International School of Bucharest - Insight - April 2016

APRIL

2016

ISSUE 7

1st and 3rd Prize for ISB students in the NASA Space Settlement Contest pg 49

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

2

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Message from the Director

Learn, Respect, Succeed

These three words extracted from our new mission statement summarise the core values of ISB. They will be used in our thinking and decision-making as we plan for the future educational experiences of our students.

We have asked our students, parents and teachers to describe our school in a few words with the view of revising our school’s philosophy and objectives. A committee consisting of teachers, parents and senior management team members evaluated the results of the survey and wrote the following statement as our school’s mission statement: The International School of Bucharest provides each student with a broad, balanced education in a safe and supportive environment.

We promote enjoyment of learning, creativity and excellence whilst working in close harmony with our diverse community.

We enable students to reach their full potential and develop skills to become independent, respectful and caring adults who will be successful and contribute to global society.

We believe that a rounded education has three components: the teachers, the students and the parents. In order to inform and support our parents, we are organising regular workshops; the most recent have been on how we teach Phonics, Reading, and Maths in the Primary School and on the Impact of Digital Media on Students’ Lives.

We all need to learn and develop.

Therefore, I highly encourage parents to attend these valuable courses.

Our school is committed to raising global citizens. The most recent activity to contribute to this spirit was the International Festival of Languages and Culture which took place at Sala Palatului on the 2nd March 2016. Guest students from 17 countries together with our students celebrated music and dance from around the globe with a spectacular show which everyone enjoyed. The Chinese New Year and Commonwealth Day were two other activities that were organised at school this term and which celebrated our cultural diversity.

Our students benefit from a safe learning environment where they can achieve their goals. We recently took some additional measures to increase the security level at our school. A security guard will accompany our parents and visitors from the building

entrance to the reception where they will be met or taken to the person they are going to meet. We will take further security measures as needed.

Parental involvement is crucial for successful school management.

Therefore, we would like to include two PTA representatives in our Senior Management Team starting from the next academic year. Details of the PTA election will be communicated to the parents prior to the start of the school year.

I would like to conclude by announcing an important change in the management structure at ISB from September 2016. Our Director of Studies, Ms. Kerry Harris has been working with us for the past four years. Her contributions to the academics as well as the school ethos have been outstanding. Ms. Harris will continue to work with us next year as the Head of Primary School.

I would like to congratulate her and wish her good luck in her new role.

I will remain with one title, which is Director of ISB. With very best wishes

Faruk Erduran Director

Together with H.E. Mr. Paul Brummell, the Ambassador of the UK

3

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Understanding the World Around Us MRS. HELEN DIXON, FOUNDATION 1 TEACHER

In Foundation 1 the children have many opportunities to use all their senses to explore and make sense of the world. The children are encouraged to observe and question what they see happening. During the

The fascinating mixture of corn flour and water

winter, the snow was of great interest to the children and provided lots of opportunities to investigate. One interesting question asked was “What

will happen if I put the ice in the sand?” They then decided to try and find out.

Foundation 2 Students Learned More than 32 Sounds!

MRS. VICKY SEESHAN, EYFS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

The children in Foundation 2 are making great progress during their Phonics lessons.

Following the Phonics International synthetic phonics program we have now covered at least 32 sounds! The children are very familiar with the routines during the lessons and are now able to use their knowledge of the alphabetic code to begin to read and write sentences both independently and with support. Keep up the good work, Foundation 2 children!

Children learn to segment and blend words for reading

Children begin to write words and sentences independently

4

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

“Snowman at Sunset” Winter Show MS. MONICA OLOGEANU, FOUNDATION 2 TEACHER Before the winter holiday, on the 17th December 2015, Early Years classes staged “A Snowman at Sunset” in front of a captivated audience made up of their families and teachers.

“Everyone loves making snowmen, but what happens when there isn’t enough snow?” Children played a heart-warming winter musical exceptionally, which gave them a taste of performing in front of a large audience and being part of a

Butterflies singing ‘Ten Tubby Snowmen’

team. They shared special moments during the rehearsals as well as on the “big stage” and their hard work paid off. Following the outstanding show, the parents were invited to see their children’s fantastic art work.

All the paintings were done in class,

by the Early Years Foundation Stage students.

Both the show and the Art Exhibition gave the children the opportunity to shine both as individuals and as a team.

Caterpillars performing ‘The angry song’ with actions

Early Years Foundation Stage Art Exhibition

5

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Year 1 are Becoming More Independent Learners MRS. ROSE MAJOR, HEAD OF YEAR 1 During the first few months of 2016, Year 1 have taken part in many different and enjoyable learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom. At the beginning of the year, snow arrived and the children had the opportunity to participate in different inter-house competitions like the Snow Competition or the Singing Competition.

Year 1 learnt how to be good friends to each other during Friendship Week and learnt a variety of playground games. The Year 1 trip to the Science Museum/Oraselul Cunoasterii was brilliant for securing the children’s knowledge about materials and for providing a fun learning environment outside of the classroom!

Within the classroom, the children

The very enjoyable Snow Competition

Experimenting together at the Science Museum

have worked extremely hard during all lessons. In Humanities, the children have been learning about Houses and Homes and have been given the opportunity to look at houses throughout the ages and also to make their own! More recently we have started learning about Dinosaurs, which is a topic the children are really enjoying. We have lots of interesting questions to find out the answers to.

In Science, Year 1 have been learning about Materials and the reasons why we use different materials.

On Science Day, we took some time to make our own houses using recyclable materials.

Year 1 enjoying learning sign language

6

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016 This cross curricular activity linked to PSHE and Humanities as we worked in mixed groups from the three Year 1 classes. The children showed great initiative and excellent teamwork.

Year 1 are now learning how to successfully grow plants and flowers; just in time for spring!

In English we have been learning about non-chronological reports, simple rhymes and are currently learning how to write a fantasy story.

The children have really enjoyed using their imagination to describe different settings and characters.

They are really looking forward to completing their own fantasy stories soon.

Experimenting with capacity on Maths Day

In Maths lessons, Year 1 have worked hard on a variety of units.

The children are now beginning to be able to record information after experimenting practically. The children worked hard during Maths day and participated well in the first Maths Interhouse Competition, putting their knowledge to good use. The children have learnt how to organise and use data and are able to make and read pictograms and bar graphs.

Keep up the good work Year 1!

Playing together at the Science Museum

Year 1 using recyclable materials to make houses on Science Day

7

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Natural World in Art, Tales and Stories in Year 2 MRS. VIKKI PEALL, HEAD OF YEAR 2 Year 2A have been learning about the natural world in Art lessons.

The children learned about the environment and how they can protect it by working together, as a team. They looked at Andy Goldsworthy’s artwork and tried to create their own, using natural items. Using a wide range of natural materials - such as pebbles, rocks, twigs, leaves, feathers, petals – and their imagination, they have produced

Many thanks to the very talented actors who enchanted our students

extraordinary sculptures. They have been very careful with the natural objects because they understood how important it was that they go back to nature, where they belong.

In February, Year 2 students enjoyed

We are painting our kites with great skill

8

two visits from a theatre company who shared some traditional stories to support the children’s learning in the Traditional Tales unit in their English lessons.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016 The children watched ‘The Greedy Fox’ and ‘The Good Girl and the Bad Girl’.

They discussed the various techniques the actors used including the way they changed their voices, the different ways they moved their bodies, how they used music, as well at the use of puppets in the plays.

As a result of our visit to the Chinese artisan fair 2P

wanted to make kites. We researched ideas on the internet and looked at traditional designs of dragons, lilies, and birds. We noticed how patterns were made symmetrical. We sketched our ideas onto our papers and cut out our design.

With great skill we painted our kites, using thin brushes for detailed work and using wider brushes when we wanted to fill a large space. We have decided we will try and fly our kites at the end of term.

Creating real life sculptures

We are very proud of our Artwork

Kites making is so much fun

9

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Play-scripts, Paintings and Word Problems in Year 3 MS. CATRIONA PITTENDREIGH

HEAD OF YEAR 3 We had lots of fun testing our senses in Science this term and learnt more about our 5 senses. We also found out about living and nonliving things and know the 7 life processes all living things have in common.

In Maths we have been getting to grips with time, working hard to read times both past and to the hour in 5 minute intervals. We have also been developing problem solving strategies, identifying key words in word problems. We particularly enjoyed our unit on Data Handling, collecting information from our classmates to create bar charts, Venn

Taking part in creative workshops at the National Art Gallery

and Carroll diagrams.

In English we enjoyed developing our writing skills, creating stories in a familiar setting. The children have been developing their use of the English language, employing expressive words to make their stories more engaging for the reader. We also enjoyed learning how to create a playscript, particularly when it came to acting them out!

Year 3 have had a full and busy term, working hard to expand their knowledge about art!

We have had a whistle stop tour through the history of art and have

10

enjoyed finding out how art has changed over the years. We started by looking at cave art, discussing why people drew on the walls and what the pictures tell us before moving on through Byzantine, Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionism and Expressionism and finishing with Cubism. The children had a great time experimenting with different techniques and mediums of art and we had a fantastic visit to The National Art Gallery to see some famous Romanian paintings.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Using pastels to create Monet’s bridge

Creating cave art using sticks

Experimenting painting techniques

Creating cave art using sticks

11

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Teamwork and Cooperation in Year 4 MR. ED SMITH, YEAR 4 HEAD OF YEAR 4 The Spring Term has been a busy one for Year 4. We have had a strong focus on cooperative teamwork and Science throughout the term. The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about Electricity, Magnets and Habitats. We have carried out a range of experiments which were great fun for all. The children were all very proud of themselves when

4E making complete circuits with different components

creating their own circuits and, as the term progressed have developed their skill of working in teams in all areas of the curriculum, but particularly in Science and PSHE. In March Year 4 successfully took part in Enterprise Day. They continued to

work well in different teams, excelling in the various roles allocated to them.

