NL 25 by British School of Beijing

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: Issue 25 29th March 2010

Key Dates

From the Executive Principal Dear All

April 1

Secondary Spring Concert—6.30

Last day Spring Term

EASTER BREAK

First Day of Summer Term

1216

Music Enrolement Week

ASA begin

FS Sports Day

KS1 Sports Day

KS2 Sports Day

Sports Day (Y6— Secondary)

2630

Y4 Visit to Pingyao

BSB idol

International Day—To Be Confirmed

The British School of Beijing was proud to welcome His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York on Friday. The day was a great success and the Duke was immensely complimentary. Saying ―we were clearly a very fine school‖ and commented often on how well mannered, well dressed and knowledgeable our students were. He spent a great deal of time talking to them on matters as diverse as Chinese history, The Euro-zone and of course how they felt about the British School. I was of course slightly relieved when our students replied in glowing terms! The little ones especially enjoyed meeting him and waved their flags and cheered extremely loudly which brought an immediate smile to The Dukes face, they were delighted when he came over to talk to them all. The Duke addressed the school and spoke of the way in which he could immediately sense the purposeful character of the school when he walked through the door. He talked about the fact that any school is a partnership between the students, the teachers and the parents and education being one of the most valuable gifts anyone can receive. A royal visit is a huge occasion for any school. it recognises all that we have achieved here in the highest possible sense and I am proud to be a small part of that success. Further recognition of our success came from the World Scholars Challenge, an academic competition held in conjunction with Harvard University. We were proud to host this event and were selected by the Harvard team due to our superb reputation and facilities. I‘m proud to say that we did extremely well with our students taking out-right wins in a number of categories. Huge thanks to Mr. Bourne for his organisation of this very exciting day. Another busy weekend of sporting fixtures with two wins and one loss of the soccer field but more importantly excellent sportsmanship all round. I was unfortunately only able to catch the first half of one match before going to watch the choir perform (beautifully!) at the EXPAT show at the exhibition centre downtown. I was sadly in the UK during the Indian Bazaar so wasn‘t able to go along but have heard so many stories about the success of the event that I can hardly wait for next year. I‘m hoping to be here for the forthcoming Italian embassy event, though I intend to attempt to moderate my pasta consumption if at all possible! The British School of Beijing is the longest established British School in Beijing and has many fine traditions and a proud record. However it‘s equally important that we remain the community hub of our extended network of parents and students as well as businesses and embassies. I believe we continue to work very hard with our parents societies to fulfil that role. Recognition for all the work both in Shunyi and Sanlitun from our Royal guest was the (royal blue) icing on the cake of course but, if I say so myself, very well deserved indeed. Very best regards Mike Embley

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION:

Senior School Spring Concert April 1st 2010 6:00pm The New Theatre, Shunyi Campus

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION:

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: Whole School, Shunyi and Sanlitun:

Indian Bazaar The school was a buzz on Sunday with the smells of the delicious Indian cooking, the sounds of the Indian music and the amazing dancers and actors that entertained all day. It was wonderful to see so many people attend the bazaar and there was so much to see and do. India's Ambassador to China, His Excellency Dr S. Jaishankar, and his wife Madam Kyoko Jaishankar opened proceedings and then had a walk around to meet all the different vendors. A lot of money was raised on the day for victims of the Haiti earthquake. And excitingly our very own Laura Westley (marketing manager) won first prize of a return flight to America with Delta. We are all already looking forward to next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s bazaar.

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: Whole School, Shunyi and Sanlitun:

Ever wondered what all those chairs are doing in the atrium? Or where the smell of coffee and sounds of laughter are coming from? In the last few weeks a coffee shop has opened in the atrium of the school in Shunyi, it is sited just outside the theatre. The aims of ―Chatterbox‖ are very simple - to provide a meeting place for parents and a warm welcome for visitors to the school. Fresh baked goodies are provided each day by a dedicated team of volunteer bakers and volunteer baristas serve frothy cappuccino‘s, long lattes or, for those needing the caffeine kick, a perky espresso. Profits from Chatterbox will be used to support school wide initiatives, as decided by the parents society, and in the future we would also hope to be able to support a local charity. We have a small selection of books available for which we ask for a 10RMB donation. All donations are given to Roundabout to help them continue to provide the wonderful and necessary services they do. If you have any books to donate please bring them along. In the next few weeks we hope to be able to offer a space suitable for hosting some classes and a meeting place so that class reps will be able to host class get togethers. We are open every school day until 1.30pm and thanks to very generous support from the school we have started out well and we look forward to welcoming you soon.

