Table of contents
World Book Day (page 36)
Pg 2 – Letter from the student editor Pg 3 – A future model for teaching Pg 4 – Head of Secondary Term 2 review
Pg 6 – Sports interschool Athletics Pg 8 – Sports Interschool Swimming
Pg 11 – Welcome Pg 12 – EYFS Pg 13- Year 1 Pg 14 - Year 2 Pg 15 – Year 3 Pg 16 – Year 4 Pg 18 – Year 5 Pg 19 – Year 6 Pg 20 – International Francophonie Day Pg 21 – World Religious Week Pg 22 – Spring Snow Pg 23 – Martisor Pg 24 – Primary Sky Trip
Lady Windermere’s Fan (page 34)
Pg 26 – Secondary School Sky Trip Pg 28 – COBIS Debate Pg 30 – COBIS MUN 2018 Pg 34 – Lady Windermere’s Fan Pg 36 – World Book Day Pg 38 – Francophonie Week at IBSB Pg 39 - Citizenship Day Pg 40 – Public Speaking Competition
Pg 42 – Student Project Pg 43 – CERN Trip Pg 44 – Science Pg 45 – UKMT Math Pg 46 – COBIS Art Competition Pg 48 – MFL – German Pg 50 – University Fair Pg 51 – 6th FORM Pg 52 – New Teacher’s Interviews Pg 55 – New Student Interview Pg 58 – CAS Pg 59 – Students Talent Pg 60 – Burn’s Supper Pg 62 – Stephen Hawking “A great Mind”
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SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHTWelcome Welcome
Letter from the Student Editor,
Lena S. Year 12
Another magazine issue, another editor letter. This time, a joint decision was made to refurbish the design of the magazine which consequently led to what you’re seeing in front of you: the result of late nights and aching eyes. Since the beginning of the school year, I’ve been hopping from design project to design project; the advantage is that I get to flex my create muscles but a downside is that sometimes I get too dedicated to correcting insignificant details. Is that line too close to that text box? Should I change the spacing between those two letters? What about adjusting the levels of the colours in this photo? I suppose my “message” in this issue’s letter is that it’s good to take on challenges; but only when you don’t put in jeopardy other, more important, aspects of your life. In any case, I know I will enjoy the little things more now, such as taking my cat out on his daily walks.
Last time I didn’t put a photo so I imagine I must have seemed faceless. The mystery is gone now with a group snapshot from the Geneva CERN Trip. Although which am I….?
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SPOTLIGHT Welcome
A future Model for Teaching:
Students Teaching Students
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f there is anything we are proud of at IBSB, it is the situation where we see students teaching students. This is something that is a regular occurrence at IBSB, with teachers regularly peering students together in such a way as to challenge those with the knowledge to share it, to reinforce their learning, as well as help those needing support. It can also happen in specific lessons that have been organised to enable the older, more experienced students to share their knowledge and experiences with younger students.
Kendall Peet Head of School
The latter is exactly what happened recently when four Year 10 students—Tamara, Max, Christie, and Milena—visited a Year 6 class to share their debate experiences winning the Silver Plate at the COBIS World Debating Competition this year in Dubai. The lesson started with a presentation of their trip and a description of what took place, debate by debate, as well as the extracurricular events organised for the students whilst there, which you can read more about in this issue of TIV in the article by Milena Vegara.
The Year 6 students were then divided into four groups with Tamara, Max, Christie, and Milena each working with one group, reviewing a page of possible motions to explain how a team goes about analysing a motion in order to develop a winning team argument— and they should know as they did not lose a single impromptu debate the entire competition. The students really enjoyed this group work session, so much so that they didn’t want to go on break, which tells you how well this activity went. After the break the students watched a short video of a WSDC (World School Debating Championship) final between England and Canada, to get an idea of the format and structure of debate, then prepared for their own class debate, which for many was their first live debate. In groups the students worked to prepare their arguments: one debate was on whether capital punishment should be banned; the other on whether football players get paid too much. In both cases, it was the proposition that successfully defended their position but, in truth, everyone was a winner as all the students had a wonderful time with 3 hours passing by in what seemed like minutes. At the start of the session only three students put their hands up when asked if they were interested in joining the Primary School Debating Club. At the end of the lesson, every single student said they now wanted to learn to debate and to debate in the Key Stage 3 International School Public Debating Competition next year (which IBSB won last year also), so well done to Tamara, Max, Christie, and Milena for successfully inspiring the next generation of IBSB debaters. It is clear that the future of debating at IBSB looks very bright indeed!
Luiza and Kyriaki Senior Debaters
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SPOTLIGHT Head of Secondary
Head of Secondary Matthew Tansley Head of Secondary
As I gaze through the window of my apartment, a few thoughts spring to mind, such as what has happened to the weather? We have had such extreme differences in temperature over the past term, so much so, that the Englishman in me began to think it may be time to get my shorts on! The weather is very much like the life of a school, in that it is extremely unpredictable and you are never sure what is going to happen from one day to the next, but it is this unpredictability that makes education and teaching so exciting, especially when our students never fail to surprise me with their innovation, commitment, and sense of purpose. The spring term (although at times it has been positively wintery!) has been a very busy one as you will have seen in my weekly newsletter entries. We have had a huge amount of success in debating with our students coming home with silverware from the COBIS World Debating Championships in Dubai, beating schools that are significantly bigger than ours on the way. A real David vs. Goliath performance, and I am sure that there will be more to come from the team in the future, especially as they have already started to train the next generation in the Primary School! We have also been fortunate enough to have visits from many universities this term, including UBC in Canada and Falmouth in the UK, a world renowned creative arts university that two of our students have already received offers from. IBSB students have been extremely successful with their applications to college and have received offers from many top universities in the UK and in Europe, and we are looking forward to being able to share with you the destinations that our sixth formers choose over the next few months. We have also had another successful university fair this term, with a selection of Dutch universities spending an afternoon with us, giving students from year ten upwards, and their parents, the opportunity to gain knowledge of what is on offer in the Netherlands.
Term 2 Review
The students have also had the privilege to listen to some of Romania’s top entrepreneurs and businessmen, with the visit of the CEO Club to our school. Students in the IGCSE and A Level programme spent an hour in the company of some fascinating individuals with some great stories to tell and advice to give, all based around the theme that “it is OK to not always have a plan or goal in life”. Another visitor was Ms Jane Nicholson, who visited us to share the aims and goals of the charity that she had set up, FARA UK, which is solely aimed at supporting the more needy in Romania, and we are hoping to develop further links in the future with FARA and the great work that they do in our community in Romania. The biggest event of the term is yet to come as I write this article, and due to printing deadlines, a review will not appear until the next edition of TIV, but I am so proud that our little school of 170 secondary school students can organise an event that involves schools from around the world, including schools from Africa, the Middle East and Europe, all descending upon Bucharest for the second COBIS MUN. If it is anything like the previous one, it will be an amazing event and I am sure one that all of our students who are participating will remember for a very long time. The defining moment of our term, and probably the school year, however was our BSO inspection with ISI, which was a wholly positive experience. It has identified many things that we were already aware of and have started the process of working to further improve. You will hear much more in the next term of our plans for the future and how we would like to engage both parents and students in this process of moving our school forward so we can truly “Inspire”, “Support”, and “Celebrate”.
Mr Tansley & Stefan V. COBIS MUN Prize Ceremony
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SPOTLIGHT Head of Secondary
Max M. University Fair Presentations
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SPORTS Interschool Sports
Interschool Athletics Grand Prix 2018
Ciprian Iacob Secondary School P.E Teacher
Following on from the athletic success achieved in 2016-17 with IBSB collecting the 1st Place trophy for the Girls competition, and the trophy for Runners Up in the Boys competition, the students went one better in 2018, winning both the Boys and Girls Competitions. In total our students collected 27 medals, with standout individual performances from Alina Barbu (Y7) and Alex Serban (Y11), both collecting 4 gold medals. Well done and congratulations to all of the competitors for the both the individual and team results achieved. Special thanks to my colleagues, Magdalena Camenidis, and Paul Georgescu, and to the Cambridge School of Bucharest for hosting this year’s event.
Alina B. and Alex S. 1st Place Athletics
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SPORTS Interschool Sports
Ana N. : 60m Dash (different age groups), Alina B.: 60m Dash (different age groups), 200m (different age groups), 1000m event (different groups) Alex S. : 60m Dash (different age groups), 200m (different age groups) Radu B., Alex S., Tudor S, Gabriel, & Hyeonsoo S.: Relay 4x200 Boys Ana N., Alina B., Alexia V., & Anisia V.: Relay 4x200 girls Alex S. & Alina B.: Relay Mixed
Ioana B.: 60m Dash (different age groups) Andrei R.: 60m Dash (different age groups) Andreea A.: 200m (different age groups) Kevin X.: 200m (different age groups) Maria R.: 800m event (different groups)
Alexia V.: 60m Dash (different age groups), 200m (different age groups) Anisia V.: 60m Dash (different age groups), 200m (different age groups) Ioana B.: 200m (different age groups) Ana N.: 200m (different age groups) Andrei R.: 200m (different age groups) Andreea A.: 200m (different age groups)
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SPORTS Interschool Sports
Interschool Swimming Competition—3rd place Ana Maria Z. Year 7
Congratulations
to all the students who were able to participate in the interschool swimming competition. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter our full team this year, due to a number of other commitments, but we still managed to finish on the podium, coming 3rd Place overall. An incredible achievement! Next year with a full team we’ll be back for gold! Thank you to Ms Magdelena Camenedis and Mr Ciprian Iacob for their support on the day, and to all the PE teachers, including Mr Georgescu for your continued support inspiring our young athletes to great achievements.
