TIV Issue 2, February 2013

THE INTERNATIONAL

VOICE Issue 2, February 2013

IBSB News and Views - By the Students for the Students

A GREAT WEEK FOR DEBATING 1 WEEK, 2 TROPHIES

COBIS WORLD CHAMPIOSHIPS

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

Highlights Feature Articles: Winter Play

Find out just how many students you can squeeze into a London Phone box - page 44, what the students in primary have been working on over the winter - pages 28-37, which are Ms Carman’s all time favourite restaurants - pages 26 & 27, what 50+ students got up to on the school ski trips - pages 48 & 49, and much more all in this issue of TIV.

London Trip Debating Competition Character’s Party UN Day Top Ten Eateries School Ski Trips

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Editorial Team Journalists/Contributors Petru (Year 7), Andrei (Year 10), Denisa (Year 11), Alexandra (Year 12), Alex (Year 12), Anemona (Year 12), Mamta (Year 12), Sonia (Year 12), Alexander (Year 12), Kira (Year 12), Catrinel (Year 12), Victor (Year 12) Alba (Year 13), Maria (Year 13), Daniel (Year 13) Contributing Teachers Ms. Andrea Carman Mr Kendall Peet Coordinators Student Editor: Alexandra (Year 13) Student Assistant Editor: Sebastian (Year 12) Teacher Coordinator: Mr Trevor Kingston Junior School Whiteboard: Ms Camelia Nicolau Layout: Mr Florin Ghita

Office Staff Aura Bogdan Executive Director

Ana Maria Stere Extra-curricular Services Officer

Contact information: ADDRESS: 21 Agricultori St. District 2, Bucharest, Romania, 021481 TEL: (+4)021.253.16.98 FAX: (+4)021.253.16.97 E-MAIL: office@ibsb.ro WEB: www.ibsb.ro

Lea Cohen Marketing

Iulia Boboc Human Resources

Florina Georgescu PR Officer

Elena Iliuta Finance

On behalf of all the office staff, and teachers we would like to thank the students and parents for contributing to a smooth academic year.

The school continues to grow and develop with each year and we are interested to receive your feedback . If you have time and would like to be more involved in the school, please come along to one of our PTF meetings.

We look forward to seeing you there.

International British School of Bucharest

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Editor’s Letter Dear Readers, I must admit, I was pretty irresponsible this issue, and I would like to warmly congratulate Sebastian for allowing me to be so. As successor for the Editor position, Seb took almost all responsibility for this issue and deserves all the credit for it. It is rare to meet a person who is so willing to learn. From the moment I offered Seb the job he started coming up with new ideas and assuming responsibility. For the first issue, he helped me as Assistant Editor, however, for this current issue, Seb decided to try and do it by himself, to train his skills for when he will be forced to do so next year. All in all, Sebastian has all my respect and I am really glad to work with him- this is not only because it’s more fun and efficient, but because now I trust that the TIV will be left in good, responsible and enthusiast hands.

You will also notice that we tweaked the TIV a bit, coming up with little improvements where we could. Also, the process of making this issue was more entertaining, as we battled numerous deadlines and ended up working an entire day non-stop in order to get the TIV finished on time.

Without further ado, I would like to thank everyone who wrote for the TIV, the Primary School for their input (and for allowing us to work in their ICT room) and especially Mr Kingston and Sebastian M. for all their hard work.

Alexandra L. (TIV Editor)

Assistant Editor’s Letter I would like to start by saying that this is the first issue which I have had the pleasure of experiencing first hand, in the sense that I learnt what it meant to truly be in charge of such a challenging project. For me it was a baptism of fire, and I can only hope that the cumulative hard work of everyone involved in producing this newspaper resulted in an issue which is successful and worth reading. Seeing as Alexandra has mentioned everything that I believe is worth mentioning , I would like to say a few words about my experience Reading from a book never gave me the insight into life that hands on work actually provides; naturally there are some pieces of literature which aim to inspire, however I believe that nothing equates to the actual experience itself, and I think that it is therefore essential for people to always try to experience life firsthand in as many areas as possible. It may sound like a cliché but the phrase “You can be whatever you want to be, and do whatever you want to do”, has never been more appropriate; however it is difficult to know what you want to do in life, if you don’t experience some life.

It occurred to me quite recently that passion is the fuel for everything that is related to progress. If you lack love towards something, then it shall be a long and grueling process to complete. Several people to which I have spoken to relating job orientation and career choices have mentioned passion. One of them told me about their friend who had two sons, both of which studied, and practiced medicine. The older brother had a passion for medicine, so much so that he became a successful doctor abroad. His younger brother however was, more or less, forced into going to medical university, and from what I gathered from the story he was not as successful as his brother. Now of course there are several confounding variables which set this off, but as far as I can tell the main issue was passion, and it perplexes me when I see people pursuing careers for all the wrong reasons. If you are going to do something, do it for the right reasons.

Sebastian M., Year 12

Contributions invited for Issue 3 The TIV is a project based on personal initiative and thus it is dependent in the input of curious and willing people, that have ideas and are interested in reporting them to the rest of the community. Therefore, we encourage anyone that is interested in contributing something to TIV to contact us, as any new idea is a welcome idea. We are trying to promote our opinions and report events accurately, and invite anyone to join us in this exciting project.

TIV Team

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Steering a Course for the Future Educating Confident Successful Learners The SMT met recently to finalise the new Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and Aims for IBSB for the next three years. It is important to get these right as they form the corner stones of a school, ensuring that we all have a shared vision and are clear on what it is that we are trying to achieve and where it is that we are heading. In a way it is like locating yourself on a map and then selecting a destination in which to head.

First you need to assess your current situation accurately, taking into account various aspects, such as the curriculum you provide, the teachers teaching it, the learning environment, the results achieved, and the systems and procedures in place to manage the process to ensure that a high level of quality is maintained and that reflection is going on to ensure that areas for improvement are identified and plans put in place to ensure that goals are reached.

You also need to assess developments that are going on within the local community and the international community in regard to education, and to take account of student, teacher, and parent feedback and to set a course accordingly. As a part of this process we collect student, teacher, and parent questionnaires and hold regular meetings with all groups throughout the course of the year to get as much feedback as possible in order to know what we are doing well and in which areas we need to improve.

As a result of all this work, we were eventually able to arrive at our new Mission statement, which we believe takes into account both what we currently do and what we all value:

IBSB Mission Statement Working together to create an exceptional learning experience which motivates and inspires our students to strive for academic excellence, educating responsible, globally minded citizens ready to face the challenges of tomorrow.

As an inner city school, our focus is on achieving academic excellence, and although our students and parents are interested in sports and extracurricular activities, the overwhelming response was that IBSB should be an institution aimed at achieving outstanding results; and looking at our exam results from last year and this, it is clear that our programme provides students with the opportunity to excel academically, with our students being accepted in universities such as Cambridge and UCL. We have identified a number of areas for improvement, in regard to our tracking and A Level programme and we are currently focusing on these areas, with improved results already in the A Level Oct/Nov exams session, with both our A-A* and the B-A* pass rates up on last year, and in fact the best ever.

We aim to continually work to improve these results, to ensure that your children have the opportunity to aim as high as they dream and to achieve their dreams with a commitment to hard work and the support of a dedicated team of teachers , working closely with parents to ensure that our students remain focused and on track.

Knowing what it is that we do, we now have to set our goals as an institution at a level that will require us all to raise our game. With academic results on the rise and our graduates now being accepted into the top universities around the world, it is necessary to set our goals high to encourage us to work hard to reach the next level. With this in mind, knowing that there are some excellent schools with higher academic results in the international community, our Vision Statement is now:

IBSB Vision Statement To improve the quality of teaching and learning to the point that we are recognised as one of the leading schools in Europe.

This is not a goal easily achieved as this will require continual reflection and improvement across the entire school, from the facilities and courses offered, to the teaching and learning that takes place on campus. The Senior Management Team, are currently working on putting in place a 3-5 year development plan which will lead to the expansion of the school, including the facilities and services we are able to offer our students, to ensure that we are able to keep pace with the changes that are Kendall Peet taking place within the education sector. We look forward to sharing this plan with you soon and to Head of School continued discourse to ensure that we he your support along the way.

International British School of Bucharest

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Performance Morning On the morning of December 6th, Key Stage 3 students, as well as parents and teachers were invited to gather at restaurant Casa Jienilor. The purpose of this event was to share and appreciate written work related to poetry and drama. Everybody had a lot of fun: Year 8 combined comedy and romance with Dracula; Year 7 students were more serious in their approach to the injustices done to the Native American people; Year 9 bravely took on the role of the main character, a 15 year old autistic boy, from their novel of study and others simply and passionately read poetry.

During the performances, the audience sipped on hot beverages and munched on pastries brought out throughout the morning. Students weren’t the only ones to perform, teachers performed too: Ms. Katie read her favourite poem, Mr. Kingston took the stage with the world’s scariest Shakespeare reading ever and Mr. Angel even got his guitar out and played for everyone. As mentioned before, parents were invited too, but were much happier just watching.

Whether you performed or not, all who attended had a great, relaxing and fun time. It was an entertaining way to show parents and colleagues some of the brilliant work being done in English. This was Ms. Katie’s idea, so on behalf of all of Key Stage 3, I want to thank her for her wonderful ideas and great teaching.

Maria S., Year 9

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IBSB - Self Evaluation Self Evaluation, Teaching and Learning Continually seeking ways to improve ourselves!

“To improve the quality of teaching and learning to the point we are recognized as one of the leading schools in Europe”.

I am sure most of you, having received our weekly newsletters, have recognised the quotation above already. This sentence represents the IBSB Vision Statement and it clearly says in a very few words what we are trying to achieve at IBSB. We are a school which recognises that teaching and learning are the focus and, as such, are the most important things happening in an education establishment like ours.

We believe that teachers are a school’s most important resource. The way we, as teachers, relate to our students and implement our ideas and knowledge in the classroom has a fundamental impact on their future; we live in an ever changing world, where teaching and learning is going through changes all the time, thanks to a number of factors related to technology and global issues, and our teaching needs to keep pace with these changes.

We recognise that, as teachers, today we must learn to continually adapt our teaching style to ensure that we are as effective as we can be, matching our teaching style to the subject and class in front of us – children of different ages, with different backgrounds, from different countries, with different learning styles and with different values and perspectives of the world.