Click here for Sanlitun

Click here for Shunyi

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: News From Sanlitun: EAL What another great week of EAL we've had! Even as the term winds to a close, our EAL students have shown no sign of diminishing their enthusiasm for learning English. Both in the classroom and on the playgound, we are constantly seeing students using what they've learned to participate more in class and talk to their friends. Here's another tip for everyone: Start looking now for some good books to read over the holiday! Mr. Fromer and Mr. Michalak

School Council The School Council‘s sponsored events took place this week. Every child in BSB Sanlitun asked friends and family to sponsor them to take on a tricky challenge, which involved either partying in silence, or testing their chop stick skills in a bid to raise even more money for our charity, The Mamelodi Trust. In Key Stage One the children were challenged to play fun games like ‗Duck, Duck, Goose‘ and ‗Hangman‘ for a full half an hour without uttering a single sound. Amazingly every class did this! In Key Stage Two the children had sixty seconds to transfer as many raisins as possible from one bowl to another using chop sticks. The record amount was 67 raisins! Pretty fantastic! Now the children can seek the rewards from their sponsors and bring in their money before we see how much we‘ve raised to help children in South Africa receive a better education. Yet again, brilliant effort BSB!

Foundation Stage What a busy Spring time week we have had in Foundation Stage, Sanlitun. Monday started off with a successful Open Morning where we had lots of parents and visitors who enjoyed being back in the classroom learning about dinosaurs, springtime and rhymes! As a special treat, children, staff and parents where then wowed by Courtney Campbell, a musical storyteller who came to share some of her many songs. We learned about ‗The Singing King‘, ‗The camel with the runny nose‘ and Receptions favourite ‗A Dinosaur in my backyard‘ which links very nicely with their new topic this week all about Dinosaurs.

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: News From Sanlitun: Foundation Stage On Tuesday Reception became Paleontologists for the day, as they all visited the Natural History Museum to learn more about dinosaurs, what they would have looked like and what they liked to eat. We enjoyed going on a treasure hunt for lots of interesting objects hidden all around the museum including dinosaur footprints, eggs and a hairy mammoth.

―La, La, La‖ sang the ‗Singing King‘. Nursery has had a fun week singing Courtney Campbell songs. We also love her song about the dinosaur in her backyard and decided to learn something about the dinosaurs in the song. We found dinosaurs whose names start with the sounds s, t, p and a, we have made collage stegosaurus and have chosen our favourite to put on a pictogram.

Pre-nursery had a nice time outdoors, enjoying Spring. We talked about the weather and the things we see in nature like clouds, wind, rain and rainbows! We are getting very good with the colours of the rainbow and could almost recite them in order. We painted a rainbow, made bird collages with real feathers and made paper windmills, enjoying how they move in the wind. Our sunflower plants and bean plants are growing beautifully too!