Alina B. , Ana N. and Alice P. 1st Place Relay Swimming
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SPORTS Interschool Sports
Mr Iacob coaching behind Kyriaki 50m Race
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WHITEBOARD Welcome
Alan Cornish Head of Primary School Welcome to the Primary School section of the Spring TIV. I wish to start by thanking all the contributors and the Primary TIV editor, Ms Alina Radu, for their endeavour creating and editing our section. As you can see, it is largely a celebration of what we do every week in the Primary School, focused on giving our pupils a wide and rich experience in and out of the classroom. Many of these events have been captured on our Facebook page, on the website and on Twitter. We publish the amazing exploits of our children every day on social media, so the world can see how brilliant they are. Please follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @IBSBprimary or follow your child’s class and you will get up to the minute updates on the brilliance that we see every day and an opportunity to interact with the daily life in the Primary School at IBSB. We have many more events planned so keep tuned… One of the highlights of this term was World Book Day, organised magnificently by Mr Ennion once again. In many of the classrooms you will see weird and wonderful creatures created from the imaginations of our pupils, with the gentle help of Chris White – our visiting author this year for World Book Day. Chris was impressed with the imaginative spirit of our children and their confidence to express it clearly. Personally, this pleases me greatly. Life in Primary School should be an opportunity to create something new, to be imaginative, to apply the skills they have learnt to solve a problem in maths, for example or to develop their thinking to explore a scientific hypothesis. The joy the children had watching their poems take shape, words and phrases magically appearing on the paper as
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they worked collaboratively to improve their prose, was exceeded by the palpable pleasure they experienced as they heard their funny and curious poetry read back to them. At the beginning of the day, that poem, that moment of creation, did not exist. Now it does - you can see them displayed on the walls in the classrooms because children from Year 1 to Year 6 used their imaginations (backed up with their knowledge of rhyming & rhythm, grammar and extensive vocabulary) to create something new in the world. We should celebrate this, this is what makes education and learning so richly rewarding. The good news is that we see this every day – we are a creative and imaginative school and our children are confident and flexible learners. Hopefully, that will be apparent in these pages. I hope you enjoy reading the articles created by our team.
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WHITE BOARD EYFS
People Who Help Us
Alan Cornish Head of Primary
Children in Early Years have been very busy learning new and challenging things. This term, children found out about “People Who Help Us�. They learned to differentiate types of Doctors like dentists, pediatricians and vets. They also found out about Police Officers, Firemen, and Bakers. Children discussed about different jobs, the world of work, and tools related to each job. They understood and practised some appropriate safety measures related to street safety and safeguarding. All activities have been hands-on, with as much real-life experiences as possible. Children had the opportunity to listen to many books related to the theme, they sang songs and designed many crafts as well.
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WHITE BOARD YEAR 1
Year 1C art
Theresa Cormican Year 1C Teacher
Sofia P. Year 1C Student
This term Year 1 have participated in a number of very exciting events. They have become artists themselves and learned about Andy Warhol. They used his style to create and colour their own self-portraits. They thoroughly enjoyed Martisor and took part in a number of different activities: flower arranging, jewellery design, and painting with Made by You. They were visited by the poet Chris White and helped him to write another poem. They also learned some of his techniques for illustration. Aside from all that, Year 1 have made tremendous progress in reading and writing and have even written their own books!!! Let’s see what Term 3 has in store for us‌
Eric S. Year 1C Student
Aliya P. Year 1C Student
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WHITE BOARD YEAR 2
Year 2
Scientists Orla O’Dwyer Year 2O Teacher
One of Year 2O’s many interesting learning opportunities this term was creating their greenhouses and planting sunflower seeds. The title of our Science topic was Scientists and Inventors. We firstly discussed in class how plants need food, water, and light to grow and stay healthy. We learned how to describe the benefit of a greenhouse to help plants grow healthily. Working like true scientists, we identified and compared the suitability of a variety of everyday materials to find the most suitable one for a waterproof coat. Everyone was excited about getting an opportunity to test the various materials and were eager to ask questions after each experiment. We were amazed at all we learned.
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SPOTLIGHT Year 3
Over the course of the year, Year 3 have engrossed themselves in several different topics – Ancient Egypt, Chocolate, Scientists and Inventors, and now, Our Dangerous Earth. During some of our topics, we have challenged ourselves to create some imaginative and wonderful projects. And boy have we succeeded! Our ancient Egyptian challenge was to create our very own Pyramids! We grabbed the paper, the glue, the paint, and anything else we could find, to conjure up some pretty impressive models as you can see. We then put our inventive caps on and began thinking of our very own inventions. Don’t be surprised if you see some of these in the shops in a few years! Our latest challenge was to place ourselves in the minds of someone living right next to an active Volcano. The question - What kind of shelter would we need to live in if the Volcano decided to erupt? We definitely have the answer. We have thought of everything from space age materials, to our very own heliport! Take a look at our incredible creations…
The World in
Shelters Jack Oldham Year 3O Teacher
Maia B. Year 3O Student
Victor S. Year 3O Student
Daria M. Year 3O Student
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WHITE BOARD Year 4M & 4L
Classroom Connections Overseas Angharad Morgan Year 4 Teacher Being an international school is very special, and we love learning about each other’s culture. But what a unique opportunity we have this year as we started communicating with Year 4 at Ysgol y Login Fach in… Wales! Already, we have sent some persuasive articles, enticing them to visit the amazing places Romania has to offer, as well as writing letters. We get so excited when we hear back from them, and we plan on having a Skype session before the Easter break! We thought it would be a great idea to send some things related to our country to them, such as our flag, some food to taste and a book about our famous castles. Miss Morgan visited their class and the covrigi went down a treat! They also had a go at learning some Romanian. When she returned we received some gifts from them… our favourite was definitely a Welsh football signed by all of the children and teachers!
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SPOTLIGHT Welcome
“ We also sent some Martisor broaches to share why March the 1st was so important to us, and we also learnt that this day is also important in Wales as it is St David’s Day. We ate some delicious Welsh cakes and learnt a few Welsh words. We cannot wait to continue this friendship…who knows, maybe one day we’ll meet!
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WHITE BOARD YEAR 5E & 5T
The most famous
shipwreck of all! Although the official title of our cross curricular topic was Shipwrecked, the RMS Titanic has been such a source of fascination for more than a century that we had to delve a little deeper into the circumstances surrounding this particular maritime disaster.
As part of our research we came across many theories, facts and rumours swirling around the events of that fateful night which claimed the lives of more than 1500 people. We found out about the ship’s design and launch, as well as the passengers who sailed on her maiden voyage.
One of our final projects was to prepare and role play a trial during which we tried to ascertain who was ultimately responsible for the tragedy. Therefore, Year 5 put Thomas Andrews (the ship’s designer), Joseph Bruce Ismay (President of the White Star Line), Captain Stanley Lord (captain of the SS Californian) and Captain Edward Smith in the dock. Teams of defence and prosecution lawyers prepared statements and questions for the defendants while a jury of Year 5 students listened, deliberated and declared the four men innocent or guilty. What do you think?
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Peter Ennion Year 5E Teacher
WHITEBOARD Year 6M
Creative Inspired by a combination of World Book Day visiting author, Chris White, and many of the inspirational women Year 6 have been studying this term, we wrote and performed (with attitude) our own raps in assembly to all the parents and children. We split into 2 teams – boys and girls – and were given 2 very different tasks. The boys had to write a modern day adventure with a fairy-tale prince and the girls were asked to deliver an alternative to the traditional princess story. You can see from the lyrics below, that they both nailed it.
Girls’ rap There are lies there are boys We don’t really make a choice Don’t put me a tiara, don’t squint eyes at me I am not a boy, but I can be The Queen Be.
We can sting, we can bite We are in the spotlight We wear shirts, we wear boots and ripped up jeans, We don’t wear flimsy dresses ’cos they look like dust bins! Chorus: I’m a winner, I can do it, I just really wanna prove it
So you think that you’re cool, That you’ll be the first to rule Oh my God, The royal highness! A king? Probably a fool!!! Chorus: I’m a winner, I can do it, I just really wanna prove it
We are pretty, we are smart We have power, we have pride Girls do everything right Just get out of my site We’re not graceful anymore, We are rotten to the core Don’t think we don’t fight We blow up like dynamite Chorus: I’m a winner, I can do it, I just really wanna prove it
Writing Alan Cornish Head of Primary
Boys ‘rap Now, this is a story about a quest, To slay an evil beast, I will never rest He stole my gold and ate my wife I must release them by, ending his life.
