opened it, and they saw that Laura had vanished. In the box there was only a bag of sausages. The audience started laughing and clapping, but Tom wasn’t happy because that wasn’t part of the trick. He closed the box and took the swords out of it. Then he opened the box and Laura had appeared. The audience clapped and screamed. The performance had gone really well. When they went off the stage, Tom asked Laura why she had done that, and she told him that the trick was a bit boring and that it needed something funny like the bag of sausages instead of the flag, which was the original plan. Tom realised that Laura was right, and they both left the building very proud of their performance.

Janis Taylor’s Senior 7 Environment Project classroom decoration

YearBook

E-mail to Patricia María Martín Junior 4

Hi Patricia, How r u?? I have a very big problem. I have fallen out with my best friend and I don’t know how to make up with her. I had an argument with her last Monday evening because she lost my new phone, and she didn’t want to say sorry and to buy me a new phone. I can’t stand her when she loses things!! I think that I have to talk with her and solve the problem. I called her yesterday, but she didn’t answer me. I think she is very angry with me because on Monday evening I was so angry and I shouted at her and I said to her that we will never be friends again. Can you help me? I need ur help!! Thx, speak soon, María Tick what you see. Claudia Fuentes. Red

Poetry in Motion

Poetry in Motion Ana Arroyo Reds

The mouse and the chicken went to the stars In a beautiful leaf green bed They took some parrots and plenty of carrots Wrapped up in two bits of bread.

The dog and the dolphin. Ana Jiménez. Red

Tongue Twisters (1) Senior 7

If you live a life loving leaves, then leave. Cristina del Río

I wish I had wished the wish you wished. Felipe Mañas

Fighters fought fiercely for the phone. Susana Higueras

She should share with Susan what Sam sold her that sunny day in the shore shop. Alicia Dáder

YearBook

Pablo Palmero Reds

The bat and the giraffe went to the beach In a beautiful sea blue hat. They took some jeans, and plenty of beans Wrapped up in a piece of mat.

The mouse and the chicken. María Fernádez. Red

The Mouse and the Chicken

Tongue Twisters (2)

Pilar Romo Red

Senior 7

The Mouse and the Chicken went to the stars in a beautiful sea blue hat, They took some cheese and plenty of peas wrapped up in a piece of mat.

Swedish witches switch watches watching wolves. Mónica de Prada

Sharon sells shells singing silly songs. Ana Díaz

Which wonderful witches were they with? Lucía Martínez

Stephen found photos of frozen food for fat fools. María Cordero

Poetry in Motion

Limericks

Estrella Hidalgo Senior 4

Ignacio Bermejo Junior 2

There was a fat man from Italy Who worked in a horrible factory He was a mad man A Justin Bieber fan And now both his sons are crazy.

There was a young girl from Spain One day she was drinking champagne She got very drunk She put her hair like a punk And went to her home on a plane.

MarĂa JuĂĄrez Junior 2 (Esclavas)

Marta Anula Del Todo Junior 2 (Esclavas)

There was a tall man from Spain He travelled to Cork on a plane He fell in love with a girl And he gave her a pearl They married and drank some champagne.

There was a young dancer from France She wanted another chance She travelled to Spain On a slow little train And learned a flamenco dance.

YearBook

Natalia Maña Senior 7

Olga de Prada Senior 8

There once was a cat on the moon, Who had always been a buffoon, He caught a big rat, And took off his hat, And died up there on the moon.

There was a young lady from Spain, Who wanted to sing in the rain, She picked an umbrella, And got dressed like Cinderella, Forgetting she was on a plane.

Paula Pernas Senior 4

Silvia Marín Junior 2

There was a fat cat from Cancún Who travelled by car to the moon He sat on a chair Because it was there And suddenly it was afternoon

There was a small girl from France, One day she was watering her plants, She wanted to read a book, So she didn’t look, And the water fell on the ants.

Sylvia Alfaro Junior 2

There was a thin woman from Berlin Who put her chair in a bin She went to buy another But couldn’t find one like the other So she went to look in Leroy Merlin!

Carmen Sánchez Junior 2 (Esclavas)

There was a young girl from Spain Who was eating a fish on a plane She travelled to France And had a romance And drank a bottle of champagne.

All Creatures Great and Small

My Monster Cayetano Vargas. Pink

Goldfish Diego Serrano Junior Elementary Skills

It swims very slowly. It eats a lot and it likes to eat plants. It’s fat, yellow –orange and has a long tail. Goldy is very beautiful and I love it very much. It lives in cold water.

Ana Carrasco Junior 1

My monster’s name is Bob. He is 101 years old. He is very shy. He is funny. He likes to go to bed. His favourite food is pizza and hamburgers, but he is thin. He has got blue hair, a yellow face, one eye and five legs, but he hasn’t got any arms. He has got two ears; one is like a circle and the other is very small.

YearBook

Andrea’s Monster

My Monster

Andrea Soldan Junior 1

Cristina Conde Junior 1

My monster can fly in the sky. My monster can’t drive a car. My monster can climb a mountain. My monster can’t make her bed. My monster can swim in the sea.

My monster’s name is Electric Man. He is 1 year old. He is good and silly. He likes big shoes. His favourite food is blood with chocolate. He has long, purple and blue hair. He has a white face because he is dead. He has a lot of scars because his electric experiments are not very good. He has got big green shoes. He has got old orange pants. He has four arms. He has got a brown and green shirt. He is very strange!

Her name is Monswing. My monster is small, fat and pink. She always wears sun glasses. She has small teeth and big tusks. She has a pair of wings. She has two antennas. My monster is always happy. My monster is always funny. She loves parties. She likes the animals and the plants. She is shy. My monster gets up at seven o’clock. She has breakfast at eight o’clock. After that, she has a shower and gets dressed. At quarter to nine she goes to school. She lives in London. She has two sisters and two brothers. Her father is a famous doctor and her Mum is a teacher at the university.

All Creatures Great and Small

King Bonobo Jaime de la Peña, Manuel Silva, Salvador Peñarrubio and Diego de Riaño Senior 9

Once upon a time a holy Griffin married a wise old Bonobo. They had children but the bonobo ate them so the holy griffin, as a punishment, turned the wise old bonobo into the king bonobo, that had to serve humanity for all eternity. It’s the gentlest animal, and it is very kind because of that it helps people that are lost and also the children who get lost from their parents. It has a wide variety of characteristics:

The Strangest Animal in Europe The Monkbutterhorse Olalla Villaverde Junior 1

Characteristics It has the tail and ears of a monkey. It has the wings and head of a butterfly. It has the body of a horse. It has the nose of a horse. It has the feet of a monkey.

• I t’s very old, and it’s like the grandparent of bonobos, it is 2000 years old.

Abilities

• I t’s huge, it’s 12 metres high, it weighs 4500 kilos and is 14 metres wide.

It can run very fast.

• I t’s male. • I t lives inside the volcano where it has it’s private home. • I t eats bananas. • I t’s very powerful: it can fly; it can even predict the weather. • I t can communicate with other animals.

It can fly It can swim. It can speak with humans. It can hear from 100 metres. Comparatives It’s faster than a leopard. It’s bigger than a lion. It’s more intelligent than a dolphin. It’s more colourful than a parrot. It’s happier than a dog.

YearBook

The rabbit and the cat

The butterfly and the snail

Lucía Rozas Reds

Ana Arroyo Reds

The cat is bigger than the rabbit. The cat can jump higher than the rabbit. The rabbit is more beautiful than the cat. I love the rabbit but I don’t like the cat.

The butterfly is more beautiful than the snail. I love the butterfly but I don’t love the snail. The butterfly can fly but the snail can’t. The snail is slower than the butterfly.

The Bulleaglebat Diego de Juan Junior 1

He has wings and four claws. He has a beak, a tail, two teeth and two horns. He can fly and kill flies with his tail. He can prick with his horn and he can bite with his teeth. The bulleaglebat is stronger and more dangerous than the bull. The bull is smaller than the bulleaglebat.