Fay Smart Foundation Stage Coordinator

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: News From Sanlitun: Key Stage One In Year One this week the children have been thinking about global warming. Following Year Six‘s spectacular assembly which gave everyone in the school a greater insight into this vital issue, the children were eager to learn more. This week they have been finding out about the causes of global warming and beginning to consider ways in which they could help reduce this impact on the planet. Year Two had a fun filled field trip to the China Science and Technology Museum on Wednesday. Based in its new site in the Olympic park, the children explored a vast hall dedicated to those under the age of ten, called ‗Science Paradise‘. Exploring whole areas devoted to different scientific aspects of our world including water, agriculture, exploration, and the human body, as well as huge clambering equipment and interactive games, the children were very busy indeed! Working in teams and individually the children solved 3D puzzles, and pulled levers, pumped pumps, twisted, heaved, climbed, looked and listened to experience a huge array of scientific fun! They also watched a 4D film called ‗Dog and Bugs‘ in which a dog takes to the sky on wings, and visits insects in his environment. The children‘s chairs rocked, they were squirted with water and air, and they wore 3D glasses so they really became engrossed with the show. The students were admirable in their behaviour throughout the trip, and Mrs Godber and I would like to say a huge thank you to the Mums and to Miss Mang who came with us. Their help was immeasurable. They ensured every child felt so safe they could have so much fun and then couldn‘t help but fall asleep on the bus on the way back!

Key Stage Two Year 3 Sanlitun have been very busy recently, completing an art unit focusing on sculpture. This links in with our Ancient Greece topic and the artworks that they produced 4,000 years ago which have withstood the test of time. We began by locating a boring and dull area in the playground that we thought would benefit from a piece of 3D art. The next step was to design our own sculptures based on playtime themes. We worked in small groups to pose in various playtime positions and created small sketches of these. We then chose our favourite ones and concentrated on the shapes and lines within. Next, we began to make a small draft version of our sculptures, called a maquette, from wire and plaster. We started by making the frame of our sculpture by bending wire into a 3D form. We then used tin foil to pad out areas of the figures, such as the head, legs and arms. Finally, we got very messy using modroc (plaster bandage) to coat our sculptures in a smooth white layer. Next week we will be using computer trickery to superimpose our sculptures onto images of the school playground to see what they would look like in the real environment! Jo Young

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: News From Sanlitun: On Tuesday Year 6 visited Sanlitun Village, armed with clipboards and questionnaires. The children were split into small groups and positioned in various locations around the village, where they stopped members of the general public to ask them their views on Global Warming. People were asked specific questions about their lifestyle, what they knew about global warming and how concerned they were about damage to the environment. The children were busy asking questions for about an hour and managed to interview over 150 people. These results will be analysed and discussed in class next week and presented in graphical form. As part of this fieldtrip, the children had to make transport arrangements and decide on their lunch. Armed with 30RMB each, the children either opted for a McDonaldâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Happy Meal or a snack and A Cold Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Ice Cream. A worthy reward for all of their hard work! Laura Beverly Year 6

Senior School Spring Concert April 1st 2010 6:00pm The New Theatre, Shunyi Campus

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: News From Shunyi: Busy Week for Primary! What a lovely week! Year 5 saw singer/songwriter, Courtney Campbell; Reception Class had a trip to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum; Years 1 and 2 swam like fish at their swimming gala; Year 4 parents met to hear about the upcoming residential to PingYao; Year 5 delighted us all with a video diary of their Xi‘an expedition…and then the Duke of York arrived on a sunny spring day! And what a day that was. The children were sparkling in full uniform, the school was gleaming and the Duke had a grand tour which included buoyant welcomes from Rec to Year 4, who waved and cheered with gusto. His Royal Highness asked our pupils questions about life at BSB – ―what‘s the best thing about BSB?‖ he enquired of Year 2 and was told ―Miss Anderson‖ by grinning children! Year 5 talked Prince Andrew through how they remember characters and then Ms Jane Shi showed him how to say his tones – he was a diligent student, we noted. Classes have resumed today though and abundant learning is taking place after an exciting end of week. The children‘s smart uniforms have not disappeared and all were awarded the ―Uniform Award‖ and the accompanying 5 House Points at our morning assembly. We have asked that their high standards do not slip and that full and correct uniform is worn every day. You know they can do it! Have a great week – see you at Open Day and the Easter Picnic we hope. Kind regards Jane Smith