The children enjoyed working with other year groups to make Martisor gifts. The day was a great success and helped the children develop their understanding of the value of money.

4D cooperating and compromising whilst making floating magnets

12

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Making Friendship T-shirts

During Friendship week we took part in a range of activities including; meeting children from a local social centre, group art works and, with Year 3, created our own Friendship Recipes.

In June Year 4 will be venturing away from ISB on our residential trip.

We are all very excited and are pleased to see what could be a record number of children attending.

4F making complete circuits with different components

13

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Year 5’s Spring Term Activities MR. GWYN.WARLOW, HEAD OF YEAR 5 It has been a very busy term for the Year 5 students. We have covered a huge amount of work within our classes but have managed to enjoy ourselves as much as possible, while learning as well. One of our earlier English units explored was ‘Traditional Tales’. From these, we also looked at developing play scripts and then creating our own shadowpuppet theatres.

The students showed great cooperative skills: creating their

Working together to create a shadow-puppet show

own story; designing and making the puppets; writing their scripts; rehearsing their puppet-show and performing the show for the rest of the students. This also generated lots of very good discussion work about

A great day trip to the History Museum

14

the quality of work the students had produced.

We have also managed to fit in a visit to the Danone Yoghurt Factory in Bucharest. This linked with a previous topic – ‘Healthy Eating’.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016 While at the factory, the students had the chance to find out about the history of the company as well as some of the ways the produce is created and marketed.

After that, the students, after dressing to take precautions for hygiene and washing hands thoroughly, were able to take a tour of the factory.

It was fascinating to see the long conveyor belts as the yoghurts went through different production stages.

At the end of the tour, the students were able to watch the packing of the yoghurts, onto large delivery pallets, all done by robots.

Hands-on experience at the History Museum

Waiting patiently for the tour at the Danone yoghurt factory to start

15

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Writing Overlaps in Year 6 MR. JAMES PEALL, HEAD OF YEAR 6 DEPUTY PRIMARY PRINCIPAL Year 6 have been using their writing skills to overlap activities this term.

You can see by their displays and the content of the written pieces of work, that the children are applying their grammar, vocabulary and word work to create great pieces of written text.

If you have a chance to look at the Year 6 writing displays, please do, in order to learn more about Famous People, Poetry, Book reviews and Information booklets.

Students used their writing skills to create marketing content

Whether they are learning about subjective clauses, the correct spelling pattern, the history of the word ‘wicked’ or simply listening to and discussing a great story, all the learning is overlapping into new volumes of modern classic texts.

Grammar and vocabulary

16

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

We invite you take a look at the excellent Year 6 displays on the 3rd floor corridor

17

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

ISB Primary School Reward System MR. JAMES PEALL, DEPUTY PRIMARY PRINCIPAL ISB HOUSE POINTS Every child loves earning a House The Foxes had been stretching quite a demanding lead, but in recent weeks the Lynxes have started to catch up with them. Part of the reason why the Lynxes are catching up is due to their performances in the team challenges, especially in the Snow Sculpture competitions and the quiz about the history of toilets! Having read the Horrible Histories books, it has helped huge House Point scores!

Overall the children in Primary have earned nineteen and a half thousand House Points since the start of January. Very impressive indeed.

Whilst the Foxes lead overall, the other three House teams are leading in areas of the score. For example, the Hares are leaders in the Early Years, the Lynxes are scoring the highest

with the Specialist teachers and the Bears are best eaters, earning the most House Points for eating nicely, and with a wide variety of food in the canteen.

Well done to all the children.

House Points Leaderboard Terms 2&3

Hares 30

1st

Bears 25

Lynxes 35

Foxes 41

*As of 15th March 2016

2nd

3rd 18

4th

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Elections and Fund-raising in the Student Council MR. ED SMITH & THE STUDENT COUNCIL

The Student Council have had a busy Spring Term. We have held reelections in February in both Key Stage One and Two. We have met with Mr. Faruk Erduran, the Director of ISB, on two occasions, firstly, to experience the 3D screening room as a reward for our work in the first term.

Secondly for a meeting to discuss our main project; new playtime games.

Our main project this term has been the purchasing of new playground games and toys for the Key Stage One and Two playgrounds. The project has been on-going and included

Meeting Mr Faruk in his office to discuss to the playground project

persuasive letters written by the Council to Senior Management, coming after we created a Project Action Plan. We asked our classes for ideas on what games and toys were wanted by the children and then devised a plan to raise the money independently and to manage and maintain the new equipment.

The Student Council ran a NonSchool Uniform Day Fund-raising Campaign and raised 2760 Lei.

Non-school Uniform Day Assembly

19

We will now purchase the planned equipment in the Summer Term. We will spend the rest of the year focusing on a Primary School Talent Show and other possible ways to raise money for future projects.

“The Student Council should be congratulated for their hard work and focus this term”, said Mr. Edward Smith, Year 4 Teacher.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

The Story of Ioana and Her Best Friend, the Piano MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER Ioana (Year 2S) has been playing the piano since the age of four. She started playing easy songs, using one hand and then she moved on to playing happy short songs using both hands when playing the piano. At the age of four and a half, Ioana participated in her first piano contest, “The Little Pianists” and won the first place.

Motivated by the praise of her friends and family, Ioana took piano lessons very seriously and participated in her first international contest, “Paul Polidor”. She also won the 1st place.

That was the moment when Ioana knew she would never give up on her passion.

The next year, following a very tight competition, Ioana won the 1st place in an international piano

contest which took place in Paris.

The same year Ioana participated in the International Piano Contest “Cote D’Azur” which took place in Nice, France. Even though she was one of the younger contestants, Ioana played the piano enthusiastically and passionately, she made an excellent impression on the jury and won the Excellence Prize.

Our little star is now working very hard every day for her next contest which will take place this year in Rome, Italy. She knows that she will be the best as long as she dedicates herself to her dream.

20

We asked Ioana what else she likes to do in her spare time and she said that she likes to read, to play chess, to ski, to ride her bike in the park and to play with her beautiful little dog, Tasha, who is full of energy just like she is.

We are very proud to have such beautiful and talented students at ISB and we will continue to highlight and praise their talents and achievements because we have a lot to learn from their determination and commitment to follow their passion and their dreams.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

21

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Sensational Scientists of the ISB Primary School MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER In February, the ISB Primary School celebrated Science Week. Using their knowledge on floating and sinking objects, dissolving, air pressure and centrifugal forces, children completed scientific experiments. At the end of

Working together to create a shadow-puppet show

the week there was a Science Fair, which was a huge success. Numerous scientific experiments were presented

by our brilliant students to their peers and to their teachers.

Well done, everyone!

Students and teachers working together on projects

22

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

“Today I got the chance to speak at the International School of Bucharest’s Science Fair about Science, Arts and Passion. Sincere Gratitude to all those who put together this fair for these young minds!” Tobi Ibitoye, ISB Alumnus

What better way to learn about the laws of Physics than experiencing them yourself?

23

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Friendship and Inclusion Celebration at ISB MS. ANDREEA HANDREA, STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES Every year in February we celebrate Friendship and Inclusion in our Primary school. Our aim is to increase our children’s awareness, tolerance and understanding of differences between people, especially between children physically or mentally disabled. Children with Down Syndrome from Caritas Association,

Meeting somebody who is different can be very interesting

children with hearing impairments from ‘Sfanta Maria’ School for Children with Hearing Impairment and socially challenged children from

‘Sfantul Dimitrie’ Foundation have visited our school during Friendship and Inclusion Week.

Working on our beautiful Friendship Tree

By participating in different types of interesting and funny activities, our children and our guests had a lot of fun together. Our students showed

understanding, respect, empathy and admiration towards our guests and we are very proud of them. Their attitude was illustrated very well in the

24

pantomime scene performed by the children with hearing impairments.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016 Both KS1 and KS2 students were involved in activities which promoted friendliness, helpfulness and supportiveness among them. ‘Fill your bucket’, creating a Friendship display, being part of a Friendship Tree, designing a Friendship T-shirt, making Friendship drawings, filling in Helpful slips with their good deeds,

were just a few of the activities they happily took part in. During break times the students could spend time in the ‘The Friendship Stop’ areas, where they could talk or play with a friend or getting to know each other better with the help of some Friendship facilitating cards.

students talked in their assembly about online friendship and online protection. Many thanks to Mrs. Teodora Stoica from ‘Save the Children’ NGO for the very insightful presentation.

Both Primary and Secondary

Fearless Luke was very popular

Best Friends

25

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Special Guests and Excellent Exhibition on Commonwealth Day at ISB MS. CHARISSA SCOTT, DEPUTY PRIMARY SCHOOL ISB celebrated Commonwealth Day on Friday 11th March. The day started with a big Primary assembly in the Theatre where the children learned which 53 counties are in the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as how the Commonwealth was formed.

During the assembly parents, staff and students spoke about some of countries they are from or have worked in. The children learned many things about Canada, Cyprus,

Many thanks to our guests from the Embassy of Nigeria

England, India, Malaysia, Scotland, Uganda and Wales including their location, culture and food.

There was an Exhibition in the Gallery that Primary and Secondary students visited throughout the day and a selection of music from around the Commonwealth playing throughout the day in the Gallery.

26

We also welcomed some of the diplomats from the Nigerian Embassy who spoke to students in Years 3 - 6 about Nigeria and answered many questions from the students.

Many thanks to everybody involved who worked hard to make the day a success.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

27

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

The ISB Community, a Cohesive Community MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER

This term we have been honoured to visit some of the Embassies of our students’ countries, together with our students, as well as to receive the visit of high officials at the school.