My Funny Valentine

Dear Love Natalia Maña Senior 7

To my first and only love In love I am with thee, I hope you never forget me, That you stay through eternity. You don’t know how much I love you, Probably ‘cause I cannot explain, It’s some sort of strange feeling That makes me shiver when I think of you, When I feel you, When I see you, You’re the other half of my heart, Making me complete, Thank you so much for your love, I wish the best to thee.

Your Smile Miguel Armada Senior 7

When I see your smile I think the World is mine You’re not an imagination And you’re eyes are an inspiration When you’re away For me there’s no day You’re like my sun Without you I don’t have fun.

Cristina Garcia Senior 7

YearBook

Time flies when you talk to someone nice Susana Higueras Senior 7

One person I have met recently is Ángel. Little by little, he has become one of my closest friends and we love remembering how our friendship started. Also, I am very grateful to have someone as nice as Ángel as my friend. At first, I thought he was not someone with whom I could spend such great times. But actually, every time we have met, we have ended up roaring with laughter. The first time I saw Ángel, it struck me that he seemed to be a very friendly person. When we had been talking for about half an hour, Ángel had gained my confidence and so had I with him. Since then, we have always helped each other, and he has always been there when I have needed a shoulder to cry on. When I introduced him to my other friends, he was very friendly and it was not long before they loved him too. Once Ángel told me that the time you waste is not wasted if you enjoy it. Now I have to admit that he was right. It does not matter what you do, but with whom you do it. There is one thing that has brought us closer, and that is music. Listening to the same groups really made our friendship grow stronger. Before, I never thought I would be this happy to have met someone.

If Sofía Paulmarta Senior 5

If you were a forest I would get lost in you. If you were a fish I would fish for you. If you were a song I would sing you everyday. If you were a car I would drive you away. If you were a piano I would play you every night. If you were a light bulb you would give me light. If you were the sea I would go everyday to the beach. I would eat you if you were a peach.

My Special Sock Carlos del Río Senior 6

The object that I always carry with me when I go to parties and special events is my special sock. It isn’t beautiful, and it is also quite worthless because I have just one of the two socks, but it has a huge sentimental importance for me. This sock is so special for me because it reminds me of the first girlfriend I ever had. It happened when I was twelve, in a summer camp in England. She wasn’t English; she was from Germany that is why my sock has a German flag on it. The most important thing about the sock, and the thing that makes it so special, is that she has the other sock of the pair, so it’s very romantic and beautiful for me.

My Funny Valentine

Natalia MaĂąa. Senior 7

The Look in her Eyes

His Face

The look in her eyes was one of the things that made me fall in love with her from the first moment I saw her. I remember that day just like it was yesterday.

When I came into the classroom everything was new, strange. I was practically invisible; it was as if nobody had seen me, except for one of them. He was looking at me thoughtfully, his eyes lost in mine, his full attention on me. I thought he was a stalker, I was afraid; I wanted to get out of the class and never come back. He was shifting nervously in his seat; I could tell he wanted to get up. He was still looking at me, his eyes excited. I was trembling, but thankfully the bell rang. Quickly I got up and ran away from there and I never went back again.

She was a new face in the class that morning, and I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know anyone. The look in her eyes made her an open book. She looked shy, distant and fearful. I wanted to talk to her, learn her name, and feel the touch of her sensitive skin on my fingertips. The next day I was looking forward to seeing her, but for some reason she never came back. Maybe someday, in the future, we will meet again, she might not recognise me, but I will always remember the look in her eyes.

YearBook

All around the World

All around the World Antartica A. Student Junior 3

Antartica you’re very cold Never go with summer clothes Take your boots and raincoat And don’t forget your scarf and your gloves Running away from the predators

Africa Rodrigo Junior 3

A very good place For animals and birds Rivers and mountains I can see Caimans and turtles Are all for me

There are a lot, hiding in the freezing sea Ice, ice ice Cold, cold, cold Antartica you’re unforgettable.

London Jimena Medina Junior 1

My friend Lucy and I went to London. We went by plane. We stayed in a hotel. We saw all the monuments in London; Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, London eye, Trafalgar square, Buckingham Palace. We sailed on the Thames. We bought souvenirs at Harrods. We stayed 4 days. It was fantastic.

YearBook

Earthly Paradise Darío García Senior 6

Close your eyes, imagine yourself sitting on a cloud, a soft wind refreshing your face, your fingers playing unconsciously with the grass, the sky blue, the most beautiful blue you have ever seen. The water running in a little river and the birds singing are the only sounds for kilometres, and they seem to be giving a message to your ears. It’s like you were the last person in the world, and you absolutely love it. That’s how I feel in the forest of Otley, a small English town near the border with Scotland. For me, it is the best place in the world. I visited it last summer when I was doing an English course. It wasn’t an easy summer, a lot of troubles with friends, family and girls surrounded me, but always, when I felt near to exploding, I went there, and all my troubles disappeared. I used to say that the Christian heaven was like a Turkish jail in comparison with that forest, and it was true. I don’t remember Otley because of the people I met there, the experiences I lived or the dreams I made come true in that small paradise, I remember it because of the characteristics of the place, and how I felt there. I know the world is hell, with pollution, disasters, troubles and bad people everywhere, but with places like that, there’s still a reason to live.

Patricia Fernández. Senior 9

All around the World

Madrid Manuel Zalba Yellow

Madrid has 3.3 million people living in it. It’s the Capital of Spain and it’s in the centre of the country. Madrid started in the 9th century. In Madrid there are lots of statues like Cibeles and Neptune. Madrid has got lots of public transport like buses, taxis, planes … it’s beautiful. Madrid has many famous people like Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega and Iker Casillas. In Madrid there are lots of places to visit; the Cibeles, the Prado Museum, El Escorial. You can also go on a tour of Spain and visit the Costa del Sol. The people of Madrid like going to football stadiums. It’s a good city.

A. Student Senior 7

YearBook

English Rebeca Martínez Senior 9

For me “English” is as much a language as it is a culture. It’s made up of (and it has accepted) a lot of other cultures (Indian, Chinese and so an and so forth). The language is a bit of a double-edged sword: it facilitates communication across cultures as a common language, it can help people share and educate others about cultures but sometimes it forces some cultures to deny their own values. English is also for me representative of that cosmopolitan feeling of that London neighbourhood of Camden, the tolerance and that kind of “I do what I do and I don’t mind what you think about it”, that’s why English is a rock star.

Spanish Miryam Saura Senior 4

The Fireworks represent the seasons of the year. The colours of the sky represent all the cities in Spain. The Olive tree represents the olives and wine of Spain. The entire picture represents the lives of the Spanish people and the fun.

All around the World

The Aqueduct in Segovia María de la Torre Junior 1

The Aqueduct in Segovia is magnificent. In the time of the Romans it carried water for the town. It is very old but it is amazing. It is in very good condition. Cars can pass under this monument. It is made of stone. It is in danger of falling down because there is too much pollution.

Turkey Paula Sanz Villamisar Senior 8

The furthest I have ever been is to Turkey. The reason I went there was for an end of term trip, which we didn’t take at the end of school, but in March. To earn money for the trip, the year before we performed a musical and sold typical Christmas sweets to our neighbours and friends. We travelled from Madrid to Turkey by plane. The trip was great because of the large, comfortable seats and the headphones we had to listen to the music played on the plane. Besides this, the food was delicious. The flight lasted for four hours, after which we landed in Istanbul, where we had to take another flight to get to Kaiseri, in the centre of Turkey. From Kaiseri we went all over Turkey by bus. We visited little chapels where the early Christians used to hide from the Muslims. These chapels were built inside a mountain and on their ceilings and walls there were many ancient paintings. After that, we visited Pamukkale, which was a gorgeous place. Pamukkale means “cotton castle”, and it is like a mountain made

out of stone which is white because of its lime. The most attractive thing about Pamukkale is that you can walk barefoot around the mountain because of the hot water coming from it, which forms pools. However, the most beautiful places we visited were in Istanbul. First of all we visited the Blue Mosque, which was decorated with flowers and geometric shapes, all of these painted or on tiles. Opposite the Blue Mosque we found Hagia Sophia, which has been an Orthodox church, a Catholic church and a mosque. Nowadays we can appreciate elements of the three religions. The building seemed humble on the outside, but inside it was richly decorated. The ceiling was very high, and it had angels painted on it. There were giant medallions in the corners of the walls, on some of which were written “Mohammed” and “Allah” in Arabic. The trip was great, despite all the problems we had due to the bad manners of some of my classmates. Italy is the destination I would have chosen instead of Turkey, but I enjoyed the trip anyway.

