SPORTS Sports Day

SPORTS

Sports Day returns to the IBSB Calendar

by Radu Nica and Robert Airinei, Year 8

Sports Day is the best way to end a term. Every student battling to win points for their house, so it’s a competitive day - and sports competitions are our favourite!

Sports Day for the secondary school students includes a variety of events: 100m sprint, long jump, high jump, shot put, 400m sprint, football dribbling (all by yourself!), and the house relay races to finish off. For the Primary school students, the activities are less traditional in terms of athletic events, with more collaborative activities, including a variety of relay races, such as the potato sack race, beanbag tossing relay, and hoop running events, to name just a few. Individual events for the primary school included gumboot tossing and the long jump.

Before any of the main events started, however, we all gathered with our friends for the aerobics warm-up session, led this year by our primary school PE Teacher, Alexandru Lacraru, in preparation for the first event of the day, being the 50-100m sprint.

Everyone is excited as we walked toward the start line, your heart feeling like it’s going to explode. The primary school started first, so everyone in secondary were able to enjoy seeing them compete, from the cute early students running a wobbly 50m line, to increasingly confident and competitive Y6 students running the full 100m distance as we cheered on the sidelines; it’s always exciting to see your house colours crossing the line first. As a competitor, however, the start is for most a pretty stressful experience, because everyone is watching and you want to do well. Timing is therefore very important to ensure you get a good, clean start!

With the sprints over, the rest of the day saw both the primary and secondary school classes move into group rotations from event to event. The first event in the rotation for Y8 was the long jump. The current world record for men is 8.95m and for women it is 7.52m. Each of us had one attempt to jump as far as we could, and were instructed to start slow and slowly accelerate as ran toward to the line, rather than starting with our maximum speed, and to try to jump exactly on the line to secure the best possible result. Some of us messed up the jump, as you might expect, with the longest jump for our class being 3.30m - just a little short of the world record mark.

Next up, was the high jump. For the high jump, you simply need to jump over a bar; if you touch it, you are out. The current world record is 2.45m for men and 2.09m for women. Fortunately for everyone, in the first 2 rounds there were retries. It got difficult very quickly, though, and so most of the students were eliminated in the 2nd/3rd round. There were 5 people left in round 4 and then only 2 students went on to battle it out for 1st and 2nd place, with 3 left to battle for 3rd place. They competed for a further 7 rounds just to determine the 3rd place, with the jumps becoming higher and harder each time.

Next came the shot put. The shotput requires you to throw a 3kg metal ball as far as you can. The world record for the longest

throw for me is 23.37m (men through a shotput weighing 7.26kg) and for women it is 22.63m (Women throw a shotput weighing 4kg). We all had two tries, and some of us even managed 6m! In the end, we had 2 taking 1st place equal and one person taking 3rd.

After a short session of shot put, we had, in my opinion, the hardest trial of all, the 400m sprint (not to confuse it with the 400m relay race), which was all about resistance and consistency. The current world records for this event are women 52.16 and men 43.03.

The final rotation of competition for year 8 was football dribbling, which offered a nice break from the more traditional athletic events.

The events all completed, we gathered for the last round of medal ceremonies and the presentation of the Sports Day Cup to... DOBROGEA!!!

SPORTS

WOWSA Man of the Year Award 2021

The World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) unveiled its 2021 annual award winners on Sunday, February 06, 2022.

In total, 77 nominees were selected from 37 nations for the WOWSA Man of the Year Award, including amongst others current Olympic gold medallists, with more than 12,000 people voting online for the eventual winner.

Congratulations must go, therefore, to our primary school PE Teacher, Paul Georgescu, eventual winner and recipient of the WOWSA Man of the Year Award, for this incredible achievement (improving on his First Runner up award last year).

World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Winner: Paul Georgescu (Romania) First Runner-Up: Neil Agius (Malta) Second Runner-Up: Joel Matos Ortiz (Puerto Rico) Nomination citation:

Paul Georgescu, a 42-year-old multi-talented triathlete, physical therapist, coach, referee, water polo player, and teacher at the International British School of Bucharest, took ice swimmer to an entirely new level. Less than a year after completing his first Ice Mile in 3.02°C water in a pool in his native Romania, he travelled to Hanusse Bay, Antarctica and set a Zero Ice Mile world record in 0.0°C water and 2.0°C air in 22 minutes 44 seconds at the bottom of the world. He then completed the 104 km Iron Gates of the Danube Swim in the middle of the pandemic. In a year of uncertainty and unknowns, Georgescu continues to seek adventures to inspire his students and the next generation, giving them confidence to face challenges with a strength of character and an air of positivity. For continuing to demonstrate a wide range of aquatic talents in cold and warm temperatures, including at the Antarctica 2020 International Swim, for inspiring and mentoring swimmers of all ages in his native Romania with a record-setting Zero Ice Mile, and for transforming himself from a water polo player and triathlete to the fastest Zero Ice Mile swimmer in the world and an accomplished marathon swimmer, Paul Georgescu is a worthy nominee for 2020 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

Below is a list of just a few of Paul’s incredible achievements:

Also worth mentioning is a 100km pool swim that Paul completed for charity in 2021, raising money for www. centrul-aspera.ro, to support children with dyslexia.

In every way, Paul is a deserving recipient of this award, and a wonderful role model for the students of IBSB who has inspired and continues to inspire as someone who sets high goals and then works extremely hard each and every day to achieve them.

Studying Fashion Design @Instituto Marangoni MILAN

by Maria Dragomir, IBSB Graduate, 2021

After finishing IBSB, I moved to Milan, the Italian capital of fashion, which had been my dream for enough time to get me excited about it.

Admittedly, the first months were tough. I’m not gonna lie, it was during the time of COVID, with many restrictions in place, and I was alone in a foreign country, without my friends, without my family, without my boyfriend, and university was online, which made everything even harder.

Like every difficult experience in life though, this unpleasant period of time eventually passed, and I got to experience the real life of a fashion design student, going to school every day dragging my body weight in luggage behind me- only fashion students will understand why- getting to know the best Italian restaurants in town (in the beginning everything was closed), and meeting new people, amazing people, people who would soon become close, trusted friends from every corner of the globe, as Milan is a very international city that hosts people from all around the world.

The second year of uni has been my favourite until now, though, as I’ve got to know the city much better, its best places, where to meet quality people; I’ve also learned how to improve my time management,

enabling me time to study and work on some small personal projects outside of school at the same time, that I am super excited about and I can’t wait to share with everyone.

I ‘ve been able to meet some important people from the fashion industry, as well as the music industry, who have really inspired me and influenced my style, such as Alessandro Dellaqua (Creative Director of No.21), Ideservecouture (instagram influencer and fashion critique), and Jason Derulo and his whole team (stylists, band, and dancers).

My life here has effectively been divided between going to school everyday and doing what I love, visiting museums and exhibitions every couple of weeks, and trying not to overdose on pasta and pizza.

Being inspired by everything, from the exquisite architecture to the streetwear outfits of everybody around me, and the sumptuous windows of high-end boutiques on Via Montanapoleone, provides the motivation I need to work towards being better and better everyday.

Studying ENGINEERING AT Brunel University in london

an Interview with Octavian Murea, IBSB Graduate, 2020

What did you decide to study at university and why?

I choose to study Electrical/ Electronic Engineering. It seemed like the logical choice coming from a family of electrical engineers, including my mother, my father, and my uncle. I used to joke with my father that the line of engineers ends with me, because I hated math, but then ten years later I found myself completing A Level Math and Physics, applying to study at an electrical engineering university. Nobody forced me into this career or even pushed me in this direction. In fact, I really don’t think my parents minded me choosing any other career path. I guess the idea just came naturally to me, as I spent much of my childhood hanging around my parents while they were working on various contracts, listening to their discussions, and in a way, I think it became a part of who I am.

How did you choose your university?

I first learnt about Brunel University when I was in Year 8 or 9, from one of my older colleagues saying it was a really good university, and I think it kind of became imprinted in my brain, so that when I applied for university, I naturally choose Brunel as one of my university options. I actually applied for two courses at Brunel: electrical engineering with a foundation year, and a course without a foundation year, just to ensure I had the grades needed to get in. Thankfully, I got the grades I needed for Brunel. I also had an offer from Queen Mary, a Russell Group University higher up the league tables, but I preferred Brunel as their course suited me better and I also had several friends who were going there, so it felt like the right choice for me.

What expectations did you have about the university and the course you chose before you started?

My expectations were very different to the reality I experinced.

Firstly, I expected my course to be more practical and handson content. Unfortunately, due to COVID, most of our learning was online in the first year. Thankfully, in the second year we were able to get into the for 1 or 2 sessions every week doing practical experiments and in the second semester I was also part of a group that built a mini weather station that enables you to collect the data remotely, which took up most my second semester every Tuesday and Thursday from 9.00am. This really helped me to better understand how electricity works in a real life environment.