Before the winter holidays, ISB students gave season’s greetings to the Hungarian and the Nigerian Embassies. Many thanks to H.E. Mr. Okechukwu Fidelis Muoh, the Ambassador of Nigeria and to the Hungarian Embassy diplomats for having us!

Visiting the Hungarian Embassy

Many thanks to H.E. Mrs. Riva Ganguly Das, the Ambassador of India, for inviting our Indian students and their families to attend the flag hoisting ceremony to commemorate the Republic Day of India Mr. Sinan Kosak, the Secondary School Principal, together with parents and several of our Indian students were very honoured to meet Mrs. Ambassador and attend the ceremony.

H.E. Mr. Paul Brummell, the U.K. Ambassador visited our school in January. Mr. Ambassador was given a tour of the school by a few of our Primary School students, before leading a debate with some of our IGCSE and A2 Geographers about the implications of mass migration to the EU. Many thanks for honouring our invitation, Mr. Ambassador.

A welcome visit to H.E. Mr. Hussain Sinjari, Ambassador of Iraq

28

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Group photo at the Embassy of India, together with H.E. Mrs. Riva Ganguly Das, the Ambassador of India

Group photo at ISB, together with H.E. Mr. Paul Brummell, the Ambassador of the UK

ISB students, Mr. Murat Agce and Mr. Ahmet Dundar at the Nigerian Embassy

29

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

17 Artisans from Tianjin, China Celebrated the Chinese New Year at ISB MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER

Chinese traditional art

The Chinese New Year was another special celebration which took place at our school this term. Our students, teachers and parents had the chance to welcome 17 artisans from Tianjin, China who brought their incredible skills and crafts to ISB. The time spent with the Chinese artisans was priceless. We all had the chance to see how kites are made, we

learnt about the art of origami, wood painting, painting with straws, as well as about the technique of crafting the famous Chinese lanterns.

Many thanks to our guests from the Romanian-Chinese House and to Mr. Yan Jianwu, the Cultural Attaché of the Chinese Embassy, who helped us organise this cultural event at the school. The Chinese art and

culture brought to school by the very experienced Chinese artisans was very much appreciated by all present at the event.

“The Chinese Artisan Fair is the perfect opportunity to learn lots of interesting facts about the Chinese culture and tradition, facts that were unknown to us before this cultural event.” Mihaela M, ISB student

All the Chinese artisans’ stands were very popular

30

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Key Stage 2 Students Working Alongside Year 10 Business Experts MR. CABLE SCOTT, YEAR 2 TEACHER KS2 students working alongside Year 10 Business Studies experts

KS2 had a very exciting, busy and productive first day back after the holidays with the KS2 Martisor Enterprise Day 2016. All of Years 3,4, 5 and 6 worked together to form small

companies, design logos and slogans and make and sell Martisor gifts.

With the support of our Year 10 Business Studies experts they created some highly innovative companies,

manufactured a huge number of high quality souvenirs and made impressive amounts of pretend profit.

We can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!

The ESU Public Speaking Competition

Congratulations to our students for entering the regional ESU Public Speaking Competition

31

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

International Cultural Gala through the ISB Students’ Eyes MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER The International Cultural Gala took place on the 1st and 2nd of March 2016 at Sala Palatului. Talented children from Romania, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, France, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, the United States, Ukraine, the Philippines and Kenya performed on the stage of Sala Palatului in Bucharest and provided a professional artistic program, for which they had rehearsed for almost a year.

On the 1st of March more than 4,000 students and teachers from Bucharest enjoyed this unique cultural show.

On the 2nd of March the children performed again on stage, this time in front of friends and families, as well as special guests.

A few of our students agreed to tell us their impressions at the end of the show. Here is what they had to say.

“I enjoyed the show very much and all singers had such beautiful voices. The traditional dances were amazing. The

Talented students from 17 countries happy to be on the stage

costumes looked very well on stage and I enjoyed the young children’s dance the most. They were so sweet.

I had fun and I got to know different cultures”. Nurefsan, Year 10B “The International Gala of 2016 was a memorable event for the students of ISB. It promoted peace and unity by embracing and accepting cultural differences, well expressed through dancing and singing.

The set was very colourful and it changed depending on the representation of each particular country. We could see patterns, colours and landscapes of many countries on the stage’s big screen. The performance was very entertaining. I really enjoyed the performance from Russia”. Andreea S., Year 10I “The International Cultural Gala is a festival that promotes diversity. It

is a great opportunity to learn about different countries and cultures.

Several students from Kenya performed a traditional Romanian dance, which demonstrated the amount of effort the students had made to be in the spirit of the day.

I would highly recommend this festival to anyone. It is a very good experience to learn new things about our world”. Dragos A. Year 10 I “The traditional costumes reminded me that each culture is unique. The children’s voices were so captivating.

My favourite performances were the Indian and Arabic because their music is so fascinating and I just love it. I loved the music and performances and would recommend this to everyone. Anne Marie W. Year 10 B

All the participants proudly wearing their traditional costumes

32

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

The amazingly talented young children from Romania The audience stand up for Sasha from Russia

Calușarii from Kenya were the big surprise of the evening

33

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Winter Activities at ISB MS. ANA MARIA CUATU, PE TEACHER

MR. GWYN WARLOW, YEAR 5 TEACHER Earlier in the term, students from Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 took part in skiing trips to Predeal. Both trips were extremely popular among our students and were very successful.

After an early start, the KS2 trip got underway with a long train ride. The students were very excited but made sure they kept themselves busy, while looking out of the windows for the first sign of snow, as we headed north.

After arriving and the organising of luggage and rooms, the students finally got the chance to get kitted out with their skis, boots and helmets.

Carrying all this equipment up to the slopes was a bit of a challenge for some, but it all turned out to be very much worth it. Everybody was very eager to get started.

Excited to get started

We had a mixture of excellent, experienced skiers and a small number (mainly amongst the teachers) with no experience at all. It was fantastic to watch students with absolutely no experience gain so much confidence over those few days.

As the more expert skiers, accompanied by the instructor, moved further up the mountain to tackle more demanding ski runs, those with slightly less expertise stayed on lower slopes and practiced the basics. The students were amazing, most of them advancing from one level to another in just one day!

The best PE practice, in the field

34

The talented and gifted ISB students, were given the chance to prove their skills not only on the slope, but also in the “Talent Show” organised by the supervising teachers. Magic tricks, dancing, singing and drama, all of them surrounded by laughter and a lovely atmosphere, led to a successful afternoon spent together. We bonded.

In January, KS2 students took turns on the ice skating rink. They loved every minute of their PE lesson on ice.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016 KS3 students returned from their ski trip with everlasting memories

Some of our experts ready for the ski run

35

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Martisor and Mothers’ Day in the ISB Community MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER Our Primary students celebrated Spring, Martisor and Mother’s Day by creating impressive acrostic poems about Spring, fantastic projects and lovely Mother’s Day cards and diplomas.

The themes of Martisor – the 1st Day of Spring and Mothers’ Day were an inspiration for the students who practiced their writing skills and wrote beautiful poems in their Romanian language lessons.

The Early Years Department had a wonderful ‘Mummy and Me Tea Party’ for Mother’s Day on the 8th of March. The mummies were invited to listen to the Early Years children sing songs about how much they love their mummies. We also welcomed the mummies into the classrooms

David and his mummy working together to create a Mother’s Day card

for morning tea and craft making time. In addition to these activities the children had worked to prepare a short video talking about all the reasons why they love their mummies.

The morning tea party was lovely, it was wonderful to celebrate the special day and all the children were excited, as they had prepared all their crafts leading up to the tea party.

The students attending Mother’s Day Club put up a great show as proof of their love and appreciation for their moms and to remind us how important and loving they are.

Foundation 2J Mothers’ Day group photo

36

They sang, danced and cherished the coming of spring with a few beautiful poems.

Our Secondary School students organised a special Dinner followed by a Mothers’ Day Show dedicated to their mothers. The students and their teachers worked very hard to make the evening a memorable one for the mothers.

Many thanks to Mrs. Cigdem, who coordinated the organisation of the event, as well as to all the parents who joined us for the evening.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Singing Romanian spring songs

How well do you know each other?

Many thanks to all the mothers in the audience

Excellent performance. Well done, everyone!

37

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

News from the Parent Teacher Association PTA TEAM

The ISB PTA Donation Campaign “Donate a smile for Alin and Maria” initiated in November 2015 was a success.

The PTA would like to say a big thank you for your kindness, generosity and involvement in our donation campaign.

All your presents were beautiful and they made the children from the Fundeni Oncological Hospital very happy.

Alin receiving his presents from the ISB students

Even though initially, our aim had been to help Maria and Alin, due to the impressive number of donations received at the school, we decided to share them with other children in the

same situation.

We are very proud to be part of such a kind and giving community.

On the 8th March flowers, smiles and joy were generously offered to all the ladies in the school by our PTA

38

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Workshops for Parents MS. ANDREEA HANDREA, MS. ALINA CONSTANTIN SSS DEPARTMENT Both the Primary School Department and the Student Support Service organised very interesting workshops for parents this term.

“The impact of digital media on children and teenager’s lives” and “Be the parent your child deserves” were the workshops organised by the Student Support Service Department.

The workshops approached different relevant aspects: the effects of technology on brain development at different ages, social media and social relationships, online privacy and safety, internet addiction, the

Maths Workshop

impact of internet overuse on sleep and learning.

Parents got updated with the latest research in terms of effects of technology on children and teenagers’ development, they shared their experience and personal parenting strategies.