YearBook

Travel Survey. Pedro Gómez. Senior 8

West Cork Edurne Wallace Ávila Senior 6

Thanks for your letter. It was great to hear from you. You were asking me if I spend my summer hols in Ireland and what places I visited. Well my parents rented a cottage in a place called Schull, in West Cork. Oh, Schull is great. I loved it, it was a small village and quite lively. It was a pretty place with a relaxed atmosphere, perfect for hols! I soon met friendly people in a café. The only bad point was that they didn’t have a disco – what a pity!

West Cork is a great place if you like being outdoors. The adventure activities I did were sailing and scuba diving, and I tried kite-surfing too, what a disaster! I had a great time there. I will repeat the experience next year if I can. Anyway I want to know where you went on hols and if you had a good time there. Keep in touch, Edurne

Teacher, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor

Teacher, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor Aeronautical Engineer Fernando Baquero Junior 1 (SEK)

I’d like to be an aeronautical engineer because I’d like to construct airplanes. It would be an interesting and challenging job. I’d like to work in a big office planning lots of new things. Aeronautical engineers work hard and they earn a lot of money. They need to study for a long time.

Maths Teacher Raúl Ruiz Junior 1 (SEK)

I’d like to be a maths teacher because I like, no I love, maths. I think it will be good fun and an exciting job. I’d like to work in a big class, explaining maths everyday. They earn a lot of money, they work very hard and they can relax when they do the work. You need to be very intelligent and have a good heart because when someone doesn’t understand, you need to explain again and have a lot of patience.

YearBook

Research Scientist

World Leader

Nuño Gras Junior 1 (SEK)

Sofía Robledo Junior 2

I’d like to be a scientist doing research into chronic illnesses because my grandmother died of cancer. This job will help humanity. I’ll need to have a positive attitude because if one of my investigations goes badly I’ll have to be positive because I’ll know more about that illness. I think I’ll work with a lot of people and that my research will help humanity.

If I were a World leader I would…. give money to charity buy toys for children in Africa buy new clothes for poor people. give food to poor people. give jobs to people who are unemployed. pay more money to scientists so they can investigate more and find cures for terrible diseases. give money to people in Africa.

Teacher Lucia Yellow

I’m going to be a teacher. I’m going to work in a famous school in Spain. I’m going to teach children. I’m going to wear trousers.

YearBook

Javier Arenas, Ignacio Gonzalez, Maria Martín Lucía Alonso. Senior 5

YearBook

That’s what I think!

That’s what I think! Are Computers Good for Children? Martín Rimblas Senior 5

Some people think children spend too much time on the computer, and others think that computers are beneficial for children. These options have advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, many children play computer games, which are beneficial for them, mostly if they play interactive games, as it stimulates them, and they are also learning. Furthermore, there are also interactive and educational programmes on television, such as Nickelodeon, and other useful channels.

On the other hand, a lot of children spend too much time on the computer, and the reason is that parents don’t control the time their children spend on computers. This can lead to computer addiction, when children become teenagers and have serious problems, for instance, with social networks. In summary, I think children should play interactive computer games for one hour per day, and the rest of the time they can read, spend time with friends, or play sports in order to be healthy.

Having problems with exams? Alma Thorley Senior 8

It’s normal to get nervous and stressed when exams are getting closer, so here are some tips for getting through them without problems. The first thing you should do is to make a timetable with all the exams that you’re going to do, and another one for planning your studies. Doing it this way you’ll be able to plan how to study enough for your exams and do your out-of-school activities. That brings me to your physical state. You shouldn’t stay home all day trying to understand what you have to study. It would be best to study for periods of 45 minutes, and then have a break. Every three hours you should go out for a walk, a run or even to take your dog out. That will make you tired and you will sleep better. Finally, I must say that you should avoid last minute swotting. That will make you more nervous and you’ll probably forget the things that you knew. So before an exam, breathe deeply and say to yourself, “I can do it”.

YearBook

Are you a Studyholic?

Loan words and effects

Jorge Comín Senior 7

Daniel García de las Heras Senior 8

Do you spend hours and hours studying? Do you get really good marks? Do you feel you don’t have any friends?

Loan words, are they dangerous for a language? Recently, French authorities added the use of the word “hash tag”, an English loan word, to the list of foreign terms they want removed from the French language. In an attempt to purify the language, the French government has decided not to use words such as “e-mail” or “supermodel” in official articles. Instead they have created new words in French to replace these loan words, like “motdièse” for “hash tag”. But translating loan words doesn’t have the same effect as the original word, like “Facebook” would not make a good translation.

If you answered yes to the above questions then you are a studyholic. A studyholic can be defined as a person who doesn’t do anything other than study. You will notice it when you start getting incredible marks at school and losing your friends. Studyholics often spend every hour of the day at the library and they have withdrawal symptoms if they don’t have a book or homework and they get depressed. These kinds of people usually ask for books for Christmas or their birthday and most of them fail P. E. So what should you do if maybe you are a studyholic? The key is studying the day before the exam and you should go out and go to lots of parties. Doing this your school results will be worse but fortunately you will be a normal person.

So do the French government’s actions really make sense? In any language the use of loan words is permitted and the language and culture are modernised because of it. A very good example in the Spanish language is the word “sandwich”, which comes from the English, and has had a great influence on Spanish cuisine. In reality there is no harm in using loan words, in fact there are a lot of positive effects as mentioned above. It all depends on the attitude you have about foreign terms; the French government is trying to shun foreign culture. Not only are they limiting the freedom of the speakers but they are harming the language.

A. Student Yellow

That’s what I think!

The Independence of Catalonia

Education Abroad

Paula Pernas Senior 4

Alberto Martín Senior 5

Dear Sir,

These days, a lot of teenagers study abroad; this has great advantages. I am going to tell you some, and my opinion.

I’m writing in response to your article about the independence of Catalonia. I found your article very informative about the reasons for asking for independence. However, your article only shows one point of view and does not take into account that now Catalonia is in Spain. In fact, I think Catalonia’s independence should be decided by two parts: the Catalan people and the Spanish people, because both peoples are now integrated. For this reason, your article should have included the opinions and the reasons of the rest of the Spanish people, because now Catalonia belongs to Spain. Nevertheless, I have recommended reading your article to all my friends due to the fact that I learnt a great deal about Catalonia’s history from it. Yours sincerely,

I think. Lucía Rozas. Reds

Firstly, the most important advantage is that in another country you can learn other languages. In my opinion, you can’t have a good job if you don’t speak some languages, and the best time to learn a language is when you are young. If you know more languages, you will have a better life. Apart from that, another advantage is to learn about other cultures different to yours so you can understand why they live as they do. Also, you can see different lifestyles and improve your own lifestyle, and in this way improve as a person. A good person always has an easier life and people like them more. To sum up, when you are studying abroad, you are getting better as a person and you are making your future life better.

YearBook

Slaves of Technology

Are you a workaholic?

Cristina Damián Senior 8

Cecilia Martín Senior 7

Nowadays, we live in constant connection with people thanks to new technologies such as mobile phones, televisions and computers. Technology is giving us the opportunity to live in a comfortable and modern world with numerous benefits. Needless to say, technology not only has advantages, it also has disadvantages. Are we becoming slaves to technology?

Is your job your only concern? Do you deprioritize hobbies and leisure activities due to your work? Do you think how you can get more time to work? Do you use your job to forget about your personal problems? Do you know what to do when you are not working?