These are just a few things that make this profession as challenging as it is interesting and rewarding. The bottom line is that we are all, the students and the teachers, learners in a learning environment. We as teachers must keep our eyes and ears open and always try to find ways to improve our practice for the benefit of our children.

Where are we?

Where do we want to be?

How do we get there?

At IBSB we run an annual Self-Evaluation process to continually find ways to improve the overall academic and extracurricular programme offered to our children. At IBSB we recognise that a good school must:  Have a dynamic leadership team who lead from the front, setting the

course and the pace of development in a can do/will do culture  Have strong systems in place and continually look to improve these systems to ensure high standards are maintained and outcomes achieved, with an underlying commitment to continuous and sustained improvement  Recruit teachers who are qualified and experienced and who are passionate about teaching, continually seeking to improve the quality of their teaching and to extend the curriculum opportunities available to students  Provide opportunities for our teachers to develop with an effective appraisal system in place that monitors teacher performance, giving clear feedback with specific targets and the support needed to achieve those targets  Shape the curriculum to serve the changing needs of the pupils  Regularly track student progress, meeting with students and parents regularly to ensure that teachers, students and parents are working together to help each and every student to achieve their potential.

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IBSB - Self Evaluation (continued) As a part of our Quality Assurance Programme, we carry out annual Lesson Observations, with new teachers observed in the first few weeks of term, and with returning teachers observed by both a Senior Management Team member and Middle Management Team member in Term 1, with a follow-up observation in Term 2. These are carried out according to ISI (Independent School Inspectorate) guidelines to best help us monitor the teaching and learning in our school. The feedback from these sessions feeds into our Annual Performance Review, providing us with an opportunity to offer the appropriate support to our staff.

We also believe that one of the best ways to improve our teaching is by reflecting on what we do with the help of our colleagues. This is why, as part of our annual professional development sessions, we encourage our teachers to carry out peer observation, visiting each other’s lessons in order to observe and reflect on teaching strategies, behaviour management, assessment, and learning styles.

It is not as much about being the best, but rather more about doing your best!

I would like to end this article with a quote that I believe best describes the impact we, as teachers, have on our children, the future generations: “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” (James Baldwin) This is why, as teachers, it is not just what we do and say that matters, but also how we do it and how we say it. Finding the most effective way to communicate and to relate to our children is fundamentally important in teaching today.

Mr Ciprian Tiplea Deputy Head of School

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Dragons Den 2012 - Survival of the Fittest During the course of the months since the new school year started, you might have noticed that the ICT room has been a little bit nosier and disorganised than it usually is. That, and Mr Lee slightly more annoyed. This is because every Friday, Year 10 Business students, occupy it and busily work away, establishing a general murmur of voices blending in together in such a way so that they are indistinguishable from one another. If you were lucky enough to find a free space in the ICT room, you probably know what I am referring to.

If not, I can tell you that this occurs because we have been working on our Dragons’ Den projects for this year. It requires us to come up with a hypothetical business idea that could be put into practice. It can be as simple or as innovative as you like, as long as it is realistic. Ms Crane however, advised us to “keep it simple and achievable”.

After all preparation is done (business plan, forecasts, strategies, everything!) you pitch your idea to the “Dragons”, who are the judges – excuse me – investors. You ask for a certain amount of money (limited to €10,000) you require for your business, which is partly the reason why Ms Crane advised us that way. When all is prepared and ready to go, each group will pitch their idea and the top 3 teams will go on to the next round with the other international schools.

So far we are doing excellently; we have all sorts of clever business ideas - ranging from state-of-the-art sports centres to high-end bakeries and restaurants. We are split into 5 different groups consisting of 2 to 5 members.

Freddy and I are working on a modern tennis court, Cora and Cristine are setting up a bakery downtown, Alexandra, Andreea, Yagmur, Catinca and Andreea S. are establishing a spa at the Romanian mountains, Nicolo, Maria, Steve and Alin are doing an adventure park in the forest just outside Bucharest and Vladi, Zoe, Adina and Angeliki are setting up a breakfast club near Bucharest’s centre. Problematic questions were asked by the judges – ah, I did it again – investors and quick, shrewd answers were given. Then, at the end, we all kept our ears open at Ms Crane and Mr Tiplea who were giving us advice on how to improve our projects and we all took notes attentively.

Now we have just started off again after a well-deserved break and are currently reviewing figures, revising strategies, and thinking of new ways of making a profit – that sort of thing. Wish us luck!

Meanwhile, I have a new business idea, producing ear plugs for poor Mr Lee! Andrei D., Year 10

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ESU Public Speaking Competition Friends, Romanians, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Ears!

On Saturday February 2nd, students from IBSB participated in the first qualifying round of the 2013 ESU Public Speaking Competition and achieved outstanding results, with Navya A. winning her round in the 11-15 age group and Emilia M. and George finishing second in their respective heats. Zoe S. finished an excellent third, with Andrei C., Flavia G., Vladimir S. and Steve S. all receiving “Honourable Mentions” and progressing on to the next round.

Having attended the event in the capacity of a judge, I have to stay that the standard was truly superb. Had students been speaking in their native tongues, the quality of the argument and the delivery of the speeches would have been excellent, but for this to be achieved in a second language is nothing short of remarkable.

Our students were, for the most part, competing against older students, but held their own amazingly well. The composure shown by all the contestants was eye opening, and as each speech was delivered, I found myself thinking, “That individual is marked out for huge success in life into the future.”

Younger students were speaking on the subject of “Ideas are our greatest weapons”, with the older age group on the topic of “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. These were umbrella themes, and as such the contestants delivered speeches over a wide range of topics including bullying, family pressure, cooperation to achieve a goal and the power of technology to change the world for the better.

There is now the opportunity for our students to work on their speeches ahead of the next round. The competition is fierce, but with polishing and tweaking, we should enjoy still further success.

Well done to all who participated and a big thank you to the parents, teachers and students who came along to offer their support.

Mr Trevor Kingston

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COBIS WORLD DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIPS 1 Week , 2 Competitions, 2 Trophies Runner’s Up Silver Plate, Prague, February 2013 On the back of their success in winning the Bucharest International Schools Sir Winston Churchill ‘Future Leaders’ Public Debating Competition, the IBSB Debating Team, headed off to Prague to compete in the COBIS World Debating Championships. The team were excited to be competing with teams from around the world and were also excited to see the standard of debating- they were not disappointed.

On Day 1 our team competed in the prepared debates, and having just come from the Bucharest International Schools Competition, we found that there just wasn’t sufficient time to prepare for this round of debates, debating against teams who were clearly both very well prepared and experienced year-round debaters. One of the coaches informed us that this was his 120th international debating competition and being that this was IBSBs first International debating competition, we knew that we had a big mountain to climb.

On Day 2 we entered into the impromptu debate section and fared much better. With each round a motion was drawn from the hat in the main auditorium and the teams then headed off to their respective preparation rooms, with 30 mins to prepare for their debate. Impromptu debates are by far the best was to test the debating skills of a team as there are no teachers to assist and only the collective knowledge and experience of the teams as no electronic devices are allowed. This was IBSBs chance to shine, and shine they did as they debated their way to the finals, where they can up against the British School of Berlin on the motion ‘The house believes that organ donation should be obligatory’. It was a tightly fought final, but in the end Berlin won the day.

Without a doubt it was a great weekend and an experience that saw the IBSB debate team improve significantly with each debate. Our students also made friends from around the world and received a number of invitations to visit and debate other schools in the year ahead. We have already agreed to have a student exchange with the British School of Berlin, and Repton, Dubai, with additional opportunities likely to arise in the next few weeks. This will certainly do a lot to promote debating at IBSB. Congratulations to all our students in the school debate team, not only for your success, but for your exemplary behaviour during both debate competitions.

International British School of Bucharest

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Bucharest Debating Competition Winning the Argument IBSB Triumph in the Sir Winston Churchill ‘Future Leaders’ Bucharest Debating Competition It is said that history is written by the victors. Well, today we wrote history as the International British School of Bucharest emerged triumphant in the 4th edition of the annual Sir Winston Churchill Future Leaders’ Bucharest International Public Speaking Competition - for the first time ever!

Led by co-captains Alexander P. and Catrinel V., a triumphant team rose Phoenix like from the ashes of last year’s defeat with debaters Victor L., Sonia S., Zoe S. and Andrei D. joining the fray to bring home the silver.

The tournament consisted of two main rounds, where motions and opposing teams were chosen at random. The spark of debating lit up in our eyes the instant our opponents, Mark Twain, were chosen to advocate the motion “That Nuclear Energy is better than alternative energy” on the side of the opposition. Needless to say, with Captain Alex P. in front, Andrei D. to sweep up arguments and Victor L. to demolish any counter arguments and land the final blow, a complete victory was all but inevitable. All three judges were clearly moved and granted IBSB an early advantage , with a 3-0 win.

Unfortunately, round two saw a more titanic struggle and with only one judge coming down on our side, the pain of defeat was felt in a 2-1 loss to the American International School of Bucharest; we were close, but not close enough! No time yet for a Churcillian puff upon the victor’s cigar. This was a knock back, but not a knock out, for as we still managed to make the finals thanks to our successful first round, as we had now accumulated a total of 4 points.

This final debate would be like no other. Anyone can read a good speech with good arguments and enriched vocabulary; however, it takes a true debater to be able to orchestrate an entire motion given just under 30 minutes of preparation time. The ability of real-time debating based on intuitive understanding and speech delivery was tested to the full. The IBSB team find included the two co-captains, Alexander P. and Catrinel V., along with Zoe S. Would this team be strong enough to defeat the threat of BSB four time finalists and two time winners?

With Alexander P. at the head, his theatrical blood coursing through his veins, confidence was high, despite the challenging motion “Countries are better off inside the EU than outside”. How could this be so with Greece, Spain and Portugal struggling within the EU and countries like Switzerland not in the all doing well economically? The race was on to construct an argument, think of possible objections, prepare examples and wrap it all up in a lively and entertaining way. Catrinel now came to the fore; her knowledge of Economics proving crucial, with Zoe supporting superbly.

At long last, after a long day of the cut and thrust of debate and mental bloodshed, the climax of the debate had arrived! All Alexander P. had to do was to make one last stand, a Custer on an intellectual knoll, and, unlike the bluecoat, he was not to taste defeat. Intellectual arrows flew through the air but General P. stood tall, rallying his army of debate, and claiming victory against all the odds! Victory was ours and glory be to the victors!

