NL 15 by British School of Beijing

BSB News: Key Dates January 12

ASA‘s Begin

1314

Secondary Concerts

Curriculum Books sent home

18 22 28

Year 11 Trial Exams Begin Music Shunyi

Circus,

February 2

Year 6 Transition Evening, Sanlitun

Year 6 Transition Evening, Shunyi

Year 5 Ski Trip

Year 6 Ski Trip

8— 12

House week

Secondary Parent Teacher Consultations

House week

Issue 15 8th January 2010

From the Executive Principal Dear Members of the BSB community With such a very cold start to the New Year it‘s been a real pleasure to be able to bring some good news to you all about developments within the British School. The changes to the management structure with Janet taking over full time responsibility for the day to day running of the Sanlitun campus and Jane stepping up to manage the primary section of Shunyi will create a more agile and responsive team with a more defined focus. Of course the ultimate goal of all our activities is to improve our service to our most important partners; your children. I‘m convinced that the changes we have made will allow us to do this. Building on the warm family spirit of BSB is a task I approach with great care and not a little trepidation. Such a spirit is a vital, living thing which needs to be preserved and nurtured. At the same time we are always looking at the school and making sure we are the best we can be. A lesson that we also try to pass onto the students in our care. Further developments are in the planning stages even now. I‘m looking forward to being able to present these to you in the near future. If I was given to cliché I might say ―watch this space‖! I am equally heartened to see the great work that was done in spreading the, quite literal, warmth of BSB to children in Beijing and beyond. The Shoebox appeal and the successful operation to correct the cleft palate left me humbled and proud to have been a small part of the team who organised each event. I‘m sure you will feel the same as you read further within. A very warm New Years greeting to you all

Sports

International Day—To Be Confirmed

Michael Embley Executive Principal Update on Cleft Palate surgery of Mary Mary went to the hospital on the 8th , had her surgery on 11th December. She is doing very well! The money raised for this operation came from the Dawn Ross and Sarah Ridout on completion of the Great Wall Marathon. A big Thank You to them!

Whole School, Shunyi and Sanlitun: s

inder

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Parent Socie ty Meeting Monday 11th January, 9am at Shunyi Ca mpus. The Parent So ciety would love to see so me new faces at our meeting this week, if you have the tim e please com e along. Ne w ideas are alw ays welcom e!

ddler Group Our Shunyi Baby and To ll as meets on Tuesdays as we Our weekly Toddler Group So yi. n Stage playground at Shun Thursdays in the Foundatio h new dler would like some fun wit if you and your baby or tod ms or Mu . ng alo then please pop friends (and good coffee) Liu at dads can register with Tina n or simply come along. Tina.liu@britishschool.org.c s in nds as it’s open to all familie Tell your neighbours and frie king is the starting time with pac Shunyi and beyond. 8.30am es at 10am. up the toys, books and bik do PE have the opportunity to Tuesdays toddlers now do y have the opportunit to and Thursdays toddlers music!

BSB and ISB are leading ‘Special Needs in the Real World’ together as Beijing’s two leading International schools Special Needs in the Real World As part of our continuing efforts to engage positively with the community around us, The British School of Beijing and ISB are joining forces to establish a job-training program for young adults with developmental disabilities. On December 21st, in partnership with service providers Sodexo and Eurest, BSB and ISB will launch the program, which is the first of its kind anywhere in China. The young adults have been attending the Zhi Guang Special Education and Training School, a boarding school founded in 1998 by Li Juan Wang, a long-time teacher of Chinese literature. Li was troubled by the failure of the ordinary education system to provide appropriate, meaningful education for students with such disabilities. When school resumes in January, our BSB students will have the chance to meet these young people from Beijing Zhi Guang School as they begin their job-training program. The young people are moving into a home in the village adjacent to BSB and ISB, under the guidance of a teacher. In addition to taking care of their home, interacting in the local community, and purchasing and cooking their own food, they will be working at the two schools in housekeeping and foodservice, with the hope of soon finding gainful employment and full independence. Greet our new friends when you see them working! We will have weekly updates in the British School of Beijing Newsletter. Brian Zhang, program coordinator for Beijing Zhi Guang School, described this opportunity as "bringing hope not only to the other 75 students at the school, but to their parents as well. This program will build a real bridge over the gap from school to real work." Zhang thanks BSB and ISB for creating the conditions for this program to begin.