Recently, we have been influenced by new technologies. Most people take their phones everywhere, they cannot leave them at home, and if someone’s phone runs out of battery, it seems like a terrible misfortune. In addition, all workplaces, offices and schools are plagued with computers. In fact, in my school each student has a laptop instead of books; despite having many advantages, particularly for finding information more easily, I confess that I prefer books. Now, a place without wifi or a mobile phone without internet seems old fashioned. Clearly, people have become overly dependent on technology. We are living in a completely digital world which we cannot escape from. Generations like mine and future ones are born knowing only a technological world, and this is going to increase dramatically in the coming years. The whole point of this is that people have to be sure that everyone is aware of all the good and bad aspects of technology. Therefore we should avoid addiction to technology and being completely dependent on it.

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then the chances are that you are a workaholic. A workaholic is a person who is addicted to work, they enjoy their work and this term can also imply that they feel good doing it. However, we have to know that being a workaholic is not the same as being a hard-worker. The main symptoms of this problem are the need to spend more time at work and the feelings of being overwhelmed, stressed and depressed. In the long term, the person may become more compulsive and feel unable to be away from work for a long period of time. Other problems include insomnia and the risk of suffering vascular disease. This disorder is often seen in men between forty and fifty years of age and they are typically doctors, lawyers, journalists and executives. To solve a problem of workaholism, the person has to recognise that he or she suffers this kind of problem. The most important thing is to recover the relationships with family and friends, and to try to relax and take it easy.

That’s what I think!

Nietzsche

The Car

Gonzalo Sanz Senior 9

José María Hernández Senior 5

You just have to say Friedrich Nietzsche and people immediately think of a man with a huge moustache, usually linked in some way to Nazism and Fascism. Although both ideas have a reason to exist, and aren’t exactly wrong, there is more to him than that!

Firstly I’d like to say that there have been many important inventions in modern culture. Nevertheless the car is one of the most important of them and it has affected our lives deeply.

F. Nietzsche was a German poet, philosopher and musician. He lived in the 19th century and, guess what! He is one of the most influential characters in modern thought. His ideas are related to a strong celebration of life, rejecting any kind of school of thought linked to religion; in fact all those ideas which try to give life a higher meaning than just enjoying every bit of it. Contrary to popular belief, his ideas aren’t related in any way to Nazism, at least originally. Hitler used his ideas as propaganda for the 3rd Reich, but Nietzsche was a true lover of freedom, and would never accept a fascist system. Plus, he always mentioned his respect for Jewish people. The reason why I’ve chosen to talk to you about such a controversial character as Nietzsche is that I find his work fascinating. I’ve read two of his books and, frankly, I must say they are really inspirational. Through his writings he shows you how to live your life completely, without fears and ideological chains, facing each moment as if it was the most important. Moreover, he instils in the reader the need to create, because that’s what makes us humans. People often claim that it’s impossible that someone like Nietzsche, who they don’t really know, has influenced them somehow. As I see it, his influence is huge in contemporary society, his modern ideas (“only the strongest survives” and that kind of stuff) are perfectly applicable to the labour market we have nowadays, plus, of course, his rejection of religion, in a time when atheism is becoming more common every day. On balance, I would say that Nietzsche is a vital thinker to understand the modern world, and that’s why I encourage all of you to read his books! Come on, they aren’t so hard to understand and you won’t regret it!

On the one hand, the car lets us travel wherever we want whenever we want. In addition, it is a cheap means of transport and you can choose from lots of different types and it is also a comfortable means of transport. On the other hand, it has some important drawbacks such as it is a very dangerous form of transport as it’s very easy to have an accident; lots of people have died in car accidents. Another disadvantage is that you have to fill it with petrol before you drive it; this is a very important disadvantage because currently petrol is very expensive and not everyone can afford it. In my opinion it is a very important invention in spite of its drawbacks.

YearBook

My favourite computer

My favourite shoes

Nicolás Florez Yellow

Daniel Ayala Yellow

This is my favourite computer. It’s made of plastic and metal, and it’s fire resistant.

These are my favourite shoes. They’re made of metal. On the sole of the shoes there is fire and you can fly. You can go to space!!!

Natural talent or hard work? What makes people successful? Santiago Rodríguez Junior 1 (SEK)

I think that hard work is what makes people succeed. Natural talent is OK, but if you have a natural talent and you don’t develop it, you have nothing. I like cars, motors, driving etc. I think I’m good at go-karting and that’s because I practise it. I’m also really good at video games and I enjoy them a lot. I play a little bit every weekend, and every time I play I get a bit better. Of course, if you want to be good at something you have to enjoy it. Remember the saying: practice makes perfect.

That’s what I think!

Queen Rowling Álvaro Fernández Senior 9

“Once again” I thought, then I moved the wand and said “Wingardium Leviosa” … but nothing happened. I found myself holding a branch and casting a spell, saying meaningless words. I’m sure you have all tried it at least once in your lives! When someone mentions something about magic, I immediately think of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling. People often claim that Harry is just the main character of a common saga, but for me, he is more than this. In fact, Joanne created a character whom I’ve grown up with and has always helped me to cope with my problems. By reading these books I’ve learnt the true values of friendship through the adventures of the young wizard. Rowling has greatly influenced me and I think she has made me believe in magic and she still does, because as I open book and re-read the story, it really feels like the first time. I consider myself a Potterhead (that is what HP fans are called), and I wear my Ravenclaw’s scarf proudly. A lot of people say that Rowling has influenced young people, but, contrary to popular belief, in my opinion she has influenced an entire generation who had high hopes every time a new book was published. This writer, as I said, has had a very deep impact on modern society. I remember little kids reading the books like mad (I must say, I was one of them) and to my mind, Joanne has introduced literature to a whole generation of readers and has made them believe in magic. In fact, the most important thing is that she has been able to make children not only enjoy, but also love reading. I will never stop casting spells with my imaginary wand because, as she said, “Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home”.

Reusing and repairing electrical items Jorge Del Pozo Junior 4

Many people are worried about the problem of electrical waste. Nowadays we don’t reuse many things. We prefer to throw away lots of new things or items with a small problem and to buy new ones. Reusing and repairing have some advantages: we don’t produce lots of unnecessary waste and we have less pollution. We can save a lot of money. We will not produce so many mobile phones or other electric items. We can save a lot of materials that we use for making these things. It has some disadvantages too. People prefer new items, not to reuse things. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy new articles than repaired ones. And when you repair them you take the risk of having lots of problems again. Conclusion: It depends on the type of problem that you have; if it is possible to reuse it is better to do that. But if you have to repair it and it is cheaper to buy a new one, it’s up to you.

YearBook

Are you a television addict? José Bravo Senior 7

Do you feel bored at home if you don’t watch TV? Do you usually prefer to watch it instead of talking to your family or even eating? When you wake up, is turning on the TV the first thing you do? Do you get upset when someone turns it off? Well, if you do all these things then you are probably a television addict. Yes, a television addict is someone who is almost always watching TV. For them, watching TV is surely one of the best parts of the day. They are completely hooked on it, on its series, on its films, on everything that appears on it. This could happen because these people prefer this fiction to real life or just because they really like TV and are used to watching it every day. My advice to you if you are a television addict is to go out. You can hang out with your friends or your family; go to the cinema, or whatever. As for your addiction, you don’t have to stop watching TV completely; you just have to watch it for a suitable length of time, not all day. I can assure you that you will have more fun.

Pablo Arroyo, Daniel Pablo, María Gimeno Senior 8

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I think!

A report on Language Learning in Spain Cristina Damien Senior 8

Foreign Language Learning in My Country Introduction The purpose of this report is to outline the most popular languages that people usually learn; where people usually learn them and make recommendations for improving language learning. Languages people learn Nowadays, working anywhere requires foreign language proficiency. For this reason students in all schools are required to have knowledge of at least one second language apart from Spanish, and this is usually English because of it being the most widely used business language and about 350 million people speak English as their mother tongue. In addition many people are beginning to study other languages, for instance, German and Chinese due to the jobs on offer in these countries.