I also hoped there wouldn’t be so much homework, but that hasn’t been the case. Every day you are busy at university attending lectures and seminars and tutorials and doing lab work, and then when you get home you have to do the write-ups for the lab work and seminars, etc., and compelte assignments, or prepare for tests, so you are always busy. I honestly thought I would have more free time, but this hasn’t been the case.

I thought we would get a more support from the lecturers and get to know them better, as was the case at IBSB, but the truth is you almost never see the lecturers, apart from when they’re giving a lecturer or running a tutorial. You really have to do the work yourself, or maybe work with a friend or group of friends from your course, so you really need to be a selfsufficient, independent learner.

Finally, on the social side of things, I unfortunately missed out on fresher’s week (when first students meet and socialise and enjoy lots of fun activities) and many of the normal opportunities to socialise throughout the year due to COVID, but thankfully this won’t affect any students starting university next year.

What at some of the positives of studying at Brunel University?

The biggest advantage is that we are an open university, meaning we have a very large university campus, like the type of university you see in the movies, being located a little further out of London with more land and space available. This means that we have accommodation on campus, which few other London universities offer, than Queen Mary. We also have all the bars and eating areas and student entertainment areas on campus, with lots of places to meet and socialise, which is convenient compared to the experience students have at other London based universities.

Are there any negatives?

Well, to be honest I can’t really think of any negatives, as I have really enjoyed my experience at Brunel, and I’m the type of person who always looks for the positive in any experience. The people are always friendly at Brunel, if you need help with something, there is always someone at the university willing and able to help you, if need something you can always find it, the campus is really beautiful, and the courses are really well organised, with all the lectures recorded and loaded onto an online learning platform, so you can access them whenever you want and watch them as many times as you want, which is really helpful.

What advice would you offer someone choose a university course or considering applying for an engineering degree?

Firstly, make sure you are ready for it. I won’t lie, as I really wasn’t ready for it. I didn’t study as well as I should have at high school and this made the transition to university level work a lot harder, so make sure you work hard during your IGCSE and A Level programme to acquire the skills and the work ethic needed to do well at university. At the end of Year 1 at university, I was also diagnosed with ADHD, which helped me to understand why I experienced some difficulties in focusing and getting the work done at high school.

My final piece of advice is do a work placement as a part of your degree, if you have the chance. I started a placement this summer that will last until the end of my degree, up to September 2023, and it is what I have enjoyed the most so far about my course, as it has been a lot of fun. It’s extremely beneficial experiencing the day to day work in my future career, helping me to understand how the content I am learning at university is applied within the workplace in real life. I’ve on really been able to apply 5-10% of theory to real life practice, but this has still been a positive motivator. Doing a placement also means that you you will graduate with experience and a good reference, so finding your first job post graduating will be much easier and many people already have a job lined up before they graduate. It’s not easier to find a placement, so make sure that you start looking from Year 1, to maximise you chances of success.

Top 10 Secondary School Book Recommendations

by Priya Vijaykumar, Year 8V

Are you bored at home and have you read all (yes, I do mean ALL) of your books? Well, here the top 10 books to read, according to IBSB students, available in our school library.

Airhead by Meg Cabot

This tells the story of a girl who dies saving her sister from a falling TV, only to find out the doctors had transferred her brain into a supermodel’s body! Will she be able to adapt to her new lifestyle? Or will she fail miserably?

Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan

The adventures of Will, an orphan apprenticed to the Rangers: skilled trackers, archers and warriors in the service of the King of Araluen. Will strives to keep the Kingdom of Araluen safe from invaders, traitors, and threats.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Revolver tells two stories, one in 1910 where Einar lies dead from a fall through ice in subzero temperatures and one in 1899, when Einar was a young man with a wife, two small children, and a thirst to find gold in Nome, Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. But what exactly happened on the ice? Did Einar just fall? Or is there more to the story?

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkein

The first part of J R Tolkien’s epic masterpiece is the story of young hobbit, Frodo Baggins, who finds himself faced with an immense and terrible duty. Sauron is gathered all the Rings of Power and intends to use them to rule Middle-earth.

The Secret River by Kate Greneville

A historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aboriginal people.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series)

A a light-hearted fantasy about a modern 12-year-old boy who learns that his true father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Percy sets out to become a hero by undertaking a quest across the United States to find the entrance to the Underworld and stop a war between the gods. Can he stop it? Or will he die trying?

Maze Runner by James Dashner

A story set in a distant future, where a group of teens are mysteriously teleported into a giant, stone maze. Not only has their memory been cleared, but they also have no indication as to why they have ended up in this position and what means they must take to escape. Sacrificing someone? Or killing each other?

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer.

And then there were None by Agatha Christie

Considered the best mystery novel ever written by many readers, And Then There Were None is the story of ten strangers, each lured to Indian Island by a mysterious host. Once his guests have arrived, the host accuses each person of murder. But did they actually commit the crime? Or was it all a cover-up?

Evolution and Genetics

by Patrick Tansley, Year 13

Undoubtedly, evolution is seemingly both a very simple concept, but also immensely complex; and is still the subject of immense amounts of research to this day. Evolution is applicable in a wide variety of scenarios, from ensuring that your set of puppies will have a specific type of fur and ear shape, to ensuring that your crop delivers the largest harvest. Evolution is everywhere, and it’s important to understand how it works.

The discovery of evolution is arguably the most significant scientific discovery within the field of biology, and yet most people nowadays don’t realise how recently the idea of evolution came to be accepted. Charles Darwin, the man referred to as the ‘founding father of evolutionary biology’, published his work On the Origin of Species on the 24th of November, 1859; and unlike most scientific pieces at the time, it was written to be accessible to even those not familiar with advanced scientific ideas, therefore gaining a large following.

Darwinism is a theory based on the concepts of natural selection and adaptation, the notion that generations of animals and plants living in specific environments will naturally become better adapted to their habitat. This is because organisms with features or mutations enabling them to better survive in their environment often live longer, and thus they produce more offspring to pass on the beneficial genes.

The idea of genetics is now attributed to Gregor Mendel. Throughout his life he worked with various characteristics of a pea pod plant; for example, plant height, pod shape and pod colour, or flower shape and colour. By artificially adding the pollen of plants carrying a certain characteristic, Mendel found that traits can be passed from the parents to their offspring. He even coined the terms ‘dominant’ and ‘recessive’ genes to explain why some traits always appeared if a parent had them, while other traits only become visible with certain combinations. This work can be further extended from pea plants to organisms in general; our genetic code, DNA, contains the bases that determine what traits we have, our DNA being a fusion of the 23 chromosomes present in sperm and an ovum.

Variation within a population is largely quite easy to prove; simply look at a group of humans and you will see large amounts of differences between them; from height to weight to eye colour, to muscle mass, all humans are incredibly varied, but all still homo sapiens. Even within species of animals such as labradors, there are many fur colours, eye colours, and sizes of dogs. These changes can either be detrimental or beneficial to the organism, of course: giraffes with the longest necks can reach sources of food that no others can, while a shark with small flippers won’t be able to swim as fast as their conspecifics.

Evolution is the child of genetics and natural selection; simply put, all organisms eventually evolve to excel within their natural environment. Despite the logic and evidence backing evolution, people do still call it into question, even in today’s era, often citing an argument along the lines of ‘but if I put a group of

bunnies in water, they won’t sprout flippers!’ Furthermore, religious beliefs can often come into conflict with the idea of evolution, such as those mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible; according to theists (people who believe in a god or a set of gods), organisms were created perfectly by their god(s) so how could they have possibly changed over time?

These are fair arguments to make because evolution as a process can take millennia to actually have an impact on an organism, often due to animals having a long life span and taking too long to reproduce; but to quote Dr Richard Dawkins, in his book The Greatest Show on Earth, ‘If you placed any rabbit next to their mother, and the grandmother next to the mother and so forth, you would eventually notice small changes between the ancient rabbits and the now modern rabbits. Yet the rate of change is so slow it’s almost undetectable between generations, just as we can’t see the movement of the hour hand on our watches, just as we can’t notice a child growing into a teenager and eventually into an adult.’ All of these processes happen, just at a pace similar to that of your average snail.

To appreciate the magic of evolution, it is interesting to look at a term called common ancestry, the idea that through evolution all animals are linked by some means to one another via a split path in evolution. Extending from his rabbit metaphor, Dawkins also discusses this idea: if you were to follow the ancestry of rabbits millennia into the past, you would eventually find a creature, looking somewhat like a shrew or a rat but not really at the same time according to Dawkins; the next generation of said creature would then mutate to develop a trait that the offspring either did or did not have, creating a fork in the path of evolution. To then follow these alternative routes, we would find the modern rabbit at the end of one road, and a leopard at the other. This example demonstrates how small changes can have a butterfly effect on the fate of an organism, as naturally along the two paths of the fork the paths split off more and more with different routes for an organism to take.