Sir Stanley Platt arrived on stage to present the champions with the spoils of victory, as well as the beautiful trophy which the Co-captains had the honour of raising in the air like the FA Cup held aloft at Wembley. Happily, all the hard work had paid off and IBSB had triumphed! IBSB Debating Team

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Debating - Arguably the Number One Academic Sport A lot of questions arise when the word ‘Debate’ is mentioned in a conversation. What is debating in fact? Answers range from sitting around in a cold room talking about just about any topic under the sun to as far as having an argument with one’s parents. Such answers could not be further from the truth.

Debating is the number one academic sport, where world issues, be they social, economic or political are raised and dealt with in real time. There are no speeches, there is no monologue. Speakers are vulnerable to counter arguments and questions at any time as well as having to make sure they reply to the opposing team’s arguments.

Say there is a debate on the ban on smoking. One team will have to prove smoking should be made illegal, by presenting evidence on the harm it does to society as well as proving that a non-smoking society is a lot healthier, whilst facing questions and countless counter-arguments such as smoking limits stress levels and the fact that is doesn’t harm others (which of course it does!).

We, IBSB, boast not only some of the best exam grades in the country, especially in our English exams which outrank a lot of schools in England, but also offer a huge range of extracurricular activities. Every Monday afternoon a select group of students come together to form the Debate Club. One might think that deadlines on arguments and notes are given senselessly and people are hunted down to fulfil them, and that everyone is left to their individual work. However, in debating, a team (composed of 3 speakers) needs to act as one body, upholding each other’s information, protecting each other from arguments and finding ways to counter an argument together.

There is no ‘I’ in the word ‘Debate’.

This stresses the importance of team-work play as well as real time wit and mentally short reactions, which requires a great deal of intellect and also sportsmanship. There is a panel of judges as well as a chairperson who mark teams based on the number of questions they raise, the questions they answer, the quality of the arguments presented and the capability of connecting to the audience and speeches. No one ever won a debate giving a monologue, as well written as it may be.

The debating club welcomes all young members who wish to participate in interschool competitions and who seek to better their public speaking skills as well as bolster their intellect. The current team is composed of myself (Alexander P.) and Catrinel V. as co-captains, with Victor L., Sonia S., Zoe S., and Andrei D. as our proud team-members who will be debating in the upcoming competitions, one of which is situated in the city of Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. We hope to learn a great deal out of this experience besides coming home with a great big trophy!

Alex P. Year 11

Basketball Match The second sports event of the 2012-2013 school year saw students from each of the three houses (Transilvania, Muntenia, and Dobrogea), dress up in various wacky costumes to play basketball. The boys’ teams were the first to compete and after a rather close start to the competition, it was clear to see that Dobrogea were the better team.

Winning all of their matches by quite convincing margins, it was a clear first place for the house in red. The competition between Transilvania and Muntenia proved to be a more equal affair, with their match finishing 6-4 in favour of Muntenia.

Next up were the girls and after another dominating display from Dobrogea, it was clear to see that basketball is definitely one of their strong points. Much like Dobrogea's boys team, the girls managed to win all of their matches in quite heroic fashion. Transilvania and Muntenia's match was a nail-biting affair, with each team putting on displays of excellence. But in the end Transilvania's girls’ team made up for their boys’ teams' disappointing performance by managing to beat the opposition, 4-2.

The games were played in a good spirit but with that necessary competitive edge, with the girls, in particular, taking no prisoners. It may have simply been an inter-house competition in fancy dress for some, but for others, such as Adina and Mihaela, it might have been the final of the Olympics!

Alex C., Year 12

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CAS

Eyes shining bright with enthusiasm and satisfaction, hands learning to do new things, minds wide open with inquiry, endeavouring, trying, and succeeding to change the world in what they believe is a better place to live in.”

Ms Johanna Croci

With the end of Term 1, CAS has concluded a promising start to the year.

Groups had settled in, students had become acquainted with their organisations and more and more interest had been shown towards getting involved in giving back to the community. In charge of the school’s community service, Ms Croci and the project supervisors organised interviews at the beginning, allowing students to prove their interest in their respective causes. Ms Croci was also very happy to notice visible changes in her students. “I am really proud of all of them,” she adds.

Students participating in the Casa Agar/IOMC Hospital project are always looking forward to their Thursdays, partially with excitement, partially anxious to work with small children. .” As for the nurses and the hospital overall, the students are happy to say they have seen a lot of interest being shown in helping the patients.

“One of the most important things to

do as educators is, perhaps, to open doors and provide opportunities, to encourage our pupils to try and instil in them a culture of success that is not confined to academia.”

Ms Johanna Croci “We play with the babies there; some are sick, so we have to show great care in handling them. We just read to them, and try to entertain them. We also feed them bottled milk” Mamta M., Year 12

Similarly, the excitement was shared by the students volunteering for Help Animals Romania.

Currently looking for partnerships with other charities, the team began by paying a visit to the local zoo, where they took many pictures and got a look behind the maintenance of such a location. Under Mr. Lee’s supervision, the students took the zoo by assault and took various notes while observing the cages and every other technical aspect they could. Kelly L.was very excited to be participating in the project, since she is a great animal lover. Ms Katie came up with the idea of going out on the streets in order to raise awareness and true enough, the team hit downtown Bucharest dressed as animals and came back laughing and happy with stories to share. Presently, they are looking for new charities to be able to work with, as well as new team members, who are “Our project requires a lot of effort and even though we are all in Year 12 and 13 always welcome. and have a lot of work, I believe we are Last but not least, the eco-friendly team in the Paper Tree Committee have doing a great job and we can be proud of what we do. I believe we are making a shown a great deal of enthusiasm and hard work since the beginning of difference . the school year. Having settled in nicely with each other, they all began Gaetan M., Year 13 work under Ms Johanna Croci’s guidance and with Eco Prefect Teresa Sousa on the team, the results were rapidly visible, as Anemona and “I am pleased to see how our CommuGeorge could vouch. They were also eager in setting up their own very nity Service programme has become interactive display where students can stick leaves to trees. Moreover, they all one of the greatest sources of personencourage students and teachers around the school to participate in collecting al satisfaction, growth and understanding for our students. I am happy paper. to see them looking forward for So what plans for the future? Thursdays, being motivated, challenging themselves, planning thoroughly, The projects have already working hard and achieving wonderbegun in full force with the start ful things.”

Ms Johanna Croci of the new term and although mock exams and future examinations are right outside the door, that doesn’t seem to stop the eager volunteers from rushing to their respective organisations on each Thursday. Until a further report on IBSB’s wonderful CAS, I wish everyone good luck and a successful new term!

International British School of Bucharest

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CAS continued…..

Similarly, the excitement was shared by the students volunteering for Help Animals Romania. Currently looking for partnerships with other charities, the team began by paying a visit to the local zoo, where they took many pictures and got a look behind the maintenance of such a location. Under Mr. Lee’s supervision, the students took the zoo by assault and took various notes while observing the cages and every other technical aspect they could. Kelly L. was very excited to be participating in the project, since she is a great animal lover. Ms Katie came up with the idea of going out on the streets in order to raise awareness and true enough, the team hit downtown Bucharest dressed as animals and came back laughing and happy with stories to share. Presently, they are looking for new charities to be able to work with, as well as new team members, who are always welcome.

Last but not least, the eco-friendly team in the Paper Tree Committee have shown a great deal of enthusiasm and hard work since the beginning of the school year. Having settled in nicely with each other, they all began work under Ms. Johanna Croci’s guidance and with Eco Prefect Teresa Sousa on the team, the results were rapidly visible, as Anemona and George could vouch – the two having been rewarded for their involvement in aiding the committee.

They were also eager in setting up their own very interactive display where students can stick leaves to trees. “Our project requires a lot of effort and even though we are all in Year 12 and 13 and have a lot of work, I believe we are doing a great job and we can be proud of what we do,” declared Gaetan M. “I believe we are making a difference even if at times our work seems futile when seeing people waste resources. We have the luck of having an extraordinary leader who has great ambitions for the project and keeps pushing us, along with the project, to new horizons.” Moreover, they all encourage students and teachers around the school to participate in collecting paper.

“I am confident that we can do even more with the support of our fellow colleagues.” As for future plans, Teresa promises that “we are eager to organise the Earth Hour and the Earth Day in April and trying to buy a solar panel in order to make the school more environmentally friendly”.

So what plans for the future? The projects have already begun in full force with the start of the new term and although mock exams and future examinations are right outside the door, that doesn’t seem to stop the eager volunteers from rushing to their respective organisations on each Thursday. Until a further report on IBSB’s wonderful CAS, I wish everyone good luck and a successful new term!

Alexandra A., Year 12

Acorns Reading As you may all know our school gets to have the wonderful opportunity of going to Acorns, to have the honor of reading to the children. At the start of this academic school year, two students from every group in Key Stage 3 went once a month to have the pleasure of reading to them. I myself had the chance of going last year and this year to read stories and play with the dear children from Acorns. If I might say so myself it is a delight to go there, it is a feeling like no other.

My colleagues and I went to Acorns in the freezing month of December. There we were in the hallway as the children awaited eagerly to meet us and greet us with warmth. Everybody had a little group of kids to read to, every one of them excited for you to read them their favourite story book. I remember as I read “The Buffalo” by Julia Donaldson, I could see the little twinkle in their eyes as they were captivated by the pictures in this book. I know that might sound quite cliché but it’s true. I could see that all the children were having a blast and we were glad.

Everyone that went to Acorns could agree with me that it was a wonderful experience and that they would love to do it again. One of my colleagues that went with me said he loved going there because he has no sisters or brothers and it was great to spend some time with younger children, because he felt like a bigger sibling.

I too would have to agree with that statement seeing as how I am an only child.

I invite people to go there and read to the children because it is tremendously fun and an amazing occasion.

Maria Ion, Year 9

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The Paper Tree Important Announcement!

Wanted: Spring Where: In our school (between ground floor and first floor) Why: Because we like it (and so do you) The Paper Tree (you know them: the guys that love the environment and recycle paper) would like you to notice that they put up an awesome, epic, 3D display starring (literally, ‘cause it’s a nocturnal scenery) three little trees.

What you have to do is very simple: if you like our project (we know you do) and if you believe that: - you can help by: putting the paper you don’t need in the right container, - collect the used batteries and bring them to school, - and use less plastic (you know you can do these simple things) YOU can stick a leave on the tree’s branches!

Our goal is to have the three little trees covered in leaves by the first day of spring (the spring equinox – 21st of March). That would mean a lot for us, for you, and for the nature that you commit to safeguard.