I chased him up mountains and across vast seas, We fell through a void that led to IBSB. Confused and bruised, I saw the beast run away, I chased him up the stairs, without delay.
‘’Detention!’’ yelled Mr Cornish, ‘’where do you think you are? This is IBSB, not a local bar! You must now prepare to face your doom Now go boy, to my detention room. ‘’
The detention room was cold and dim But, there in the corner I found him. I lunged at the beast with my sharp shiny sword. I stabbed him and his blood dripped down the board.
From the beast I pulled out my wife and treasure My wife said’’ thank you’’, I said ‘’my pleasure’’ But, wait, we may be trapped in this school Forever and a day, my God, that’s not cool.
It was a complete pleasure being the substitute teacher in Year 6 during Term 2 and I am glad that we finished on a high as they are truly a creative and imaginative class. Bravo Year 6!
Daria M. Year 3O Student
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WHITE BOARD
International
Francophonie Day
Here at IBSB, we have the great opportunity to celebrate and explore different cultures and languages around the world. Our students are happy to be part of these cultural events and the International Francophile Day made no exception. March 20th was the day all French students in the Primary school brought their inner French personas to school. Dressed up in the colours of the French flag, wearing messages written in French or even wearing some French moustaches, everyone had an amazing time spreading French culture in the school. Students put together a French buffet for everyone to enjoy: macarons, croissants, éclairs and other French delights made everyone say, “Oh là là!” The French students also had the chance to visit the French Institute, tour their amazing library and take part in some language workshops. The year 6 students organized some fun activities for the youngest learners in our school and shared their mutual excitement for learning French.
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WHITE BOARD
World Religions IBSB celebrated World Religions Week on Monday, February 12th to Friday, February 16th. The week itself was a very enjoyable and informative experience. KS1 began their week with an introduction to Christianity which was presented to us by a visitor named Sr. Juliet. Students learned about the importance of respect and sharing with others through the aid of song and dance. Each class was given a different religion and discussed various gods and pilgrimage sites to be found within religions. We also had a visit from Blessy Savu who spoke to the students about Hinduism. Mrs Tanaka gave an insightful presentation with her
Week
daughter Mao on Buddhism and the icons related to this religion. One of the many highlights of the week was a spiritual tour of Bucharest for KS2 students which took in the wonderful architecture of the Romanian Atheneum, Kretzulescu Church, Stavropoleos Monastery, Saint Demetrios Church and Saint Anthony Church. This week proved to be a reflective experience for our students which ended in a meditation session and learning that respect for others is the underlying principle of any religion.
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WHITE BOARD
Snow Fun One of the great things about living in Romania is enjoying all the benefits that come with having four seasons. Whilst each of us has our particular favourite, few can deny that watching it snow is one of life’s incredible experiences. Even more so when it happens completely unexpectedly in spring. This is exactly what happened this year when there were 4 days of heavy snow in late March leading to an IBSB SNOW DAY, followed by a Snow Building Competition when everyone returned to school. I’m sure you will all be impressed with the results. We’ll let you decide who the winners were.
Ana Maria Z. Year 7
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SPOTLIGHT Welcome
WHITE BOARD
Celebrating
Martisor Ana Maria Z. Year 7
With the arrival of spring comes one of the most popular days on the school calendar. In fact, it is not just a popular day at school, it is a popular day across Romania. I am of course talking about Mărțișor Day. Traditionally, people in the countryside used to celebrate Mărțișor by hanging a red and white string at their the gate or window to protect against evil spirits and to invoke nature's regenerative power. Nowadays, Romanians settle for simply buying redwhite threads (șnur) tied into a bow to which a small trinket is usually attached, which they offer to their female family members, friends, and colleagues to show friendship, respect or admiration - It is believed that a person who wears the red and white string will enjoy a prosperous and healthy year.
At IBSB the PTF and staff celebrate Mărțișor each year with a colourful day of activities and workshops arranged for the children who are invited to come into school dressed in the red and white colours of the Mărțișor. Workshops and special activities this year included a Jewellery workshop organized by Touched Romania, crafting “Greeting cards for Mother’s Day ” organized by Light Into Europe, a flower arrangements workshop organized by Flowersophy, and a ceramic painting workshop organized by Made by you. All in all, the children had a wonderful day and ended up taking a special gift home to share with their parents as a memory of their special day. Thank you to the Claudia Marta and the parents involved in organising this day. We hope the spring weather will be much warmth and happiness to everyone as we move toward summer.
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WHITE BOARD
Primary School Ski Trip
Alan Cornish Ski Trip Coordinator
As is the tradition at IBSB we once again finished Term 2a with the Primary School Ski Trip in snowy Poiana Brasov. The good news is that it snowed steadily during the week with a good base of snow already there from the week before, so the children had plenty of snow and a great week of skiing and boarding and in the evenings got to relax and enjoy the heated indoor pool and games and activities organised by staff on the trip, including Ms Madalina, Ms Morgan, Ms Lishek, and myself.
By the end of the week there were a few tired legs, with the teachers were in need of a much needed midterm break. You can get some of idea how the week varied for our students from the pictures below. Speaking of skiing, special congratulations to David Cernea for his evolution and performance in skiing during his time at IBSB- a National Champion and winner of this year’s Hope 4 Cup! Go David!!! We are all very proud of you!
I can say with confidence that during the course of the week the beginners group definitely made excellent progress, going further and further up the ski lift on Bradul to improve their skills and confidence, whilst the intermediate group faced challenges higher up the mountain refining they top end skills.
Mr Tansley & Stefan V. COBIS MUN Prize Ceremony
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WHITE BOARD
Max M. University Fair Presentations
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EVENTS & TRIPS Ski Trip
Secondary School Ski Trip
Andrea Carman Ski Trip Coordinator
This year, 17 students were fortunate to visit the beautiful slopes of Andalo, Italy with Mr Dan Boboc and Ms Andrea Carman. The February ski week is always a popular excursion and Andalo was no exception. What made the trip even better was a whole week of perfect weather with the sun shining brightly and the views breathtakingly beautiful.
The students flew to Milan, then wound their way towards the Dolomites aboard a private bus. The Hotel Andalo offered lots of comfortable rooms with views of the snowy slopes and mountains of great Italian food. The students were allowed to share rooms, but at 22:00 hours, it was lights out! Each morning, students gathered in the hotel dining room for a hearty breakfast buffet. The buttery scrambled eggs and fresh croissants were a big hit. The students then gathered with their teachers and skiing instructors for a full day on the slopes. We had an advanced group and another group of intermediate skiers, with plenty of runs to keep everyone satisfied. Along with skiing, there were other activities such as swimming, movie night, and Pizza night at a local restaurant. Never a dull moment! Everyone enjoyed the trip, strengthened their relationships with each other and their teachers, and also tested their physical skills with great success. Now we're all looking forward to next year's trip!
Secondary Students Andalo, Italy Slopes
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EVENTS & TRIPS Ski Trip
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EVENTS & TRIPS COBIS Debate
IBSB Team Win Silver Plate Milena V. Year 10
It’s hard to believe Dubai is actually an earthly city. Regardless of the fact that it exists in stark contrast to Bucharest, one cannot deny that wherever one comes from, Dubai is a marvel which never ceases to amaze and impress. Although we arrived at 5 o’clock in the morning, we didn’t bat an eye until we got to our hotel room. As soon as we left the airport terminal, we were quick to strip off scarves and sweaters brought from Romania. On the bus ride to the hotel, we noticed how Dubai resembled those Playmobile cities, where everything is clean, in place, and functioning perfectly. To me, the air of Dubai brought back childhood memories, while for Tamara it was “the best weather ever”, and from that moment, it was obvious Dubai had a hold on us. After a quick rest, we had a delicious breakfast in between skyscrapers. We then departed our hotel for the Dubai Mall by metro, which felt more like an international airport terminal due to the pristine, multicultural environment. When we got onto train, we soon realised that Mr Hudson and our colleague Max were in the female section together with us. As soon as Mr Hudson realised this, he pulled Max
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over the line demarcating the male and female sections, avoiding the possibility to paying a heavy fine. Here is where I would like to point out that some people might find it discriminatory, but experiencing it first hand, all the girls in our team all voiced that they had never enjoyed a ride more and never felt so safe. The separation of male and female (and children) coaches were put into place out of respect for the women to avoid possible harassment. We really wish other countries would adopt similar ideas. The ride was so brief it felt as if we were travelling in the future, seeing the dazzling innovative city that is Dubai along the way. There were barely any crosswalks, replaced instead with indoor bridges that again made it feel more like a futuristic space centre. Upon arrival to Dubai Mall, which is equivalent in size to about fifty football fields, we were captured instantaneously by all the shops and services. As we made our way through the mall to get to the Burj Khlalifa, we were captivated by a common silent amazement of how grand the mall was. Luckily, we had a VIP pass, so it only took one minute to get from the bottom floor to the 124th floor with the lift. When we reached the top it was, and still is, hard to believe we were not staring at a hologram. I took a lot of pictures from many windows since each one showed a different area of Dubai.