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: News From Shunyi: Foundation Stage We have all been having lots of fun in the foundation Stage this week J Reception has had a roaring success of a week looking at dinosaurs. They were reading many dinosaur stories as well as looking at non-fiction books to find out interesting dinosaurs facts. They made 3D dinosaurs, painted pictures of dinosaurs and sang dinosaur songs. The highlight of the week was a trip to the Natural History Museum-how exciting! Nursery has also been looking at dinosaurs this week. We have been categorizing the different types of dinosaurs, going on dinosaur egg hunts, making beautiful Tyrannosaurus Rex‘s out of clay and even some scary masks! We have been clapping the syllables to the dinosaur names and getting very good at remembering the very long names of the dinosaurs! Pre Nursery has started the topic of Spring-and it does look as though Beijing is finally coming into spring! So they have been having a wonderful time going outside for ‗spring observational walks‘ and looking at the trees in bud. They also talked about spring-time and weather changes and every child had the opportunity to describe the weather and answer different questions such as: Is it warm? Is it sunny? What clothes do we need? Also this week we have been putting together the final preparations for our big VIP!

Senior School Spring Concert April 1st 2010 6:00pm The New Theatre, Shunyi Campus

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: News From Shunyi: World Poetry Day World Poetry Day BSB‘s first celebration of World Poetry Day was a great success! Children throughout the Primary School read and created their own poems during the day, inspired by poets of the past and present. In Year 1 the children looked at Kit Wright‘s poem ‗The Magic Box‘ AND THEN created their own magic box poems, whilst in Year 6 the children studied the poems of Benjamin Zephaniah, following his visit from the previous week. In the afternoon both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 held Poetry reciting competitions, with the best poem and poet receiving an award certificate. The following children received certificates for their recitals; Smriti and Jimin in Year 1, Kevin and Nicole in Year 2, 3H Marina and 3B Rebecca, 4T Nathan, Danny and Ian who performed a dynamic rap poem. In 4N Sammy, Rachel, Minnie won certificates. In Year 6T Edward performed very well, whilst in Year 6J Lucy and Josh were the winners. Well done to all the children who took part in the competition and keep writing poetry! Dawn Ross Literacy Coordinator Shunyi Campus

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: News From Shunyi: Key Stage Two This week, Year 5 have finished their persuasive writing project. All the teams collaborated to create fantastic sports drink products complete with logos, slogans, packaging, posters and television advertisements. The children of Year 5 have also been writing recounts of their favourite moments of the Xiâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;an visit. On Friday, it was the Year 5 assembly in which the children read some of their recounts and watched the fantastic Xiâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;an documentary created by the students. This week also saw the grand unveiling of the Year 5 reconstruction of Banpo Neolithic village. The model looks absolutely fabulous and takes pride of place in the upper Key Stage 2 corridor. Year Six have been continuing their work on 2D and 3D shapes. The children have been creating 3D shape models using nets. Consolidating their study of global warming, the children created a fascinating 3D display, demonstrating their understanding of the causes of global warming and the role we can all play in avoiding an environmental catastrophe. Their work is up in the upper Key Stage 2 corridor and looks magnificent. Stephen Fisher

Years 3 & 4 have found it hard to concentrate this week with all the excitement of a prince visiting from England! They have had lots of questions about Prince Andrew. They were very excited to see him last week and we were very proud of them all looking so smart and being so well behaved. Lots of them sang beautifully in the choir or had important roles to play and did them very well. Well done! Year 4 have been thinking about decisions characters make when faced with an issue or dilemma in a story. In science they have been trying to decide where they can find examples of useful and non useful friction on a bicycle. In numeracy they have been solving fraction puzzles and reading scales using forcemeters in science. Year 3, have been creating characters and settings, for their own quest myths, which they are writing in Literacy. In numeracy they have been looking at Venn Diagrams, pictograms and Carroll diagrams. In science they have been creating rock profiles for the different types of rock they have learned about. Julie Ng

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: Secondary The World Scholarship Tournament On the Saturday 20th March to the Sunday 21st March the Regional World Scholarship Tournament was held at the BSB Shunyi campus. The competition was organized and led by a team from Harvard University. There were over 160 students that attended from international schools from all over China. Twelve students, from Year 8 to Year 10 represented BSB in the junior section. The students were in teams of three and included: Team Team Team Team