Thank you!

There are lots of house points involved if you bring used batteries and paper to school to be recycled! Anemona (Year 12), George (Year 13) and Sebastian (Year 12) have already earned hundreds!

Pull all the animals to see us at work!

Leaves and Glue

Information about recycling in three languages

The Paper Tree Team Credits: Zhening Z. and the entire Paper Tree team plus many friends and supporters put this poster together for your enjoyment.

Disclaimer: No paper has been wasted in the process of making this display!

Most of the materials used were found in the paper tree boxes.

Also, if you appreciate our poster and think our work is worthwhile, you can like us on Facebook!

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Events Section Bonfire Night Always Remember the Fifth of November – Or the Second in this Case!

Bonfire Night is a very strange event if you ask me- in a positive way, but strange. Think about it. We all gather, students, teachers, various people with different jobs, close or distant, more or less familiar with British culture, in order to celebrate the gruesome death of a person. However, there is no sense of the morbid whatsoever as the event unfolds as people are absorbed by socialising, so enjoying the lovely mulled wine in the autumn chill that the actual purpose of the celebration seems to just vanish away. A very cosy, familiar and pleasant feeling pervades, and the bonfire seems to be an object of comfort, warming us up and lighting up the garden with its delicate red lights, not the means of burning Catholic renegades.

All the prefects enjoying Bonfire Night

Let’s have a look at Bonfire Night’s original significance.

Bonfire Night relates to Guy Fawkes Day and the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt by Catholic conspirators to overthrow King James the First. In response to the failure of the king’s assassination and Fawkes’ death, people were encouraged to light bonfires and fireworks, resulting in an annual tradition. Indeed, in one village in Sussex, even to this day, an effigy of the Pope is still carried through the streets and mounted on the pyre.

However, down through the years, the original significance of the celebration has been forgotten by most and the night has become an excuse for socializing and the burning of pretty fireworks more than anything else; which brings us to our current definition and experience of Bonfire Night.

This year, we all gathered at the Crown Plaza on Friday, the 2nd of November in a beautiful garden, delicately lit by the bonfire and candles spreading warm light. The feeling of autumn - in its most stereotypical and beautiful sense was overwhelming: a bit chilly, red leaves everywhere, mulled wine and “carnati”, along with some light but interesting conversations. Autumn is my favourite time of the year, and this celebration encompassed all the good things about it.

There were two highlights of the evening for me: first, the burning of the best Guy, and second, the cutting of the cake. This cake had already been a source of widespread fascination as people tried guessing its weight in the hope of a prize. I know that Dani M. spent at least half an hour there absorbed by the possible weight of the cake, trying to guess it accurately – and failing of course! But anyway, as the English say, the proof of a pudding is in the eating, and one thing is for sure, we all weighed a little bit more after devouring our share!

I’m sure that everyone who attended the Bonfire Night enjoyed it greatly, and hopefully it will be just as pleasant next year – even if the original source of inspiration is more than a little macabre!

Alexandra L., Year 13

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The Tea and Chocolate Club I WONDERED ACCOMPANIED IN A CLOUDY TEA AND CHOCOLATE CLUB Not everyone is familiar with the Tea and Chocolate Club, mainly because it is a very small gathering- small but complete, small but authentic, small but relaxing and small but interesting. We are a group of people engaged in an attempt to know and grasp as many things as possible, with the belief that “the more the merrier” and that by group discussion, we will reach more surprising answers to our many questions.

We meet once every two weeks, and the topic of our discussions are settled upon in our Facebook Group - thus everyone has time to prepare and have a say at the next meeting. We drink tea, eat sweets and Cora frequently surprises us with her legendary home-made brownies or cake (which provokes a hedonistic frenzy).

For the next semester, we want to implement something new: books! Weeeeeee! Well, we will all decide upon an interesting book to discuss (or at least some chapters of it) and occasionally, we will have T&C sessions dedicated to it.

Also, as last year, we had our Russian Night, during which we discussed Russian culture, ate traditional food and watched a movie by Tarkovski, and this year we are really excited about organising a Japanese Night. We will update you regularly about our on-going wonderings!

Alexandra L., Year 13

German Trip to the movies On Thursday the 15th of November, the German Department in the Senior School took the students on a trip to a local cinema as a language and multicultural activity to enhance our students’ awareness of universal literature. The students all had the opportunity to watch Tom Sawyer, a masterpiece of one of the most well-known American writers, in German.

The result is a German film in true American Western style with traditional costumes of the 19th century. The orphan Tom Sawyer and his younger brother Sid live together with their Aunt Polly in her cottage, in the countryside. Whenever she gives him a task to do, he tries to disappear, meeting with his friend Huckleberry Finn.

They are best friends and are always up to mischief. During one of their daily strolls through the harbour, they spot a criminal - the wicked Indian Joe and his crew of outlaws - and hear of secret plans and of a hidden treasure. These two young companions, taking the viewer with them, go on an incredible adventure full of obstacles and suspense, putting their very friendship to the test on the way.

Adriana, Year 9: "The movie was really cool, even if sometimes I used the subtitles to understand the dialogue. It was a great day and I hope we will repeat this experience soon!"

Without a doubt we can say that the German trip to the movie theatre, for Mark Twain’s "Tom Sawyer", was a complete success. Everybody had a blast and had a valuable chance to take a closer look at German culture and language. Finally a great "Thank you" goes out to the teachers that accompanied us and made sure we had a fantastic time.

Stergios Mallioglou, Year 11

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Character’s Party This year has been a year of innovation in the Social Events Prefect Department. Our main focus has been on neverseen-before party concepts which we hope have exceeded your expectations! One of the highlights for 2012-2013 was the Characters’ Party on the 29th November, 2012.

The Characters’ Party was introduced three years ago, and since then has become ever more popular, as the students have upped the ante each year with their costumes. This year we dedicated the entire event to IBSB Middle School, with the event held at the Zig Zag Mansion. Rather than have a classic “club-style” party, we opted for a more diverse atmosphere. Each room in the mansion incorporated a different theme; whether Carnival,

Spooky, or Heaven, we made sure that everyone had the best of fun!

Everyone came dressed as a certain character, whether Shakira or Sherlock Holmes, Pilots or Policemen, we saw it all! Let’s not forget the epic costumes Geisha and Spanish Soldier, which won Adriana and Alvaro Best Female and Male Costume, respectively. All and all, it was an incredibly fun event which we are definitely thinking about having next year as well, that if of course, another even wackier idea doesn’t cross our mind!

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Character’s Party Pictures

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UN Day, October 19th 2012 When you think of an international school, you tend to think of the various nationalities the school comprises of and it’s unbelievable how we have people walking around our campus coming from as far afield as China, Greece, India and (the not so far) France.

To celebrate this, we have the annual event – The UN Day, which took place on the 19th of October, the main highlight of Term 1a!

The UN Day has become one of the most popular events of our school because of our international community, with delicious international buffets offered by none other than the students of those very same nationalities and of course, the great performances by the students and guests. This day is the unique opportunity to try a diverse collection of yummy food across the world and to savour the cultural delights peculiar to these countries.

The school was once again draped in flags from numerous countries displaying to all the diverse cultures which comprise our school. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this magnificent event by bringing in food from their own country, by enriching the school’s balconies with flags and by taking part in the school show.

This year, like every other, we enjoyed the great performances by our guests – The European School, DSBU, The German School, Scoala 85 and Jose Marti – the IBSB school band and our lovely Primary students.

Some of the performances included a Spanish song, a Chinese dance, an Indian dance, the Yellow Submarine by the Primary students and many more.

The whole international community did an awesome job and I hope those who attended had as much fun as we did! We hope to see many more of these unique performances and lively shows in the future.

Mamta M., Year 12

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Probably the Best Play in IBSB History If you don’t Believe then Buy the Video form the School Office and Watch for Yourself!

This year’s Winter Production, Romeo and Juliet in Bucharest, has been hailed the best play ever performed by the students of IBSB, and as one of the principal actors, I can confirm that it was the result of hours of hard work and dedication by all involved - not only the actors, but the singers, the dancers, the directors, and the back stage team.

Thanks to this teamwork we served up a performance to savour!

The performance was very amusing, with Mr Kingston putting a modern spin on Shakespeare’s original play, and Mr Angel selecting modern songs to compliment the script.

The Shakespearian classic was moved to C21st Bucharest and set against the backdrop of a trial to establish who was guilty of the murder of Romeo and Juliet, with George performing the part of a crazy judge unable to follow the action and anxious to get home to eat a carp being cooked by his sharp tongued wife. The play was made topical by basing the “ancient grudge” upon the rivalry between Bucharest’s two most famous football teams, Steaua and Dinamo and many jokes were included about life in modern Romania, such as the slowness and unreliability of the nation’s trains.

Dance routines choreographed by George and his team added to the sense of spectacle with my personal favourite being the ‘Thriller’ routine for the scene in Juliet’s crypt.

Although great fun, the rehearsals were really tough. Mr Kingston is a perfectionist and insisted that we act like real actors in movies, learning our lines to perfection: and, as many of those lines were from Shakespeare’s play, that was not easy! Line learning is challenging enough in your own first language; when you are learning lines in your second language it becomes tougher still; and when those lines are in Shakespearian English, it feels close to impossible at times. Certain lines and words presented me with real problems but, after rehearsing them over and over, it all came right on the night!

I had the honour of playing one of the Romeos (there were four in total) and the good fortune to be wooing the beautiful Alexandra A. as my Juliet in the famous balcony scene. Mr Kingston taught us how to play the scene for laughs and the audience responded with hoots of delight as I exclaimed my “Oh” lines in a distinctly risqué fashion. My biggest challenge was not to laugh along with the audience!

We had to nail the songs, the dance routines, the romantic scenes, the fight scenes, and the death scene. We all stumbled in rehearsals but after hours of work we succeeded in delivering a show to remember. It is certainly an experience I will never forget!

Steve S., Year 10

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Directing the Winter Production Returning to England for Christmas, I was greeted with comments from friends that I had lost even more hair whilst in Bucharest – and I’m not surprised after tearing out chunks in the early days of rehearsals for the 2012 Winter Production!