Click here for Sanlitun

Click here for Shunyi

BSB News: News From Shunyi: From the Head of Primary, Shunyi Practice Makes Perfect in Primary Our first week back has been a day shorter than expected (with Monday‘s Snow Day) but it has been a busy and productive one for all. Our 38 new Primary pupils have settled in very nicely to classes; our ‗buddy system‘ for new children, emailed updates from staff to parents, and welcome meeting for parents have helped ensure that first day worries were kept at a minimum and that children felt at home very quickly. All staff had training on Wednesday or Thursday from UK author and trainer, Caroline Scott, who is currently a Head in Egypt and is a very experienced teacher trainer. The focus of the sessions was how to help all pupils feel safe, settled and that they belonged in the class when they first arrive. We already do well in this area according to parents, but the workshops will allow us to fine-tune both our EAL programme and class practice to help all pupils make the maximum progress in literacy. Friday‘s assembly was the first of 2010 and was all about the need for practice and diligence to improve skills. This point was made clear when the children saw Mrs Smith attempt skills that pupils were expert in: piano playing (Tyler Y2), drawing (Jun Y4), Spanish (Maria Y5), football (Alex Y6), hoolahoop (Judy and Kara Y6) and snakeboarding (Alexis Y5). Why could Mrs Smith not become the star striker for the BSB Bears team yet or the play in assemblies from today? Well, as the ‗experts‘ told the assembled pupils it was because they had practiced diligently for months and even years to develop their skills – it took hard work and dedication to become really skilled. Have a lovely weekend in the snow. Jane Smith Head of Primary, Shunyi

New Flags! This week in Shunyi we have displayed another 3 flags of students home countries. The British School of Beijing proudly has over 45 nationalities at the school which represents the wide ranging diversity of our students.

School Lunches: Find Out More about Shunyi Lunches! How are lunches organised? What choices do the children have? What can they have for ‘seconds’? Do the children line up? How many vegetables and fruits are served each day? Why do FS have blue plates? Do you have questions about Shunyi school lunches? Then please come along to our next Lunches Meeting on Tuesday 19th January from 9-10am in the Shunyi Dining Room. Fred Baron, our Eurest Manager, and Mrs Jane Smith, Head of Primary, will talk you through our lunchtime routines, choices and menus so that you will have a clear picture of the array of dishes and options available to our pupils each lunchtime. Refreshments will be served.

BSB News: News From Shunyi: Foundation Stage Fun in the Foundation Stage Shunyi Happy New Year and a big welcome to everybody and especially to our new Nursery teacher Mrs. Sophie Corr (NW now becoming NC)! The children in Pre-Nursery have settled really well after a long holiday. They haven‘t forgotten their friends and were really glad to see each other. This week they have started a new 3-week topic—Animals. They have been talking about different kinds of animals and firstly they were focusing on the ones we see on a farm. They have been discussing the sounds the animals make and the names of their baby animals such as foals, lambs, and calves etc. They have been exploring a range of activities relating to farm animals including colouring different animals and sticking paper shapes to make pigs and sheep streamers for display. They have had fun in talking about what farm animals eat and where they sleep. In maths they have been counting pigs, sheep and other animals. All week long, they have been singing ‗Old Macdonald Had a Farm‘ and ‗Baa Baa Black Sheep‘, etc. Despite the cold weather, the children have had a fantastic week! Nursery children have started the topic of ‗Pets‘ this week. They have been talking about their own pets and how to care or look after different animals. In their role play area, the children have been enthusiastic in creating a ‗pet shop‘. A big thank you to those who have already sent in their cuddly pet toys and we are looking forward to seeing more children to show and tell their own pet toys! In Reception the children have been talking and writing about what the children did over the Christmas holidays. They were also very excited to see their friends and enjoyed sharing their news. During this week, Reception children have started a new topic of The Gingerbread Man and have done lots of work relating to the story including writing about their favourite part of the story and making their own Gingerbread men! They have also been revising the letters and sounds we they had learnt and getting back into reading. What a busy first week in the Foundation Stage! Jade Oak (Pre-Nursery teacher in Shunyi)

Key Stage One It was lovely to see all the children returning refreshed after their break, and eager to start the new term. We were particularly pleased to welcome so many new children in Years 1 and 2, and hope they all be very happy at BSB. In Year 1 children enjoyed making (and eating!) jam sandwiches, as part of a literacy unit on ―Instructions‖. They also began a new science unit on ―Sound and Hearing‖ and, during a listening walk around school, were amazed at how many different sounds they could hear. They also explored musical instruments to see how they make sounds, for example by blowing, hitting or shaking. Continued on next page

BSB News: News From Shunyi: Key Stage One In Year 2 the children had lots of fun acting out part of a Native American myth called ‗Lord of the Animals‘ using interesting voices. They then chose an animal to research for reasons as to why this could be a good choice for being superior to other animals. They have also been drawing diagrams of their ideas for how we can improve the area around school, using photographs that we took last term.

Key Stage Two All the children in KS2 came back with cheerful enthusiasm and bright sunny smiles for the start of our Spring term. But Year 3 had even sunnier smiles and revealed that the secret was their latest science topic- how to clean your teeth properly! They have had great fun with disclosing tablets, brushes and paste this week and have dazzled the corridor with their whiter than white smiles. They have also written instructions for how to clean your teeth properly. In numeracy they have been working with numbers, using them to add and subtract in different ways and using arrays to help them multiply and divide. The children in Year 4 have been creating snowflake dances and vocabulary banks. They filmed their dances with flip cameras and then used all this work to create snowflake tankas. In numeracy they have been adding and subtracting in lots of different ways including using English money and solving problems. In their topic work they have been looking at the world map and briningi9ng in artifacts and postcards from holidays and places they have visited. They have located Asia and then China and created a map of China with all the different provinces labeled. They have enjoyed playing games to see who can name countries, continents and provinces in China. Mr Bishop has introduced ‗Star of the Week‘ in KS2, for good citizenship and we congratulate our first stars this week: Se Young 3CB, Zehra 3CH, Raymond 4JN and Arpit in 4NT .All of them have been nominated by their class and teachers for being kind, thoughtful helpful people. They have done a great job of helping new children settle in to school this week. Well done to all of them they can wear their badges with pride. Julie Ng Year 4 Shunyi

Secondary Year 7 have been busy this past term designing and creating large jugs inspired by the French Artist Henri Matisse. He was a member of an art movement known as ‗Fauvism‘; renowned for their bold use of colours and expressive brush marks. I‘m sure we all agree the designs are splendid and they have all worked really hard to make their perfect jugs. Please take time to come see their work, it will be on display around the Shunyi campus for the rest of this term. Charlotte Yearn Secondary Art Teacher.

BSB News: News From Shunyi: Sports News Senior Basketball The boys continue to work hard as they move into the business end of their season and have a busy week coming up. They have games scheduled on Wednesday vs. BCIS (away), Friday vs. IAB (home) and Saturday vs. TIS and IST (away). The girls also continue to practice and working to give more shape and structure to their play. The will be in action next Wednesday vs. IAB (away) and on Saturday vs. IST (away). Both team season's will come to an exciting finale at the end of season Tournament which is set for Saturday January 23rd. on which is set. Swim Team Swim team started training this week. Practices will continue each week through to Thursday April 1st (really). There are two meet this term, the first will be hosted by Rego International School, Tianjin and the second at ISB; more details will follow soon. Shunyi swimmers that would like to take part in the meets should attend two of three swim sessions each week. Julian Barnsley julian.barnsley@britishschool.org.cn

REGISTRATION FOR INVIDIDUAL INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS We'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that letters will be going home to all children this week about the individual instrumental lessons. If you would like your child to continue or to start learning an instrument on a one-on-one basis with one of our very experienced music teachers, then please return the registration form and fees to reception as soon as possible. Full details are in the letter however the range of instruments includes piano, violin, cello, flute, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, guitar, bass, drums, voice and Chinese Guzheng. Jennie Grierson

EAL: Happy New year everyone! I hope that you had a rested holiday, and that you are ready for all that you have to learn in 2010. A very warm welcome to all the new EAL students! I have enjoyed meeting and assessing you this week, and I look forward to helping each and every one of you to improve your English. Have a good weekend. Starting in a new school is scary for anyone. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ve earned a good rest!

Andrew Morrissey, Shunyi

BSB News: News From Shunyi: Music This term promises to be a very exciting one for the Music Department. Firstly we have our rescheduled Autumn concert in early February (exact date to be confirmed very soon), then in March the House Music Competition will take place and finally our traditional Spring concert in April. The standard of music the students are producing is always improving and we look forward to showcasing our many ensembles and soloists. Music lessons begin next week and students should already have returned forms indicating their choices for this coming term. Students should check the music notice boards next week to confirm that they are scheduled for lessons and note the time of their first lesson. If there are any problems please contact the Music dept. Please note that music scholars should still submit a lesson request form indicating their choices. Next week all extra-curricular ensembles begin in addition to ASA‘s. We hope our students will continue their commitment to these groups and hope to see some new faces also. Lunchtime activities currently offered are; Mon. Choir (open to all) Mon. Advanced Wind group (for advanced wind players, selection by audition) Tues. Girl band (by audition) Tues. Jazz ensemble (for intermediate wind players by audition) Wednesday. Chamber choir (by audition) Thursday. Jazz orchestra (open to all wind players) Friday. Choir (open to all) Mr. England Assistant Director of Music

Opera star visits the British School of Beijing During the Christmas break the Music Department was fortunate enough to be visited by the American opera star Dominique Moralez. Dominique Moralez is one of the most exciting singers to have emerged in recent years and has been acclaimed for his performances at some of most prestigious opera houses in Europe, including Opera de Nice, Opéra de Nice, Opéra National de Montpellier, Opéra National de Lorraine, Opéra Théâtre de Saint-Étienne, Opéra Toulouse, Opéra de Marseille, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Opéra de Toulon, Grand Theatre de Reims and Opéra de Vichy. Dominique was in Beijing rehearsing and recording some of Mr Webb-Mitchell‘s own compositions. Mr Webb-Mitchell‘s song cycle Songs of Awe and Wonder is being submitted to EMI Classics this year. During his rehearsals at the Sanlitun Campus, Dominique was impressed by our students‘ colourful art work.

BSB News: News From Sanlitun: From the Headteacher The beginning of a new year gives us all a chance to reflect and learn from the past year and plan ahead for a successful future. The end of term was a particularly busy time for pupils, staff as well as parents and together, we achieved a great deal to be proud of as individuals and a school community. After a very snowy start to the new year, the children have settled in immediately and have been working hard revising what was learnt last term and beginning new topics. As I have walked around our lovely campuses it has been a joy to see our 3 year olds, right up to our 11 year olds interested in what is being taught and eager to learn and have made our new children welcome. Our Parent Society is now fully established and always open to parents joining at any point in the year whether new to the school or an existing parent. Coffee mornings are being organised with useful themes which is a great way to meet and share common experiences and advice. ASAs start next week and Mrs Robinson has worked very hard to put together a fabulous choice of activities for children to choose from. This is a great opportunity for children to try something different to what happens in class, to meet children from other classes and age groups and to work with other teachers and teaching assistants. Each fortnight a different class or year group will display examples of work they have been doing in the entrance of the main campus and there will also be photos from our foundation campus. Please pop in and take a look when you have a moment and remember we display a lot of work along the corridors and in the classrooms in both campuses and parents and family are always welcome to come and look Have a lovely weekend, Janet Brock Head of Sanlitun