Overall, evolution and genetics pair to make a fantastically interesting area of science, one in which I personally hope to learn far more about in the future.

Book Review: The Tale of Duelling Neurosurgeons

by Patrick Tansley, Year 13

The Tale of Duelling Neurosurgeons can be summarised in one word, ‘masterpiece’. It is the perfect balance of science and humour that so many books strive for, but fail to achieve. Reminiscent of Genome, by Matt Ridley, or Heroes, by Stephen Fry, the book offers you a wide range of information from it’s chosen topic, focusing on the brain and various neurological or psychological disorders, rather than chromosomes or the Greek mythos.

However, it’s mastery comes from the fact it doesn’t take itself too seriously, maintaining a light mood without sacrificing details. Expect plenty of links strewn throughout the book, linked to corresponding notes at the end of the book, offering relevant additional data or trivia about the topics, which allows the book to function both as a learning tool and a good source of entertainment.

Another interesting choice made by Kean is the fact that each chapter focuses on a certain part of the brain; ranging from the simple structure of the skull, to individual cells, and eventually reaching ideas of consciousness and the link between physical and mental health. The wide scope of the book, and the varying examples used, allow for even those educated in psychology to learn something new about themselves. As mentioned prior, there are several cases

within the book, one story per chapter, to encapsulate the theme of the segment. These cases vary from the infamous, such as H.M. and Gage, to the almost forgotten; who would ever remember King Henri II of France?

In this section, I will review the first two chapters of the book only, to not give to much away.

Chapter 1, ‘The Duelling Neurosurgeons’, is the chapter that the book is named after, revolving around the anatomists Vesalius and Pare’, and how they dealt with the injuries of Henri II of France. I personally found this chapter quite intriguing, as it provided insight into the medical knowledge they had at the time, Vesalius and Pare knew nothing of cells, neurotransmitters, nor bacteria, yet had to properly attend to Henri II’s traumatic brain injury. Kean likely chose this case due to its historical impact, as Vesalius and Pare concluded after an autopsy of Henri that a head injury, even when the skull wasn’t cracked, could be fatal, unlike what was assumed at that point. In fact, ironically, Henri II would have been more likely to survive his jousting injury if his skull had cracked, but died due the intracranial pressure caused by the inflammation.

Chapter 2, ‘The Assassins Soup’, is unique in that it shares two very similar cases, rather than just one, being the murders of the American Presidents Garfield and McKinley. Both men were killed by gunshot; this fact is, however, less important than the information about the two murderers, Charles Guiteau and Leon Czolgosz. Charles Guiteau pled innocent due to insanity at his trial, but was declined that offer due to basic functioning tests showing that he was sane. However, he was anything but sane, as shown by his autopsy which found little to no grey matter on the surface of his brain. The man was in fact schizophrenic. Leon Czolgosz made a similar plea at his trial 20 years after Guiteau, yet was also declined, because unlike Guiteau, Czolgosz appeared to have no damage to his brain when he died. Initially, the conclusion was that he was sane, until his brain was analysed under a microscope, where microscopic damage and decay was evident, leading the doctors to conclude that stress caused his erratic behaviour, a first in the field, making Czolgosz’s death a point of pioneering within psychology.

If all this was not enough to catch and maintain your attention, but you are a fond solver of riddles, you will be excited to discover that each chapter features its own introductory rebus to spark your curiosity about all things neurological.

Overall, ‘The Tale of Duelling Neurosurgeons’ is a fantastic example of scientific humour, and a great homage to the development of our understanding of our own brains, which this review will never be able to do justice, so please just read it.

SCHOOL VIEWS

Best budget parts for your gaming setup

by Andrei Popescu, Year 7B and Dinu Pietruschevici, Year 7M

Do you like playing video games? Would you like to buy parts to create your very own gaming setup? Even if you do not have a large budget, you can still achieve your dream. In this guide we will recommend you good budget options for your very own gaming setup.

Computer Parts

Central Processing Unit (CPU) A central processing unit, or a CPU is the brain of your computer. The better the CPU is, the smoother your computer will run. In our opinion, the AMD Ryzen 3 3300X CPU offers great value for money. Although it still might cost a bit, it is much cheaper than most CPUs. If you are not a fan of Ryzen CPUs, then an Intel I5-11400 CPU is another option. Don’t get scared by the numbers though, since both CPUs are equally good.

CPU Coolers If you pick any of the two CPUs mentioned above, then you won’t need any separate cooler as the Ryzen 3 comes with a cooler and the I5-11400 doesn’t need a cooler at all. But if you use another CPU, a Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB is the best air cooler for its price. All-In-One coolers (or AIOs) are not included in our review, as they usually cost more.

Graphics Card The graphics card or graphics processing unit (GPU) is another essential part of your PC. It basically determines how good your graphics are. I am sure you have heard about RTX 3090, since it is the most popular these days, but the price to performance ratio is awful. That is why we recommend a GTX 1660 SUPER for gaming. Because graphics cards can easily be the most expensive part, it is very hard to find a cheap one. But the GTX 1660 is not only one of the cheapest, but it is also very good for gaming or even streaming. There are many versions out there, but we recommend you get the Asus GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB Phoenix OC, since it is the best version out of them all. If Nvidia is not your thing, a Radeon RX 6600 XT by AMD is also a very good choice.

Motherboard The motherboard is the place you will put everything together; however, that doesn’t mean you can just go into

a store and pick up any random motherboard. There are many variables you have to consider. Don’t worry! We are here to help. Out of all the motherboards we tested (that are compatible with the CPU), the Asus TUF Gaming B560M Plus (WiFi), provides everything you need for a successful gaming experience at a very reasonable price.

Random Access Memory (RAM) Random Access Memory or RAM is crucial to making a PC work. It basically stores memory for a short period of time, like your chrome tabs. Now, unless you want to download something like Call of Duty, Halo, or Assassin’s Creed on your PC, 16 GB should be enough. So that is why we chose Patriot Viper RGB DDR4-3600 as the best RAM kit. This RAM kit is made from 2 units that you can store in your motherboard. If you choose the motherboard we mentioned previously, you will have another 2 slots to place other RAM units of your choice. If you want to download one of the games we mentioned earlier, Crucial Ballistix 3200 is your best option.

Storage Unlike memory cards, storage is the place where you store things forever (until you delete them). That is why we recommend the Crucial P5 Plus 500gb as your main storage, where you store apps and their data, and a 1tb Seagate Barracuda as your second storage to store photos, documents, and things you don’t use generally.

Case When choosing a case, it comes down to preference: a mid-tower case (which is a lot smaller and you can put it on your desk) or a full tower case (which is very heavy and you have to put it on the floor, but it has more space). For a mid-tower case, we recommend the NZXT H510, since it has great airflow (which means the parts will get better cooling) and it also looks cool. For a full tower case, Phanteks Enthoo 719 or Pro 2 are an excellent choice for cooling and other aesthetics.

Power Supply Choosing the power supply is the last thing you do. You need to look up how much voltage each of these pieces needs and then you need to add another 100W to be safe. If you choose all the parts that we recommended, the CX450 power supply by Corsair is for you. It is not modular (you don’t have to plug all the cables in the power supply by yourself, they already did it for you), which is great for beginners.

Peripherals

Mice For a budget mouse pick, we recommend you buy the Razer Deathadder Essential 2021. It is very cheap at around 90 RON, compared to other mice and it is surprisingly good quality. It may need a mouse pad to work properly, but that is up to you to decide.

Keyboards Keyboards are as important as mice, but don’t get fooled into buying something like a HyperX Alloy (which is about 1660 RON). Instead, focus on whether you want it to be wireless or not. A wireless keyboard is cleaner, but sometimes the connection might be interrupted and the keyboard will disconnect. That is not to say that wireless keyboards are not good though. A very good wireless option would be the Corsair K63 Wireless. However, it will take up some space on your desk because of the wrist rest. A good wired keyboard is Logitech G413, because it is very cheap and has instant transmission to the computer.

Headphones Ever since 2014, HyperX Cloud Alpha has been the best headset on the market. It was dethroned recently by Razer with their Blackshark V2, which is much more expensive and less durable. So, HyperX Cloud Alpha is still the best budget choice. If you would like a wireless option, HyperX Cloud 2 Wireless is the best on the market

Monitors The monitor is a crucial part of your setup; without the monitor you cannot see anything. The monitor is the screen you play, learn, and do homework on. Top brand monitors are quite pricey; however, to be able to play for fun and take advantage of your pc’s framerate you do not need a top-of-the-range monitor. There are a few categories of the monitor’s refresh rate,measured in hz:

60-75 hz: these are cheap but they are not very good for gaming. You should look for higher.