EVENTS & TRIPS COBIS Debate
“ COBIS World Debate Championships We then enjoyed a short while in the mall, where Tamara and I got organic henna tattoos while Kyriaki, Luiza, and Christie all headed towards a bookstore so large and varied it was all-consuming. As we were leaving, I advised the group that we should not leave without getting some Arabic perfumes which are oilbased: I think I bought eight bottles, which paid off as I am still getting compliments because of them! Throughout that day and the following week, we enjoyed several memorable adventures. On the first day we had a formal dinner where we made sure to mingle with all the teams and judges. In the restaurant I introduced Christie to the love of hummus and pita bread and I’m pretty sure we headed off to the buffet table at least three times. The dinner ended in a very special way for me because it was my birthday and my friends had made it all a very unforgettable day where I smiled non-stop. Tamara called over schools to sing happy birthday, I got wonderful gifts from my team, and I even had a cake sent over by my mom in Romania. I couldn’t have asked for more, especially because for my 15th birthday, which is a big deal in Latin culture as a sign of growing up, I got to revisit where I grew up along with great company.
Another entertaining experience was a latenight cruise we took on our third day. We enjoyed live traditional Arabic music, together with yet another varied buffet, a view of Dubai night -life, and a great time to bond with one another. Our final dinner in Dubai was at the Cheesecake Factory in the Dubai Mall. We spent hours eating nothing but the best, whilst enjoying the service and the view of the giant aquarium with sharks, stingrays, giant fish and a real Diplodocus which Christie identified in seconds. On our last day we got to explore the Motiongate Theme Park. Everyone got to live their dream there: Kyriaki with the “How to train your dragon” world; Christie with “Shrek”; and me with my “Smurf Village”. We didn’t have much time as our flight was leaving in a few hours, but we were satisfied with the rides and treats. We left Dubai with a host of treats: a new stock of candy from Motiongate, abundant perfumes, new international friends ranging from Denmark to Nigeria to Malaysia to Spain to Dubai, great feedback from judges, an unforgettable experience full of inside jokes and astonishments, and the Silver Plate in our first year at the COBIS World Championship Debate Competition, where we debated 10 debates in two days!
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EVENTS & TRIPS COBIS MUN
C O U N T D O W N TO T H E
COBIS MUN 2018 We held several mock MUNs in preparation for the conference, with the topic of the last mock MUN being the repatriation of national heritage. Discussions between delegates concerned included: whether or not cultural property should be returned to the government or be kept by a family’s descendants; and if cultural property can be labelled as personal belongings. An example that came up in the mock MUN: according to the law in China, all antiques labelled with a star on their bottom cannot be transported or moved out of the country through any means no matter who it belongs to. Visibly, this brings into consideration the extent of owner’s right. As the property belongs to them, it can be argued that the owner should have the right of deciding where the property should be placed.
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For those who don’t know: MUN stands for Model United Nations, and is a simulation of a UN conference, designed to give Middle to High School students the opportunity to step into the shoes of a UN delegate to experience a taste of the world of diplomacy and international negotiations. The aim of MUN conferences is to enable students to grasp how the complex UN agencies operate, understanding both their merits and their limitations.
Once the main discussion has ceased, delegates, each representing a different country, have to prepare a position paper stating their country’s view on the issues. Additionally, they may also plan a resolution or a document describing the delegate’s/delegates’ ideas and solutions for the problem at hand. The delegate of Uruguay, for example, came up with the following resolutions at the mock: proposing a basis of recognition of ownership to universally be agreed upon among UN member nations; urge nations to carry out negotiations within this committee regarding the repatriation of all identified national treasures, and encouraging this to be done inclusive of monetary compensations of the trading countries; encourage nations to support treasure trading partners to maintain their acquired treasures; propose that countries which cannot maintain national cultural items in their best condition be offered UN-administered preservation areas as a safe keep for the treasures.
With this brief taste of the experience of the mock MUN, we believe that our team is prepared and ready for for the COBIS MUN in March- we hope that other students will be interested in joining future MUNs.
Siena X. Year 12
EVENTS & TRIPS COBIS MUN
MARCH nd th 22
to 25
HOTEL INTERCONT.
“THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS NOT TO SPEAK MORE THAN YOUR COLLEAGUES BUT TO LISTEN MORE THAN THEM.”
FIRST DAY EVENTS Delegates went sightseeing to two of Bucharest’s most famous landmarks: the People’s Palace and the Village Museum As a little ice breaker and warm up, a mock MUN was hosted this afternoon with a most startling topic: "A meteorite will hit the Earth in seventeen hours."
“IF YOU SURVIVE YOUR FIRST MUN, YOU CAN SURVIVE ANYTHING.” — Sara Khashlok, Co-Chair of the Refugee Agency
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF AMSTERDAM (ISA)—12 DELEGATES TRANSYLVANIA COLLEGE (TC)—5 DELEGATES CAMPION SCHOOL (CS)—8 DELEGATES KINGS COLLEGE MADRID LA MORALEJA, SPAIN (KCM)—10 DELEGATES BRITISH SCHOOL BAHRAIN (BSB)—10 DELEGATES
CORONA SECONDARY SCHOOL, AGBARA (CSSA)—10 DELEGATES TEMPLE SCHOOL, LAGOS (TSL)—13 DELEGATES INTERNATIONAL BRITISH SCHOOL OF BUCHAREST (IBSB)—22 DELEGATES —————————————
OPENING CEREMONY To start off, the Secretary General (Elena Urzica) and the Deputy Secretary General (Luiza Ruptureanu) wished everyone in the room a warm welcome to the conference.
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Enthralling speeches followed, speaking about innovation, the general theme of this edition of MUN, and how MUN overall helps young students develop skills needed to succeed later in life. Humour and personal life stories were wittily used to get these points across. Speakers included our Head of School and esteemed guests. Five student Ambassadors from participating schools then took the floor as well and delivered their own short yet thoughtful speeches.
The snowy weather that hit Bucharest that week may have caused some problems regarding traffic, but also provided a magical backdrop for the MUN to commence.
The gravel was struck and the MUN began, electricity in the air.
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EVENTS & TRIPS COBIS MUN
DIPLOMATIC DINNER
For the end of the night, to everyone’s great amusement after yet another round of moving speeches, the MUN conference got more of a taste from Romania, as a captivating traditional dance was presented.
SECOND DAY EVENTS
Following the Opening Ceremony we all made our way through the blizzard back to Hotel Intercontinental for the evening meal. Delegates came dressed in colourful representative wear, highlighting the diversity of the UN, and were spread out across tables to mingle. They got to exchange previous experiences, their cultural backgrounds, and even engage in worldly discussions together with the guest Diplomats seated at their tables. This unforgettable experience lets future leaders of the world take advantage of learning more about diplomatic life as well as career advice; which left everyone with a motivated outlook on the future delegates with the encouragement that they will make a difference, and diplomats reassured, proud and hopeful that the future is in good hands.
First day of sessions. All five committees tackle their first topic. Romanian Traditional Dinner and a lovely (read: cold) snowball fight at Hanul Lui Manuc.
THE FIVE COMMITTEES
ECONOMIC & SOCIAL (ECOSOC) COUNCIL Chairs: Elena U. (IBSB, Y13) & Luiza R. (IBSB, Y12) Topic 1: Universal access to medicines Topic 2: Sustainable industrialisation
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE Chairs: Mia A. (ISA) & Lisa P.(IBSB, Y12) Topic 1: High-tech trash and human health Topic 2: Climate change mitigation
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE Chairs: Anna M.( IBSB, Y12) & Luc G. (ISA) Topic 1: Human rights and transnational corporations Topic 2: Internet censorship, surveillance and human rights
REFUGEE AGENCY Chairs: Sara Al K. (CS) & Andrei M. (IBSB, Y13) Topic 1: Innovation for refugee protection Topic 2: Natural disaster induced displacement
UN SECURITY COUNCIL Chairs: Josephine S.(ISA) & Stefani K. (IBSB, Y13) Topic 1: Technologies against terrorism Topic 2: Comprehensive nuclear test ban
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“THE START OF MUN HAS BEEN REFRESHING AND EXCITING.” — Lisa Puiu, Co-Chair of the Environmental Committee
EVENTS & TRIPS COBIS MUN
THIRD DAY EVENTS Second day of sessions. All five committees move onto their second topics. Sudden emergency! One of our delegates was (mock) kidnapped and delegates were challenged with finding solutions to this crisis. ‘80s themed party & quiz. ISA’s team won, followed by BSB and IBSB.
A wonderful thing about when the sessions start is that no other factors matter; gender, age, nationality— or the sacredness of the mentos. Discussions flourish, debates explode, and all manner of messages get passed by the super-fit note passers. Today: alliances were formed; resolutions drafted; and countries stood proud and loud for their beliefs.
2. One chair is a talented underground rapper.
FOURTH DAY EVENTS For more detailed articles, please feel free to visit the COBIS website for links to all three issues! Www.cobis.org.uk/students — Lena S. (Head of the MUN Press Team) Reporters: Victor P., Milena V., Ioana B., Kathleen H.
Last day of sessions and some fun games. Closing ceremony and farewells. We’ll miss everyone. Thank you to Price Water House Coopers for sponsoring us in this amazing event!