The Primary school invited parents

to attend a series of very insightful workshops on Reading, Phonics and Maths. The parents’ feedback on the workshops was very positive and we happily noticed that the number of parents attending the workshops increased considerably. Many thanks to all involved.

"Be the parent your child deserves" Workshop

39

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

The “Little Gardeners” Project Launches on National Television MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER

Our future “I love ISB” flower garden

The ISB gardeners working very hard and focusing on their task

40

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Our lovely garden. Stage 1

We are pleased to announce to you that the ISB Primary School, in partnership with the ‘Pretuieste Viata’ Foundation have launched the “Micii Grădinari” (Little Gardeners) project, which aims at providing children with first-hand knowledge about growing organic plants and food, both through theory and practice. Throughout the year, a flower and vegetable garden will be grown on the ISB grounds and the children will have fun planting, growing and tending to their own plants.

The primary students will learn

everything about gardening from the gardening specialist Flori Ciobanu, who will guide the students through their journey from planting the seeds to picking the fruits and the vegetables and cooking them with the help of our chefs.

In the first gardening session, the children planted the seeds they had brought to school and they learned about the importance of growing organic plants and how fun it can be.

The first outdoor activity of this project took place Monday, the 28th March, during school time. The

children, wearing their personalised and custom-made gardening clothing, together with the gardening specialist and Mrs. Andreea Marin, our green ambassador, planted the first seeds, seedlings and fruit trees and learned how to best take care of them. This activity was filmed and it will be broadcast on TVR1 during the “Pretuieste Viata” TV show, which airs on Sundays at 17.00.

The students were all very enthusiastic about this project and they are already planning to take turns caring for the garden, along with the ISB staff.

The Gardening Club students bringing their pots into the garden

41

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

As we Approach the 20th Anniversary of ISB MR. SINAN KOȘAK, SECONDARY PRINCIPAL

Outstanding NASA prize

We have had countless moments that filled our hearts with joy since 1996. Our students' achievements have always made us prouder and

happier. Some say the sky's the limit when it comes to striving for the best.

However, the sky didn’t seem to limit 6 of our Year 10 students; it was their launching pad. Ariana has reached the sky and beyond. Using her passion for Physics, Maths and Art and her skills of intensive research, she accomplished a 100-page essay on a design project for the ‘NASA Space Settlement’ contest. As a result of her 5 months long brilliant work and dedication, she won the 1st prize with her project ‘Osiris’. Right next to her are five more of her classmates: George, Filip, Andrei, Nicolas and Maria, impressively taking the 3rd prize with their project ‘Afrodita’.

yet again for our students. 98% of our students gained IGCSEs of which a massive 23% were graded at A* or A. Our Sixth Form students also performed well with 83% achieving ‘AS’Levels (32% at A* or A) and 98% gaining their final ‘A levels of which 28% were at A* or A.

Blossoms of Project Based University Placements As the academic year draws Learning We have always encouraged our students to aim higher to reach their full potential. A science project engineered by Suheyla and Antonia from Years 12 and 13 has been qualified for the GENIUS Science Olympiad in USA. ISB participated with 40 projects to the annual firSTep Science, Technology and Design Fair.

Exam Results

Reflecting the dedication of our teachers and the hard work of our students, the summer examination sessions produced excellent results

42

to a close for the Year 13, we would like to congratulate a few of the many successful applicants who have received conditional offers from their universities of choice: Suheyla for her conditional offers to Biological Sciences at the University of Birmingham and Queen Mary University London; Aruna for Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Queen Mary University of London and University of Warwick; Enkai for his conditional offer to Biological Sciences at Imperial College London and University of Sheffield, and Biology

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016 at Queen Mary University of London; Neslihan for her unconditional offer for Architecture at the University of Greenwich, and Architecture at University of Birmingham, City University London, and University of Westminster.

The journey of being an IB World School

In order to better prepare our students for university, we are ceaselessly trying to open new opportunities. We are currently in the c andidate phase of for becoming an authorised IB school and training our 6th Form teachers for this change.

Once the process is completed, intend to implement the IB Diploma Programme from the 2017/2018 academic year, with our first.

Due to IB requirements, we will subsequently improve our facilities to meet the necessary standards. The school library and science labs will benefit the most and next year, the 3rd floor will be dedicated to the entire 6th form classes. We have also set up a new 3D presentation room, with 2178 videos and interactive 3D content for Maths and Science subjects suitable for Year 1 to Year 13.

New Boarding House - ISB will feel like home

I am also very happy to announce our new Boarding House for boys. We are now able to welcome 10 students to our boarding facility inside the new campus of ICHB.

and charity campaigns. We currently have 12 students actively working with our specially trained award leaders.

Internationalism and being glocal

We are very passionate about different cultures and international mindedness in our school. This year, we have celebrated the national days of Romania, Turkey, China and India and organised a Commonwealth day in our school. We have inspired our students to participate in social projects, such as the International Festival of Language and Culture (IFLC) Gala, where students from 17 countries have come together to showcase their culture. IFLC is being held in numerous countries all over the world, bringing passion and love for worldwide amity between cultures and nations, interconnecting people from different cultures

and backgrounds. We used this chance to visit the representatives of the participating countries with our students. I would like to thank the embassies of Mexico, Tunisia, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Japan, Sudan, Pakistan, Slovakia, Hungary and Albania, as well as the ambassadors for welcoming us during our visits and supporting us with their presence in Gala.

In order to make connections with our local community and to engage and challenge our students in different manners, we continue to organise or host many inter-school events in our school such as BISAC tournaments, Infomatrix, Talent Show, etc. Another example is the 2nd edition of the Inter-school Quiz Contest, which is now open to state schools as well as international schools in Bucharest. The contest takes place in two phases, on the 18th and 20th of April.

Hope to see you there!

Proud to deliver DofE

Extracurricular activities have always been encouraged and supported in our school. Throughout the year, students are given numerous opportunities to prove their ambition and work on projects and charities that will develop skills, and enhance their CV and university applications.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award has helped our students get involved in a variety of activities, including sport, music, public speaking, creative arts

From our visit to H.E. Mrs. Thenjiwe Ethel Mtintso, Ambassador of South Africa

43

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Year 7I at the Grand Combo Entertainment Centre MRS. CIGDEM KARAMAN, YEAR 7 FORM TUTOR Year 7I group photo

Year 7I and 7S have been rewarded with a fabulous evening at the Grand Combo Entertainment Centre where they played bowling, billiard, as well as X-box and Playstation.

The highlight of the evening was the

billiard competition between Mr. Fatih, the Year 7I Form Tutor and the students. It was a competition worth watching! During the evening, parents also joined in and raised the level of the challenge.

It was an evening filled with fun, a time dedicated both to friends and families which will become part of the sweet memories of the secondary school life. Thank you all for taking part.

Year 8I Students' Impressions on “Number π Day” The Secondary School celebrated the “π Day” on the 14th March. In the Assembly, students watched “The history of number π” video, followed

by Pi-Digit Memorising, Pi-Design and Pi-Eating Contests.

Here are some of their thoughts at the end of the Assembly: “I consider “π Day” to be a really fun and interactive activity. I have learnt a lot about the number π and how it evolved over a long period of time. I know now that it is an infinite number for which humans managed to calculate over 13.3 trillion digits”. Sabin, Year 8I “I loved when we all voted for the Best π Themed Cake and I

Year 8I before the Number Pi Day Assembly

enjoyed the Pie-Eating Contest.

Students and teachers competed with each other. It was loads of fun to see them trying to eat their pies without using their hands”.

Meryem, Year 8I “The video about the history of the number π was very interesting. I still can’t believe how people could put all their time into calculating the digits of the number π”.

Lidia, Year 8I “Here at ISB, we celebrated Pi in the Assembly. The prefects made 44

sure that the students had a lot of activities during the assembly.

The teachers and the prefects did a wonderful job at creating the number pi-related activities”.

Daria, Year 8I “Pi Day was extremely fun.

Especially watching random people shoving their pies into their mouths. Mr Oytun made everyone burst with laughter when he unwillingly got called down to compete”.

Nisa, Year 8I

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Reading is Fun in Year 9!

MS. MADALINA TUICA, 9I FORM TEACHER Whole-school reading has become part of our routine at ISB. Not only does it improve students’ vocabulary, but it is also one of many people’s favourite leisure activity. Tutor time is a moment to calm down, relax and enjoy a good book, unwinding with your friends and teachers.

Even though we usually spend two

Bring your favourite book to school

days a week reading at tutor time, during the English Week it was the main focus of our class activity.

At the end of the week, 9I brought

their favourite books to school and shared their impressions on them, hoping that it would encourage more students to read.

Year 10I Seen

by Ariana and Andreea “10I is a class of students of various nationalities. We meet eleven times a week for morning registration (10 minutes), tutor time (15 minutes) and first period on Wednesday for Pastoral Care – P.S.H.E. (50 minutes).

Morning registration is spent seeing who is present and chatting with people you see almost every day.

Pastoral care is dedicated to class discussions that have the purpose of making our lives within and outside school better. We discuss discovering our personal strengths, developing our skills, reflecting on what makes up our identities, the achievements we have in and out of school and about our families. Each one of these discussions is accompanied by short videos, a couple of handouts and some worksheets for us to fill in.

These little discussions have the purpose of helping us discover ourselves and the people around us - hence the name P.S.H.E. (Personal, Social, Health and Economic). We teach each other about different

Year 10 I

lifestyles and choices that help us reflect on our previous and future actions. An hour or so per week of discussion is enough to unite a group of people. We chatted about how we should be more considerate towards our colleagues and we gave honest responses about how we see an ideal school. Every one of these conversations gave us a short break from our daily lesson times. This is what happens in a small class of twenty people”.