The 120-165 hz, in this category there are three refresh rates: 120 hz, 144 hz and 165 hz, the 144 hz and 120 hz.

Monitors are not very different in price points, so we will recommend the 144 hz over the 120 hz. Overall we think that 144 hz is the best in terms of price to performance ratio.

There are also two more types of monitors: the 240 hz and 360 hz. These are currently considered top of the line in terms of monitors. As we said before, you do not need these monitors, they are a lot more expensive and simply not worth it.

We recommend two monitors, which we think are best, one will be 144 hz and the other will be 165 hz

The Samsung Odyssey G3: this is the monitor we most strongly recommend from the two on this list. You can find it on EMAG for 1000 lei. This monitor is 144 hz and 27 inches in diameter.

The Asus tuf gaming monitor: this is also a flatscreen monitor, however it costs 1900 lei on EMAG. This monitor is also 27 inches in diameter. The only thing this monitor has that is better in terms of specs is that it is 165 hz. Gaming Chairs We won’t recommend chairs as they aren’t a necessity for you to be able to game, however, we will give tips on how to choose the appropriate chair that fits your room.

Tip number 1: Choose an adjustable chair. Especially if you are younger and haven’t had a growth spurt yet. This will allow you to adjust the chair to your comfort and size over the years.

Tip number 2: Pick a chair that looks similar to the other peripherals in your setup. Pick 2 or 3 colors and stick to those colors. This will make your setup look very neat.

Thank you for reading this, we hope you found this useful!

Happy gaming!

MOVIE REVIEWS: King Richard

by Mia Opran, Year 10R

King Richard tells the story of a 48-yearold father armed with a vision to make his two daughters, Serena and Venus Williams, tennis world champions.

Even though he had trained them both since they were little, he finally decided to get them a proper coach. That’s when the problems start to arise. After being neglected and ignored by everyone around them, they manage to get themselves a proper tennis instructor.... The movie portrays their journey to becoming world-renowned sports stars.

Follow Will Smith, Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton in this heart-warming, inspiring movie, which teaches us to never give up on our dreams, and to always come prepared with a plan!

I personally found the movie interesting. We can learn a lot from it, such as to never give up on our dreams, even though sometimes it seems as if the world is against you, remembering to stay strong. We most importantly understand that you are set up to fail if you launch into the world without a plan; if you do have one, the task will be easier to complete.

The director manages to portray the Wililams family in an enchanting way. He delivers the movie from the perspective of the father who watches both his daughters grow up. It’s obvious to see that life was not only hard for Venus and Serena, but for their entire family. The way that the director manages to place stark, real life facts into a dramatic and realistic movie is impressive. Overall, I think that it’s most definitely worth watching, being both entertaining and educational about the struggles of tennis stars and the people around them.

My Top 5 Movies to watch in 2022

by Felix Daianu, Year 8

Number 5: Encanto (2021)

Encanto is a thrilling, culturally diverse animated cartoon. Released in 2021, it feels like Disney’s response to Pixar’s “Coco”. Both movies take an in-depth look at Latin culture, but do not think that these movies are carbon copies of each other! NO! Coco focuses on the Mexican day of the dead Tradition and the importance of remembering them, while “Encanto” focuses on the importance of not having to be perfect all of the time, as well as Columbian culture. The cast absolutely smashed it out of the park with both music and voice acting. The music was composed by the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also wrote the hit broadway musical “Hamilton”. The plot revolves around the Madrigals, an extraordinary family who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a magical place called the Encanto. The power of the Encanto has blessed every kid in the family with a unique gift - every child except Mirabel that is. However, she soon may be the Madrigals’ last hope when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is now in danger. It had a 150 million Budget and grossed 228.4 million worldwide and is sitting at a comfortable 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.3 on IMDb. In the cinema as well as your home, there is only one rule: Don’t talk about Bruno.

Number 4: Death On The Nile

This stunning movie is based on the famous Agatha Christie book. Acting as a “sequel” to the award winning “Murder On the Orient Express”, this movie thrives on creating suspense by using Agatha Christie’s Famous claustrophobic style of putting all of the characters in one room with one of them being the killer. I will not discuss the plot here as it is so full of twists and turns, that you simply MUST watch it for yourself.

Number 3: DUNE (2021)

Dune is a PG-13 sci-fi movie about a boy named Paul Atreides travelling to the most dangerous planet known to them. This planet breaks out into conflict due to the most precious resource known to them; Spice. The very thing that fuels space travel. The cast contains some A-list celebrities like: Zendeya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa and Ana de Armas. It was directed by Denis Villeneuve and it got a solid 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.2 on IMDb. I like the movie because of its jaw-dropping scale and stunning special effects. The Movie won 10 oscars for Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Picture, And Best Adapted screenplay.

Number 2: 007 No Time To Die (2021)

Daniel Craig’s last outing as James Bond certainly sent him out with a bang. A definite high point in the franchise, this movie carries a perfect blend of high-octane action and gut-wrenching emotional drama. The movie revolves around James Bond making his way through multiple countries like Cuba, Italy, Jamaica, England, Scotland and many others. 007 faces a new enemy called Lyutsifer Safin who is played by the golden globe winning Rami Malek, who also played the role of Freddy Mercury in the Academy Award Winning Movie “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The ending is sure to make many 007 fans tear up, I can speak from personal experience. The movie had an absurd 300 million dollar budget with an additional 100 million put towards marketing. The risk turned out to pay off BIG TIME because “No Time to Die” is the most successful movie of the lockdown era, grossing a whopping 774.2 Million dollars. It has an 83% rating on rotten tomatoes, a 7.4 on IMDb and a PG-13 from the MPAA. This movie won an Oscar for Best Original song but received two more nominations for best Visual Effects and Best Sound.

Number 1: The Batman (2022) (13+!!!)

OH BOY!!! What A TREAT! The 2022 Movie “The Batman” single-handedly breathes new life into the otherwise rather stale franchise. Ever since the Christopher Nolan movies, the franchise has not seen any decent movies in over a decade. This movie paints Batman in a much more flawed light as it also comments on the harrowing drug epidemic that the world is facing. The biggest revamp that any character got on the other hand was the Riddler, ditching his signature spandex and cane, he takes a more “Zodiac-killer” approach to the whole wardrobe thing. Robert Pattinson delivers another amazing performance as a broken, hurt, emotional Batman - something Ben Affleck didn’t do all that well. The plot revolves around Gotham’s Terrible drug epidemic as well as The Riddler’s murderous rampage. This movie should only be watched by people of 13 years or higher as some of the scenes are rather brutal (not violent, just emotionally impactful).

Conclusion

These are just some of my favourites! PLEASE, DO RESEARCH ON THE MOVIES THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE A PG RATING BEFORE WATCHING WITH A PRIMARY STUDENT OR YEAR 7. Hope you enjoy the films!

Ideas to avoid feeling bored this summer

by sandra Curtis, Year 9E

Now that exam season is over and summer is approaching, you will most likely be feeling very excited. After all, you don’t have to wake up early and stay in a room forcing information into your head anymore!

However, in the second week of summer, you will probably start to feel bored - and so if you don’t want that feeling of boredom to last for two months, here’s a list of things you can do:

Play with your pet

Multiple studies have shown us that dogs and therapy dogs help people cope with stress and anxiety. Even just petting a dog lowers blood pressure, heart rate and breathing, and relaxes muscle tension. Scientists at Washington State University have discovered that just 10 minutes of petting a dog can have a significant impact on your general state of health. Although these studies focus solely on dogs, this can be true for any other pet, whether it’s a cat, hamster, ferret, bird, or even a turtle. Pet your pet, feed them food that’s safe for them, take your pet on a walk (or take it outside if you can), watch Netflix with your pet, play catch with them - they’re all fun. Plus pets are cute. If you don’t have a pet, you can try doing those things with a friend’s or neighbour’s pets.

Visit and volunteer an animal shelter.

Another thing that you can do if you don’t have a pet is visit an animal shelter. Bruno shelter is an animal shelter in Bucharest that has all sorts of adorable dogs there for adoption. Those dogs don’t have a home, and I’m not saying that those dogs aren’t properly taken care of, but they don’t get as much

attention as they would if they had owners, so give them attention! You can easily volunteer at a shelter and help out with taking care of the dogs. Not only are you using your time better, but you’re actually contributing to society.

Go thrifting

Thrift stores are interesting. Not only is the stuff there cheap, but you can find cool things that you wouldn’t usually find in regular stores. There are two thrift stores near school, which I’ve found snazzy things at. Don’t get discouraged when you first enter a thrift store and don’t see anything good - you just need to look and you will most likely find something. Remember to wash/ disinfect the things you buy when you bring them home, just in case! Also, don’t be one of those people who buy everything that’s good in the thrift store and then resell it for 3x the original price. That’s just annoying.