It is true that the project was always ambitious - to school twenty plus students on how to bring Shakespeare’s most famous play to the stage was always going to be challenging - but as we started rehearsals, the full enormity of what we were attempting hit me. Learning lines from Shakespeare is hard enough when your first language is English, learning lines in Shakespearian English when you are Romanian, Chinese, Indian, Austrian and any other nationality I may have forgotten, is ten times the challenge! And in the early days, just getting tongues around certain words was challenging enough, never mind committing to memory great chunks of dialogue in Shakespeare’s brilliant but daunting verse.

Words which to first language English speakers come easy were, for our students, real challenges. Three stand out for me, and I will smile when I hear them pronounced for the rest of my life: “Friar” – a member of the church and a principle character in the play – was mangled by one cast member’s tongue into frère, the French word for brother (and the original derivation for a “brother” of the church, a friar); “Ally” – a friend in war - became Alley, a path between buildings, in the mouth of another student; and “farce” – a fiasco – which a third student’s tongue insisted should be pronounced in a variety of different ways! We got there in the end in each case, but Laurence Olivier did not have to face these sorts of challenges when he gave his Oscar winning performances.

After the pronunciation issues, there came challenges with meaning. To perform Shakespeare, you have to understand Shakespeare, and that is a tough enough ask even at A level, but we were drawing students from across years 7 through to 13. However, the joy of working with students in IBSB is that they have a hunger to learn. Saying the lines was not enough: they genuinely wanted to understand and feel the meaning and emotions behind their lines.

Then came the issues of staging. Teachers were wonderfully supportive, allowing students out of class according to a rehearsal schedule which enabled us to focus on individual scenes whilst minimising lesson disturbance and avoiding hours of rehearsals outside of school time. Whilst I can claim credit for the original concept and the line writing, much of the dramatic interpretation evolved during rehearsals, with the students themselves adding comic touches. So the kicking of the football into the audience originated with Yunus, the fleecing of Tybalt’s dead body was the idea of Yunus, Petru and Alex P., and the dismissive way in which Juliet kicked Romeo’s corpse aside came out of rehearsals with Luiza and Vlad S. And the show was made special by the brilliant song and dance elements, devised and rehearsed by Mr Angel .

There were glitches on the night but overall, I was hugely proud of the students’ performances. I had a vision when we started out, but the finished product far exceeded that vision, thanks to the fantastic efforts of a great team of people, a team embracing both students and staff.

In our first cast meeting, I set the goal of putting on the best IBSB Winter Production ever, and whilst I cannot vouch that this was the case, I can say that I could not have asked for more from those who were involved.

To pick out individuals may be unfair but special mention should go to George, who linked the performance in his role as the judge and who also choreographed and performed in all the dance routines. This is a young man destined to go places in later life! And my favourite scene has to be the balcony scene, brilliantly performed by Alexandra A. and the hilariously groaning Steve S. I will end by saying that I will never forget the show personally and will carry to my grave so many proud memories of what the students achieved. It was hard work, there’s no denying that, but it was wonderfully rewarding. Well done and thank you to everybody involved!

Mr Kingston, Script Writer and Director Extraordinaire

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Romeo & Juliet Romanian Style

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Peoples’ Views IBSB – A Dream Realised Picture the scene. A beach in Venice. That’s Venice in Florida, in the United States of America, not Venice in Italy. A family makes its way onto the coarse sand and lays down a blanket. A small child, three years old, expresses excitement at being at the beach and wails dismay as her mother applies a thick coating of sun screen, clutching her daughter’s arm tightly as the infant writhes and protests and cries and yells. The father, embarrassed by his daughter’s histrionic performance searches inside the beach bag and pulls out a paraphernalia of playthings: a bucket, a spade, a set of flags, a plastic windmill.

At last, the sun screen applied, the child is released and she makes instantly for another toddler no more than twenty yards away. She stands, watching this stranger from a distance of two feet, watching as her would be friend digs in the sand, waiting for a sign that she can join in. The other child looks up briefly and eye contact is fleetingly made. She returns to her digging however. The hopeful girl waits in the wings, her toes burrowing into the sand, her bucket and spade still held in anticipation. The stranger looks up again, and this time a smile flashes; and the smile is reciprocated. No words are said. Words are still experimental play things. Actions speak louder than words! The watching child advances a step and the digging child smiles. Another step, another smile, another step another smile, until shoulder to shoulder, the one beside the other, they are kneeling and digging together, digging for joy, digging for pleasure, two friends in an instant.

Nothing remarkable thus far. This scene has been acted over millions of times. But what follows, well that is a different matter. The parents, watching their happy daughter, are hailed by the mother of the other child.

“Excuse me” the voice says.

“Yes?” the mother replies.

“You do know you are on the wrong part of the beach don’t you?” the mother of the other child says.

“The wrong part of the beach?” the father asks.

“Yes,” the woman replies. “This is the black part of the beach.”

And, of course, the parents are white, and the woman in black. And one child is white. And the other is black. But the children do not know that.

“The black part of the beach?” the white father asks amazed. “Do you mind that we are here?”

“Of course not” the black woman replies, “but the people down there might object.” And she points down the beach to a white family, looking in disgust in their direction.

“Well stuff them!” the father replies. “Would you mind if we join you?”

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IBSB – A Dream Realised (continued) And as the children play, unconscious of skin colour, the white couple move and sit next to the black woman in defiance of the code of segregation and two hours are spent in conversation and laughter, sharing a picnic, learning about each other. Friends not for life, for the couple are on holiday from England, but friends for two hours despite two centuries of objections.

And in what year do you think this happened? 1957? 1959? 1963? Amazingly, this took place in 1992, and the couple were Mr Kingston and his wife, and the child, their eldest daughter Tanya Berlin.

1992, fully twenty nine years after Martin Luther King delivered his “I have a dream” speech: but, incredibly, in 1992, there was still a culture of segregation in the Southern States of America, a culture of segregation that meant all cleaners in MacDonald's were black, whilst all servers were white, because many white people would not eat food touched by black hands.; a culture of segregation which meant that all motel receptionists were white whilst all room maids were black, for white people would not clean up after black guests and white guests would not check in to a motel with a black person behind the desk; a culture of segregation which ensured that almost every front of stage member of staff inside Disney World was white; and a culture of segregation that still saw the Confederate flag flying above certain diners, a warning to black people that, should they be unwise enough to eat in the restaurant, then there would be something in the soup that they really would not want to eat.

It seems incredible now, just 21 years later, and with a black President starting his second term, that this segregation persisted into the final decade of the C20th. In 1963, Martin Luther King told America of his dream, a dream where colour did not matter, a dream where black and white met on equal terms, with equal rights and in a world of mutual respect. But persist it did, and sadly it persists to this day. Yes we have a black President of the United States, but the United States is, in fact, a divided States, sadly still divided on ethnicity. President Obama was elected on a majority vote, but far too many Americans voted not on policy but on the basis of a colour divide, the black and Hispanic communities voting overwhelmingly for a black President, the majority of white Americans voting against him.

When President Obama was inaugurated for his second term, he swore allegiance on two bibles, one which belonged to Abraham Lincoln, the President who abolished slavery in the United States; the other belonging to Martin Luther King, the man who had a dream, a dream that made it possible for a black man to be President but a dream that cost him his life.

And as the voting patterns showed, there is still work to be done. We must all share Martin Luther King’s dream.

And we must all be ambassadors for that dream, carrying his message out into the world and advocating equality, understanding, tolerance and fraternity.

In many ways, IBSB is Martin Luther King’s dream in reality. We are a community of different races, different colours, different religions, different genders and different creeds. But we are united, we are one family, we live Martin Luther King’s dream. And in that way, we are an example to the world.

Mr Trevor Kingston

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TIV goes out to all IBSB parents, to Embassies, and to leading businesses around Bucharest

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Food FoodReview Review Ms. Carman’s Top 5 Fave Eateries in Bucharest: Seafood: El Gallo Nero www.gallonero.ro Bd Decebal, Nr. 12, Sector 3, ph. 0726.544.889 One eatery worth a visit on a cold night is El Gallo Nero on Decibel.

They have what I believe to be some of the best steamed mussels in town--and I've tried a number of places before coming to this conclusion. The Chef, who was trained in Italy, has them flown in three times a week and offers two different preparations--the savoury tomato based broth and the white wine and garlic steam bath. These delicate molluscs are so fresh and tasty; we pop them like an avid sports fan eats peanuts. (Get some of the hot focaccia to sponge up the broth.) The portion is generous (good for at least two) and at 38 Ron, they go down easy. Gallo also features many other excellent offerings and I recommend the grilled Calamari, the Saltimboca and the seafood soup.

Finish off dinner with their Tiramisu and a hot espresso and you'll waddle home good and satisfied.

Indian: Haveli www.haveli.ro 3 Episcopul Radu Street, ph. 021 - 211.03.90 If you’re craving Delhi belly of the best sort then get yourself over to Haveli.

This comfortable eatery is consistently good and the ambience is upscale.

From the papadams and dipping sauces to start, the flavour excursion begins. It's all "oooohs" and "ahhhhs" from there on in. After many visits, our top picks consist of the following: palak paneer, onion bajis, butter chicken, lamb korma, dahl, saffron rice and plenty of the garlic naan to sop it all up. Portions aren't huge but they are rich and satisfying. The service is friendly and they have both smoking and non-smoking rooms. It’s not cheap, but the ingredients are of excellent quality and everything comes to the table freshly prepared.

Sushi: Zen Sushi www.zensushi.ro Str. Grigore Alexandrescu, nr. 56, sector 1, ph. 0721 755 455 When my friends and I are craving a Sushi fix, we inevitably head for Zen Sushi on Serban Voda. From the moment you sit down in this tiny eatery, you are absorbed into the carefully appointed Japanese atmosphere. The service is efficient, but it's the food that impresses most of all. We have tried a variety of different offerings and everything was perfectly prepared to order. The Maki platters are especially worth ordering since you get a generous variety of Sushi to share with your partner(s). A great little spot to know about!

Lebanese: El Bacha www.elbacha.ro 6 Piata Alba Iulia, ph. 0212691392 This spot on Alba Iulia is great for top notch Lebanese. Preparations are super fresh and delicious, the service is very efficient and the atmosphere is beautiful. It's a bit pricier than other Lebanese spots in the city but great for a gathering of friends, a special occasion and you can enjoy some shisha as well, if that’s your thing. If you want reliably good Lebanese, I recommend this place above most of the other popular choices.

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Food Review Chinese: Tao Chinezescul 42 Delea Noua Street This little place opened a few months ago just off Decebel on Delea New no.