Jorge Arroyo. Junior 1

Who and where people learn languages As a result, it is young people who are starting to worry about learning foreign languages and going abroad. It would be ideal to go abroad and pick up languages naturally but unfortunately most people have to study languages just at school. Nevertheless schools do have a high level in languages and people aim to achieve an excellent command of languages, which means becoming highly articulate and being able to use the language accurately. Recommendations I strongly recommend that schools increase the level of language learning so people do not have to study on their own. It would also be a good idea to go abroad and stay with a host family. I did it in New York and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Moreover there are many ways to enhance your foreign language skills daily; for instance I would suggest watching movies, organizing a vocabulary book, writing a journal, listening to recorded material or reading magazines and newspapers online.

YearBook

The Art of Advertising: Selling Products through Film

The Effects of Modern Technology

Javier Díez Senior 9

Alberto Serrano Senior 5

A very moving, touching and good advert I have recently seen is the one for the John Lewis store called “The Journey”. This advertisement was broadcast by an English channel at Christmas in 2012, and I saw it while watching the TV on the internet. Personally speaking, it is one of the best adverts I have ever seen, and I have watched it a lot of times since then.

One of the most important inventions of the 20th century is the internet. But is the internet a good or a bad invention for young people?

The commercial starts with the image of two children building a snowman and a snow woman in the garden of a house near a forest. The day after, the children wake up and discover that the snowman has disappeared. From then on, we follow the journey of the snowman: he walks through snow, mountains and rivers to get to the nearest city. Some days later, the snow man comes back to his wife, and we can see why he went to the city: he wanted to buy her a new pair of gloves. The whole advert is very well shot, and the story is fascinating. The special effects are excellent too (the blizzard and the snowman’s expression are incredibly realistic), and I think the advertisement has a fantastic plot. There is another strong point in the commercial: the music. None of the characters say a thing, and we can only hear “The power of love”, a song by Gabrielle Aplin. It is a sad song, played only with a piano, which helps us connect better with the story. Nowadays, it is not very frequent to see adverts like this, as they are usually unintelligent stories full of bad jokes and actors. However, I think that good advertisements are the only ones we remember, and the John Lewis commercial is totally one of them. It is the king of advert we search for on the internet and show our friends, so, thanks to word-of-mouth, it really influences us.

There are a lot of positive things that you can do on the internet. If you are an adolescent, you can use the internet to search for information about anything, and you can chat with your friends if you want to as well. If you are an adult, you can use the internet to search for information about the world news, or the result of your favourite team, for example the result of a Stoke City match. But the problem of the internet is that it isn’t guarded by anybody, and people can do anything they want. And this is a problem because sometimes they do things that are bad. All in all, I think that the internet is a good invention if you use it for good things and a bad one if you do bad things with it. Even so, I think it is a good invention.

That’s what I think!

How I See Reality Marta Hernández Senior 7

From my point of view, reality is very hard and more so in recent times. In my opinion reality is abstract and subjective; each person sees it in a different way: some see it as hard and difficult because of the times that we are in (the world crisis, the wars, the uncertainty we are living…), whereas others see it as hard in a more personal way, where they have realised that nothing lasts forever, the people you love……… I’m one of those. I remember when I was a child and I wasn’t really conscious about reality and my worries were eating vegetables and what I was going to ask for from the three wise men. But now my worries have changed; now I don’t care about eating vegetables (not as much as then at least) and I have discovered that the three wise men don’t exist; now I have other things that worry me much more than that. I have realised that nothing lasts forever and that scares me because that means that everyone I love will leave me in the future. I wasn’t aware of this when I was a child and I don’t like it but I know it is true.

Oscar Ibañez. Pink

Nevertheless, I try to be optimistic and see the good things, to see only the worthy things in my reality, the things that can make me happy such as the great moments I have spent with my family and my friends, the moments we have left, the small but great things like the smiles from the people I love, their laughs, the kisses….. It’s not always easy but I try not to be bitter and not to be pessimistic because reality is hard and if you are pessimistic it is more so. Mario Martín. Pink

YearBook

Where everything can happen Jorge Librero Senior 6

One of the most important places for me is the cinema. I’ve always liked it and, since I was very young, I’ve asked my parents to take me there. It has become a thing that I can’t live without, and if one weekend I don’t go to the cinema, or if I miss a film I wanted to watch, I feel very upset. Of course, as you can imagine, you can watch films there! One of the most interesting things about going to watch a film is that you can be all over the world, meeting exciting new characters that will make you laugh, cry, or scare you stiff. Going to the cinema is very important for me because a

Carmen Cerezo. Junior 2

few years ago, I started going there frequently with my twenty-year-old brother. It started as a normal afternoon, and it ended exactly as usual, but what I didn’t know is that that afternoon a tradition had begun. Now, he is studying in Singapore, so of course I don’t get to go to the cinema with him any more. However, every time I sit in the cinema, sometimes surrounded by people and sometimes not, I think of him. That’s why this place is important for me, because it reminds me of my brother, and when I’m there, I never get bored.

YearBook

THE GOLDEN NECKLACE Javier Morales and Alonso Arce Junior 2

YearBook

TYLEC In January, Madrid Young Learners hosted the first standardisation event for the British Council / Trinity College London TYLEC (Teaching Young Learners Extension Certificate). It was attended by training staff from around the world and the aim was to ensure uniformity of courses and assure teachers of consistent quality wherever they participate.

Louise Hankey Barcelona and Zoe Robson Bangkok

Junior 2 Summer course plasticine work

Apart from the involvement of Madrid and Barcelona, teaching centres like Abu Dhabi, Hanoi, and Porto were involved, while Trinity and our global English and exams team were also present, discussing everything from branding issues to tutoring criteria and grading.

Tutors Mairead Condon, Vietnam and Deirdre Conway, United Arab Emirates

Iago Aragon Pink

Reviews

Reviews Fang, the story of a Fox Lucía Rozas Reds

My book is called: “Fang, the story of a Fox”. The author is Tessa Potter. The illustrations are by Ken Lilly. I like it because it is very interesting. My favourite part is “Fang turned and ran, his feet skidding on the ice”.

Auryn Carmen Sanchidrián Senior 8

A year has passed since the first time I met them. I am talking about one of my favourite bands, Auryn. This band includes five boys who sing brit-pop style songs. All of them are special, and they also have great voices. The one whose voice really inspires me is called Álvaro. A year ago I met them at a concert, and since then I have seen them many times. Although the majority of those times were in Madrid, I have also travelled to see them in different parts of Spain, such as Toledo and Ciudad Real. Since their album Endless Road 7058 was released, they have developed into something much better. They have re-edited that album, and have also released a DVD. Auryn sing all types of songs. Classic songs like their cover of Queen’s Somebody to Love, or faster songs like their latest hit, Don’t Give Up My Game. Today, they are being played on 40 Principales radio, and they have performed with artists like The Wanted and Simple plan on the last 40 Principales show at Christmas in Madrid. These days they are focused on their tour, which ends in Madrid in December. After that they will concentrate their energies on their next album release. I am really proud of them, and I’m sure they still have a long way to go, because they are really talented.

YearBook

Alma Mario Gárcia López Senior 4

This story is about a sweet little girl called Alma. She was skipping through the narrow lanes of the small town. It was snowing; the little girl stopped and wrote her name on a wall. On this wall there were a lot of names. Suddenly, Alma saw a strange shop window. It looked like a monster, with a big mouth, it even had scales. But most amazing was what appeared before her eyes. It was a doll. This doll was just like Alma. She even wore the same clothes. The girl was curious and she tried to enter the mysterious shop but she couldn’t, then suddenly the door creaked open. In the shop there were shelves full of dolls. Some dolls looked very old. Alma wanted to take her doll, but the doll had changed places. When Alma touched the doll she disappeared. She was trapped inside the doll. It was all a trap waiting for the next victim. This short animated film is a horror story, perfect for Halloween.

Ana Jimenez. Reds

The Magnificent Seven Álvaro Molina Junior 2 (Esclavas)

The best film I have ever seen is “The Magnificent Seven”. I saw this film last year on my birthday with my grandfather and my brother on DVD. This film was my birthday present. The reasons I like it are: because I like western films a lot, because the actor who plays the main character (Yul Brynner) I like very much and because I like to watch films with my grandfather because he sleeps and I can eat all the popcorn!