Photographers: Silviu Nastase, Adrian Savu
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SPOTLIGHT EVENTS & TRIPS Welcome Spring Show
Lady Windermere’s Fan
The Secondary School play this year was Lady Windermere’s Fan, a witty comedy by the English playwright, Oscar Wilde, performed by a talented cast of KS4 and 5 students. The venue for this year’s show, the Metrolpolic Theater, offered the perfect setting for this late Victoria play, being both small and elegant. The students were able to use the actors changing rooms and had to find their way through a rather complicated backstage area, giving our students a real taste of thespian life. In the end the students all had a lot of fun, with a number of hilarious moments shared both during rehearsals, and on stage- which is often the case when
performing comedies. The entire team enjoyed the experience, learnt a lot about their colleagues as people, and the boys, in particular, also learnt what formal attire really means and how it should be worn properly. Director of the play, Ms Ioana Dumitrescu, said “It was a great experience, with excellent team work, and everybody got an opportunity to show their talent for both acting and stage directing. We tried to be as professional as we could, to raise the standard each year and I think we achieved this. Thank you to our Year 13 students who, more or less, took charge of the entire team and helped the younger students, including organising the costumes and the props.” It was a wonderful show for all in attendance boding well for the future of drama at IBSB.
Ana Maria Z. Year 7
Lady Plymdale & Dumby Adela C. & Boldizsar L.
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EVENTS & TRIPS Spring Show
Duchess of Berwick, Lady Agatha & Hopper Anisia S., Alexia V., & Andrei M. Mr Iacob coaching behind Kyriaki 50m Race
Lady Windermere & Lord Windermere Jaime B. & Radu B.
Lord Augustus & Mrs Erlyne David S. & Emilia M.
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EVENTS & TRIPS World Book Day
World Book Kendall Peet Head of School
Day
Following the enjoyable events of previous years, in March Mr Ennion and his busy team of book enthusiasts were again a hive of activity preparing to celebrate World Book Day for the fourth year in a row, with a variety of activities organised between March 9-13. British poet, author, and illustrator Chris White visited our school running a series of workshops across three days focusing on writing and illustrating, entertaining all the students in Years 1-7 with his poetry workshops- if you look around the school you will find poems and illustrations of weirdly creative and certainly wonderful creatures. The students all had a chance to meet Chris face to face – a real live author- and also had the opportunity to buy one of his books and have it personally autographed. If you would like to find out more about Chris White and his work, please visit the following website: www.veggievampire.com There was also a Whole School World Book Day Costume Day on Monday, March 12, offering our students the chance to dress up as a character from their favourite book. We have always had a bright and diverse array of costumes in previous years and this year was no exception, as you can see from the photos. And for the first time we also had an IBSB Book Exchange, encouraging students from Years 1-7 to bring in any unwanted children’s books to exchange for different ones. This event was run by the Student Council in the Primary School and by Mr Jennings in the Secondary School, and was such a great success that we have decided to make this a regular event at IBSB, with all books left over being donated to the school library. There was also an IBSB Spelling Bee and a Student Council Reading Challenge: the Student Council set a challenge for all Primary School students to Read 9 books in 9 weeks. Those students who managed to complete the challenge and wrote the best book reviews won prizes, which encouraged many students to accept the challenge. As you can see, this year’s World Book Day was the best yet, with Carrot Books also present this year raising money to help reduce literacy in low income communities. Well done to all the children who dressed up as a colourful character from a book on Monday – it was great to see so many costumes brightening our halls for the day- it certainly put a smile on my face. A special thank you to Mr Ennion and his merry band of helpers for making the day such a huge success. Chris White British Poet, Author, and Illustrator
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EVENTS & TRIPS World Book Day
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EVENTS & TRIPS Francophonie Week
“
French Language and Francophonie Week at IBSB Different classrooms in the Senior School promoted Francophone language and culture in March. Members of staff took up the challenge of speaking the language of Molière, encouraging students to be more aware of multiple languages and dialects spoken around the world. Our students spread the message of the International Organisation of La Francophonie which “represents one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world. Its members share more than just a common language. They also share the humanist values promoted by the French language. The French language and its humanist values represent the two cornerstones on which the International Organisation of La Francophonie is based”. We are proud of our students and colleagues who shared for a few days the same love for the French language and interest for the history of French speaking countries. Each language is unique and our community is a perfect example of an impressive linguistic and cultural melting pot. In our small community we respect all languages and cultures and experience different emotions when as Anglophone speakers we shift to speaking a completely different language.
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EVENTS & TRIPS Citizenship Day
“ Citizenship Day Vegetable Character
At IBSB we actively promote healthy living and healthy lifestyles, and so with this in mind we (the MFL Department) encouraged our students as a part of Citizenship Day activity to be both creative and to demonstrate team work, respect, and effort. As a guiding principal, our students were asked to come up with a vegetable or fruit character and family and to prepare a short presentation focusing on their original concept. Our students were all enthusiastic about the task, paying attention to every minute detail, whilst maintaining high standards to their creative work. The final presentations were equally entertaining, as the students had made up great stories linked to their individual characters. The students also offered their support in tidying up without hesitation, enjoy nibbling on the leftover cucumbers, pears, apples, and whatever else they fancied, whilst pleasantly engaging in friendly conversation with the teachers and their peers and friends. What a great day!
Rodica Ursu German Teacher
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EVENTS & TRIPS ESU Public Speaking
Public Speaking Competition 2018 (8-11 Years) Alan Cornish Head of Primary School IBSB had the honour of hosting the ESU Public Speaking Competition for the sixth consecutive year on Saturday, January 27th. Over 60 Primary School children, from International and Romanian schools all over Bucharest, enjoyed the warm, spring like weather and overcame their nerves to impress the judges, teachers and parents. The theme was “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better, it’s not”: a tricky and profound statement. It had the children discussing far reaching topics like: Human Rights; immigration; bullying & poverty, but mostly the environment. All those who had the privilege to witness these young children speak so eloquently for 2 minutes were universally impressed with their content, confidence and commitment. Honestly, if I’d had the opportunity when I was 10 years old, I doubt I could have done it. For me, as Head of Primary, this is the most important point. As a school we strive to give the children opportunities to challenge themselves and take risks in a safe and supportive environment. Preparation is therefore imperative. For this I have to thank Mr Ennion, who prepared a programme for all children from Years 4-6 to write and deliver their own speeches in front of their classmates in the weeks leading up to the competition. This experience gave them the opportunity to discuss important topics, express their views, challenge each other and, more importantly, organise their thoughts by writing and delivering a speech. All vital, transferable life skills, I am sure you will agree. We should therefore all be proud of our pupils’ achievements and participation. Moreover, we performed extremely well, gaining two 2nd places (out of 3) in this year’s competition – a tremendous result! So I would like to say a big thank you to the event sponsors Prior, to Ela Nicolae the ESU President for Romania, to those teachers who were involved in running the internal rounds to select the pupils to represent IBSB, to the staff and parents who came along at the weekend, but mostly to the children themselves for being fantastic.
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SCHOOL VIEWS Science
Student Project Phi
Recently I participated in a very challenging competition organized by NASA; it was about designing a space settlement. My task was to create a settlement which could accommodate a minimum of 10,000 people, plus an addition of a minimum of 500 visitors. The settlement had to have conditions similar to the ones on Earth, to help people adjust better to their new lives. When writing this project I had to take into consideration factors such as the cost (which ended up being $167, 520,000,000!), protection from space radiation, materials, position, education, the life support system, the society and much more. My project was called Project Phi, inspired by an irrational number which can be found everywhere: in your DNA, famous paintings, and even nature. Phi can found in the Fibonacci sequence: after the 13th number if you divide a number by the one before it, you will get approximately Phi, and the more you go down the sequence the closer you get. Phi is definitely worth looking into as it has properties you could describe as magical. The location of Phi is one of the Lagrangian points, Lagrangian point 5. These places are places where the gravity of two bodies such as the Earth and the Sun equals the centrifugal force felt by a third object (Phi). There are five Lagrangian points, however, only L4 and L5 are stable. In the other three points, space drag makes it necessary to readjust the positon every once in a while. In my settlement I took into consideration things such as entertainment, as well as technical aspects. The entertainment on my settlement consists of things such as the following: zero gravity football, space races, zero gravity Virtual Reality experiences, and many more zero gravity games.
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There is entertainment available in the form of mini golf, sports fields, parks, and cinemas, etc. While the entertainment is very important, something even more important is where these will take place. Project Phi consists of two residential tori, solar panels, a central hub, an observatory, docking stations and a particle accelerator. The particle accelerator is there in order to help us understand how the big bang works in a zero gravity environment and possibly offers proof of more than one Higgs boson existing. I have to say that a lot of sweat and even tears went into this project. Seeing as this was a very long project (87 pages), there were moments when I thought it was impossible for me to finish it in time. However, now that the results have been posted, I have to say that it was all worth it because my project won first place in the 8th Grade category (Year 9 in the British System). This competition received 10,000 entries worldwide, so the feeling I got from winning was amazing! If you wish to view the full list of winners, you can visit this website: https://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/Contest/Results/2018/index.html.