42, and I was happy to learn they prepare a really nice Beijing Duck platter which I taste tested a couple of times. The portion of tender duck is generous (good for two people), comes with lots of steamed pancakes, match-stick thin veggies and hoisen sauce.

That particular dish has to be ordered a day in advance but they also have a really economical all you can eat buffet during the week (11:00 to 3:00) which is worth a visit as well. My vegetarian friends really love the tofu stir-fry’s and the spring rolls are super crispy and satisfying as a starter. The place is spotless and the service is friendly. It's also reasonably priced, so all around a good place to get your Chinese food fix.

Ms Andrea Carman wasn’t enough to satisfy your taste buds here are some more pictures with mouth-watering food

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Head’s Lines

Primary Whiteboard

Welcome to the Primary School section of the TIV. In these pages you will see the diversity and enjoyment that our school offers to its pupils and teachers. There are opportunities for each of our children to shine in the classroom, in assemblies, in competitions, on trips or even on stage at the Tandarica Theatre. And, believe me, our children dazzle. But we must not forget our teachers who also shine as bright as the celestial sky. It is their creativity, commitment and skill that guides our children to achieve at IBSB and for that I thank them. The events, trips and work you will see in the following pages are testament to our teachers’ imagination and our pupils’ willingness and ability to succeed – a very effective relationship.

Looking ahead we have the Spring Show in April. The children, Miss Chelsea and the team of teachers, have all been working extremely hard to make sure we have another excellent play for everybody to enjoy. It will be a hard act to follow the huge success of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I have confidence in the cast and I look forward to watching our children perform, dance and sing again; this time as pirates.

So I hope you enjoy reading our section, reflecting on the good times of the year so far, and I wish you a great half term break.

Alan Cornish Head of Primary

Primary School Nativity Winter Show In December, Year 1 & Year 2 children performed in a wonderful retelling of the traditional Nativity. They told the story of a lovable camel, who has no sense of direction and always gets lost! After a series of misadventures, 'The Very Hopeless Camel' accidentally found the Baby Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem, and he became the happiest, most hopeful camel ever!

The children (and their teachers!) worked incredibly hard during rehearsals for the show and very much entertained everyone on the night. They learned all of their lines and spoke clearly with confidence. I am sure you will agree that we have some very talented aspiring actors, dancers and singers.

Once again we would like to extend our thanks to everyone who helped make the show very memorable indeed.

www.ibsb.ro Mr Mark Mullan

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News from the classroom‌

During this week Preschool and Reception children had the best time ever. Why? Icy toes, chilly nose, Winter time is here! They enjoyed playing in the snow, making snowmen and having snowball fights with their teachers. Children definitely love winter and teachers too like winter because they don’t look fat in warm clothes.

Ms Irina Ruse

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News from the classroom...

Year 1 Maths Topic

Measurement

This term, Year 1 are busy learning all about measurement in Maths .

They have used strips of paper, string and blocks to measure items in the classroom and have also learned about metres and centimetres.

Everyone measured their friend’s smile with a strip of paper. Then the children found out how long their smile was, using centimetre blocks., and compared their answers.

Ms Denise Wragg

Who is the tallest person in Year 1?

We measured everyone and the answer is……...

Ms Madalina!!!!

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Out and about..‌

During the season of autumn the children of Year 2 donned their coats and hats and ventured to the National Park each week to undertake some investigations as ‘Nature Detectives’. With a different theme each week, the children gathered different types of leaves, made drawing of different types of trees, collected some seeds (and bugs!), and even participated in some bird watching.

With evidence gathered they brought it back to school and identified which trees the seeds came from, classified the different types of bugs, and even created some wonderful art work by using autumnal colours to make prints of the leaves.

Children completed this topic by continuing their excellent work at home. Many completed individual projects over their holidays and have presented their information in a clear and confident manner. They even made their own bird boxes to help shelter some birds during the winter months.

Mr Mark Mullan

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News from the classroom…

Year 3 has been doing a lot of fun things this year and Term 1b was no exception! We studied the human body and learned lots of interesting things about how our bodies have evolved and how they work. We went on a trip to Antipa Museum to look at the different bodies of animals and types of teeth they have. Since we learned all about carnivores, onmnivores and herbivores, it was amazing to see these teeth up close and in person on a real, preserved animal skull! We saw models of the human digestive system and what our ancestors looked like thousands of years ago! In class we also learned about human culture around the world and at Christmas time we compared how we celebrate Christmas in Romania with other human civilisations around the globe. The children particularly enjoyed making a model of a human body and labeling all the organs and measuring the limbs of our bodies in Maths. In Art we spent some time studying our eyes and replicating them on paper with pastels. One day we even set up a mock ‘crime scene’ and took fingerprints from on another to learn about how every individual person has unique fingerprints. That was definitely a class favourite!! We brought in photos from home of our parents and of ourselves and tried to figure out where we have inherited our physical features from, as we had been learning about DNA and the basics of genetics. We are sure that this term will be equally fun and productive and we are looking forward to the new year and ahead and what it will bring!

Ms Chelsea Corvino

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Out and about…

On Wednesday 28th November, Year 4 went on an exciting trip to St. Mary’s Clinical Hospital for a private tour of the Imagistic District, the blood laboratory and the eye clinic. They saw how doctors and nurses use machines; such as CT, MRI, etc., to scan our bodies, locate the problem and treat us for our illness or problem. They even got to see in their own bodies! They saw what the brain, lungs, heart and liver look like and had fun looking into each other’s eyes.

Our very own Stefan was the perfect patient of the day and every child enjoyed discovering new things about their bodies. From the Imagistic District to the Laboratories the class were amazed with the world of medicine and health. Most of them are now considering a job as a doctor or nurse!

We would like to thank the staff of St. Mary’s Hospital for the wonderful trip and great memories.

Ms Becky Hunter

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Out and about‌

This report is about Y5A’s trip to the Botanical Gardens on the 17th of November.

Walking to the Greenhouses Once we arrived at the Botanical Gardens with my partner Rares we began to move towards the greenhouses.

There were many plants on the way that had mind blowing Latin names. Me and Rares were talking about the plants since we both like them. We were wondering what could be inside the greenhouses. Most of the time we were in the front of the line.

Inside the Greenhouses We were not prepared for the amazing sight that we were about to see. There were many palm trees the tallest one was about 15 metres tall! We saw two palm trees that were called Phoenix D and Phoenix R so we joked that it was Phoenix David and Phoenix Rares. We then went into a room full of cacti. We were extremely careful to not bump into a cactus which I almost did if Rares had not told me to watch out. We then went into a room that had trees full of citrus fruits that were unripe. In the same room there was a small glass box with four carnivorous pitcher plants. Next to the citrus trees there were some Bromeliads with small pockets on their stems holding some water. We left the room to come into another room full of Orchids and Mr Jones explained to us that most orchids are very rare.

Collecting Acorns We then went outside for a break where we found a strange plant called Maclura Pomifera which looked like the inside of a brain. We tried to play football with it but it was too small. I was messing around when I found a conker. I then found a few acorns and I then saw a black and a red squirrel. I tried to attract them with the acorn but they only came a bit lower.

Altogether it was a fantastic day out, thanks Mr Jones and Miss Luiza!

By David Dallas

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News from the classroom‌

Last term in year 5b we learned about writing instructions. As part of our literacy lessons we wrote a recipe for a fresh fruit salad. We made the salad in class which tasted delicious once completed!

How to make a fresh fruit salad by year 5b Materials:

Sharp knife Spoon Bowl Chopping board Ingredients:

Strawberries Bananas Orange juice Yoghurt Instructions:

Pour the juice in to the bowl Afterwards, slice the bananas Wash all other fruits Chop the kiwis Place all fruits in to the bowl Squeeze a lemon over the fruits Pour the yoghurt as a topping in to the bowl Enjoy your fruit salad!

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Eat your heart out Jamie Oliver! On Tuesday 18th December, Year 6 took a trip to the London Street Atelier and were shown some neat tricks and recipes for preparing a rather tasty Christmas dinner. We hope this article doesn’t make you feel too hungry, but we made some delicious canapés, a succulent roast turkey with vegetables, a tasty pumpkin soup and (our favourite) a tangy fruit trifle! The London Street Atelier runs cookery classes for students of all ages, so if you fancy trying out your culinary skills then get in touch! The chefs are very friendly and knowledgeable and they run classes for Primary aged children on Saturday mornings.

One thing’s for sure – Year 6 students will be making Christmas dinner in their respective houses next year!

Mr Peter Ennion

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On their trip to London Street Bakery, Y1 discovered that there is a lot of maths involved in baking, and lots of reading, too! They read the recipes and instructions, weighed the ingredients and counted everything. Everyone agreed that counting things like raisins can be a really delicious experience.

Once the eggs were cracked, the flour sifted, and the sugar spooned into the bowls, the children mixed with wooden spoons and managed to cover themselves and the entire room with most of the ingredients. Luckily, some of the mix did make it into the ovens. Who ever knew that watching an oven could be as much fun as watching TV? The work didn’t end there, though, because an important part of confectionary is the packaging. Everyone made a label for their box of cupcakes and a tag with a ribbon for their bag of cookies. Oh, and we can’t forget the delicious lunch we enjoyed: homemade pizza, fruit salad, yogurt and apple juice.

Before we left, Y1 presented Rachel and her team of chefs some thank you cards, which they had made secretly whilst the grownups weren’t looking. We returned to school, and had enough cookies left over to treat all of Y2 to the yummy experience!

So, now Y1 really can count…and cook!!

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As part of their cross curricular topic this term, Y1 have been learning about the history of toys.

Ms Crane came to talk to the class about toys from the past, and everyone enjoyed playing with the small wooden toys: particularly the chickens! Ms Crane explained that in the past children often used to make their own toys and games, and she showed the class how to make a fun toy with a paper cup, some string and a coin.

Everybody made a toy and then really enjoyed trying to get the coin into the cup! Ms Crane has some new history fans in Y1!

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Books adapted to movies A fruitful year for film adaptations of books is approaching! Here’s just a selection of what we can expect to see.

Catching Fire by SUZANNE COLLINS First off we have the SEQUEL to the dystopian HUNGER GAMES of last year. In this second book of the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss Everdeen thinks she's safe back at home in District 12, until it's announced that she's going back to the arena for the 75th Games. Who's starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson.

Safe Haven by NICHOLAS SPARKS In the author’s latest romance, Katie, a woman with a mysterious past who has fled from her hometown, decides to start a new life in a small Southern town. She tries to keep to herself until she meets Alex, a handsome widower with two small kids. Who's starring: Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel will star in the adaptation of the novel.