Ariana Z. “Belonging to a group is crucial in this life. For 3 years in a row, 10I, as our class is called, has been together through what I guess you could call ‘thick and thin’. We have been together since Year 7 and we have bonded with

45

each other, forming more or less important friendships. During school hours, we tend to spend about 1 hour and a half together as a whole group, during our Tutor Time. Obviously, some of us have common lessons, which adds to the time we spend with each other. Over the years, our school has organized trips and activities where we could all participate, which, whether some of us like to admit it or not, have created fun memories.

We’ve watched each other grow and evolve, both inside and outside school premises. Personally, I consider being part of Year 10I a privilege and a blessing which I will definitely remember as an adult. “ Andreea S.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Year 11 Discussions during Pastoral Care and Tutor Time MR. VEPA SARYKULOV, 11I FORM TEACHER “We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools”. Martin Luther King Year 11 have been discussing school policies and have been reading and reviewing Educare scores during their tutor time this term.

Year 11I during a Pastoral Care lesson

During Pastoral Care hours the students have been discussing different topics regarding the development of their future life, as well as topics like Bullying or Tolerance and Intolerance. Tolerance and Intolerance have been defined to make sure everyone understands these concepts.

The students then answered the

question: “What shouldn’t we tolerate?” They concluded that there are acts or behaviours that should not be tolerated: Racism, Gender stereotyping, Bullying etc.

I really appreciate my form class, they are active and hard-working, studious students and well-behaved students.”

Keep up the good work, Year 11I!

An exciting Year for Year 13 I MR. ANDREW LAWRENCE, YEAR 13I FORM TUTOR

Secondary teachers took Year 13 out for a dinner as a reward for the hard work

2016 has been an exciting year for the 13I. First off, we confirmed an identity-based, linear-model seating plan which has been improving class integration.

We have had innumerable intelligent discussions concerning recent events that have been organised by the school as well as encouraging the free sharing of ideas and opinions. We have discovered many wonderfully

46

clever students who are contributing much to our discourse. We also found that there is a wonderful community uniting all teachers in this school and other schools all over the world who have the same unknowable goal.

Many of our students have also been accepted to great universities in the UK. Go go 13I!

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

ISB at the Finals of Bright Speakers Competition MS. MONICA MOTOI, FRENCH TEACHER We are very proud of our students, Ilinca S (Year 7), Sonia P (Year 8) and Ana (Year 9) who participated, in the Bright Speakers Competition Finals, Romanian Section on Saturday 12th December, as well as Ayse (Year 12), Mario (Year 8), Octavian M (Year 9), Maria D. (Year 10), Stefani (Year 11) who participated in the English Section.

The numerous people in the audience at the Bright Speakers Competition

The competition was organised by the Bucharest School Inspectorate together with the International Computer High School Bucharest (ICHB) and it was hosted by the Lumina University.

Our students, alongside 205 students who joined the competition, delighted the

ISB Bright Speakers

47

audience formed by parents, school principals and teachers with their well-prepared speeches.

Congratulations to our finalists and their teachers, Ms. Monica Motoi, Romanian Teacher and Ms. Janet Hunter, Head of English Department. We are very proud of you!

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Fieldtrips, Exams Preparation and Presentations in the Humanities Department MR. ANDREW PALMER, HEAD OF HUMANITIES DEPT The Humanities department have had a busy term and we have been busy preparing our students for the upcoming IGCSE and A-Level exams. Travel and Tourism students are finishing off their coursework organising and running an event whilst Global Perspectives students are busy delivering their 8 minute presentations to offer solutions to solve a global problem. We wish all our students the very best of luck in their summer exams. The History department have run two very successful fieldtrips. Miss Iulia took our Year 7 History classes to the National Museum of History.

Mrs. Niamh took the Key Stage 4 and

The Trading Game - Learning about Geography

the International Management Institute of Switzerland, who delivered a presentation to our Travel and Tourism class while our Geography students hosted a debate with the British Ambassador to Romania about the implications of mass migration to Europe.

Our Business and Economics The department have further students visited Ernst and Young trips to the Mud Volcanoes and with Mr. Andrew who also Constanta planned, which will organised a motivational talk from bring this busy academic year to an end. I would like to thank all of Mr Adrian Munteanu.

The ISB students were also our teachers and students for all fortunate to have a visit from their hard work this year.

5 Historians on a Communist walking tour of the city where students were able to study the impacts of Communism on Bucharest. This was an excellent chance for students to place their historical knowledge into context and understand a little more of their own history which is so rich in the city by someone who was very passionate and knowledgeable.

Students on the Communist Walking Tour

48

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

1st and 3rd Prize for ISB students in the NASA Space Settlement Contest MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER

We are extremely proud of our Year 10 students for their excellent performance in the NASA Space Settlement Contest. This year, ISB participated for the first time with 2 projects to the annual NASA Space Settlement Contest, where students must conduct research & write 100 pages of unique content explaining all the details of a sustainable space habitat housing a minimum of 10000 people.

During their 5 months of project development, students learned many interesting space topics like Asteroid Mining, Lagrangian Points, Radiation Protection, Closed System Agriculture, Artificial Gravity Generation etc. Their projects have then been evaluated by NASA judges.

Ariana Z. (Year 10I) won the first place in the individual category with her project called “Osiris”.

Ariana designed a settlement to host 15,000 people. The shape of the settlement is a central cylinder and three residential tori. The entire structure has a radius of approximately 920 meters and it costs $ 19 trillion.

George, Filip, Andrei, Nicolas, and Maria won the third place with their project “Afrodita”.

Congratulations, guys! You made us extremely proud! Congratulations

NASA team with their tutor, Ali Cabas

to their teacher, Mr. Ali Cabas, who exceptionally led our students towards these outstanding results.

“Writing about space settlement was an amazing opportunity to learn more of our inevitable future. Researching space colonisation enhanced my endless pursuit for more knowledge in science.” Ariana, Year 10I “One of the reasons why such a space settlement is needed is that the Earth is slowly being used up by us humans, and a new, independent home will be required very soon as the pace of the consumption of the Earth is accelerating every year. Helium-3, a nuclear energy fuel that does not produce dangerous waste, is used for the production of electricity in the project. The project takes around thirty years in order to be completed and become fully independent from the Earth.

During this period, we learned many new, interesting things. We disagreed and had different opinions but in the end we organised ourselves in writing a creative and informative book that could apply any time in the future, as long as we have the required resources. Hard work, determination and perseverance brought us to this stage; a stage in which we make our families proud, a stage in which we

49

represent our country on a global level, a stage in which we became more familiar with space and all its aspects.

In our opinion, the six months of hard work paid off with a more understanding perspective of the outer space and technical aeronautical information as well as an opportunity of going to Puerto Rico, San Juan for a five-day conference. We would like to thank our supervisor, Mr Ali Cabas, for guiding and sustaining us throughout this contest, The International School of Bucharest, for giving us the opportunity to attend this competition and our parents, for encouraging us whenever the times were tough”. -Afrodita 1.0 members (Maria D., Andrei L., George V., Filip G. and Nicolas M.)

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

English Week at ISB MS. JANET HUNTER, HEAD OF ENGLISH DEPT English Week was packed with activities to promote Reading and Literacy throughout the Secondary School. During tutor time, all students read a book of their choice and fed back to tutors about them. Students also reviewed the International Cultural Gala, making links between the multicultural nature of our school and the English Department.

ISB Book Fair on World Book Day

use of English.

Here are some excellent pieces of Students also wrote poetry for Creative Writing from our very Mothers’ Day throughout the talented students. week and learnt about the sonnet Ms. Helen organised a great short form in their English lessons. For story competition, with winners Ana, Derya, Ayse, Adina, Maria D, Ingrid those students in English Support, D., and Joanna reading extracts from Miss Alina and Miss Madalina their writing during the English Week arranged some poetry activities prize-giving assembly. around similes and group narrative During the Prize-giving assemblies, writing, which produced great Wael, Abdel, Aris and guest H.E. Mr. results and demonstrated creative Mohammed Gasmalla, Ambassador

of Sudan made superb contributions with lively readings of their own sonnets based on Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare. On World Book Day we organised a Book Fair at the school. The same day we had the book character costume contest.

The winners, Andrei C., Ayla S., and Alexandra M., demonstrated great interest in and knowledge of their book characters.

A big thank you to all who made English Week possible.

That’s the Christmas Spirit!

I saw them a few winters ago. They were outside and I could see them from my bedroom window perfectly.

They came on the street, thundering their drums, and made everybody curious about what was happening.

They were wearing thick coats made out of lamb’s wool, called Cojoc. The women had red cloths (named batic) on their heads and wore specific opinci, brown shoes with sharp ends which were tied up around their ankles.

Some of them had sorcove in their hands, a type of stick with colorful aluminum flowers on them. Beautiful!

They sang a song which sounded like this: Sorcova, vesela, Să traiți, să-mbătrâniți: Ca un măr, Ca un păr, Ca un fir de trandafir…

Two people held the traditional capra and danced the authentic dance with the capra. It is a long stick with a fake goat head and big goat horns on the end. A cloth is also attached to the stick to cover the dancers. It looked totally amazing. A part of the group wore masks, but not the classic pottery masks. They wore masks made out of cloth with huge, fluffy ‘noses’. Some of them had black buttons to look like teeth, very ugly teeth.

They presented a dance called mascati; it was fascinating. Leading them was a man in a bear costume. He looked really scary, especially through the eyes of a 5 year old.

I stood on my tiptoes to get a better view of the show from outside. The radiator was heating me as I leaned across it to get to the window. I had the cosy and calm feeling of Christmas! The marvellous show captured the right Christmas spirit and I loved it, well, I still do! I’ve continued watching the traditional carolling shows ever since and never get bored of them. It is my favourite Romanian tradition and lately, some friends and I started carolling and we really enjoy it!