Reviews

Fin and Jake

Grease

Alejandro Ibañez Yellow

Silvia Marín Junior 2

My favourite TV programme is adventure time. It’s a cartoon. It’s about Fin and Jake. Fin is a human and Jake is an elastic dog. I like it because it’s funny and it has adventures and fights.

Do you like musicals and romantic films? The actors in this film are John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. Johnny Succo met Sandy in summer. They fall in love. When the summer was ending they were very sad because they were never going to meet again. When classes began, Sandy was a new student in the school and was a very good student. Sandy discovered that Danny was in her school. He was a very good boy in the summer, but now was a very bad boy and a member of the Tee-birds gang. Sandy does not love Danny now because she loves the good boy she met in the summer, not the bad boy that he is at school. If you want to know what happens at the end you must see this fantastic movie. I liked this movie because I liked musicals and this movie has a lot of different pop music.

A Visit to the Library Juan Ybarra Reds

My book is called “A Visit to the Library”. The author is Sandra Iversen. The illustrator is Bob Kerr. I like it because I like the illustrations, they are very good and I like books. My favourite part is “Tommy gets a book on pets”.

YearBook

Jorge Drexler

AC DC

Sara Rueda Senior 9

David Mencia Junior 2

Have you ever listened to a song that reflects your feelings exactly? Or even more challenging … have you ever listened to a whole album that reflects your feelings exactly? Frankly, once it happens to you, you cannot live without that sensation, a sensation which I felt the first time I heard one of Jorge Drexler’s songs.

Have you ever listened to AC DC? The last CD that they have made is called “Live at the River Plate.”

Now you, reader, might be wondering who this man is, and where he comes from. As I’ve been asked to give some information about the influence he has had on me, I’m going to start from the beginning: how he came into my life, and of course, into my iPod. It all began one of those mind-numbing Sunday afternoons when you find everything considerably more interesting than staring at your history book. What would a responsible person have done? Well, I suppose I should have tried to continue reading that never-ending chapter about the French revolution, but I opened Spotify instead. Lucky me! I came across a song by this artist, and I stopped to listen to its lyrics. After that, I can’t say he’s my idol, because I can’t see the point of reducing the list of people I admire to just one person, but I can say that he’s one of those people who I’d like to meet someday. Jorge Drexler is a singer-songwriter and doctor from Montevideo, Uruguay. Music has been his main occupation since the 90’s (he worked as a doctor before), but he became world famous when he won an Oscar for the “best original song”: “Al otro lado del río” from “The Motorcycle Diaries”. For me, listening to his music becomes deeper than just listening. If you listen carefully, you will find poetry, social criticism and curiosities about the world we live in. It seems as if he was able to notice things that we sometimes play down. How does he do that? He says it’s the inborn melancholy from Uruguay … but the way that he can express feelings and get into people’s heads is more than just melancholy … it’s art!

AC DC is a heavy metal group. They play all the songs that appear in the CD in a concert in River Plate. They invited Bruce Springsteen. They have never made a better CD. It’s excellent! This is pure heavy metal. AC DC have got 40 years of experience in the world of music. The group started to play in Australia with the CD “Heavy Voltage”. This CD is perfect for you if you like heavy metal music. In my opinion it is the best CD that I have ever listened to. Angus Young who is always in shorts is incredible playing the guitar and Phill Rudd playing the drums is fantastic too.

Reviews

Prestige Daddy Yankee Irene Garcia Junior 3

Daddy Yankee was born Ramón Ayala and he is from Santunce , Puerto Rico. He is an international singer and his style is Reggaeton and hip hop. His new album is Prestige and it has got 12 new songs. I think the best songs are Timbo, El Amante, and Pont’ loca because they are very quick and rhythmic. When I hear these songs I feel a lot of energy and I want to dance. But the other songs are a little bit repetitive and don’t have good lyrics. He writes his own lyrics about his real life, relationships, love and work.

The Fox and the Bird Inés Varela Senior 7

This story is set in Scotland on a river bank in the countryside. The title only tells us who the characters are and nothing else. We don’t know who the narrator is, we only know that the story was retold by Barbara Ker Wilson. The characters are the fox and the bird. In the first part of the story, a fox tries to capture a bird thinking that because he is bigger, he must be superior and more powerful. In the end, it turns out that the bird is both more powerful than the fox and much wiser. The story ends with the bird giving the fox advice and flying away leaving the fox speechless. The story begins by setting the scene, using many adjectives. The middle of the tale involves the actions that take place. The end of the story is the most important part, as it contains the moral of the story, which is that you shouldn’t think that you are better just because you are bigger.

Round the World in 80 Days María Izquierdo Junior 4

This book is very interesting; it tells the story of an Englishman called Phineas Fogg, who has a very routine life: he goes to the Reform Club every day, and he returns home at eight o’clock. He has a servant, but one day, his servant left the job. When he called the agency to choose another servant, Passepartout appeared. Passepartout got the job. A bit later, Fogg told his servant they were going round the world. Passepartout didn’t understand anything. He only wanted a quiet simple life in London, not a “tour” around the world! Fogg explained to his servant that he had made a bet with some members of the Reform Club. If he could go around the world in 80 days, they would give him a lot of money! Passepartout accepted, then they packed their bags and off they went. On their adventure they did lots of fantastic things, and they also met people like Aouda, Fogg’s current wife, and Fix, the policeman who accused Fogg of stealing some money from the Bank of England because he had been spending a lot of money on his journey, and many other people. At the end of the story, Phineas Fogg, Passepartout and Aouda reached London before the time of the bet ended, so he won the bet and got all the money! And the best thing of the book, in my opinion, happens at the end too … Fogg and Aouda get married!

YearBook

Space Invaders

The Dead

Alba Blázquez Senior 5

Elvira Vallés Senior 7

Varon is a thief who steals a crystal from the planet Zeron. He’s chased by the guards of the planet Zeron. While he is escaping, he meets Omega. He is a robot who obeys the orders from Miranda and Garth, his creators. Omega and Varon needed help because they were both being chased by the guards as Omega had also stolen a spaceship and a very expensive computer from the Earth.

The Dead is the last story in the 1914 collection Dubliners by James Joyce. Many people think that it is one of the best stories written in English. The story is set in 1904 in Ireland, when the Morkan sisters are hosting their annual Christmas dinner. The story concentrates on Gabriel, the nephew of the Morkan sisters and his insecurities. The story culminates at the point Gabriel discovers that through years of marriage, there was much he never knew of his wife’s past.

To run away from the guards who were following their spaceship, they had to go faster than light, and that’s why they needed the crystal to get more energy. In the end, they get away, but Miranda and Garth wanted to come back to Zeron for another crystal. So Omega teleported them down to Zeron, right into the Crystal chamber. There it all went wrong. When the alarm was activated by Varon (because he didn’t want to have any more problems), Garth took out his gun to shoot him. However, he was knocked down by Miranda with her laser gun. Miranda wanted the crystal for herself, so she had tried to shoot Varon, but Omega gave her an injection and she fell asleep immediately. Omega and Varon then went back to Earth and decided to share the crystal. Normally I don’t really like this type of book, but this one was great!

In my opinion, the title of “The Dead” refers to those mentioned in the story as dead, most notably Michael Furey, the tragic love of Gretta, Gabriel’s wife, though the theme of the story isn’t death. To my mind, the expressions and vocabulary that the author uses in the story make it a masterpiece. The beginning of the story: “Lily the caretaker’s daughter was literally run off her feet”, is considered to be a great start to a story. I think that what makes this story such a great piece is this kind of literary language which Joyce uses throughout The Dead. I think that the story is very interesting; however the end is highly surprising for me. When I started to read the story I thought that at the end one of the characters would die. I wasn’t expecting Gabriel’s meditation. That’s what makes the story surprising and confusing at the same time.

What Will Be, Will Be

What will be, will be... Adrian’s Robot Adrián Velasco Yellow

1. His hair is made of gum. 2. His eyes are made of wool. 3. His nose is made of rubber. 4. His mouth is made of grass. 5. His neck is made of newspaper. 6. His body is made of metal. 7. His arms are made of glass. 8. His legs are made of bone. 9. The feet are made of aluminium.