Go to the bookstore

If you have a list of books that you really want to read, go to a bookstore and see if you can find any of them there. Don’t worry if you don’t: you can find something that piques your interests on the shelves. You don’t even have to buy anything - at most Carturesti stores there are chairs, and you can just sit on a chair and read any book you like there. Just make sure that you’re careful with the book and avoid damaging it.

Watch your favorite childhood movies

It’s interesting to compare your current interpretation of the movie to the way you thought of it when you were younger, and you can pick up all the jokes that went over your head as a kid. You will also get reminded of when life sucked less.

Try to decide what career you want to do in the future

You can do this by conducting internet research, applying for future internships, or talking to someone in the field you want to work in. This will make your summer somewhat more productive, and hopefully you’ll figure out what to do with your life. Start a journal.

Find a notebook and write literally whatever you want in it. You can choose whether you want your journal to be very aesthetically pleasing or just be a bunch of angry scribbles cursing people out (I suggest hiding that journal if you choose the second option). Many years from now, you can read it and remember what you used to be like (and get a lot of secondhand embarrassment).

Pretend to be a tourist in your own hometown

People visit practically every tourist site in a city the visit, but very rarely explore the sites in their own town or city. You’ll be surprised how much there is to do in your home town, that you weren’t aware of, often very cheap or even free. A good place to start is dong a search on the interest – 10 best things to do in Bucharest.

Go stargazing

It helps if you have a telescope or binoculars, but those aren’t mandatory for stargazing. Go to a park, the countryside, or your balcony and stare at the night sky. Further out of the city, away from the bright city lights is best. Look at maps of the stars, then see if you can spot any of them in the night sky. You can do this alone or with friends.

Go to a concert

There are lots of concerts happening in Romania this summer. Bands like Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, Twenty One Pilots, Slipknot, Evanescence and many more are having shows. There are also local artists that you can go and support.

Learn a new skill

Stimulate yourself by learning a new skill. No matter what you want to try—knitting, dancing, or cooking—chances are there’s a YouTube video for it!

Learn a new language

There are lots of websites online that can help you learn a language, such as Duolingo (make sure to remember to do your lessons or else that owl will come for you). You can pick up a completely new language, or practice the language you are learning at school.

Some other things that you can do include:

Planning your next (real or imaginary) vacation Do a Wordle Learn a dance Catch up on sleep Play an instrument or learn a new instrument Try learning origami Watch a movie/start a new series Do online quizzes (some of them are awfully cringy, but there are others that are actually fun) Go skating/cycling Exercise I hope this article gives you a few ideas to help avoid feeling boredom this summer!

Misunderstood Vampires?

by Amalia Anicescu, Year 11

What is Romania famous for? Well, if you type this on Google, you’ll get 319,000,000 results in 0.65 seconds…and almost all of them will contain one blood-curdling name: Dracula. This could lead many to believe that the country has a prolonged, shared history with these restless, pale creatures, and that it is here where the Solar urticaria (sun-allergy) or allium hypersensitivity (intolerance to garlic) first started. But, in reality, legends about monsters who feed on the blood of men have been around since ancient times, throughout the whole world.

Ancient Mesopotamia, which existed for thousands of years BC, is considered to have had some of the first pieces of evidence regarding these sinister creatures: shards of Persian pottery vases which have been excavated seem to depict ravenous monsters drinking the blood of men. Moreover, it was common for god-like, malevolent figures of that time, such as Lamashtu, Lilitu, and Gallu, who were all demons, to be associated with such vicious rituals. Later on, this habit led to a shared belief that these gory creatures were, in fact, representing modern devils (such as Satan), or merciless illnesses. Ancient Egyptians also had stories about the goddess of both war and healing, Sekhmet, who could only be tamed in battles if served blood. This quickly made lovers of contemporary gothic literature compare her practice to that of a vampire.

Ancient Greeks had plenty of resemblances between their mythological figures and vampires too. Empusa, the daughter of Hecate, or Lamia, a lover of Zeus’, would serve as good examples of such. Additionally, what’s more interesting is the denomination they used to describe the creatures who carried out these troubling acts: “striges”. This word would later influence the term the Romans used to label similar monsters, strix, and ultimately the Romanian word for vampires, which is considered to have also been used by Dacians to describe souls who wouldn’t be allowed by Zalmoxis (their god) to join the other world: strigoi. This is, however, only one of the versions of how the Romanian variant came to be. Another hypothesises that the word strigoi is actually derived from the verb a striga (to scream) - which itself is linked to the Italian strega (meaning witch). In different regions of Romania they might also be referred to as: strâgoi, strigoaice (female plural), moroi (used for referencing different types of monsters), vidme

(frightening creatures), vârcolaci (werewolves), or Cel-rău (The Bad One; often used to recount Satan).

As you may have noticed from the list above, Romanians from olden times, similarly to other nations, associated vampires with the devil. Not only that, but in the country’s mythology it was often considered that Satan was the one turning children into the dreaded strigoi. As mentioned in Tudor Pamfile’s book Romanian Mythology, this could have either happened if the mother accidentally drank water poisoned by the demon or if she walked out of the house on a chilly night without wearing a hat. The latter was considered dangerous, because the devil would’ve placed one of his own hats on the baby’s head, which, if not removed in time, turned him into a vampire. There are other myths which state that certain souls of dead people could return as strigoi if they had been sinful during their lives. Various legends also tell stories about how these vampires would often dance on the night of November, 30th (St. Andrew) and cause troubles for the humans to wake up to. Sudden climate changes would have usually been attributed to them too. Peasants argued that the creatures would take away the cow’s milk, the field’s grains or the people’s strength. They would also be blamed for stopping the rain while causing hailstorms and death amongst the cattle. During certain celebrations, priests and villagers would have taken precautions to ensure that nobody turned into a vampire. And how did they do that? By appealing to the most renowned myth of all - the feared garlic, of course! The odorous vegetable would have been rubbed on the surfaces of windows, doors… and sometimes even the owners of the household. At the same time, children would have been given garlic necklaces to wear at night for protection.

The strigoi were considered to have long tails and a hairy spine - characteristics similar to those of werewolves. Nevertheless, no links can be found between their appearance and Vlad Țepeș. There once was a fallacious hypothesis claiming that the sensitivity to sun had actually commenced with Vlad the Impaler. However, that was quickly found to be utterly wrong, as the ruler was known to have fought gory, treacherous battles in broad daylight. Bram Stoker’s hero, Dracula, was unfortunately a mere romanticised version of Wallachia’s ruler. The Romanian Voivode was nicknamed Țepeș (The Impaler) due to his frequent executions through impalement. Still, his actual name was Vlad Drăculea (Vlad III), thanks to his father (Vlad II) who was part of the Order of the Dragon, and had thus received the nickname Dracul, after the Latin name of the order, Draco. Nowadays, he is called Vlad Dracula, as that is what most foreigners know him as. Many people believe that it was his severe punishments and apparent thirst for blood and justice altogether which inspired Stoker, yet another theory, supported by plenty of Romania’s historians, states that the Irishman could have actually been stimulated by some uncomplimentary propaganda about the Romanian leader. It seems that, during his reign, Vlad Țepeș had a number of feuds with the people of Brasov. This prompted them to start rumours about him, so that they could manipulate the public against him, and negatively impact his reputation. It was also widely known that Vlad Drăculea had a prodigious number of political enemies and that it became a habit of the irked noblemen of Romania, or other countries’ leaders, to launch scathing attacks against him, spreading pernicious rumours, which could have very well compiled into such a story even beyond the country’s borders. Whichever way it was, Bram Stoker’s novel played a huge part in transforming Transylvania (the Romanian region where Țepeș was born) into the land of rancorous vampires and gullible tourists. The main attraction of the area is now the towering Bran Castle - Dracula’s Castle. The sole reason for that being that it fitted in perfectly with the description of

the castle mentioned in Bram Stoker’s novel, as it was the sight that inspired the author. Other than that, there is no actual motive as to why Bran Castle would be known as Dracula’s dwelling, as Vlad the Impaler never actually lived there. Even so, this castle always represented one of Romania’s most successful marketing campaigns and became a top tourist attraction. On top of that, a figure of those times whose demeanour did in fact mirror that of Dracula, and who, therefore, could’ve made a better protagonist for Stoker’s novel, was the Hungarian Countess, Elizabeth Bathory. It is often believed that Dracula may actually represent an amalgamation of the erroneous propaganda about Vlad the III and this countess’ notorious crimes. That being true or not, there still isn’t any real proof of Vlad the Impaler being connected in any way to vampires.