I am also very happy to say that the grand prize winners this year were two year 12 students from Constanta, so a great result for Romania overall! I also believe that anyone who participated in this competition did a great job knowing how difficult the competition was.
Melissa A. Year 9
EVENTS & TRIPS Science
“One of the most inspirational and beautiful trips I have been part of was our CERN Trip to Geneva.”
O
n the very first day of our trip we went on boat a cruise on Lac Léman, otherwise known as Lake Geneva, which turned out to be one of the cleanest lakes I have ever seen. We saw the infamous mermaid of Lac Léman and many other historic sculptures and buildings. After which, we also visited the Botanical Garden of Geneva. There isn’t too much to say about the garden other than the fact that it was truly enormous and interesting—it was the first time I’d seen bamboo! Now I get to talk about the part of the trip that truly inspired me and influenced my choice of what I want to study at university: visiting CERN laboratory. CERN is one the largest particle physics research institutions in the world. Their goal is very simple; they want to answer the most fundamental questions that physicists have asked themselves since the beginning of time: What is the true nature of reality? What was before the beginning? And, will there ever be an ending to everything?
CERN Trip Luca I. Year 12
Geneva
Collider) works, and were even shown the procedures they take before and after an experiment. We were also inside the “particle universe” where I was amazed at the technology that was used; also, in there I was first introduced to String Theory and the quantum world of physics, which I hope to study in the future. We saw many more intriguing things, but these were my highlights. On our last day of the trip, we visited the Science museum of Geneva. Now that I think back on it, this trip was a very good blend between modern science and old ideas and innovations. We were introduced to old ideas about the solar system as well as with the first camera or the first ideas about generating electricity.
I want to thank my Physics teacher Ms Loredana and my Chemistry teacher Dr Nastase for doing everything they could to make this trip happen and for inspiring me to pursue my passion They try to find answers to these questions by smashing for physics. To end, I share with you this quote from my idol, particles into each other at unimaginably high speeds (99.9% the Richard Feynman, who said: speed of light) to see what new particles emerge from these collisions. We saw and learned how the LHC (Large Hadron
“I... a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe.”
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SCHOOL VIEWS Science
Milk
Science Year 12 Science Class
If someone mentions the word milk, many images come to mind: a glass of milk, milk with cereal, milk with tea of coffee, maybe even the image of a cow standing in a field here and there. I doubt the image of an AS Science student would be a natural candidate for most people. At IBSB, however, we pride ourselves on making connections between science in the classroom and real world phenomena, turning something as simple and mundane as milk into an incredibly interesting lesson and science experiment. For our AS Science lesson we investigated the effect of a particular enzyme on milk; this enzyme curdles the casein in milk. This enzyme helps young mammals digest their mothers' milk and can also be used to separate milk into solid curds for cheese-making and liquid whey. You can see from the photos just how much fun we all had.
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SCHOOL VIEWS UKMT Maths
“ UKMT
James Stearn Statistics Teacher
Math Challenges There has been success for IBSB mathematicians in the annual UKMT Mathematics Challenge, with a number of year 9 & 10 students competing to solve the fiendish problems in the Intermediate challenge. Congratulations to Mario Ghenea (Year 10) and Melissa Aydogan (Year 9), both receiving Silver certificates, and Leo Ye (Year 10), who received a Bronze certificate. The Junior competition will be held on April 26th, and our younger mathematicians are currently working hard in preparation. The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust was founded in 1996 to advance mathematics education. Each year, they run a series of competitions designed to challenge students and stimulate a passion for mathematics. The questions are carefully designed to develop creative problem-solving skills and encourage students to investigate patterns, skills that are at the heart of mathematics. For those considering further study in mathematics or the sciences, the challenges are an excellent opportunity for development as they introduce an open-ended style of problem, similar to those studied in university courses. If you would like to take part in the challenge, please speak to your maths teacher and come along to the UKMT Club on Wednesdays.
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SCHOOL VIEWS COBIS Art
“ Mother Nature and The Environment
Congratulations to all the students and good luck in the COBIS Competition being judged in London in a few weeks time!
KENDALL PEET
Artworks for the COBIS Art Competition were judged by Ms Broadhurst earlier in Week 26, the penultimate week before the Term 2 break. The calibre of entries was very high which made selecting final pieces extremely difficult for Ms Broadhurst. However decisions had to be made, and so below is the list of our finalists with their winning works.
COBIS Art COMPETITION 2018
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JUSTIN D.
SHOHAM C.
Fia C.
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
YEAR 2
SCHOOL VIEWS COBIS Art
Anastasia I.
Maja S.
Carina C.
YEAR 5
YEAR 5
YEAR 6
ORLA T.
THEA B.
ANASTASIA S.
YEAR 7
YEAR 8
YEAR 7
ANDREeA A., ALEXANDRA N., ANASTASIA B., ARIEL A. YEAR 7
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SCHOOL VIEWS MFL
Year 7 German House Projects Anastasia S.: This week in German we learned about houses. We learned how to describe the house we live in and how to demonstrate the rooms. As a final assessment, we had to draw or build a house out of paper and present it to the class. We all did an excellent job!
Andrei S: In German we recently learned about the structure of a house and the rooms. My project took about four hours to make. It was pretty difficult to stick the small pieces of paper on the walls, ground, or even the garden.
Martyna S.: I enjoyed this activity because it showed our creativity, artistic and German skills. I like that Ms Rodica gave this project to us as an assignment, instead of giving us a writing task. Overall, we all had fun doing this project.
Year 7 German Class
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SCHOOL VIEWS MFL
Speaking About
German Celebrities & Culture This is another project from my Y8 group: they revised how to describe people's appearance, discussing character traits, family members, and also chores. All this information was then combined into a project about a German celebrities, learning about a number of facts which broadened their general knowledge and confidence speaking in German speaking about celebrities. This topic and project were also used to promote cultural awareness. I was very proud of my students' projects, as they managed to complete their task within the required time frame, presenting their projects to the rest of the class exclusively in German.
Ms Rodica Ursu German Teacher
Work Made by Ion, Year 8
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SCHOOL VIEWS 6th Form
Netherlands Uni Fair @ IBSB
Kendall Peet Head of School
O
n Monday March 26 IBSB hosted its second university fair this year in conjunction with 6 universities from The Netherlands. The fair took place in the CODECS building on Level 3 with students from Years 10-13 having the opportunity to attend a workshop on applying to the Netherlands before having time to speak with representatives of each of the 6 universities present. Last year we the pleasure of taking our students on a university trip to the Netherlands in March with Ms Jayne Baker and our Head of School Mr Peet. This year in June Jayne will be leading a university trip to Scotland, which is sure to be popular with our students as the cost of tuition for EU citizens in Scotland in only 10% of the cost in England in Wales.
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SCHOOL VIEWS 6th Form
QIANQIAN W. (Year 12)
My First Experience as a Primary School Mentor Hello, everyone! I am very happy to be writing about my experience working with primary school children this year. As a Senior Prefect, I was assigned two classes to mentor, which was a great opportunity for me as I always wanted to have the chance to play with younger children. At the beginning of the year, after we were told what to do during our visits, I was really From left: Lena S. , QianQian W., & Lisa P. excited, but at the same time rather nervous as I’ve always felt Prefects quite awkward with younger kids, so I decided to challenge My first visit was soon followed by and second and then a third. myself this year and became the mentor of both Year 1 and 5T. My third visit was for me one of the most interesting. I attended My first visit to the primary school was to Ms Tansley’s class, one of their English classes where they were learning about Year 5T. I have to admit that even before entering the classroom persuasive writing, and I had the chance to help them, as much I started sweating and was so scared that the kids would ignore as I could. It really felt great passing on some of the things I had me and tell me to leave. However, it was the best experience learned from my years at IBSB. ever! As I entered the room, all the kids turned to me, looking at I had so much fun with Year 1, Ms Cormican’s class, too. It was me, smiling, really curious to find out who I was. I introduced quite an interesting visit as all the kids came up to me and asked myself and quickly relaxed as we were laughing together a lot. me all kinds of questions about my life and passions. I felt like a They each said hi to me and told me their names; and I was celebrity. It was really an amazing experience. During one of my amazed to discover that all of them speak at least two or three visits, I even had the chance to sit down and read the students a languages! Far better than me! story, which is one activity that I miss the most from my own childhood. Thank to Ms Tansley and Ms Cormican for their understanding and help during my time in their classes. I am looking forward to my next visits!
Work Experience: AN EXPERIENCE to Look Forward To LISA P. (YEAR 12)
Ever since I heard about work experience back in year 7, I knew it was something I would enjoy at the end of year 11, following a month full of exams. Around March, our form tutors gave us forms to fill out pertaining to which fields we would like to intern in, and which languages we can speak well enough to hold conversations in. Based on your choices, the school will try to match you with companies that they know, or if you have a particular company you would like to work in, they will try their best to contact them and have you work with them for two weeks.
clinic. Seeing the ins and outs of being in charge of animal welfare around the neighbourhood made me realize that this is truly what I want to dedicate my life to. Ever since then, I’ve been working with a different vet right across from where I’m staying in order to try to learn as much as possible before going to university and immersing myself in this world.