Aysenur O 7I

50

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

In remembrance of our place Mother A mother’s eyes hold years of wisdom, A mother’s smile hides her deepest worry, Her voice keeps a gentle rhythm, Her youngest memories kept blurry.

Rough times try to falter her beauty, Though she ages, a mother’s job does not end.

Only her presence keeps your life steady, A mother is truly your best friend.

A mother goes over limits and beyond, Her smile so bright it lights up the room, Her love forms the strongest bond, Her voice is the most melodic tune.

A mother sets an example, A mother is what keeps the world rational.

To you, a mother is substantial.

Her love for you is unconditional.

A mother raises you lovingly.

A mother is your supporter, your inspiration.

She makes you cackle with glee Only she guides you in the right direction.

When her dark hair becomes silver, And her steady hands tremble, When her voice starts to quiver, Treat her as if she were soft as a petal.

For a mother’s love is unconditional and her soul the purest of kinds, Her harsh words kept to a minimal, She never minds.

Anon

A swift scribble of your name represents the entry of my letter, As I write to you with the blue of my sky.

I want to pen you of this place; where we once roamed together, This ink will blossom with description of the sights.

I walk on our puny beige pebbles, As tufts of dusted, emerald grass thrust in between, Their needle-like structures are nature’s rebels, As they grow with insanity; proud, abundant and green.

Hear I the lullaby of a distant merle?

Or perhaps the symphony of the whistling leaves?

Our forest still serenades you, my darling girl, Its melody of allure it heaves.

Over on your sugar-powdered mountain peak, The same versed cottage salutes you.

Its caramel wooden planks in the wind still speak, Breeze coldness, withering them through.

Upon the nearby twine gate he lies, His ginger ale whiskers frosted with white.

His rusted years pasted across his skin; his mouth a crescent sigh, As a proud gaze he awards his valley; oh, its beautiful sight.

His leather-taupe palms contrast, The sheer pure white of his blouse, Speckled with red embroiders, lost in his shirt’s pale vast.

The tricolour flag wrapped around his brain, soul and very house.

His hands rest upon the same panpipe, As his voice is smoke-withered, like the chimney’s.

A glance at his sheep; as only his vision is still ripe, And, alas, his melodic tune seeps out serenely.

The last comma of my letter, is the burgundy of my sunset, As beneath the mountains the sun shall laze.

Still I hear the beauty of nature’s quartet, I seal our letter with the tranquillity of this place.

Ana 11 I

51

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Trips, Classical Music Concert & Creative Arts Week MR. IAN MCSHANE, HEAD OF CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS We are happy to welcome Miss Cristina Purici into our faculty.

Since January she has been teaching ISB Drama classes alongside Mr. Ian McShane.

In an unconnected story, the department organized a trip to Beauty and the Beast in December.

The Disney live spectacular took place at Romexpo. We would like to

What better way to end the year than by enjoying a classical music concert?

During Drama lessons, Year 9 students put their Maths homework to good use

thank all parents, whose flexibility ensured that the last minute change of date (apparently the company couldn’t get their sets and costumes out of Ukraine) didn’t affect the trip.

December also saw us host the Creative Arts Week, when students

acted, played and painted their way through a range of activities, culminating in our end-of-year concerts, exhibitions and assembly.

Congratulations and gratitude to all students and staff who participated.

The National University of Music Orchestra

MS ADINA BARBU, MUSIC TEACHER

The members of the National University of Music Orchestra (Altissimo Orchestra) were our special guests. With Mr. Bogdan Voda as conductor, the musicians performed on the ISB stage in front of a captivated audience of students, teachers and parents. Everybody enjoyed it very much and we hope to see them again soon.

52

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Art Trip to Peles, Sinaia MS. ALICE RUSE, ART TEACHER A group of Art students had the pleasure of visiting a delightful Romanian landmark, the impressive Peles Castle. We spent the day enjoying the beautiful scenery and fresh mountain air. Next to the huge, luxurious castle lies a smaller one full of art nouveau artifacts, some produced by famous designers like Tiffany and Mucha and some designed and made by Queen Mary of Romania.

Another irresistible site for us was the stylish sweets store next to the

Staff and students on the Art trip to Sinaia finally spot the sweet shop

castle and the pleasant long walk on the stairs towards the castle was also quite a thrill.

On our way there, our students had the chance to see beautiful neoRomanian-style buildings and the

beautiful, unique building of the Casino.

We had a lovely journey by train, meeting people along the way and collecting happy memories.

The Successful Third Edition of Key Stage 3 Spelling Bee MR. PIERS POSNER, ENGLISH TEACHER During the English department’s Book Week, all Key Stage 3 students were able to enjoy the challenge of ISB’s third successful Spelling Bee Competition, organized by Mr. Posner and held in the theatre on Thursday March 3rd, to discover the school’s most confident spellers. All of year 7, 8 and 9 were present and egged on their colleagues through each challenging round of words.

The winners in each year were

Mr. Piers and the winner

awarded a certificate, a green card, house points of course, and a special prize. The winners this year were Gabriel N., in Year 7 for the Lynxs, Asal and Sofia G., in Year 8 for the Foxes and Alexandra M., in Year 9 also for Foxes. Well done to all those

53

who participated in each team and in the prior elimination rounds in each of the 9 English classes. Thank you also to all the staff members who ensured that behaviour throughout the event ran so smoothly.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

The Largest Human Rights Organisation, Visits ISB MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER Our students learned about Amnesty International

Our school proudly hosted Amnesty International’s presentation on Tuesday, 15th Dec. Our students learned from the largest global level human rights organisation the about investigating human rights abuse, lobbying

governments and other powerful groups, such as companies to respect international law; mobilising millions of grassroots activists worldwide to stand in defense of human rights and human rights defenders, as well as providing education and training to

empower people to claim their rights.

Thank you to Ms.Teodora Dragulescu, Human Rights Activist for the excellent presentation and to the ISB Humanities Department for organising this event.

Maths is All Around Us MRS. MIHAELA HAPENCIUC, HEAD OF MATHS

Between the 14th and the 18th of March the International School of Bucharest students celebrated the Maths and ICT Week. The Maths and ICT Week’s purpose is to increase students’ confidence in Maths/ICT, to develop problem solving skills through friendly and fun competitions and see the Maths around them.

Everything started with the assembly on Monday with a fragrant pie smell when we celebrated the “Pi Day” discovering the beauty and musicality of the constant we tried to memorise the decimals to. More than 30 pies entered the design competition and more than 25 students competed in

Year 13 class proved to us their technical and creative skills

the memorising competition. The highest number of digits memorised was 229 by Haya in Year 10, followed

by Halime, Year 12 with 198 and Kevser, Year 9 with 155 digits... And because a Pi Day cannot exist without a pie eating competition, students and teachers had fun eating pies without hands.

Throughout the week all students from Secondary School were involved

54

in different activities in lesson time and breaks, working in groups or individually, creating architectural scale models from matchsticks or sticks, writing poems and stories on how Maths has influenced their life, creating displays or fashion costumes from paper crafts or origami, playing treasure hunts, designing T-shirts, competing in integration Sudoku, discovering proofs without words or

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Clod and Ionut, Year 12, made an outstanding design named “Butterfly Transformations”

impossible shapes (optical illusions).

They contributed by showing Maths through their eyes in a photo competition, playing Four Operations Game or Sick Number Game, breaking the civil war code (using Vigenere table) and many more.

Year 7 students presented their Math projects in a fair to year 6 students, getting them one step closer to the transition from primary to secondary and introducing them to the beautiful and interesting world of KS3 Maths.

The students were very enthusiastic and active and their involvement was rewarded with certificates, green cards and surprise prizes in the Friday assembly when the final round of IQ Challenge also took place.

“During the Math & ICT Week all the

students had the chance to be creative and participate in different projects related to Maths or ICT. In our year group, students choose to do an ISB scale campus model, a bridge made out of sticks, a dress designed with Maths past papers, a hat to match the dress and many other things. I consider that every student involved in those activities enjoyed them and in my opinion it was a nice, creative way to apply Maths and ICT in real life.” - Sara Denise The “Maths and ICT week gave me and my colleagues an opportunity to interact in real life with geometry – symmetry, transformations that we have been learning about all these years.

On the whole, each project was

55

unique and contained an element of mathematics in everyday life.” – Esther H. “The ISB Maths & ICT week, was a great success for all. Students worked hard on projects and upcoming competitions ranging from “PI – memorising” to “matchstick art”.

Miss Mihaela Hapenciuc’s class had a challenging time interpreting Maths in literal terms and as a result they came up with poems which reflected their opinions about the importance of Maths in our lives. Year 12 students also helped during assemblies thoughout the week and showed their colleagues the various ways in which Maths exists in every single aspect of life!” – Ece E.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Duke of Edinburgh Award MRS. INGRID STANCIU, HEAD OF PASTORAL CARE International School of Bucharest is a licensed center for the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award starting this year. Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is the world’s leading youth achievement award and we are very happy to be able to offer it to our students.

We have received very positive feedback from our students who joined the programme. Some of our students told us how the Award improved their lives.

“I began my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award on December 9th, and since then I have become more conscious of how I have spent and managed my time. I believe that I will come out a better and more organised

person after this experience which will help me to achieve my targets”.

Derya, Year 12 ”The best feeling in the world is doing something that everyone else said you couldn’t’. You shouldn’t do things for winning, but let’s face it, winning feels good. Challenges give you the chance to win, and to push yourself to the edge, which is a great opportunity to learn. This is why I decided to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award program.

Two of my favourite categories in

this program are Skills and Physical Recreation. I am currently a member of the Victoria Art Drama School.