So, even though you may not find real vampires in Romania, as most legends about them only serve to explain the random misfortunes of villagers, you can continue your search in other parts of the world, because almost every nation has legends about creatures similar to the Romanian strigoi - from the Albanian shtriga and dhampir to the Icelandic draugur (a corporeal ghost). Just make sure you have some garlic handy...

NEW TEACHER INTERVIEW: Meet Ms Elizabeth Platt

by Alexia Verdes, Year 12S

The latest addition to the Secondary School Team - Art Teacher, and Head of Secondary from August 2022

I also thought it was a subject that was forward-facing, allowing students to be creative, creating actual objects and liked to combine IT, creativity, and just about anything they can imagine.

Where are you from? I lived in Wirral, in the UK, quite near to Mr Ennion!

Where did you go to school? I went to school in Wirral, quite an old school which was mixed (both boys and girls), but it no longer exists as its now an academy.

What was your favourite subject at school? Art, and design and technology!

Which university did you go to? The University of Sheffield, doing media production as a degree, specializing in digital programming of plugins and animations (this was before apps existed apart from little java plugin things), and a master degree in Mobile technology (New Media technology).

What made you become a teacher? I was woRking in the design and technology field and wanted a change from the commercial sector and thought teaching would be a good opportunity to share my industry knowledge and experience and inspire the next generation of designers. Is this your first time working outside of your home country? No, I’ve worked in Russia, Brazil, Armenia, and China, so this definitely isn’t my first time teaching abroad.

Why did you come to IBSB? I was working in China at the time and felt it was time for a change due to the problems faced in China with all the COVID restrictions in place and limited opportunity to travel. I knew I wanted to teach somewhere closer to home, potentially in Europe, so I started looking for schools offering the British Curriculum with a good reputation, but also one that offered multiple career paths, with a positive and supportive teaching environment, and a good lifestyle outside school. IBSB was a school that ticked all the boxes.

How do you like Romania so far? I really enjoy Romania, and I have already started to explore the regions outside Bucharest, so I feel like to am getting to know it quite well. It has extremely beautiful countryside, an abundance of nature, amazing architecture, and kind very people. I’ve visited the Bucegi mountains, for example, and enjoyed several walks in the forests around Bucharest. Honestly, this country is just beautiful.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

Here, because as an international teacher I have the freedom to work anywhere in the world. I’m here in Romanian because it’s a great country to live in, with so much to offer anyone choosing to live here.

Is there anyone in art who has particularly inspired you?

Many artists have inspired me, but there’s a quote by Picasso that I return to a lot: Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. It’s my favorite quote because it reminds me that there’s no point sitting around doing nothing - keep working and the answer will come!!!

GCSE and A Level Art

by Elizabeth Platt

In Term 3, the Year 11 & 13 students were very busy completing their portfolios,, having already completed their preparation studies for their A’ Level and GCSE qualifications. These qualifications require students to develop and create artwork from their own experiences and inspirations. It is a journey the Year 10 students have just started this year, painting sketchbook studies, while Year 12 students are developing and exploring their individual ideas that will evolve into their final portfolios of work in Y13.

Alphabet Photography in Year 8 Art

by Elizabeth Platt

In Term 2, Year 8 were given a project to complete with the theme ‘alphabet photography’. This links directly to our SOW on street art, looking at typography and lettering styles. Their task was to photograph the alphabet based on found objects at home, on their balcony, or in their garden. It was a project designed specifically to encourage the students to think creatively about shapes, formats, and things that they would normally see everyday, transforming into letters. The results were achieved were inspiring, as you can see from the projects completed by Rex, Alexandra, and Liya. Well done Y8, you can all be incredibly proud of the work you produced!

Interschool Chess

by Mathew Kirk

On Friday the 18th of March, I was fortunate to be able to attend the Lycée Français Anna de Noailles for the first of (hopefully) many chess competitions, now that the pandemic restrictions have been relaxed.

The students and I met early at 8:30am at the designated meeting point and headed into a huge gymnasium full of students from the other international schools amongst rows of tables with chessboards already organised into categories; U16, U12, U10 and U8.

No sooner than we had put down our bags and carried out a minor exploration, with a complimentary coffee offered for the staff, that the first rounds started at 9:00am. The rules stated that there would be a total of 6 rounds with a 10 minute timer and 5 second increments per round, meaning that although the clock was counting down, after finishing the move the player had 5 seconds added to the time. If a player made three “impossible” moves, they lost the game by default. After each half an hour, a new round started and so the morning went by very quickly, with our players all managing a few wins (or valuable stalemates!).

One game that drew a lot of attention was our captain Rayan Badran and his opponent from the Deutsche Schule. Rayan was in a great position, down one piece, but with excellent time discipline. He put his opponent under a lot of pressure, as he had under a minute on the clock vs Rayan’s comfortable 5 minutes. The tense final few moves caused a lot of the hall to surround the two boys to witness Rayan winning his fourth game of the day!

Although, in the end, IBSB did not win any medals on that day, our students all said they had a brilliant time and an excellent experience overall. I know our students will be back next time looking for victory!

A special mention should be made of our students’ excellent behaviour and attitude during the day; they represented IBSB fantastically and I could not have been prouder of them, so a big well done to Rayan Badran, Alexandros Mandalenakis, David Philit Voinescu, Conor Xiang, and Erika Peet. They displayed great team spirit, were humble in both victory and defeat, and supported each other throughout the day.

The event also ran excellently, to the great credit to the organisers, who included our own primary school chess teacher Gabi Grecescu. We will definitely be returning next year, hopefully with an increased registration capacity, and our students primed and ready to say ‘Checkmate!”

IBSB Students reach Grand Final of COBIS World Music Competition 2022

by Mairead Lonergan

Congratulations to all 12 IBSB students who dedicated their time and effort to entering the COBIS - Council of British International Schools Virtual Music Competition 2022, hosted by Hartland International School, with 379 entries received from 54 schools across 4 continents.

We were told that the standard of entry this year was extremely high across all 14 categories, with just 4 participants chosen from each category to advance to Round 2, and just 2 participants selected to continue on to the Grand Final for each category.

It is therefore with a great sense of excitement and pride that we offer our heartfelt congratulations to both Andrei Peli (9K) and Ghita (11H) for making it through to the Grand Final of their respective categories, with Andrei Peli (Y9) eventually being awarded Runner up in the Middle School Piano category and Andrei Ghita (Y11), declared the overall Winner of the High School Contemporary Soloist category.

IBSB Students Selected for International Economics Olympiad 2022

by Kendall Peet

Congratulations to senior school students Maria Sticlea and Medeea Constantinescu, selected to represent Romania in the International Economics Olympiad 2022 – an annual international competition for high school students, focusing on the areas of Economics, Business, and Finance.

Successfully completing two rounds of national selection, it is an incredible achievement to have two students in the national team from the same school, and a tribute to both the students and the teachers at IBSB.

We would like to wish Maria, Medeea, and the other three members of the national team every success as they now prepare for the competition taking place from July 26th – August 1st, 2022. We would also like to thank Ms Blessy Savu in her preparing and supporting the students throughout the selection process.

UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge 2022

by Cristina Marascu

In each subject, there is always a group of students who stand out, possessing either a special ability or that extra degree of passion, leading them to excel well above and beyond national expectations. This is certainly very true when it comes to mathematics, with an enthusiastic number of students always keen to enter the various maths competitions that take place each and every year. These competitions offer a colourful variation of challenging problems for young people to tackle, no matter their age and stage, and as such Mathematical Challenges and Olympiads can be both an excellent source of extrinsic motivation and an excellent opportunity to test one’s mathematical ability on the international stage.

The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge is a 60-minute competition aimed at students across the UK and aims to promote a love of problem solving. It encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems. The problems in the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge are usually accessible to all, yet still able to challenge those with more experience and are specifically designed to make students think.

Achievement Awards are also not solely for academic achievement – they may be used to recognise a personal triumph for someone who has faced a challenge, or for young people who have pushed themselves outside of their comfort zone, or may even be an opportunity to recognise the outstanding efforts they put into it.

The UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge took place this year on Wednesday, April 27, with over 30 participants taking part. Therefore, a big well done to all those who took part and congratulations to the following students who received a bronze, silver, or gold award:

Aida Dragomirescu- best in school and gold certificate Karina Balasescu- best in year and gold certificate Andrei Peli- gold certificate Lisa Tiplea- gold certificate Andrei Stoenescu- silver certificate Rares Saizu- bronze certificate Nina Culea- bronze certificate Oltean Alexandru- bronze certificate Alessia Grozea- bronze certificate

SCHOOL VIEWS

IBSB hosts Middle School European Debate Championships

by Kendall Peet

On Thursday, March 22, 2022, IBSB had the pleasure of hosting the third edition of the European Middle School (U16) Debating Championships, after a two-year break due to the COVID restrictions in place. With travel concerns still present, the event this year was a strictly local affair, with the list of participating schools including Avenor College, the British School of Bucharest, the Cambridge School of Bucharest, the International British School of Bucharest, Ioanid, and Lycée Français Anna de Noailles.  