Adriana’s time capsule

YearBook

Rodrigo’s robot

My Future Classroom

Rodrigo Gutiérrez Yellow

Sofía Robledo Junior 2

His hair is made of grass, his head is made of stone, his eyes are made of crystal, his mouth is made of gum, his body is made of wood, his heart is made of gold, his hands are made of leaves, his legs are made of silver, his toes are made of rubber.

My future classroom is going to be so much fun. The desks are like a half of an egg and they have two springs; one at the front and the other at the back. The teacher’s table is like the desks but bigger. If one day there is a big problem like a fire or an earthquake, there is a capsule for each desk that will come down to protect them. There is an interactive white board and if you put on a type of helmet, you can see the images of the board as if you were there. There are speakers that tell you, in the morning, all the things that you are going to do that day. There is also a clock that tells you the time. That’s all, great fun isn’t it!

Ignacio Manrique, Chaimae Aajal Dghoughi, Irene Diaz yellows (San Diego) working on the big book project

What Will Be, Will Be

Computers Jimena Martínez Junior 5

There are many things which have been invented by humans that have advantages and disadvantages. This is the case of the computer. The computer is a very important invention of modern life because it makes a lot of things easier to do than before. For example, with computers you can work at home and save money on fuel and time because you don’t need to go to the office. You can also buy things, negotiate with banks and look for information.

Eco House. Irene Aguilar. Senior 9

Lucía Fernández, Claudia Guijarro y Verónica Junior 2 (San Diego) doing a Halloween treasure hunt

However, some people say that computers have a lot of negative effects. It is said that teenagers spend much too much time in front of them playing video games and chatting to friends online instead of doing sports or playing outside. Some of the effects of this are that they can cause addiction and do damage to our eyes. So, my opinion is that computers can be useful and helpful sometimes, but on other occasions they can cause us damage, depending on how we use them and the number of hours we spend on them.

YearBook

My Future Classroom María Yun López Junior 2

My classroom will be different in 2030. The classroom will be in the sea. We will study new subjects, like “the planets”. We will eat normal food. There will be a robot teacher and there won’t be any human teachers. There won’t be any books. There will be

a screen on the table. The desks will be floating in the water. When the children say “come”, the desks will come to them, and when they say “go”, the desks will go to other children. The children will wear wet suits.

Laura Ramos Casasolas Pink

Galaxy Travel Competition Lucía González Senior 6

In 50 years’ time, people will be really different. Only poor people will be living on the Earth, and cars will not be used anymore. The petroleum will have been used up and galactic planes are the means of transport we will usually use. These planes will be propelled by hydrogen. In a short period of time, the Earth will have been completely

polluted and it will be very difficult to live here. People living on the Earth will be considered hoboes. Spain and all the Mediterranean countries will have become deserts and the North Pole will not exist. This is just speculating, but who knows what the future will bring?

What Will Be, Will Be

Transport in the future Cristina Rueda de Eusebio Junior 3

Today we think transport is very fast, but we know there are a lot of accidents too. My opinion is that in the future transport will be faster and safer than today. First of all, I think everyone will have one flying vehicle. It will use solar energy and have intelligent GPS. These vehicles will obey people’s voices. Secondly, I believe travelling in future will be safer because the roads in space will be longer and they will have the safety of being less busy, so there won’t be accidents. In the future scientists will make little planes that can go to any place without problems. To sum up, I think that in the future everyone will be able to go on holiday, or on a business trip, to any country or city in the world.

Iván Ojeda Gascon. Pink

YearBook

Computers in the future MartĂn Prieta Alejandro Junior 3

Nowadays with computers you can do lots of things, and I believe that in the future computers might be a lot more sophisticated. First of all, computers are very important in our lives. Every day we use computers a lot to sell, buy, write e-mails, watch videos and other things. But I believe that in the future you will be able to do more things with computers. Secondly, I think computers in the future will be a lot faster and will have more memory. I believe that in the future there will be computers the size of a mobile phone. And finally, with computers you will be able to do amazing things like switching on the washing machine or opening tins. To sum up, I think that in the future you will be able to do even more things than today. SofĂa Robledo. Junior 2

Sport

Sport An important match to play Enrique Salino Senior 6

It was the most important day of the year for us. The effort that we had made during the year was summed up in that match. The result of the match would be the difference between continuing to aim for the title or not. The match was held near my house, so I did not have to get up early. However, I could not sleep because of my nerves. Consequently, I got up at seven in the morning.

Alton, an Olympic mascot from the summer course

At eight o’clock I arrived at the stadium. My teammates were very focused. They knew about the importance of the match too. The match began, an opportunity came, and I took it. So, with a great kick, I scored a goal. My best friend on the team, Tescón, came over to congratulate me and we started to dance to a rhythm that we had promised to dance if we scored a goal. The referee whistled the end of the match. In the end we had won the match, and I had scored the winning goal. The captain of the rival team, Rubén, told me that they had all enjoyed playing, even though they had not won. Flut a mascot for Rio 2016

YearBook

Essay Andrea Prego Senior 6

In my opinion sports people earn more Money than they really deserve. Their work is overrated in Spain and they are a model for so many children here. On the one hand, this is not such a bad thing because it promotes sport and the activity of improving fitness. This is necessary in our current society where people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do enough sport. On the other hand, I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very bad that sportspeople are among the only successful models that children have. Nowadays children know the names of every football player but have no idea who the inventor of penicillin is. In conclusion I propose to promote sport without spending millions on it. This way we can use the money for other more important things like libraries. Chancly, An Olympic mascot for Rio 2016

Picow Olympic mascot for Rio 2016

Windy Olympic mascot design for Rio 2016

Sport

Parachuting

Skiing

Rocio San José Senior 7

Ignacio Martín Senior 7

There are not many things in my life that are interesting. In fact I would say that I have a normal and boring life. However once I tried something that was really and exciting and dangerous and it has changed my life completely.

A sport I have been doing since I was a child and that I love and enjoy a lot is skiing. Probably, it is the sport that you never get tired of because you have to wait a long time until winter comes. The faster I go the more I enjoy this amazing sport.

I had never been especially interested in extreme sports until one day when I saw an advert on the internet which offered ten classes of parachuting for a low price. I didn’t think about it twice and said “Why not? Let’s try it.” And that’s how the most fascinating experience I’ve ever had began. The first day I had a parachuting class I was, literally terrified. I even thought about not going. But I had already paid for the course and I couldn’t go back at that moment, so in the end I decided to go. In fact everything went well from when I arrived until I had to go on the plane. At the beginning I learned how to use the parachute, how to jump from the plane and what I should do in case of emergency. I really enjoyed the class but everything changed when I went into the plane and it began to fly. I was trembling, completely scared, when the door of the plane was opened and I looked down. I was so high I couldn’t see the earth. I don’t know how I did it. I just kept calm, breathed, counted to three and shouted “Now!” And I jumped. Suddenly it was like I was flying, it was amazing! I felt like a bird. When I was getting close to the earth, I used the parachute and everything went well. Although it was the first time I tried it, I loved the experience and I would recommend it to everyone who isn’t afraid of heights!

Another important point about this sport is that the place you are going to must be nice and comfortable and must serve good meals. Sleeping well is a fact you need to take into consideration. In the morning your breakfast needs to be abundant so your energy is high. The worst thing about this sport is that you can only do it in winter. Anyway no sport can be compared to this one because none of the others can be done on the snow. Once the winter ends, you are looking forward to going back again, putting your boots and skis on and enjoying a sunny day on the snow.

YearBook

Sock Hunting. Cristina Cordero, Inés Sarro Beatriz Yañez. Senior 5

Sport

What Makes Sweating Worth it Carola Blanco Senior 8

Nobody can deny how important physical exercise is, it makes us healthier, happier, and above all, thinner. But the point is, how to exercise, how to fit something as unappealing as sweating into our busy daily lives. My friends and I had decided a long time ago that exercising was nothing but tedious gym sessions, which is a very common mistake to make, when we suddenly saw the light: exercising can actually be fun, why not? We decided to change our gym sessions for team sports, we all joined a local rugby team, just to see what happened. Little did we know how transcendental this decision would be for our own lifestyles.