Here, I met new people and created strong friendship bonds that will last a lifetime. Acting gives me the privilege to express my emotions and teaches me teamwork and cooperation. I have the opportunity to work with interesting and professional artists which dedicate their whole life towards their natural beauty- drama.”

Andreea, Year 10

ISB students, together with all the participants in the Duke of Edinburgh Award

56

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Andreea, the proud member of Victoria Art Drama School

“The Duke of Edinburgh Award programme has given me the opportunity to challenge my abilities and discover many of my passions.

When I first heard that our school is part of this programme, I signed the registration form without thinking twice because I knew that being part of it would only open doors to success. I am a proud member of ISB’s basketball team, where we learn about control, teamwork and fair play, together with complex techniques and elaborated strategies. I also attended acting classes at a professional drama school in Bucharest. Acting gives me the privilege to work with experienced actors. I am looking

forward to finishing this program and encouraging all my friends to join me on this remarkable journey.”

Maria, Year 10

“The Duke of Edinburgh Award has taught me to cherish my free time but also relinquish it in order to further develop myself and learn new skills. It showed me that free time is not supposed to be wasted, as that time could be used productively. DofE has helped me manage that time in a way so that I can study for school, play the sport I chose, do charity work and also improve the skill I dedicated myself to, making me

57

more aware that knowledge opens more doors!”

Gabriela, Year 9 “I joined the Duke of Edinburgh’s programme because this is a good opportunity for my future references and university. I joined this programme in Year 1. I have been involved in sport, music, drama and creative activities.

I think that this is a challenge and a great opportunity for me, not only to improve skills but to also prove to myself that I am a responsible person.”

Alexandru S.,Year 10

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Athletics, Basketball, Swimming and Table Tennis Competitions MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER 4 Gold medals and 3 silver medals for ISB students at the Swimming Challenge

This term was filled with sports competitions in which our sports teams have achieved excellent results. Our students competed in table tennis, swimming, basketball or athletics competition, both in school and outside the school.

17 ISB families teamed up for the Table Tennis Competition which took place at the school at the beginning of the term.

Many thanks to all participants. It’s been a lot of fun! We will definitely do it again!

ISB Secondary students have also teamed up for a Table Tennis Tournament during school breaks.

And the winners are...!

58

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

5 Gold, 3 Silver and 7 Bronze Medals for our students in the Inter-Schools Athletics Grand Prix Competition.

Well done, everyone!

Both our Boys and Girls Basketball teams played very good matches in the BISAC Basketball competitions. The girls won the second place in BISAC and the boys won the first place.

In addition to BISAC, the girls’

basketball team won the 2nd place in the ISB Cup and the 3rd place in the Cambridge Cup. The boys’ basketball team won the 3rd place in the ISB Cup and the 2nd place in the Cambridge Cup. We have asked some of our students in

the boys’ and girls’ team to tell us their thoughts about basketball as a sport and about the experience they have had on the basketball court.

“Passion, coordination, teamwork, fair play. Basketball is not only a sport: it’s an art. It combines many well carved elements into a masterpiece: the game. It helps you concentrate and gain control of everything around you, as well

as teaches you how to lose with dignity. It is a sport of both physical and mental resistance; it is a sport of teamwork, of friendship. Hard work, determination, ambition and perseverance are the key points of succeeding. We lose, we win,

and we are a team. We understand each other when one of us had a harsh day or doesn’t feel well and always try to encourage her.”

Maria D., U16 Basketball Team

59

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

“I will begin by stating the honest truth, that basketball for us is more than a bare sport, it’s not a recreational activity, but rather a passion. Throughout our journey, we have succeeded, as well as learned from our mistakes and

cultivated our knowledge within this sport. I won’t say failed since I don’t consider us failing. We have thrived.

We encourage passionate and dedicated people to persist and continue this ‘tradition’, since some

of our members will graduate this year and help carry the ISB basketball title even higher than our teams already did, because it is a privilege being part of something so influential.”

Maria I, U18 Basketball Team

“It wasn’t the first time for me to be part of a basketball team but I can definitely say that it was the one I have had the most fun with. I got to work with many people from different year groups with whom I had never spoken before. Participating in the BISAC

tournament put us in a really stressful position, because we had no idea how the other schools’ teams were going to be. Luckily we gathered an amazing team which was greatly coached by Mr. Adrian Vasile. Thanks to Mr. Vasile's expert teaching we reached the

top. There is not much else to tell you guys after saying with Great Pride that we managed to WIN this tournament thanks to each one of us”.

Danielle C, U18 Basketball Team

60

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

“This year’s BISAC basketball matches were amazing with ISB. I experienced many new game tactics, met new people and of course exercised my body.

As a member of the team I felt equal with everybody else, I felt

that everyone had their specific characteristic and place in the team, just as I did. The couch was our hero though, his very wise advises and encouragements cannot be forgotten as he was the spirit of the team, railing us

The ISB Sports Club Name is EAGLES MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER

Well, we asked and you have made your choice. EAGLES was the winner of the ISB sports club name poll.

We have designed a team logo and ordered the new football kit. Special thanks to our sponsor for the U14 football team, Mr. Zeyni Ozlen and the Green Sense Company. If you would like to support the Eagles for the other teams, please contact us.

61

into pushing our limits. I’m really looking forward to new basketball matches after experiencing the BISAC competition. Thank you.

Andrei G., U18 Basketball Team

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

ISB celebrates Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) Day MRS. INGRID STANCIU, HEAD OF PASTORAL CARE Teamwork always pays off

11th February 2016 was the day we celebrated PSHE Day at ISB. The program of study for PSHE in secondary includes four main topics; personal development, healthy, safer lifestyle, relationships and diversity and active citizenship.

The ISB PSHE Programme’s purpose is to help our students acquire knowledge through reallife experience, to apply skills, e.g. making decisions, to explore, develop and demonstrate values and attitudes, e.g. taking responsibility, engage with the wider community and reflect on and learn from experience.

In order to prepare a special day for the secondary students, the secondary teachers got together and shared ideas on the PSHE topics, during a PSHE Workshop. The teachers prepared a day full of exciting activities for their students, related to the topics studied during the 1st term: reviewing school

policies, behaviour management procedure, online safety, friendship and open class discussions with colleagues as well as reflection on their skills and their strengths. ”Salvati Copiii” Foundation representatives talked to our students about online safety and healthy friendships. The presentation captured everyone’s attention, especially the information provided on how we use social media channels for communication with friends.

It was very helpful for students to step back and reflect on their personal and social development, on what they have achieved, what they need and what challenges they might take on next.

“During the PSHE Day there was an assembly in which the students learned about internet security and how to protect your personal information from unknown users

on the internet. During the courses, the students took part in interactive activities such as "2 truths 1 lie", complimenting their classmates as well as naming 3 common objects while being under time pressure. The PSHE day was a distinct day which was filled with new experiences.”

George V., Year 10 “For Pastoral Care day, the students were faced with different challenges in a series of fun activities. We all got the chance to compete against each other and to get to know each other better. Throughout the events, the students were able to interact with everyone and learn more about the meaning of teamwork. Pastoral Care day recognised the role of the different disciplines that offer opportunities to create dialogue among the work that we do together”.

Andreea R., Year 10

Secondary teachers brainstorming for the PSHE Day

62

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

DISCOVER THE ART OF HOSPITALITY & BUSINESS EDUCATION IN SWITZERLAND The wide variety of hospitality programmes combine quality academic standards with professional work experience and are tailored to the needs of this exciting industry.

Diploma, Bachelor Degree, Postgraduate Diploma or a Master’s Degree in: • Hospitality • Hotel Design • Events • Culinary Arts • Resort & Spa • Business • Tourism • Hotel Management

The International Recruitment Forum will connect you with hospitality employers from around the world giving you access to the best career opportunities.

Contact details : tkouatly@swisseducation.com www.swisseducation.com

Choose the school and programme that suit you best and qualify with a Swiss Higher SWISS EDUCATION GROUP Montreux | Switzerland | T +41 21 965 40 20 info@swisseducation.com | www.swisseducation.com

9860_SEG_Ad_297x410_PROD.indd 1

63

03.02.16 10:59

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

6 Gold and 7 Silver Medals at firSTep Competition MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER firSTep, the Science, Technology and Design Fair is the First Step to International Project Olympiads and it is open to all students starting from Grade 3 (Year 4 ) in Lumina Educational Institutions.

The competition took place at our school on Saturday, 26th March and gathered 221 participants from Lumina Schools. 177 projects entered the competition this year and we are very proud to announce that our students won 6 gold medals and 7 silver medals with their very welldocumented projects.

Congratulations to Luca (Year 6 E), Mihai (Year 6P), Mihai V. (Year 6P), Cristian (Year 10I), Ingrid (Year 10I) and Maria (Year 10S) for winning

221 participants and 177 projects gathered in the ISB PE Hall

Maria and her project,The Tohoku Earthquake

Gold medals for their projects: Making A Hovercraft, Gyroscopes, Infrastructure In Bucharest, The San Andreas Fault and The Tohoku Earthquake.

David (Year 6P), Dina (Year 6P), Elizabeth (Year 5W), Humeyra (Year 8B), Tony (Year 6A), Tudor (Year 8I) and Iannis Nicolas (Year 7S) won silver medals with the following projects: Paper Circuit, Walking Water, Ice Cream Experiment, How To Make Glass Invisible, Match Rockets, Holographic Pyramid and Nature And Science.