Being a middle school debate competition, the focus on the event was less on winning, and more on learning the art of debating, developing as a debater during the competition, but most of all, having fun and making some new friends. To this extent, the competition adopted a format not traditionally used in debating competitions, with mixed-team rounds included to enable students from the various schools to enjoy the experience of debating together. There was also a considerable focus on feedback after each debate, identifying areas for each debater to improve on in the next round of debates. This does not mean, however, that students never debated in their school teams, as the first ‘prepared’ debate and final impromptu debate were both school team debates.

The following is a review of the day by Maia Bucura, Year 7.

The day began with a welcome speech and introduction offering a brief overview of how the competition was going to be conducted, and by the end of the short presentation, you could definitely tell that all of the teams present were both excited and a little nervous about the competition ahead.

Everybody then headed off to find their assigned rooms, and the debating officially began. Reemerging from their rooms into the hallways an hour later, the result was clear, as some looked disappointed in defeat, whilst others were elated in victory, with big beaming smiles on their faces. All debaters had one goal, however, which was to improve and do better in their next debate.

The prepared debate now over, the next four debates were impromptu, meaning all of the debaters had to eagerly wait for the motion to be drawn. The following debates, however, were special, as the teams weren’t organized how you’d expect them to be, with mixed teams consisting of students from the different schools and varying ages. Added to this challenge, was also the need to agree on the position of each member in the newly formed team and to prepare for the debate in just 30 minutes without a digital device to help you, which some considered more difficult and others actually preferred.

Also, during the mixed debates, the judges didn’t simply have to declare a winning team, but instead had to give each individual debater a score to added to their team points, so each debater did the best they could individually, aiming to both help their team and themselves in the race for the “Best Debate Award”.

With the second, third, and fourth debates over, it was finally time for everyone to gather in the main debate room for the big news. The points gathered in each debate were added up, which paired teams for the final debate, with IBSB1 debating IBSB 2. Coins were flipped, motions picked, and the final debate

was underway.

Then, after a long day of debating, the moment everyone had waited for…and the winners of this years middle school debate coopetition are…Lycée Français Anna de Noailles.

The trophy presentation over, it was now time to unwind and enjoy a social dinner at Taverna Sarbului, where everybody got to enjoy socializing with their new friends.

In the end, it was a great day enjoyed by all, as we all developed as debaters while having fun. As every single debater from our school was younger and less experienced than the debaters in the other teams, it was a great opportunity to learn and grow, becoming more skillful debaters, better prepared for our next competition.

Congratulations to the students from Français Anna de Noailles for their welldeserved victory. Congratulations also to Maia Bucura (Y7) and David Martin Murillo (Y7), for receiving ‘Best Debate Awards’, and to all our young IBSB debaters who participated in this years competition, all of whom were from Years 7 & 8 in their very first debate competition, debating against students 2-3 years older than themselves, showing incredible spirit and perseverance, but most importantly for enjoying themselves and finishing eager to compete in the next middle school debate competition, which will take place at BSB on June 16.

Thank you to the debate coaches from each of the participating schools for helping out with the judging in each round, providing the students with valuable feedback, and for contributing to a very well run event that ended with everyone feeling the day was a big success!

Finally, a big thank you to our event sponsors, Deloitte, Pro Business Solutions, and the Ramada Plaza, for making this event possible, contributing to education of the next generation of future leaders.

IBSB Middle School Debating Success

by James Hudson

Congratulations to the IBSB Middle School Debate teams for an outstanding performance at the International Schools Middle School Debate Competition this year, hosted by BSB on Thursday, June 16, 2022.

Building on their early experience at the European Middle School Debating Competition, hosted by IBSB in April, the returning debaters provided plenty of evidence to support the notion that ‘practice makes perfect’, or at the very least builds confidence.

For many of our junior IBSB debaters, however, it was their first debate competition, and therefore an unexpected surprise to find both IBSB1 & IBSB2 passing through the three rounds of morning debates undefeated, with IBSB1 eventually making it all the way to the grand final, based on the points gained from the morning debates.

More important that winning debates though, was the invaluably experience gained working together as a team, whilst developing the various skills relating to public debating, including developing good listening skills, building confidence speaking publically in front of an audience, forming clear, well-supported arguments, answering challenging questions with grace under pressure, learning the art of diplomacy, and establishing a sense of rapport with the audience, being just a sample of the skills associated with public debate.

A special thank you to the British School of Bucharest for hosting the event, enabling students from international schools across Bucharest to meet and make friends, whilst developing an important life skill. Our students are already looking forward to the next interschool debate competition, which IBSB will be hosting in November, 2022. Stay tuned for more updates!

My first experience debating live, Maria Yang (Y10) The MS Debate Completion was an exciting yet challenging experience for both IBSB teams, as for many of us it was our very first time debating against students from other schools!

On the day of the competition, we were greeted warmly by the BSB staff and had the chance to meet many new students and staff from the various participating schools.

The morning started with morning tea and a short welcome and introduction of all the participating schools, before announcing the rooms for the first prepared debate on the motion “THBT a school curriculum should be designed by students not by adults”, with IBSB1 debating the Greek school Aletheea, and IBSB2 up against CSB2.

With the first round over, and both IBSB 1 and IBSB2 collecting valuable points, all teams enjoyed a short break before heading into two rounds of impromptu debates before lunch, with IBSB1 achieving 2 wins and a draw, and IBSB 2 a win and two draws – all in all a successful result from the morning round of debates.

After lunch, there was an light hearted impromptu showcase debate, with the best debaters from the eight participating teams invited to debate for the entertainment of all present, as a nice build up to the rather more serious grand final between IBSB1 and Avenor College. For me personally, this was the highlight of the day.

Although many people in our teams were new to debating, we managed to pull through all the way to the finals where we had the opportunity to debate against Avenor! During the final, both teams showed a great deal of courage, presenting some truly outstanding arguments in front of a large, supportive audience, and although we did not win the final debate, we all agreed it was a great day enjoyed, with everyone feeling they had improved as debaters, feeling beyond grateful to have come so far in such a short space of time, and to be returning home with yet another debating trophy for our school collection! 

All in all, the atmosphere was delightful and being able to work together with my colleagues throughout the numerous impromptu debates was an amazing learning experience. All opposing teams showed kindness and courtesy and so we were looking forward to sharing different insights and opinions regarding different topics. This competition definitely helped me gain more knowledge and confidence over a variety of topics.

IBSB debaters make Sir Winston Churchill Future Leaders Debate Final once again!

by Matthew Tansley

As proud hosts of the annual Sir Winston Churchill Future Leaders High School Debating Championships, IBSB would like to congratulate all participating schools in this year’s competition. General feedback from all participating schools indicates that everyone was extremely happy to be back debating face to face, and that the quality of debating was once again very high, despite a two-year hiatus.

Special congratulations to Team IBSB for once again making it all the way through to the Grand Final undefeated, with Team Captain Maria Sticlea receiving the ‘Best Debater Award’.

“We had to take a two-year break from debating because of the coronavirus pandemic, so it was amazing to be back at the competition again! I really enjoyed meeting everyone and reconnecting with the old debaters I knew from previous events, and I have to say, overall the experience was truly unmatched.” Maria Sticlea, Team Captain

Thank you also to the Director of the British Council, Andrew Glass, for helping to judge the final, and to our generous sponsors, Ramada Plaza for supplying the venue, complete with food and beverages, and Pro Business Solutions and Deloitte, for supplying the trophies and contributing toward the overall costs of running the competition.

We look forward to seeing our students in action again next year, as all team members, with the exception Melissa Aydogan (Y13), including Maria Sticlea, Sarah Iosiper, Alexia Verdes, and Andrei Vernon are currently in year 12, so will be back again next year to fly the IBSB debate flag high!

What better way to learn than by exploring the great outdoors?

by Amalia Anicescu Year 11

It is no secret that Romania has a myriad of fascinating sites to explore. Many of the country’s villages have an amazing, lengthy history, embroidered with a vast cultural heritage which never fails to astound inquisitive visitors. Piscu, a relatively small village situated only 45 minutes away from bustling Bucharest, is one such place.

Ergo, this April, some of the participants of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award embarked on an enthralling journey to discover more about the pottery craft, traditions and cultural heritage of this forgotten, peaceful village.

Our tour began at the National Museum of the Village “Dimitrie Gusti” in Bucharest. There, we finally got the chance to meet all of the participants and supervisors and to form the teams. The first Bronze group included Andrei Stere, Andreea Albu, Rianna Tanase and Emily, a student from another participating school. The second one included myself, David Kiiovschi, Maia Hagai and Alina Barbu. There was also a Silver team which was formed by Maria Sticlea, Ioana Museteanu, Kathleen Hughes and Ana Cristescu.