A would-be mermaid Ana Palacios Senior 9

Since I was a child, I have been passionate about water. I would have loved to have been a mermaid. The sea is a mysterious place, and although I am afraid of jellyfish, I have always wanted to go scuba diving. I have already experienced surfing and windsurfing, but I am not strong enough to be good at these sports. So, I am eager to find somewhere to get the International Certificate in order to go as soon as possible to the Galapagos Islands or Australia. The views must be astonishing.

As the weeks went by, we started to feel healthier and to see how our artificially developed arm muscles shrank as our general figures improved. We looked fit without having ridiculous arms, and we didn’t need to be bothered about getting bored while exercising. I started to get worried when I realised that it had been ages since my last complaint about sweating. What had happened? Why did I care so much about winning and making my coach feel proud of me? It’s simple; I had got caught up by the spell, the spell of sweating. If you had told me some months ago that I would be saying this now, I wouldn’t have believed you, but yes, it’s true: exercising is great fun, especially when you find an activity that doesn’t include thinking of suicide while wasting time at the gym. I don’t have to walk the dog A. Student Yellow

YearBook

Photostory Nicolás Catena, Pablo Alonso, Covadonga Diego, María Burgaz. Junior 1 (Esclavas)

100 Staff Stuff

Staff Stuff Francesca Wilson

Natalia Khan

Francesca is from Sheffield, England, and her hobbies include cooking, guitars and long distance walking. Two interesting facts about her are that she is a supporter of Getafe C.F., and she has studied Gastronomy.

Natalia hails from London, England. Her principle hobbies are salsa dancing and reading. She describes herself as follows; “I am the real life Shakira (O.K., the second real life Shakira!) My Mum is Colombian and my Dad is from Pakistan, so the resemblance is uncanny!

Justin Hodge Justin Hodge is from a village in Kent near London in the UK. He’s keen on playing tennis and indoor climbing. He studies Arabic and he likes travelling around the Middle East. His favourite dish is “pulpo a la gallega”.

YearBook

Catherine Bethune

Cordelia Birkbeck

Catherine is from the Scottish Borders, but she studied in Aberdeen where she lived before moving to Spain. She’s keen on outdoor activities and she enjoys cycling and gardening on her terrace. She has climbed the highest mountain in Ireland, but she’s never been to Loch Ness! She also likes reading, blogging, music, baking and cryptic crosswords, and at the moment she’s learning to swim and to speak Dutch!

Cordelia comes from Penrith, Cumbria in the North West of England, not far from the border with Scotland. Her hobbies include dance, reading, writing, cooking and yoga. She has taught English in Japan, and one of her students was a celebrity on Japanese national TV!

Daniel Billington Daniel Billington is from Ormskirk, Lancashire, in the North West of the UK. He spends a lot of his free time studying for an M.A., but he is also into running, travelling and hiking. When he was only 17, he spent a gap year in Uganda working for an NGO doing a research project about the medicine of a village witch doctor. He presented his findings at a Ministry of Health Conference in Kampala.

101

102 Staff Stuff

James Jarman James is from Largs, Scotland, but he was brought up in Cardiff and Durham. He is keen on racquet sports, especially squash, and he is also into song writing and performing and listening to live music. He has also taken part in couch surfing and hosting. He enjoys eating curries now, but when he was 10 he ate some poisonous berries (and survived, of course!). Before arriving in Madrid, he had taught in Prague, Seoul and Ho Chi Minh City.

Amy Jones

Louise Desmier started as Senior Teacher Primary and Schools this year

Ali Smith started in the Madrid Young learners as Senior teacher Junior Department and Teacher Development this year

ATCM Maria Piperides joined us this year from Somosaguas.

Amy Jones is a Londoner and her hobbies include yoga and cooking. She studied French and Spanish at Oxford University, and she really enjoys speaking these languages. One interesting fact about her family history is that her great-grandfather was a passenger on the Titanic and survived!

YearBook

103

104 YearBook

Nine days of wonder 22 – 30 April 2013 John Liddy on behalf of the World Book Week team: Sonia Contreras, Cristina Sánchez, Gabriela Saez.

This year’s annual celebration of reading began with a story-telling session by Heather Parfitt for Reds and Yellow classes called The Magic Paintbrush. Some Flash Songs and a Flash Poem for Tigers and Seniors 6 and 9 by the students of Emma Berrocal, Ian Adkins and Devin Unwin, completed the day’s activities. The programme was off to a flying start, as they say, and so it continued throughout the week with a wide variety of events and activities that included more story-telling (Stone Soup: a Russian fable/The Magic Paintbrush) by Heather Parfitt and stories with puppets (The Beast of Gevaudan/Mr Fox/The Banker) by Simon Talbot and Merushka. There was lots of good delivery and pronunciation to be heard with Flash Songs and Poems by students of Evelyn Ezra, John Liddy, Janet Prior, Cordelia Birkbeck, Steve Owen, Finola Griffin, Fatima Kazalbash and Alison Myles, who performed for many classes at different levels. We also had some wonderful sessions given by Simon Harwood (Collaborative story-writing), Steve Evans (Roald Dahl’s books using PSPs), Ali Smith (Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes ), Lesley Keast (What happened to Grandma?), Ruth McNamara (Billy Elliot) and Louise Desmier (Build your own book). On the morning of Saturday 27th, in the Resource Centre, we had a party for our reading and writing circle members at which Toni the Magician performed for the students. The programme ended on Tuesday 30th as we waited anxiously for a very important addition to our reading celebration, the Big Book.

The third in a series, this hand bound edition features the work of students from our off-site schools and one class in MYL centre. We would like to thank Ian Adkins, Lynne Sharrock, Joe Wellwood, Cheryl Kirkland, Jan Byrne, Casandra McHugh and Peter Jeffrie for their hard work in guiding their students through this project. The book is now on display it in the Resource Centre and after the summer break it will go on a tour of the off-site schools. Our thanks to our invited performers, to all those teachers who gave sessions and took part in the Flash Song & Poem activity, to all those involved in the Big Book project and to our students who, by all accounts, enjoyed the nine days of wonder. We were happy that so many of our students and teachers had the opportunity to be part of this year’s reading celebration.

Senior 6 in Simon Harwood’s session “Collaborative Story Writing”

YearBook

“The Beast of Gevaudan” led by Simon Talbot and Merushka

Heather Parfitt in “The magic paintbrush and the Awongalema tree”

Simon Talbot’s session (“The banker”)

Simon and Merushka in “The Beast of Gevaudan”

Classes enjoying Heather Parfitt’s “The Magic Paintbrush and too much noise.”

105

106 YearBook

Cristina Conde. Junior 1

School PORTAL The school has a web portal where you can see your reports online and access lots of extra materials to help you in your English studies. These include: • Network English

BRITISH COUNCIL WEB SITES AND RESOURCES Learn English http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org Lots of activities, games and language practice to help you in your English studies.

• Network English Junior • The OE Suite of self-study materials

Learn English Kids http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org

To log into the portal, go this address:

Activities, games and lots of fun for younger

http://spainportal.britishcouncil.es

learners.

Your username is your student number. New

Learn English Teens

students receive their password by email to

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org

their parents’ email address; existing students

The web site for teenagers with lots

can ask your teacher to change your password

interesting learning materials to help you

if you have forgotten it.

practise your English.

Parents log in using their email address as their username. If they have forgotten their password, they can reset it by entering their username, leaving the password field blank, selecting the centre and click on ‘I forgot my password’. Parents can book new courses and arrange meetings with the class teacher via the portal. If you have any problems with the portal, contact: madridyl.portal@britishcouncil.es.

Steve Evans Senior Teacher, Learning Resources

Madrid – Young Learners Pº General Martínez Campos, 31 28010 Madrid T 91 337 35 93 F 91 337 36 00 madrid.younglearners@britishcouncil.es