Carrie by STEPHEN KING In this celebrated fright-filled novel, a sheltered high school girl named Carrie gets pushed a little too far by her peers and uses her telekinetic powers to punish her tormenters. Who's starring: Chloë Moretz will take over the role that was first played by Sissy Spacek back in 1976, while Julianne Moore will play Carrie's mother. Some will ask, why remake one of the best horror movies ever?

The Host by STEPHENIE MEYER An alien race called Souls takes over Earth, but one woman refuses to let her body be a host, creating a struggle in her mind, and further encompassed in an even greater struggle of her own kind, as she tries to refute centuries of rules, regulations and customs of the Souls. Who's starring: Saoirse Ronan is playing human Melanie as well as Wanderer, the Soul who has come to claim Melanie's body. Max Irons is her love interest Jared, and Diane Kruger is playing the Seeker.

Denisa C., Year 11

European Math Challenge The European Maths Challenge was an educational competition that encouraged students all over Europe to learn maths in a fun way and challenge each other at maths games in which you have to answer as many questions as you can in 60 seconds.

A Polish student won, with students from Turkey filling the next four places. The highest placed Romanian came in 26th, but the best news is that our school finished second in the whole of Romania!

For me, personally, the competition was both challenging and interesting and certainly helped me develop better maths skills.

Other children from school told me that they found it a fun and competitive activity and that they look forward to this year’s challenge.

Luiza-Maria R.: “The Maths Challenge Day was a wonderful experience and a great way to practice your maths skills. All sorts of questions were asked depending on the selected level of difficulty. The questions themselves were very interesting and the more you grow in level, the more you wanted to play. The challenges were very motivating and the fact that everything was done against the clock was another reason for the people worldwide to want to access Maths Challenge Day. It was an exciting day and I am looking forward to have this experience again.”

And our target for 2013? To be top of the pile in in Romania and one of the top 20 schools in the whole of Europe!

Here are the top scorers from Europe: Filip S. Team Pol, Poland Score: 19,997 Sarap Cagin E Team Tur, Turkey Score: 19,877 Arda S Beykent Doga College, Turkey Score: 19,490

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Applying to university

Where to study? What does it cost? Course Search Apply Track progress These are some of Year 13’s opinions about their university application experience, along with some offers: MAJD: “I applied to Business information system/technology/management and I have received two conditional

offers up till now. But the university I really want to go to is West London- I’m still waiting for an offer.”

MARIA: “It was a revealing experience which confirmed to me the fact that I am actually leaving, and that my future depends on the quality of this piece of paper. I cared a lot about it and it taught me a great lesson on responsibility.

Also, you feel appreciated when universities reply (positively). I applied to Art foundation courses, out of which Central St Martins is my favourite, and to Fashion Design courses throughout Europe, out of which I got replies from Firenze, Berlin and Amsterdam.”

ALBA: “Applying for university is a very complex process, not only in terms of choosing a university/course, but you have to invest a lot of time in researching all the options and making a good application. It’s very exciting, though sometimes difficult and confusing because it’s actually the first time when we can choose how our adult life will start. I applied to universities in England and Spain to study Law and Politics. I got three offers in the UK and two in Spain, but my main aim is the Carlos III of Madrid University.”

ALEXANDRA: “Applying to university is a challenge because you have to summarise yourself, your abilities, your actions in this tiny, tiny UCAS application; these decisions at 18 will define not only your education, but your future friends, your future job, your future life experiences which shape you as a person: two different universities may lead to two completely different lives. But it is also the start of something new, and new things usually make me very excited. I am going to study Anthropology in the UK. I have now attended an interview at Cambridge’s St John’s College and received three more offers. However, what I am really, really, really looking forward to is an offer from the London School of Economics (and Political Sciences).”

JINGWEN: “It was easy for UK applications due to the UCAS system, but harder for Australian universities because you have to apply to each of them individually. I applied to study Management, and the university I want to go to most is Melbourne University.”

LANA: “You are so excited but soooo stressed, because you have to wait for the replies and you feel so anxious. It really makes you think about your future, what you want to become, being independent, it makes you think. Out of all of the universities, I want to go to Kings, because it’s in London and it’s one of the best in Dentistry”

DANNY: You look at this big online ranking list of universities, and what they offer and how they’re rated and you panic. You lie to yourself about how everything is going according to plan, when in actuality you feel like a lost toddler in an airport, and the only comfort you find is in knowing that each and every one of your peers is in that same airport, with no booked boarding pass. So you sit down and start thinking about what you want to study, knowing that the course you choose Now is, in some way going to define you for the rest of your life. You go through a brief period of regret, looking back on how you should’ve studied for your AS exams, how you should’ve listened to your teachers, how everybody over the age of 25 was right. (You know where I’m going with this, right? Need I continue?).

www.ucas.as.uk

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Applying to University So, really, the entire application process doubles as a perfect wake up call. Here are the conclusions I came to:

1. You don’t really know what you want to study but that’s ok; you’re only a teenager. Now that you know you need to direct yourself towards something, do it.

2. Look around. Apply yourself. Initiate something. Get internships, work experiences. Being a lawyer isn’t what you see on TV, and practicing medicine isn’t anything like Dr. House. You’ll learn more from work experiences than you’ll do in school. Way more.

3. Just because you’ll take a course in university about something doesn’t mean you will make a living doing that. It is an important step, but it’s not like you’re managing international politics.

4. Look at your acquired exam grades. Talk to your teachers, about what grades they predict. Don’t promise yourself 40 hours of study periods on a weekly basis; be realistic. Hard work does pay off though. Really, it does.

Don’t fool yourself. Work hard for 2 years, and wake up with a smile on your face for the next 5.

University league table Ranking 2013 Institution 1 Cambridge 2 Oxford 3 London School of Economics 4 St Andrews 5 Warwick 6 UCL 7 Durham 7 Lancaster 9 Bath 10 Exeter There is no ideal university. No perfect spot. Things never go completely as you 11 Loughborough expected them to go. But maybe, you’ll end up learning things that have never 12 Surrey even crossed your mind. Roll up your sleeves and try to make the best out of 13 Imperial College 14 Glasgow what you have Now. 15 Edinburgh 16 Buckingham 17 York 18 Bristol 19 Leicester 20 Heriot-Watt Last year IBSB were fortunate enough to have ex Head Boy Alex V., accepted 21 City into Homerton College (http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk) Cambridge. This 22 Kent year, Congratulations go out to Year 13 student, Senior School Prefect Daniel 22 Southampton M. D., who has received a conditional offer to Clare College (http:// 24 UEA 25 Reading www.clare.cam.ac.uk/Home/) for 2013.

26 Nottingham In total some 16,000 of the world’s brightest young students from around the 27 Aston world apply to attend Cambridge, which has 32 colleges in all (http:// 27 Sussex 29 SOAS map.cam.ac.uk/colleges/). As such being accepted for an interview is in itself a 30 Birmingham big achievement and one that any student can be very proud, and two of our 31 University of the Arts London students were accepted for interviews this year.

31 King's College London 33 Newcastle Congratulations also to many other successful candidates. Head Girl Alexandra 34 Strathclyde L. has received a conditional offer to UCL and is still waiting for a reply for LSE. 35 Robert Gordon Many of our other students have also aimed high in their applications with the 36 Queen Mary 37 Leeds replies currently coming in. WE wish them all well in both their final exams and 38 Aberdeen in their future studies at the universities of their choice.

39 Royal Holloway 40 Cardiff 41 Manchester 42 Sheffield 43 Dundee 44 Brunel 45 Liverpool 46 Coventry 47 Lincoln 48 Huddersfield 48 Oxford Brookes 50 Essex

Clare College Cambridge

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Work Experience Career Path LAW FIRM INTERNSHIP – MY ON THE JOB DECISION MAKING Growing up in an environment filled with people practicing law has always had me leaning towards this career.

When it came time to choose a career, I decided the best thing to do was to obtain some first-hand experience to see what practicing law is actually like in the real world, and not just how things are portrayed on TV. My mother warned me that they would only “sell me the good side of the story“ and not all the hard work that needs to be put in, in order to achieve high-end results., and so armed with this advice I began my work experience programme.

As I walked into the building of one of the top law firms in the country, “Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii“, it was beyond anything I had ever imagined. From the lovely paralegals to the delicate paintings hanging on the walls, to the clean-cut suited up partners and associates. Whilst getting the welcoming tour, I definitely thought I was seeing only the good side of the story; but then work started. I was part of a team of four researchers who also happened to be interns with only one purpose: digging for information. Lawyers came one by one and dropped over ‘stickies’ with no more than two sentences on them, but for which we had to find at least ten times the information. We had to look for laws, annexes, orders, judgements, regulations; basically absolutely everything. In relation to the stickie.

Due to the continuous eye contact with a computer screen for 8+hours a day, I was experiencing brain overload; especially due to the fact that the work assigned could not be done robotically, requiring our undivided attention for the most thorough analysis. Seeing as it is easy to omit one case law from a list of hundreds, we always had to double and occasionally triple check every source; but we always got it down to the wire. I still remember one specific assignment on which we worked up a sweat for 26 hours. Surprisingly, although this was a labour intensive experience, I enjoyed reading and transcribing every single word; and it all paid off on a Wednesday morning that I will never forget, when I accompanied one of the firm’s most successful partners to the Supreme Court and witnessed a live trial.

I would like to leave a little advice for my fellow colleagues deciding on their own career path. The number one tip that I can give you is that if do you have the possibility to have a hands on experience in a domain you are interested in, do not hesitate. When talking about myself, they ‘had me’ the moment when everyone stood up when the judge entered the room, and he casually walked to his place emanating a forceful sense of majesty and justice. For you it could be watching a surgery, building a robot or whatever floats your boat. An experience like this is the only way of finding out if your choice is the right Victor L., Year 12 one for you.

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Carol Davila University Trip A brief Look at What lies Ahead In the middle of all these articles, let’s talk about science. What comes to your mind when hearing the word ‘science’?

Something really complicated, am I right?

Well, this is what our science students thought of the ‘complicated’ and amazing equipment before they met them.

On the 11th of December, 2012, students from Year 12 and 13 studying science visited the Biophysics Lab at the ‘Carol Davila University’ accompanied by Mr Peter Blythe, Ms Mihaela Senzaconi and Ms Laura Bajenaru – the AS Science teachers.