After the administrative aspects were completed, we were ready to start our first mission! Each team was given a map of the museum, which we had to use in order to find different monuments dispersed all around the area. Once we discovered where they were located, we chatted with other tourists or the houses’ hosts, who provided us with generous insights which aided us enormously as we managed to gather all of the required information about how Romanians used to build their houses in days gone by. As expected, each team encountered struggles as well - some of the locations we had to explore were quite hard to find or even closed down, and, at first, gaining information from passersby was challenging. Nevertheless, through perseverance and determination, we all managed to find alternative solutions and eventually completed the opening task.

Not long after, we arrived at our accommodation where we were traditionally welcomed by the hosts with a basket of bread and salt. On our way there, we had already gotten our first glimpse of the subtle beauties of Piscu. We couldn’t wait to find out more about it in the next couple of days.

The first evening was enigmatically dubbed ‘Fireflies Evening’. Accompanied by Miss Croci and Ms Senzaconi, we all ventured into the neighbouring area, looking for the overpass which crosses over the Ialomita River. As soon as we got there, we expected to see dozens of lightning bugs,

however, we were quickly informed that the actual fireflies were ourselves, since we all wore headlamps. Slightly surprised yet amused, we returned to the accommodation, excited to find out what other challenges awaited us.

The next day’s programme commenced early: we first had to prove that our knowledge of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award’s procedural matters was crystal clear, as many of us were on our first ever ‘Adventurous Journey’. After conducting the appropriate research through a fun, enticing game, we were finally ready to start mapping out and planning our route for the day. Each team heedfully studied the trails across the landmass which surrounded us and identified a circuit based around the touristic locations we had to visit and investigate.

We first stopped at the Piscu Orthodox Church, waiting for all the groups to reunite. However, our main aim was to find out more about our next meeting point, the Tiganesti Monastery. In order for us to get there, we had to pass an abundance of hurdles. We were on a tight schedule, therefore, we all decided to take a shortcut to the Monastery. Instead of walking all the way around a field which was spread over a vast area, we decided to pass right through it. It was all going well at first, we were all proud of the initial decision…Unexpectedly though, as we were nearing its end, the realisation that the land was bordered by a riverbed hit us. We tried going another way, but there, a new property was located, guarded by a barbed wired fence. Just as we were anxiously beginning to question whether we should walk all the way back to the principal road or not, we found an exit, and exhaled in relief. From there, we easily got to the Monastery, where Mother Pavelina, one of the nuns, told us all about the history of the sacred location, offering to also lead us on a guided tour of the church’s museum. I was amazed by some of the artefacts we saw there: books dating back to the 1600s which were still in an intact state, and even one of the first successful attempts made by a Romanian painter to create a realistic portrait. Astonished by everything we saw, we walked back to the accommodation, with the teams racing each other to get there first for a relaxing, well-deserved break.

After a satisfying lunch, we visited the renowned Piscu Pottery Museum. The bewitching, grandiose construction is situated on the top of a grassy hillock in the middle of the welcoming village. Exquisite details can be noticed both on the outside and inside of the museum; no one can underestimate the prodigious amount of effort put into constructing the building. As we walked in, we saw that - unlike other museums – there was no conservation glass to frame the artefacts. They were all laid out on different shelves that encircled the principal area of the ground floor - a conversation pit, in the middle of which the roots of a chunky tree trunk were firmly secured.

Still, the greatest amazement came when we visited the second floor. There, we went into the workshop and also viewed many of the paintings the artists there made. In the end, we reached the captivating 3D Infinity Mirror Room, where they display documentaries about the area’s cultural heritage.

The owners of the amazing gallery welcomed us and told us a bit about how the project came to life. We discovered that Piscu had been occupied by potters for centuries on end, as many of the materials used in pottery were conveniently available in the area. Even so, nowadays, the craft has become less of a necessity, thus the number of craftsmen is decreasing. That’s why this museum plans to revive the village’s history, and possibly to bring about another generation of potters. They wish to do this by engaging young people in activities similar to those we conducted while we were there. We had a chance to try pottery with the help of experts who were of a similar age to us, and built our own functional pieces of artwork. In addition to this, we also painted flowerpots and worked hard to make engravings; developing new skills and consolidating already existing ones.

It was a busy, full day for all of us, nonetheless, we were all excited about everything we had accomplished and created during the day. Back at our accommodation, we built a campfire, roasted marshmallows, and laughed heartily, remembering the silly obstacles we had encountered earlier on.

On the last day of our trip, we attended a workshop where we made all kinds of mosaics. The materials we used were all recycled, and our host, Ms Elena, shared with us information about how she came up with the concept. Since she was in the property development business, building ecological houses, she noticed that extra material which could be used to create different artwork, was always left behind. Therefore, she came up with the idea to model mosaics from them. She also shared a wealth of information about the benefits of ecological houses and offered us the opportunity to learn more about how they are built. She even invited us to assist her and the team on the construction site during the summer if we wished to do so!

As the day was coming to an end, we had to write our final reports and then present them in front of everybody. All of the presentations were assembled joyfully and then displayed in humorous ways. Once the ending ceremony was over, we all erupted in rapturous applause, pleased with everything we had attained over the course of the three days, and excited to know that through this exploration camp we all triumphantly completed the ‘Adventurous Journey’ section of the Award.

Soon after, we all packed our bags and headed back home, looking forward to the next opportunity to set out on a thrilling jaunt.

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Celebrating Reading and Francophonie!

by Daniela Monirleanu

Tea, cookies, and a book – the perfect recipe to celebrate the Francophonie and the World Book Day. Since it was about books and languages, the Spanish group was there too with its reading corner. The students all said it was a great way to start the week:

Today in French we deviated from our usual schedule and went to read and eat at the lunch hall. It was a very pleasant experience reading “L’arbre et les lycéens” and eating cookies and brownies and drinking tea. It is very important for us to leave our classrooms once in a while to study in different locations because not only is it enjoyable, but also it also gives us a changed mindset. I hope we will be able to do this again. Anushka Laha 9K

It felt like we were no longer in school, and drinking tea added a nice touch to the reading. Ecaterina Botan 9E

It was something new and exciting, which brought us all together. We enjoyed a conversation about the book we were reading as we drank some tea and ate biscuits, we were reading, which was nice and relaxing. It also broke the routine of sitting in a classroom listening to the teacher. It honestly brought a lot of joy to our day! Anastasia Iortoman 9K

Mondays are usually a big no for me, especially in the morning; today was an exception! Ms Dana, our French teacher, had the brilliant idea of letting us read our current book, “L’arbre des lyceens”, in the school cafeteria while serving baked goodies and a cup of hot tea. I really enjoyed speaking in French while sharing thoughts and laughs with my classmates and teacher! Maria Yang 9K

Where to begin.. Fun reading activities, writing, tea and snacks, describes one wonderful, diverting, lesson. We read about the famous city of Barcelona and did some short exercises, first individually and then as a group. We also enjoyed eating snacks together with a cup of tea and relaxed; just what a student needs on a Monday morning. I couldn’t have imagined a World Book Day to have gone any better, having fun together as a class and learning some new vocabulary at the same time. Natalie Kandelaki - 9E   

Today in Spanish, instead of studying in our usual classroom, we went to the lunch room to have some tea, cookies, and crackers while we took turns reading a book about Barcelona, which was a lot of fun. We also did some exercises, learnt some new vocabulary words, and also improved our pronunciation, so it was a great start to the week. Aida Dragomirescu - 9K

SaySpeakSpell

by Matthew Tansley

I would like to thank the English team of Tara Rose, Peter Ennion, and Michelle Gourley for a fantastic event that took place on Friday, June 17, which was our inaugural “SaySpeakSpell” competition. 

This event involved public speaking, a spelling bee, and live performance, and was absolutely fantastic to behold, once again confirming that the quality of public speaking at IBSB is of a very high level indeed. 

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in this event, but in particular to the following students:

1st Place Y7&8 Public Speaking - Maia Bucura 7B 1st Place Y9&10 Public Speaking - Nina Culea 10R 1st Place IBSB Spelling Bee - Maia Bucura 7B 1st Place Performance - Augadh Arora 10R, Nina Culea 10R, & Andrada Samoila Zamfirescu 10O

For those who participated, but did not receive an award, here is always next time: “If at first we do not succeed, we must try, try, try again!” As learners we must be resilient, able to bounce back from disappointment, so that that is not a case of ‘if’ but rather ‘when’ we succeed.  This was the theme for my graduation speech, dealing with adversity and disappointment at different points in our life, noting that those who are successful, those who perform, are those who are resilient and can deal with those challenges.