A - Ryder Kin, Randy Zhang and Prateek Pandey B - Sophie Thomason, Edward Ren and Jenny Jiang C - Leonie Buschmann, May Macleod and Zhou Ming Shia D - Film Vichienthong, Andrew So and Alastair Watt

Over the two days the students had to complete a multiple choice paper (Scholars Challenge), do two team debates and an essay (Scholars Cup) and take part in a team quiz round (Scholars Bowl). It was also great to see our students taking part in the fun show case debates. To prepare for the weekend the students had to study, starting in January, a range of subjects including History, Art, Music, Science, Literature and Psychology. It was a lot of extra work for the students to undertake on top of their normal work load and extra-curricular activities. The school is proud to announce that BSB students won the following medals: Sophie Thomason – Individual Gold for Literature - Scholars Challenge and Team Bronze - Scholars Bowl. Jenny Jiang – Individual Silver for Art - Scholars Challenge and Team Bronze - Scholars Bowl. Alistair Watt – Individual Bronze for Science - Scholars Challenge and 4th in the Team Scholars Bowl. Leonie Buschmann - Individual Silver in Psychology - Scholars Challenge and 4th in all subjects Scholars Challenge Film Vichienthong – 4th in all subjects - Scholars Challenge and 4th in the Team Scholars Bowl. Edward Ren - Team Bronze - Scholars Bowl. Ryder Kin – 5th in Team debate – Scholars Bowl and a medal for public speaking Randy Zhang - Gold in Scholars Debate Show Case and 5th in Team debate – Scholars Bowl and a Public Speaking Medal Prateek Pandey – Silver in the Debate Show Case and 5th in Team debate - Scholars Bowl and Public Speaking Medal Andrew So - 4th in the Team Scholars Bowl and Public Speaking Medal May Macleod - Public Speaking Medal Zhou Ming Shia - Public Speaking Medal Finally many thanks to the World Scholarship Tournament organizers for running the event and the following BSB parents and teachers and admin staff who helped as debate judges on Saturday – Marie Buschmann, Suofen Chen , Shirley Gillespie-Smith, Charlotte Yearn, Julian Nelmes, Philip Whidden, Robert bridges, Chiara Mirini, Geraldine Thomason. Also a big thank you to the debate judges provided by the University of Peking and to the Year 12‘s Min Jung Kang and Alice Zhao who took photographs of the event. Nick Bourne BSB host organiser

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: Secondary World Scholars Cup

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: Sports News KS1 House Swimming On Tuesday Year 1 and Year 2 children met for the 'duel in the pool'. It was great to see the competition eagerly support by lots of cheering parents. This year's event used a relay format, all races were team events, and saw all swimmers in the water at least three times with every child giving their best for their team; fantastic! After all the points had been totaled and ribbons handed to swimmers, the final placings were as follows: First Vikings Second Romans Third Normans Fourth Saxons Congratulations to all the swimmers. I am looking forward to the next meet! U14 Boys basketball Vs. YCIS A very start to the game saw the Bears take control early on, to establish a lead they never looked liked like losing. Good play at both ends of the court with both Kevin and Bjorn beginning to show some potential as point guards. Some physical defense from both Rishay and Duncan made sure that YCIS were not able to settle into their game routine. The Man of the Match goes Jonathan who finished the game with a season high 16 points. Final score 34-22W Vs. DCB A disappointing first half saw the Bears give DCB too much space and time allowing them to shoot and rebound freely. The second half saw a much more discipline approach, defenders stayed close to their players and pressurized shooters. Offensively, the Bears began to pass a move through the key creating more chances. The second half was much closer and finished 14-15 in favour of DCB. Good work again from Rishay rebounding at both ends, Jonathan was also much more visible and is beginning to lead the side. A close call for Man of the Match, but for a much more confident display Kirby Weng takes the award. Final score 35-22L Next week Monday U19 Boys soccer vs. HISB @ BSB Tuesday U14 Boys basketball vs. IAB @ BSB Wednesday U19 Girls soccer vs. IAB @ BSB Thursday U14 Girls basketball vs. IAB @ BSB U14 Boys basketball vs. ISB @ ISB