They were shown how some of the machines and equipment work including a fluorescence microscope, electrophoresis, centrifuge and incubators. They visited a high tech lab and were given a lecture on optical tweezers and were ‘enlightened’ by the fact that they can be used to manipulate small objects as small as a single atom using a laser beam. Pretty interesting, right?

Later, they experimented with cellular manipulation techniques, seeing cancerous human cells under the microscope as well as murine (mice) fibroblastic cells.

While they were there, how could they leave out the liquid nitrogen that our Year 12 Sebastian has been talking about for the past years? To his delight, we saw a liquid nitrogen storage device used for storage of different cell lines at an incredible minus 180ᵒC. And we think the Bucharest winters are cold!

Our trip ended with a visit to the old and impressive library, with books dating back as far back as the 14th century and a look at a lecture hall (the lecture wasn’t going on, much to the disappointment for the students).

The most exciting part was, obviously, the snow fight that occurred whilst returning to school which, I am sure, was conducted in the very best interests of science as forces and velocities were explored in a practical outdoor experiment. Sometimes, just sometimes, complex devices are not necessary to bring theoretical science to life!

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London Trip London – A Capital Experience!

On the 3rd of December we arrived at 14:05 at Heathrow Airport in London. The flight had been quite tiring but we had fun taking pictures of sleeping faces in the plane which filled our time. Right after we had checked in at the Royal National Hotel in Russell Square, we left our luggage and went to visit Buckingham Palace – well it would be rude not to say hello to the Queen - and Westminster Abbey. Returning back to the Hotel via the metro - or as the English say, the “tube” - we unpacked and prepared for dinner.

On the second day we visited a number of museums, including the Design Museum, Somerset House, and the National Gallery, which necessitated a lot of walking to see all the marvellous paintings. At the end of the day we went to Winter Wonderland which is London’s most spectacular Christmas festival-like place. It usually takes place from the end of November to the beginning of January. In there you can skate or be thrilled by the jaw-dropping Zippos Circus, and soar 60 metres into the air, seeing spectacular views over London in the Giant Observation Wheel; and lastly you can go in haunted houses....if you dare....

On Wednesday it was off to Watford via platform 9¾ to see the HARRY POTTER studios!!! The tour was only opened last year and offers behind-the-scene magic, costumes, iconic props from the films (including Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorcycle) and reconstructed film sets, such as the Great Hall, Dumbledore’s office, the famous Diagon Alley, Gryffindor common room, the boys’ dormitory, Hagrid’s hut, Potion’s classroom, Professor Umbridge’s office at the Ministry of Magic and many more. Also we got to see facts about the special effects that made Quiditch come to life or a dragon real in the movie. Oh, and I almost forgot, we also got the chance to taste butterbear!! After the tour we visited Convent Garden we saw the show We Will Rock You, which actually did rock and really was magic!!!!

On Thursday, we saw many museums, ate different type’s cuisine, and all learned something new. The fourth day was truly educational as we saw a fashion show and our portraits made from sand - which was pretty cool and exciting. At the end of the day we went to Oxford Street to do some shopping before dropping with exhaustion.

We got to visit so many museums and galleries including the Tate, where we went to see the Tate Pre-Raphaelites and the Tate Modern where we saw Chinese Contemporary art which was really strange. They put larvae in there. Yuck! Well, we ended the day with a British restaurant which fortunately didn’t have larvae on the menu!

Sadly, on Saturday we left Britain and returned to our beloved Romania, educated, exhausted and looking forward to Christmas. Life is tough sometimes!

Kira H. (Year 12) & Steve S. (Year 10)

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Humanities - Child Labour What is child labour ?

Child labour is defined in ILO Conventions as follows: It is work that children should not be doing because they are too young to work, or – if they are old enough to work – because it is dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for them. Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination. Children’s or adolescents’ participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their education, is generally regarded as being something positive.

Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed and the conditions under which it is performed, as set out in the ILO Conventions.

There are many forms of child labour worldwide. Children are engaged in agricultural labour, in mining, in manufacturing, in domestic service, types of construction, scavenging and begging on the streets. Others are trapped in forms of slavery in armed conflicts, forced labour and debt bondage (to pay off debts incurred by parents and grandparents) as well as in commercial sexual exploitation and illicit activities, such as drug trafficking and organized begging and in many other forms of labour. Many of these are “worst forms” of child labour as they are especially harmful, morally reprehensible, and they violate the child’s freedom and human rights. Child labour tends to be concentrated in the informal sector of the economy. For some work, children receive no payment, only food and a place to sleep. Children in informal sector work receive no payment if they are injured or become ill, and can seek no protection if they suffer violence or are maltreated by their employer.

What can be done to stop it?

To stop child labour many organizations were formed such as UNICEF, Stopchildlabour and lots of others. These organizations are helpful but the main changes should come from the governments which aren’t doing much, especially in the countries in which the amount of child labour is alarming. Why? Just because the economy is mainly maintained by child exploitation. Also lots of private individuals in those countries try to put a stop to it, but if the people who exploit the children are powerful and important and the government is corrupted, it will be tough for associations and individuals to help those children who really need help.

Where it is the most alarming?

When we talk about child labour we all think in developing economies in Asia or Africa. Yes, in those countries the amount of child labour is alarming: so alarming that their economies will fail if child labour is eradicated. But it’s not only in those country child labour is a problem, for even in Italy a community of farmers was uncovered where 50 Moroccan immigrants, any of them children, were being kept as prisoners and forced to work on the farm.

What can we do to help?

The secret is Fair Trade. If the wealthy nations of the world pay a fair price for their imported goods, the employers in the poorer countries will be in a position to pay higher wages to adult workers, so obviating the need for families to send their children out to work. Incredibly, the price of a t-shirt sold by one retailer in the UK would only have to be raised by five pence to fund a doubling of wages in the factory producing the t-shirts in Pakistan! Five pence extra on a t-shirt to ease the problem of child labour; is that really too much to ask?

So look out for Fair Trade labels and don’t grumble if it means paying a few Ron more. We are so fortunate to be benefitting from a fabulous education in IBSB and we should do our little bit o help those who can’t receive an education because they are forced to work.

Achille R. & Kunal M., Year 9

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Carol Service A Multinational Christmas Carol Service The Carol Service is an annual event and has become a tradition since the beginning of our school. It is an event that is never missed, and every Christmas our school choir, along with the prefects and teachers, participate in this great event. Every year we get to hear motivational speeches spoken by our head prefects and our principal.

Even though Christmas is a Christian religious festival, our school is very open to the fact that other students have different beliefs and therefore the carol service is not so much about the religion itself as about the spirit of the holiday.

The secondary school choir was split into 2 voices, boys and girls, and they were accompanied by George playing the keyboard. The songs sang were traditional Christmas material, and included ‘Oh Christmas Tree’ and “Jingle bells”, but caused quite a stir because of our student’s impressive talents. he school choir is made up of students from Years 7 to 13 and songs were performed in various languages so everybody could feel at home. It was difficult for everybody to learn some songs in German, French and Romanian but in the end, with some help coming from our native students and Mr Angel, we all succeeded.

The fresh snow boosted our Christmas spirits. You could feel the cold, though, and the thick warm coats kept us at a fair temperature. Maybe it's because of this fact that we sang out loud, for this little activity made all of us feel warmer and set us in a Christmas mood.

Anemona B., Year 12

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IBSB Shoebox Appeal IBSB Santa Visits Fundeni Thanks to the efforts of Casiopeea, PAVE, and the parents and students of IBSB, Santa came a little early this year to children at Fundeni Hospital suffering from various forms of Cancer. In an afternoon of entertainment the children enjoy a concert with performances by several local musicians and schools and then a special visit from Santa. The great news is that we had more than enough presents for all the children at the hospital and in fact managed to visit the second Fundeni hospital for children with cancer that same afternoon.

Thank you to all who gave and to Lea Cohen, Andrei Militescu, and Zoe, Year 10, for all their help distributing the presents. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the children was amazing.

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Skiing Skiing Skiing Skiing Skiing Skiing Skiing Brasoc Innsbruck Brasov Innsbruck Brasov Innsbruck

51 Students, 6 Teachers, Great Weather and a Tonne of Snow

Innsbruck Brasov Innsbruck Brasov Innsbruck International British School of Bucharest

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TIV By the students for the students

The Pictures tell it all‌ see you here next year!

Brasoc Innsbruck Brasov Innsbruck Brasov Innsbruck

Skiing Skiing Skiing Skiing Skiing Skiing Skiing

Innsbruck Brasov Innsbruck Brasov Innsbruck International British School of Bucharest

49 Visit www.ibsb.ro

TIV By the students for the students

What to expect from Christmas What should you expect from Christmas?

We may ask ourselves about Christmas - as we do concerning other subjects –why do we do what we do, and what is it that we do it for? Christmas, to me, is a symbolic manifestation of togetherness; we express our gratitude and have fun while we do it. For some it is just another day, while for others it is a time of recognition, understanding, and expression of their religious beliefs. I enjoy Christmas per-ensemble, I enjoy it as a season, as a time of snow, sharing, caring and eating.

I do not like to compare Christmas past to Christmas present, as each year it is appropriate to the stage in which I am in my life. This year it did have its ups and downs, but all I can seem to remember are the good times.

Decorating the tree with my family, my mother baking the traditional sweetbread ‘cozonaci’, working at the atelier until night-time, the Christmas market at night with my friends and walking around Bucharest in the freezing cold.

And as much as Christmas is the time for togetherness, it is also a time for coming closer to realizing what is important to you. It is that time before new years where everything is getting so relaxed and you have time to stay with yourself and come to realize or to ignore what is important for you. I have come to realize that all this optimism is induced by the fact the Christmas is mass advertised to be so, and that is a great thing considering how much negative information we are supplied with by the media, all year round.

I think that we shouldn’t expect anything more from Christmas than to have a good time, the rest will follow –and you might even be pleasantly surprised. As for why we celebrate Christmas, I think it is more than for religious purposes and even non religious ones… if one chooses to celebrate this time of year it is purely based on the fact that it is a reason to celebrate what exists with the people that exist around you. And that my friend, is reason enough!

Here are some of the things children expected:

International British School of Bucharest

Maria S., Year 13

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TIV By the students for the students

Bucharest - A winter Wonderland

So many parks, so little time

International British School of Bucharest

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The future in education

Preparing the children of today to face the challenges of tomorrow

Visit the school website at www.ibsb.ro and read past issues online.