Foundation Stage A winter wonderland in Foundation Stage! Welcome back to a snowy start to our Spring Term. The children were all very excited to be seeing their friends again after the break and talk about their holiday news. The big snowfall that happened over the weekend was a great source of excitement and wonder for everyone in Pre-nursery. The children spent a good part of the morning looking out of the window and looking at the snow and talking about it. We started our ‗Animal‘ theme by looking at farm animals. We mixed red and white paints to get the right shade for our pink pigs. We had lots of fun huffing and puffing during the story about the ‗Three Little Pigs‘ and loved singing 'Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf'. Our new classmate Hao Hao exclaimed that we should take the wolf and throw him into the bin for being mean! Nursery had an exciting start to the term with their topic all about ‗Pets‘ and have created a pet shop in our role play corner. We have also been looking for rhyming words that sound like dog and cat. Can you think of any? We also got very messy doing finger paint cats and paw prints which has been fun.

BSB News: News From Sanlitun: Foundation Stage ‗Run, run as fast as you can! You can‘t catch me, I‘m the Gingerbread Man‘ exclaimed all the children in Reception as they enjoyed retelling the story of ‗The Gingerbread Man‘. We have acted out the story, made paintings and collages of the characters and thought about ways of getting the Gingerbread Man safely across the river instead of being gobbled up by the sly fox! We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Foundation Stage Team, Sanlitun

Key Stage One All the children in Key Stage One have returned to school full of excitement from their holidays, and are eager to relay stories of their last three weeks – be they in sun or snow. Year One have even presented such tales in postcards – illustrations by them! Year Two have been investigating some topical science - observing and recording the length of time it takes for snow to melt, and considering possible reasons behind such results. It‘s terrific to welcome new children to our corridor, and all the teachers have been very impressed by the children‘s kindness towards our newcomers in helping them feel at home. As we unravel our hats and scarves each morning, it‘s easy to see that everyone is full of refreshed enthusiasm for the new term. Esther Laslett To kick start the new term Year 4 have started a new unit of work called ‘Exploring Form‘, which will be all about different kinds of poetry. The lessons began with an opportunity to gather as much vocabulary as possible connected with snow, something all the children are now very familiar with! The children closed their eyes as a piece of ice passed through their hands in turn. This helped to inspire the children to think of lots of wintery vocabulary. After watching snow falling, together with a Russian ballet piece, the children set about trying to represent words such as swirling, floating and drifting as part of a dance. The children cooperated fantastically together and came up with some very imaginative results - we may have the beginnings of a BSB ballet troupe! The vocabulary bank formed and the imagery of dance created will, in the coming weeks, inspire the children to write Tanka‘s (a Japanese form of poetry). We are all looking forward to reading their pieces. James Harvey Year 6 Art‗Go Pop!‘ This week Year 6 have been studying ‗Pop Art‘ produced by artist Andy Warhol. Pop Art originated in America and it emerged in the mid 1950‘s. The word ‗pop‘ is short for ‗popular culture‘ so things which were popular in America, at this time, were commonly featured in his artwork. The children have studied several of his most famous pieces and have analysed his style, technique and use of colour. 6B have then used this knowledge to create their own ‗Pop Art‘. Their artwork is ‗Poptastic‘ so please take a look at it in reception! Laura Beverley

BSB News: News From Sanlitun: Sanlitun PE PE this week has taken place in the gym due to the cold conditions outside. All students have been reviewing the skills learnt last term and participating in small sided competitions. ASA's begin next week and allocation letters will be sent home tonight. World Record News The 15 students who participated in the Speed Stacking Record Attempt were successful. 276,053 people from 1,252 schools and organisations in 24 different countries beat the original record of 225,560 stackers stacking on the same day. Congratulations to: KS 1 Francisco Menzes, Eric Kim, Max Han, Warren Lee KS 2 Aaron Kim, Jorge De La Vegam, Mark Han, Jim Lin, Anthony Zhao, Antonio Menzes, Alan Lee, Elena Kugelstadt, Aaron Lam, Roger Ren, Ethan Kiang Katie Robinson PE Teacher