Overall, the work experience program can be useful in helping you to find out what your passion is, or what you might want to do as a career. It can also help by showing you jobs that you would not want to do, and aid by ruling out certain paths, which I know that I cannot speak for all of my colleagues, but for me, you might have considered before. It is different for everyone the work experience placement was excellent. I aspire to and your discoveries might be different to mine, but I highly become a veterinary surgeon so, together with two other recommend being part of it, as it could help you in the future. colleagues, I had the chance to shadow a veterinarian in her
TALES
F RO M T H E
PREFECTS
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SCHOOL VIEWS Interviews
the questions:
NEW TEACHER
1.
So far, what do you like most about IBSB?
EMILY LISHAK (Year 4)
2.
Is this is your first time living/being in Romania? What left the biggest impression so far?
1.
3.
Is there a quote or piece of advice that you might want to share? A small nugget of wisdom to any stray souls wandering across your interview?
I really enjoy the community feel of IBSB, everyone gets involved in extra-curricular activities, and it feels like one big family.
2.
This is my first time living in Romania. I have had the chance to travel a little around the country, and it is really beautiful! My favourite place so far is Alba Iulia.
3.
I find this quote from Tim Minchin inspirational; it is relevant to the flexibility and resilience which are such important skills to develop: ‘I advocate passionate dedication to the pursuit of short-term goals. Be microambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you… you never know where you might end up. Just be aware that the next worthy pursuit will probably appear in your periphery. Which is why you should be careful of long-term dreams. If you focus too far in front of you, you won’t see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye.’
4.
And, finally, what incites you to teach?
ALISON TANSLEY (Year 5)
PRIMARY
1.
2.
3.
4.
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I like many things, that’s difficult to choose. I think the sense of community—well, this is now my eighth week and my husband who works at secondary became ill but there was a lot of support for me if I needed it they were very understanding. It was a little stressful! But my parents and my class showed me support. So it’s nice that you see parents and staff working together. Yes, I’m a teacher, but we’re also human and sometimes things 4. happen but they showed a lot of empathy which was really lovely.
I love teaching, because it gives me the chance to get to know some really interesting young people, support them to develop their skills, and celebrate their successes with them. I couldn’t imagine a more rewarding way to spend my days.
Yes (first time). I like that there is a lot of raw history in the city-everywhere there are stories to be discovered. There are a lot of beautiful buildings. I think it’s really interesting—Bucharest is really interesting, but there’s so ODETA ACXENIE (Year4) much more to Romania than just Bucharest which is I came here in April at the beginning of term 3, which is really exciting, to get out and explore to find out more 1. almost the end of the school year, and everything was about the country. going so smoothly. It gave me the sensation that “You’re never too old to try something new.” I’m late into everything is organised and put in its correct order, that teaching. It’s something I thought about for a long time, the kids and the teachers know what to do. What I like but it took me a while to make the decision. I am proof to about IBSB is that the system runs better than in other my own children, my own students, that it’s not too late schools. I don’t want to compare but we, the teachers, to change your mind and change the direction you take are all working as a team. with your career. One of my students keeps saying a As a Romanian, the culture is really nice and people are lovely quote, which is: “Anything is possible.” I really like 2. friendly. We have our customs, we support each other, we that. It really links to the growth mindset. I keep saying to prefer to spend time together. (You’ve been here, you my students that mistakes are wonderful because we know) Our holidays are great. learn from them, and I think that there’s a fear that we want to be perfect—no-one is perfect, we’re all learning 3. Don’t give up. I know it’s the growth mindset for the and it’s a lifelong journey; so don’t be scared of mistakes school but we, as kids, in my family were trained to not because they are wonderful. give up, to try harder, and to try to be our best selves. I try to be my best self not only as a teacher but also as a Well, my husband and I met at university when he was person. To be better at everything I do—being a teacher, doing his teacher training and I remember having being a friend, being social, being a family member. conversations—“Why on earth would you want to do that?”—he was so passionate about it from day one. But 4. I was taught by old school teachers and their techniques he’s Secondary. And I think the idea of being a Secondary were very strict. I tried to keep up the pace in their set teacher is something I still am in awe of. Secondary and rhythm. I’m trying to do, let’s say, almost the same thing Primary; we’re so connected yet we’re so different. We with my students. The more you ask from your students, are dealing with the students at different ages in their the better they become. If you let them choose their own development. I realized over time that actually a lot of rhythm, sometimes they stray and they don’t follow their what I enjoyed in my career, which was mostly human goals. And I’m sure every teacher has a key role in their resources and recruitment and training, was being able to student’s life, a student’s school life and furthermore their help people progress; and then I really liked being able to life as an adult. So we don’t only create school as a engage with younger students. So it took me awhile to system, we create experience for students as human get myself here—but I am here now. beings and friends. We want to be friends with students— that’s what I want.
SCHOOL VIEWS Interviews
INTERVIEWS because they were really tough schools—but internationally, you get a much more intentional feel. Students are more motivated and you feel you’re working with people as opposed to being an authority figure.
IONA TANGUAY (Humanities & Sociology) I like the very friendly staff and the friendly and, mostly, keen on learning students. The students who are enthusiastic about learning. I think there’s a vibe of positivity which is really good. Staff are very helpful and students that have been here a long time help each other if they’re going in the wrong direction. I haven’t been in an international school before but it’s good to see that there are student-led initiatives.
1.
Um, that’s a difficult question. Maybe lots of new 2. challenges. That’s a bit vague—nice colleagues. The kids are very friendly in the hallways and I enjoy my history classes.
2.
Yep (first time). Coming from Hong Kong where I’d been for five years, I like the slower pace of life here. It’s more relaxed—even if it is a bit disorganized, it’s chill. Weather 3. is nice.
Being in Bucharest is really different to me. The housing in the center of Bucharest is quite surprising and to me, that looks very different. I’ve only been to the countryside once (Brașov) and that was amazing seeing the medieval city and all the historical things there—and just being in the historical setting. People seem friendly on a whole.
JAMES HUDSON (Humanities & English)
3.
Be nice, be cool!
4.
Free stationery. Actually, the real reason would be—let’s do it like this: it’s quite challenging. I like teaching about different things, it’s better than any desk job, and I get to teach interesting subjects like the Cold War. Just kidding. It’s (for) the free stationery.
5.
(Anything else?) I play strings—guitar, mandolin, ukelele— as long as if it’s got strings, I’ll try to play it. And if anyone would like to teach me Romanian, feel free to approach me.
4.
CIARAN MCGOWEN (History & Geography) 1.
2.
That’s a difficult thing to answer off the top of my head. “It’s effort rather than inspiration”. I love working with young people, getting them interested in history, politics, and what’s happening in the world today especially since my subject allows me to look at things from a much more modern perspective. Obviously, it’s great to see students succeed and do well; and it’s crushing, of course, when they don’t do as well as they could.... should sometimes. Actually I didn’t like teaching very much when I was in England. It wasn’t very nice because they were really tough schools—but internationally, you get a much more intentional feel. Students are more motivated and you feel you’re working with people as opposed to being an authority figure.
TIMOTHY HIBBERT (Mathematics)
The small classes and students in the sixth form are very nice. It has a much more personalised approach between 1. teacher and student. It’s also quite laidback. (I came here in 2006 for eight years before I left and 2. came back) But, well, it was before the EU and the transport system was great compared to elsewhere, but it wasn’t as developed back then, as it is nowadays. I don’t remember a lot from back then but I see great changes in the ten or so years since I’ve been here; and 3. the weather is very different from Egypt.
The family atmosphere, friendly teachers, and bright happy students who have obviously been taught well. Yes, this is my first time in Romania. Again, it is the friendly, down to earth people and the feeling of being welcome and accepted just as another human being, not necessarily as a foreigner that has made the biggest impression.
3.
I like Abraham Lincoln’s quote: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.”
There are so many pearls of wisdom out there and I hope that our students will always strive to learn more and discern for themselves what is good. My advice at present is that it is better to do a few things really well rather than many things not so well.
4.
I love working with young people, getting them interested 4. in history, politics, and what’s happening in the world today especially since my subject allows me to look at things from a much more modern perspective. Obviously, it’s great to see students succeed and do well; and it’s crushing, of course, when they don’t do as well as they could.... should sometimes. Actually, I didn’t like teaching very much when I was in England; it wasn’t very nice
The classroom is a great place to work, young minds learning, discovering essential knowledge that has been passed down, but always with possibilities for new contexts, ideas, and applications. For the teacher, the possibility that something is said or occurs in the classroom that may in futures years be the spark that fires a student to achieve something great is always an exciting one. 53
SECONDARY
1.