Luca made a Hovercraft

64

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Elizabeth and her Icecream Experiment

Humeyra shows us How to Make Glass Invisible

ISB Science teacher, Mudita Paruthi, proud of her student

65

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Winter Fair at ISB- Fun Competitions, Games, Great Prizes and Delicious Food MS. MADALINA CIOC,

PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER The annual ISB Winter Fair organised by the Secondary School Prefects Team took place in the Sports Hall on Friday, the 11th of December. It was the perfect opportunity for both Primary and Secondary students to spend an afternoon together making snowmen from socks, making their own Christmas decorations, getting to meet Santa and placing Olaf ’s nose on his face. Mini X-box tournaments, eating competition, foosball, basketball, table tennis and

Winter Fair at ISB

dance competitions were just a few of the very entertaining and challenging activities of the day. Plus, we could all enjoy delicious winter snacks and fresh fruit juices.

Primary children were eager to take part in the various activities organised for them. They were after the stickers and the stamps which helped them win lots of prizes such as: cars, dolls, stuffed animals, bottles and different games.

The raffle ended the Winter Fair at 4.00 p.m with great prizes: A tablet,

66

bags full of sweets, hand-made special Christmas wreaths, gift cards, and vouchers for restaurants.

A special thanks goes to the brilliant ISB Prefects Team who worked very hard in organising this very popular event. The Primary children had a fantastic time at the Winter Fair thanks to the involvement of the Secondary school students. At the end of the day everybody went home with a big smile on their faces coming from a feeling of accomplishment and pure joy.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

67

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Good Coffee and Good Company for the New Year Reunion MR. AHMET DUNDAR, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL A small part of the class of 2015 enjoying their drinks in Starbucks, London

Seeking every opportunity to meet with our dear alumni, we have organised a small meet-up in the heart

of London. Some say quality over quantity, thus even though there were only a few alumni, we thoroughly

enjoyed every minute spent together catching up ever since the New Year’s reunion!

Overseas adventures.

Visiting the UK MR. AHMET DUNDAR, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL While the Year 12s were having the time of their lives exploring the fascinating city of London, Mr. Ahmet Dundar decided to make a tour of his own, conquering the UK from London all the way to Glasgow! With lots of travelling and time spent on the road, he dropped by as many alumni as he could, beginning with Xinru Lin in Bath, following her studies in Economics at the University of Bath. In Aberystwyth, Wales, he met up with Cosmin Timofte and Ayse Karaca, both studying at the same university. Fortunately, the weather was in their favour, with bright sky and plenty of sunlight! They headed for Liverpool where they met with Sehsuvar Cebi, studying Mechanical Engineering at The University of Liverpool. The next stop was in Glasgow, Scotland, dropping by to

Dropping by Kingston to visit Sufian

visit our former honour student, Catinca Popescu, studying Marketing and Psychology at the University of

68

Strathclyde. The very last stop was in Edinburgh, catching up with Zhou Zhuowen and Qihui Lin.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

69

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

New Sights and Familiar Faces: Visiting The Netherlands MR. AHMET DUNDAR, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Whilst on our great adventure in The Netherlands with the future university students from ISB, we have taken the opportunity to visit some of our alumni and catch up with them. At the University of Groningen we have met with Sandra, who is working on her Master’s Degree in International

Visiting alumnus Teodor at the University of Breda during the Netherlands Trip

Humanitarian Action. In Breda we met with Teodor who is currently studying Logistics and Transport at NHTV. Last but not least we met with Alexandra who is studying Global

Law at the University of Tilburg.

We wish them all the best in their future careers and we are looking forward to hearing wonderful news from them.

Enjoying a good talk with our alumna Sandra

70

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

71

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

One Step Closer to the Path of Success MR. AHMET DUNDAR, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Students listening and concentrating on how to carefully write a CV

When it comes to our students, we want to prepare them as best we can for their future academic lives. One of the various students’ Career Planning workshops organised by the school took place at the Lumina University of South East Europe. This workshop aimed to help our students learn

several skills regarding the differences between university life and high school life. They learnt how to write their own CV, how to effectively and efficiently manage their time and much more.

These types of workshops allow our students to build on their current

skills and inform them about certain procedures that need to be followed after graduation, to ensure a seamless transition from secondary school to university. Many thanks to the Lumina University of South East Europe for this opportunity.

Universities Tour: 9 Dutch Universities in 4 Days MR. AHMET DUNDAR, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

A group picture with the students in the Netherlands

Very eager to visit and immerse in the rich culture of a new country, the Year 11s, 12s and Year 13s toured The Netherlands’ well-known universities.

On Sunday morning, the 29th November, everyone embarked on the plane thrilled to discover the academic opportunities offered by the Netherlands’ Universities. On the same day, the students visited

three significant universities: Leiden University, Hotelschool the Hague, and Rotterdam Business School.

The following day, our Year 12s and 13s took part in three other tours and presentations: University College Utrecht, Tilburg University, and Maastricht University. University of Amsterdam, VU University Amsterdam and Twente University

72

followed on the third day of the tour.

Between the travelling and the numerous visits, the spirit of adventure and the beauty of The Netherlands captured our students entirely, with the thought that one day they might return again to turn over a new leaf in their academic lives.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Adding New Options on the Higher Education list MR. AHMET DUNDAR, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Svetla Tihcheva from Regent’s University describing student life in London

Towards the end of February we hosted another set of university presentations: Regent’s University and EU Business School. With a handful of Year 12 students and with the

help of our Events Prefect Nursima, we had a successful and informative succession of presentations from both institutions. Each of the students were given catalogues with business cards

from each representative, containing a more detailed overview of their programmes. Many thanks to Svetla and Pau for visiting us!

An Eye Broadening Experience for the Year 12s MR. AHMET DUNDAR, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Enthusiastic Year 12 Students gathered in front of King’s College London

It’s best to be prepared for the future as early as possible, so our Year 12 students along with 3 of our teachers went to visit the great opportunities that lie before them in terms of higher education. Of course, London is glistening with prestigious universities, some of which our students might want to apply to in the year that follows. When in London, one cannot help but visit the venues and museums, overflowing with wonderful historical artwork. Rest assured, everyone made the most of their stay in the crowded city!

With a few hiccups along the way and despite train delays, they made it to their appointed campus tours.

Exploring the universities and some of their faculties can be eye-opening to some when it comes to average student life. The architecture alone and the contrasting combination of modern skyscrapers with Gregorian/ Victorian architecture can be a sight for sore eyes, especially when being acquainted with regular, dull and mundane buildings from the city. Of course, they split into groups to make the most of their visit, dividing the art

73

students from the business students and so on. However they set aside their different fields of future study and joined forces to eagerly visit and explore their common interests.

We would like to thank the Imperial University, Regent’s University, King’s College London, University of Central London, London School of Economics, Queen Mary University and Central Saint Martin’s for hosting our students on their very interactive tours.

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Dutch University Fair at ISB MR. AHMET DUNDAR, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Our students met with representatives of top Dutch research universities like Maastricht University, Erasmus University, Tilburg University, University Leiden, UCR (University College Roosevelt) and UCU (University College Utrecht), who presented their educational offer.

The students interested in following

Dutch University Fair

a career in Art & Humanities, Economics, Law, Medical Sciences, Sciences & Technology, Social Environmental Sciences and Music,

have now a better understanding on how it is to study in Netherlands.

Thank you all for coming, you have been very helpful to our students!

the Friendship and Inclusion Week. It was an excellent hands-on experience which allowed me to develop practical skills, as well as to learn new things about my field of expertise.

The feedback I got from Miss Cristina and Miss Andreea helped me understand my weaknesses and my strengths and I now have a clearer picture of the future steps I need to follow before I finish university and start working in this field. I am sure that the Internship at ISB will help me be accepted more easily to future Internship programmes.

while working alongside the Student Support Service Department at ISB I learned that success is achieved through hard work and dedication and there are no shortcuts to it.

I would like to thank Mr. Ahmet Dündar, Sinan Kosak, Mr. Faruk Erduran, Mrs. Cristina Guralivu, Ms. Andreea Handrea and Ms. Alina Constantin for giving me this great opportunity and for their support during my internship.

Internship at ISB during Friendship & Inclusion Week for ISB Alumna MS. DILARA BATĞI, ALUMNI I was a student in the İnternational School of Bucharest and graduated here in 2013. Currently I am a undergraduate student at İstanbul Bilgi University studying Psychlogy.

During my mid-term break I returned to my second home, Bucharest. As a future psychologist, I have to practice in my field as much as I can, so I asked the Student Support Service at ISB whether they would consider me for an Internship. I got accepted to İSB and my first journey as a intern started. I worked with Miss Cristina and Miss Andreea during

74

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

75

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

University Placements

76

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

University Placements

77

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

ISB Boarding Facilities for Boys MS. MADALINA CIOC, PR & ADMISSIONS OFFICER We are very happy to announce our new boarding house for boys of 13 to 18 years old available from September 2016.

Only a 5 minute drive to ISB, inside the new purpose built campus of the International Computer High School (ICHB), the boarding house offers our students excellent accommodation facilities in new furnished rooms with kitchen, sports and social facilities such as Wi-fi internet access, study rooms, mini cinema, an artificial

football pitch and basketball courts.

24-hour security guard and supervisors make the boarding house a very friendly, secure and comfortable environment for our students.

The fee for one academic year is 2000 Euro, which includes accommodation,

breakfast and dinner.

Please note that there are only 10 places available. We would be glad to welcome you for a tour of our boarding facilities, so please contact our Admission Officer to arrange a visit: admissions@isb.ro

24h security inside the new ICHB campus

Artificial football pitch and basketball fields

78

ISSUE 7 • APRIL 2016

Mini cinema

Supervised study room

Editor: Madalina Cioc - admissions@isb.ro ISB Insight Magazine Graphic Designer: Victor Vasile - it.manager@isb.ro Cover photo by: Mihai Constantineanu

79

Flickr:www.isb.ro

/ISB.Romania

/RomaniaISB

/isbro

www.isb.ro