BSB News: Primary House Names & Colours Normans

Saxons

Sanlitun House Points

Vikings

Secondary Merit Awards

Romans

Shunyi House Points

Key Stage 3 Mina Shin

158

Diana Park

118

Normans

265

Normans

296

Sejin Kim

112

Vikings

351

Vikings

281

Minori Yariwake

111

Romans

396

Romans

304

Saxons

438

Saxons

219

Congratulations to the Saxons on earning the highest House Points for the week ending 8th January. Well done, Romans

Congratulations to the Romans on earning the highest House Points for the week ending 8th January. Well done, Romans

Key Stage 4 Oceane Duprat

Andrea DeMatteis

Doris Sun

Silvia Vidinyu

Parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Page: BSB is pleased to widen the scope of our newsletter by including a parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; page, items for this page should be in keeping with the ethos of the School and should be submitted to our Publications and Liaison Officer on newsletter@britishschool.org.cn before 4pm Wednesday on the week in which they are to appear. Please note we cannot advertise businesses, the aim is to promote charitable events and personal ads. Parent Society Meeting - Monday 11th January, 9am at Shunyi Campus. The Parent Society would love to see some new faces at our meeting this week, if you have the time please come along. New ideas are always welcome! Sonia Buchan, Chairperson

Information on events at BSB: Please see the following pages

Dear Parents, I would like to invite students to register for next term’s classes at our Dance Studio. This is a community based programme aimed at Primary students, Secondary Students and (new for this term) adults to provide an opportunity for them to learn new styles and genres of dance, and to develop a vast array of skills and disciplines. Students will have the opportunity to partake in various performances and competitions within the Beijing and Tianjin area or of course dance just for fun! The programme for the new term will be as follows; Shunyi Campus Monday: Tap 4:40 – 5:40

Tuesday: Ballet 4:30 – 5:00 5:00 – 6:00

Adult Beginners with Miss. Jessica Cross (800rmb for 8 weeks)

3 – 5 years with Miss. Tracey Hill (400rmb for 8 weeks) 6 – 10 years with Miss. Tracey Hill (800rmb for 8 weeks)

Friday: Modern/Hip hop 3:45 – 4:45 6 – 14 years with Miss. Tracey Hill (800rmb for 8 weeks) Friday: Tap 3:34 – 4:45

3 – 5 years with Miss. Jessica Cross (400rmb for 8 weeks)

Sanlitun Campus Saturday: Ballet 9:30 – 10:00 10:00 – 11:00

3 – 5 years with Miss. Tracey Hill (400rmb for 8 weeks) 6 – 10 years with Miss. Tracey Hill (800rmb for 8 weeks)

Saturday: Tap 10:00 – 10:30 10:30 – 11:30

3 – 5 years with Mrs. Jo Young (400rmb for 8 weeks) 6 – 10 years with Mrs. Jo Young (800rmb for 8 weeks)

Saturday: Modern/Hip hop 11:00 – 12:00 6 – 14 years with Miss. Tracey Hill (800rmb for 8 weeks) Classes across both campuses will start the week beginning Monday 11th January with the final week beginning Monday 15th March (Please note there will be a two week break from Monday 8th February due to the Chinese New Year Holiday). Payments and completed registration forms must be handed to reception prior to your child beginning their lessons. Fees are non-refundable, unless lessons are cancelled by us or in individual circumstances in which a decision will be made following consideration of each case. For further information or to register your child, please do not hesitate to contact me via this e-mail address: Tracey.hill@britishschool.org.cn The programme is not exclusive to BSB students, so please feel free to spread the word to family and friends! Kind regards, Miss. Tracey Hill AMIDAAI PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A REGISTRATION FORM