SCHOOL VIEWS Interviews
NEW TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Ana Maria Z. Year 7
DAVID RICHMOND R: Firstly, welcome to Romania. I know the students would like R: Have you had a chance to eat any traditional Romanian food to know a little bit more about you, so thank you for agreeing yet? to be interviewed by me today. DR: I’m not sure what traditional Romanian food is yet. I’ve had some beans in a café and they were delicious. Big, baked beans. DR: It’s my pleasure. They were really good. R: So for my first question, I would like to ask what your first R: Its sounds like you had ciorba de fasole, a popular impression of IBSB? Romanian soup. How long have you been teaching? DR: Well, I think my first impression was that it was small school, which I like. I like that kind of friendly village atmosphere. I don’t DR: Well, I’ve been teaching for about six years; but if it counts, I remember which class I taught first. It must’ve been the year 8s also did some voluntary work and taught English as a foreign and then year 7s; it might have been your class. My first language for a while. impression is that I liked the students; they seemed like a fun R: What is your favourite hobby? class and really enjoyed my first lesson getting to know the DR: My favourite has to be cooking, so I look forward to learning students a little. to cook some traditional Romanian dishes. R: What do you like about IBSB so far? R: If you could go anywhere in the world for free, where would it DR: As I said, I like the students; they are fun, but a little bit too be? fun at times. It’s hard to say exactly as I’ve only been here a short time, but everyone I’ve met so far has been very nice and DR: It’s a great question: I think most probably Borneo to see the welcoming to me as a new teacher. I’ve felt very welcome and orangutans and the forests. look forward to weeks ahead. R: Mr Richmond, thank you for taking the time to interview with me. I hope you enjoy your time here in Romanian
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SCHOOL VIEWS Interviews
NEW STUDENT INTERVIEW Orla T. Year 7
ILINCA B . (Year 7 students)
R: What was your first impression of the school?
R: What do you miss about London the most?
I: This school was a lot bigger than my last school, but I felt that I was going to fit in anyway.
I: I miss friends and the beautiful view from my apartment the most.
R: What is your favourite thing to eat? R: What type of things do you do in your spare time? I: I mostly look on my tablet or spend time with friends outside of school.
R: What is your favourite thing about IBSB? I: The support and love I get from the teachers and my loving friends.
I: I looooove Sushi!
R: What subject do you enjoy the most and why? I: I love Maths because we have the best teacher ever and he doesn’t make us work from textbooks.
R: What is your favourite movie? I: I do have a favourite movie: Ratatouille because I have loved it since I was small.
B
ased on the New York Times bestseller, the movie “WONDER” tells the incredibly inspiring and heart
Ana Maria Z.
-breaking story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time. Throughout his trials and tribulations, August taught me that no matter how physically different you are you should be treated as any other human. Not only that, he also taught me, “You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.” If you’re looking for a great movie to watch, this film is highly memorable. Do you cry in movies? If you don’t, after watching this movie you definitely will, so bring lots of tissues. This movie is great for the whole family.
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SCHOOL VIEWS Interviews
My First Impression of Romania
“
When I first arrived at Bucharest the temperature was quite pleasant; it made me think about my home in England. The people were very friendly and so were the teachers. I used to live in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) in a small city near Dubai called Ras Al Khaimah, which means top of the tent in Arabic. In RAK it was very hot; in the summer it could get up to 50 degrees! If you want to survive, you need to stay in the shade and drink lots of water. In the winter, the temperature dropped to 20 degrees. My old school in RAK was much bigger than IBSB, it was called RAK Academy and there were around 2,500 students in the primary school alone. The children there were quite nice, but there was a problem with bullying. At IBSB I can honestly say that it is much better than RAKA because teachers challenge you with your learning more and the students treat each other like a family. Romania is a wonderful place to live and luckily for my family we ended up here. I might add that I first saw snow in Romania in January and I was very happy to experience it again after five hot years in the Middle East.
Orla T. Year 7 156
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SCHOOL VIEWS CAS
MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH A LITTLE BIT OF:
HARD WORK, HELP, AND HOPE
So far, we’ve carried out multiple visits to the children at Fundeni hospital every term, playing together and having open conversations about events that were going on at the time such as Thanksgiving, or Valentine’s Day. And as much as we’d like to spend more time to get to know them, we’ve had the chance to meet cheerful and creative children at every session that we’ve had with them. Aside from our visits, perhaps you will have seen other members of our team running around school events, like the Winter Show or the CAS Christmas Fair, to raise donations. During this project, we’ve extended our involvement to social media to really share our cause and have reached out to Facebook to create a page on our activities.
Luiza R. Year 12
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OUR FACEBOOK
Our CAS group, Speranta pentru Tine, has decided to sign up for a COBIS competition! The Global Social Leaders Competition requires young teams of people to make a difference in the world we live in, by accomplishing one or more of the seventeen ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ proposed by the United Nations. We thought that our initiative to take our CAS project one step further would motivate us to strive harder for our cause, and to spread the word about what we are doing.
SCHOOL VIEWS Talent
MY FIRST SOLO
Dance Competition
Ana-Maria Z.
Over the February break I experienced many interesting events, but for me, the one that changed me the most as a person was the Dance Star ESDU Competition. The competition had a series of categories including: Musical Theatre, National/Folkloric Dance, Contemporary/Modern Dance, Lyrical Dance, Jazz dance, and lastly Ballet.
(YEAR 7)
Yes, yes, of course I had participated in many other competitions before, but this time it just felt different: it was my first time dancing solo on stage. I felt butterflies in my stomach for a whole week. I thought to myself, if this is how I am reacting days before the event, how will I react when it is actually happening? All my nightmares were about falling on stage or forgetting my number. I knew my entire team was expecting me to do great, With the competition just hours away, I had to work quickly to not necessarily win, but at least to make myself proud. I couldn’t get my make-up, hair and clothing ready. In the morning session of the competition everything was relatively calm and relaxing wait for competition day to come! because we had traditional group dance up first. But then things The night before the big event, I tried going to sleep early but I quickly became hectic as I only had ten minutes between actually slept later than I thought I could; I kept tossing and performances to do my hair make-up and change my clothes for turning, my excitement levels were way past normal, and I no my solo modern choreography. It was crazy! matter what I did I just couldn’t control my emotions. Every time I tried going to sleep, my mind kept racing back to what the next Behind the curtain to the side of the stage, I could see my fellow day would bring. As a result, the next day I had big bags under contestants dancing gracefully in front of my eyes. Time flew by so quickly and then, suddenly, it was time for me to go on stage. my eyes. I got into my starting position with a big smile on my face, ready to begin, but the sound guy unfortunately got the song wrong! He put the wrong music track on! My mind went as blank as a sheet of paper and I started to panic on the inside. Since I was trying not to move until my song came on, I concentrated on controlling myself. Thankfully, some seconds later my song came on and my mind was back to normal. I had rehearsed my dance so many times that I don’t even remember how I danced; my muscles were doing the actions without me thinking about them. Then as if by magic, I found myself suddenly finishing the dance and going off stage. I was so relieved!
Competition Day
It was one of the most important days of my life, a day I will long remember!
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SCHOOL VIEWS Events
Matthew Tansley Head of Secondary
It was my privilege this year to be invited to attend the “Burns Supper” held in honour of Light into Europe, which is of course a charity that is close to the hearts of many of us at IBSB. In my previous life as a teacher working for the British Ministry of Defence, many years ago, I had the privilege of attending several Burns suppers whilst working in Cyprus at the officers’ mess. One thing the British Army does well is organise a good social event, and I was keen to see how the Bucharest version would compare. The origins of Burns Supper come from Scotland itself, and it was first designed to celebrate the life and poetry of the renowned poet Robert (Robbie) Burns.
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This year’s Burns Supper was held on the 3rd February in the Ronda ballroom at the Intercontinental Hotel, and I, alongside many of our students in the 6th form and also parents and friends of the school were in attendance. In fact, many of our students were actually part of the entertainment, both involved in dancing, and also in reading some of Robbie Burns’ poetry. Our students did themselves proud, by entertaining the other guests in the foyer of the hotel with a demonstration of a “foursome reel”.
the day to Bucharest from Edinburgh! Throughout the dinner, there were many readings of Burns’ most famous poems and performances. After the dinner, came the toasts: “Immortal memory” to honour Robbie Burns himself, the “Address to the Lassies”, to thank the women who’d traditionally prepare the meal and “Reply from the Lassies”, to thank the men for their praise. The night progressed with further traditional Scottish dances with all guests participating, many of whom had been practicing long in advance to be fully prepared! I must admit that I thoroughly After their exertions, we moved on to the enjoyed myself and I am looking forward actual dinner which consisted of delicious to next year. I might even buy a kilt! traditional Scottish food such as the infamous haggis, especially flown in on
SCHOOL VIEWS Thoughts & Ideas
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Stephen Hawking
A Great Mind
On Wednesday, March 14th, the British cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, passed away aged 76. He was an incredible scientist and a man that has inspired so many people around the world. His revolutionary discoveries and scientific breakthroughs, including proving that the universe began from a single point (also known as a singularity), have taken our understanding of the universe and how it began to another level. Stephen Hawking also published some of the world’s bestselling books, such as A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell in which he explains some of his most complex discoveries in a way that everyone can understand. He has opened the minds of so many people to the wonders of physics and inspiring so many students to pursue a career in science. After being diagnosed with ALS at the age of 22, Stephen Hawking was told he only had two more years to live, yet went on to live another 55 years, achieving more in his life than most. His legacy and prominence in the scientific field will continue to be an inspiration to all of us around the globe; he is a wonderful example of mind over matter.
Elena U. Year 13
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