BSB

News-SPECIAL

Sports News U19’s Boys Soccer BSB v TEDA: Saturday 13thMarch In this high scoring match the boys all put in a good team performance. They worked very hard, and importantly they never gave up. It was neck and neck for most of the game, with BSB coming from behind on a number of occasions. At 3-3 and with less than 10 minutes to go, we got a chance to go ahead when we were awarded a penalty kick (called for a deliberate handball in the box). Unfortunately, however, we were not able to convert it. But the boys kept up the belief that they could win regardless. They pushed hard, kept the ball in dangerous areas, and pressured the opposition with purpose. Sure enough the consistent pressure paid off when, in injury time, the ball was played across goal and accidentally knocked in beyond the goalkeeper by an opposition defender. So with the score at 4-3 in BSB‘s favour all that was left to do was to hold out until the end in what was a tense finish to the game. And to the boys credit to the boys they managed to do exactly that in order to secure the win. Final score: BSB 4 - TEDA 3 Man of the match: Philip Mannes Y11 BSB v TIS: Saturday 20th March There was a strong wind blowing and the air was thick with sand. But despite the conditions the boys were keen to play and the game went ahead as planned. BSB had the advantage of the tailwind in the first half, but failed to capitalize on it. We had a few good shots on target, which troubled the opposition goalkeeper, but it was TIS who took the lead. One of their strikers got through on goal and took a shoot. Our goalkeeper Andre Silvestre (Y12) managed to close him down and get a block in, but unfortunately the ball trickled into the back of the net. Nevertheless, the boys stayed positive and began to play some nice football in the second half, despite the wind being against them. Andre came out of goal for Duncan Watt (Y7); and Luke Wertheim (Y11) dropped back from midfield to shore up the defense. Soon enough, after a nice run up-field, Andre managed to find Bjorn Shen (Y8) out in space on the right side of attack. Bjorn ran at goal and just as he got inside the penalty box he fired a shoot past the TIS goalkeeper into the bottom left-hand corner in what was an excellent finish. At 1-1 both teams were evenly matched. Both were playing well and creating opportunities. Despite the very testing conditions Duncan dealt confidently with everything that was thrown at him in goal. It was going to take something special to break the deadlock, and that eventually came from our left winger for the day – Gye Young Cho (Y11). It was a BSB corner and he made a darting run towards the near post, leaving his marker behind him. The ball came in and with great flair he managed to backheel the ball just inside the near post, leaving the visiting team (not to mention their goalkeeper) stunned. The drama did not finish there, however, as in the dying moments of the game and at the other end of the field, TIS struck a powerful long-range shot towards the top right hand corner of the BSB goal. Aided by the wind it looked certain to hit the back of the net and prevent BSB the win. But from nowhere Duncan made a great fingertip save at full stretch, and the ball was parried safely onto to the crossbar and out. The final whistle signaled a second consecutive win for BSB. Final score: BSB 2 - TIS 1. Man of the match: Andre Silvestre Y12

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: Primary House Names & Colours Normans

Saxons

Sanlitun House Points

Vikings

Secondary Merit Awards

Romans

Shunyi House Points

Key Stage 3 Mina Shin

262

Leonie Buschmann

196

Normans

528

Normans

296

Sejin Kim

186

Vikings

590

Vikings

281

Diana Park

177

Romans

626

Romans

304

Saxons

631

Saxons

219

Congratulations to the Saxons on earning the highest House Points for the week ending 12th March. Well done, Saxons

Congratulations to the Romans on earning the highest House Points for the week ending 12th March. Well done, Romans

Key Stage 4 Oceane Duprat

Doris Sun

Prateek Pandey

Andrea De Matteis

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.

The Parent Society would like to introduce "Beijing ABC". The proceeds of this book will go to the Magic Hospital. It costs 88RMB. Should you like to order one, please contact sonia.buchan@gmail.com or pop into the Coffee Shop where they are on sale. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PREVIEW COPY

BSB News-SPECIAL EDITION: