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Spring news from Abbey College Cambridge.
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SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
A note from The Principal Welcome to the Abbey Cambridge Spring Newsletter.
We have had a busy spring term that included a very successful “Speak English
Week” featuring over a dozen activities from debating, singing, voice coaching to my
personal highlight - our students reciting their own poetry.
We have also gained a new Vice Principal Academic when Gavin Copland was
promoted to the role during the term. He is a tremendous addition to our senior
leadership team and will work with our teachers and department heads to ensure
students at Abbey continue to have excellent lessons and achieve the very best
examination results.
We are now entering the season of exams and it is worth pausing to think how we can
spend our revision time as productively as possible. There are no shortcuts when you
are learning your school work and only hard work and dedication will bring you the
results you want. However, I would strongly advise that you work intelligently. It is
becoming well understood that reading and rereading your notes will only get you so
far when revising. It is essential that you test yourself during your revision time.
One technique that has been shown to be effective is to convert the main points in a
piece of work into a series of questions. Return to the work after you have taken a
break and write out answers to the questions and then leave the work for a day or
two before comparing your answers to the original text to self-correct your work. In
this way you are spending more time thinking about the work and this leads to more
effective learning that lasts for longer. You may achieve even
better results if you ask a classmate to correct your answers
while you correct theirs.
Good luck with your revision; make a plan for it, take it slowly
and remember that your friends and your teachers will be
there to help and support you.
Best wishes
Julian Davies - Principal
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Words from Gavin I am thrilled and honoured to have been invited to take more of a leading role here as Vice
Principal Academic at Abbey Cambridge. I have had such a great time in the last few
months teaching Government & Politics to some fantastic students who I have developed a
genuine respect and affection for, and then getting to know more of our students and staff as
Head of the International Foundation Programme. Those of you who know me already
know how dedicated I am to the success and welfare of you all here, and I look forward to
guiding your academic progress through to the end of the year and beyond. This is such a
wonderful community to live and work in and I am proud to be part of the team.
We really are on the last part of this academic year as we gear ourselves up for the exam
period. I urge you all to double your efforts and commit yourselves fully to your studies in
this final phase – remember the goals you have set yourselves and keep these
targets in mind, whether they be achieving highly in your AS exams or gaining
entrance to one of the top universities with great scores in your Foundation or
A2, and you will succeed!
Kind regards
Gavin - Vice Principal Academic
Words from Karen Some of our students are sitting their mock exams this week and I’m impressed with our
students work ethic: students are on time, prepared, following our high expectations perfectly
– this is incredibly important as all exams require focus for success. I wish you all the best of
luck and make sure that you sleep well, eat well and speak to someone if you are finding it too
challenging or stressful. We are here to help you, and it is quite common to suffer from exam
anxiety – please do not hesitate to see me or any member of staff if you are worried. Also,
remember that we have lots of sports and activities to help combat stress – such as Yoga in St
Paul’s on Thursdays. Keeping your body healthy and active will boost your brain power!
This Saturday we have the Charity Fair – JUNGLE FEVER! All money raised will go to EACH
so please bring money to spend so you can enjoy all the activities, games and entertainment.
There are so many surprises to look forward to.
Also, the May Ball at the prestigious Madingley Hall of Cambridge University
taking place on Friday 1 May. We only have a few tickets left…email
Enjoy the summer and to all those who were on the Italy trip – arrivederci!
Karen—Vice Principal Pastoral
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Congratulations Well done to the following students who achieved IELTS scores
that meet standard university offers! What a great achievement!
Fatjon DOKO
DANG Thai Son
CHEN Hainuo
CHAN Chia Chun
Pasith ANGKANANUKROH
DUONG Minh Duc
LEI Dan
Emily Siew Mei LIM
Alisher SUPYGALIYEV
Ahmed Ibrahim TUMSAH
YU Zhaoyuan
Grigory ZHURAVLEV
Congratulations to the following students who successfully
completed the Chemistry Olympiad. What amazing results!
LI Yuxun Gold
LIU Jihang Silver
Dmitrii IEVLEV Silver
WANG Haoyang Silver
YU Zhaoyuan Silver
YANG Yumeng Silver
ZHOU Wanqi Silver
Tumisang Tsolope Bronze
XU Zhe Bronze
Temiloluwa
MAJEKODUNMI Bronze
QIN Xinyue Bronze
LIUYifan Silver
HTWE Wei Ko Ko Bronze
Chemistry Success
LOW Shin Tong Silver
HTWE Wei Ko Ko (Jerry) Silver
Nisha MURALIGANAN Bronze
NAW LAT Wun Dan Bronze
Melissa Ai Zhen LEE Bronze
Manjula VIJAYASEKARAN Highly commended
Thaneswari KAPANASAMY Commended
Steffi Kai Lee NG Commended
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
News from Physics Three of Abbey Cambridge’s students are in the top 50 for the first round of the Physics
Olympiad. LIU Jianfu (Jeff) received a Gold award, SHI Liangchao (Clint) received a Silver award
and HUO Chong (Steven) received a Bronze award.
LIU Jianfu has been selected as one of 15 to take part in the final round; a training camp at the
University of Oxford in the first week of the Easter holidays where the top five will be selected to
make a team to take part in the International Olympiad, held in Mumbai India. We all offer Jianfu
all the best for this exciting challenge.
Also, Well done to the following students who successfully completed the AS Physics Challenge.
This is a fantastic result and you should all be very proud!
AN Junlei Silver
CHEN Hainuo Silver
SHI Zimu Silver
QIN Xinyue Silver
YU Zhaoyuan Silver
NGUYEN Bao Tuan Bronze 1
LIU Yifan Bronze 1
TU Yuchen Bronze 1
Mingiyan USHANOV Bronze 1
Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their Biology
Olympiads. What a great achievement and you should all be very proud.
LI Jiayi Bronze 2
NAW LAT Wun Dan Bronze 2
Pasith ANGKANANUKROH Commendation
Grigory ZHURALEV Commendation
Dmytro USHCHAPOVSKYY Commendation
CHEN Huaying Commendation
Jonathan CHEONG Commendation
XU Zhe Commendation
Success for Abbey College Cambridge as Team Alimama reached the IFS Student Investor
Challenge semi-final, 3rd out of 8,720 teams worldwide.
Congratulations to the ACC Economics Department for the great advice and support given
to the team, who will no doubt go far in their future careers, and definitely people to turn to
for financial advice!
Left to right:
LIAO Junlang (William), QIN Yuewei (Chelsea), WANG Yibin (David), WU Ruikang
(Henry)
Also, congratulations to the students who took part in the Bank of England Target Two
Point Zero Challenge.
These students reached the regional heats and we are very proud!
Well done to LIN Xuan (Miranda), ZHOU Qiaohui (Chloe), QI Zhisheng (Scott) and Arthur
DIJOUX.
All Foundation students must study what it means to
conduct academic research, how to do it correctly and to a
high standard. As part of their research work all Foundation
students were invited to attend a trip to a special research
workshop entitled ‘Research Matters’ at the British Library.
Situated in the heart of London, The British Library, receives
a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland.
It houses over 150 million items and its ‘Treasures Collection’
includes the Magna Carta. Each year six million searches are
generated by the British Library online catalogue and there
are nearly 400,000 visits to their Reading Rooms. You could
say it is the heart of academic research in the UK.
The Library also has a team of specialist educators who run
workshops. Our students were shown creative ways to
approach to research process. They practised using
observation skills to discover information about objects and
places. The workshop broadened their understanding of what
research is and the value of it. We were also given access to
the Treasures Collection and through active research students
developed their critical thinking skills and were encouraged
to reflect on their own research processes.
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Andrea Joyce
British Library Trip
London Fashion Weekend Students and staff were excited to visit London Fashion
Weekend, a 3 day fashion spectacular that would amaze
anyone interested in fashion photography! On Arrival we
watched the first catwalk where the students got to see real
photographers and designers at hand presenting their work.
The students enjoyed a special exhibition involving unseen
videos followed by Polaroid’s from the artists earlier and later
work in Vogue.
The day was a great success; all the students were happy to visit and be given such a unique
opportunity.
During the Spring term, Photography students will be
learning Landscape. Please join us every Friday in the G5
library.
During the Summer we plan on having lessons outside
full of fun practicals!
Model United Nations
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Students from Abbey Cambridge’s MUN took part in an exciting conference in Edinburgh. It
was a fantastic day and included a visit to the famous Edinburgh Castle and Assembly
Rooms. This was a unique opportunity for students to compete in the “ScotMUN”
International Model United Nations Conference
and put their debating skills to practice.
Students role-played as representatives from
various countries and discussed issues such as
terrorism,. access to resources and poverty and
development.
Dasha Grigoryeva
Gavin Copland
Being a member of the Volunteering Club has been an experience
like no other. Right from the beginning we have been so active in our immediate and local
community. We feel proud that a lot of money has been raised for our charity EACH (East
Anglia’s Children’s Hospices) during the process as well as enjoying
ourselves and learning new skills.
We kicked it off with Halloween. The club decided to craft some creepy
face masks and hold a bake sale. Our bake sale team came together to
bake chocolate brownies, lovely jam-filled pancakes and a variety of
delicious cookies and cupcakes. The event went very well and everyone
had a blast!
Our next big event was the Mill Road Winter Fair which took place in
November 2014. I was amazed at how many of us were willing to help out in a number of
different activities, including laying down coins in a large piece of artwork! Most of us
were involved in the setting up of the stalls during the morning session. We saw so many
different stalls: from cookies and crafts to wine and jewellery. The whole event was just a
blessing to be a part of and the words, “teamwork makes the dream work” took on a whole
new meaning that day. Our social skills were put to the test as well as our English speaking
skills and I can happily say that we enhanced these skills so much further. At the end of it
all, we spent a little time getting to know each other better.
Besides this, a few members of the club have had the chance of reaching out in Cambridge by
volunteering to serve lunch to the elderly at St Paul’s Church, every Friday. Students who
took part felt that they had a very positive experience and described it as “fun and
enlightening”. It was also a good opportunity to improve communication skills with the more
vulnerable people in society. We plan to continue doing this over the course of this year.
After the Christmas holidays, as Valentine’s Day was swiftly approaching, the committee sat
down together to discuss ideas for yet another fundraiser and we came up
with the idea of selling post cards, roses and chocolates, which could be sent
to people around the school. The whole point was to make another person
in our community smile. Our staff members also got heavily involved in the
sending of cards and chocolates. We managed to raise over £200 and we
were elated when we saw this figure. It was an awesome event in which
everyone could share and experience the love in our community.
Seven months have never gone by so quickly. It seems like it was only
yesterday when we were meeting for the first time and now it feels like a
family. Despite this, we are also very happy to welcome some new
members to the club, and did so in January when members of the 18 month A-level course,
joined us. We look forward to having fun with them in the future events and extending our
volunteering further, beyond the school.
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Unknown
A foreign land
I set foot on this place
"Follow the plan"
My parents with their gaze
"But have some fun"
There goes their mercy
They know I'll run and run
Neglecting my boundary
A gorgeous painting
Are the skies even real?
With hues so stunning
Emotions they can conceal
Home here is my second shelter
Boisterous friends, not quite flattering
House parent is my new Twitter
Always asking what's happening
An extraordinary journey
I explore this land
Museums and galleries
Embellish the already grand
Magnificent minds, umpteen cultures
Notable ideas, dauntless voices
Embrace controversy, welcome challenges
Provoke new thoughts, question one's choices
A new start line again
I can't resist my urges
Old broken chain
Yet a new one emerges
I still can hardly believe
That I'm actually adapting
In the grounds of which I perceive
To be different and intriguing
In this land of endless horizon
There's more to expect
Before I leave, before I'm gone
What comes next?
Poetry A beautiful poem about experiences starting with Abbey Cambridge. Written by 18 month A Level student,
Sher Zanne LEE
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Speak English Week 2015
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Speak English Week is a week long event full of activities designed to help students improve their
English Speaking Skills. As a community, we are connected by speaking one language in school;
English. The week featured lots of fun activities, competitions. It was a fantastic week and well
done to all the students and staff who participated.
Model United
Nations Debate
Students embarked on a battle of
reasoning for the Debating
Champion Trophy!
Winner: Bing Yong XUE
Abbey Students Speak English Together
That’s How Our Hearts Are Connected
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Speak English Week 2015
Spelling Bee
A spelling challenge for any student
ready to demonstrate their mastery of the
English language! The finalists competed
for a trophy and the prestige of being
Abbey's Champion Speller
Winner: Amanda May Li HO
Sounds of the
Sixties Students rocked their way through
the "Sounds of the Sixties" in this
great show!
Music Star: Pasith
ANGKANANUKROH (Steve)
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Speak English Week 2015
Shakespeare
Workshop
A fun and dynamic
workshop full of romance
and sword fighting!
Grill Your Teacher
Students were challenged to think of the most bizarre/interesting/challenging questions that our
staff had to answer in 30 seconds. The teacher with the best answer won.
Winner: John Morgan
Winning Question: If milk goes bad when it is out of the refrigerator, why does it not go bad when
it is inside the cow? -
Arthur DIJOUX
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Speak English Week 2015 High Tea
Various filled sandwiches were
followed by a variety of tasty tarts,
cupcakes, patisserie, flavoured cakes
and of course scones with strawberry
jam and clotted cream. To wash it
down there was a selection of fruit,
herbal and normal teas.
Tables were laid with lace cloths, chi-
na tea cups, saucers and plates, food
served from tiered cake stands and
tea poured from tea pots, all ‘waited’
on by a Team of waitresses and a
smart maître ‘d – our accommodation
team!
Poetry Competition
A creative poetry competition on the theme of
"Seeing the world through the eyes of a child" -
students entered this poetry competition and
students read their entries aloud to an audience
Winner: Chimel DOGARA
Mommy is a log.
Stiff as a toy soldier.
This was what happened when she used ‘evil needle’
I always told mommy that evil needle is a bad monster
come to snatch her away from me
and leave me with…
Goliath.
But mommy was not there anymore,
she was daydreaming.
My tummy laughed at me and I frowned.
I didn’t want to leave
but my legs were moving towards the fridge.
The fridge was full to the brim…
with space.
I pulled out the ice tray
and soon I was eating every kind of food
roast chicken, potatoes and gravy, even candy
oh…
I had forgotten about mommy,
I was a bad boy,
just as Goliath always told me
I caused everyone pain.
I reached down to feed mommy,
her skin felt as cold as my food.
Hugging her tightly under my blanket,
missing her soft silky skin,
my eyes moved to my Legos,
scattered into a billion pieces on the floor like mommy.
I wanted to pick her up
and build her back up
into that pretty mommy I once knew.
I kissed her cheek,
her chest had stopped moving.
I stared at her,
trying to push all my love into her.
I told her stories,
stories with happy endings.
bible stories her sugar candy voice hummed to me
so very long ago,
bible stories about…
‘David’
I froze.
My nose couldn’t find air anymore,
it was time for hide and seek.
but, I couldn’t leave mommy.
I tried to drag her to my spot under the table
but she was heavier this tim
DAVID AND GOLIATH - Winning Poem
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
2015 Poetry Competition
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
‘David…’
Goliath was barking.
‘you want me to find you. You little b…’
I started to move back
my legs hit the bottle on the ground
I looked down as the awful liquid
Stretched towards a pile of burnt paper
Goliath always put out on my back
I shivered.
‘There you are’
I turned to Goliath’s hissing face.
He looked hungry.
He licked his lips like I was a big juicy steak
He looked at mommy and stared at her
his eyes growing even darker.
His knees fell
and his eyes started to rain
‘No… No… No…’
Goliath was shaking mommy.
He froze and snapped his head up
his eyes looked like a starless sky
‘you’
he pointed at me
‘you did this you little b…’
he leaped at me and my back met the floor
I became a ball again
and Goliath began to play.
He played harder this time
his boots met my chuckling tummy and shaking
body
until everywhere pained
I never cried anymore
Tears never changed anything
it gave me less time to help mommy
even Goliath.
one of my legs shouted and I screamed.
the room spun
the only thing I heard was Goliath’s robotic voice
‘you killed her’
‘you killed her you little b…’
The darkness covered my body like a blanket.
I thought back to a long time ago
in a life far away
when mommy was still beautiful and still smiling
mommy
and Goliath was still… daddy.
CHIMEL DOGARA
The annual Speak English Week Spelling Bee took place on 3 - 4 March. The knockout stage was
very well attended, with a large number of students battling to get through to the next
round. The Spelling Bee is a difficult contest, however, and by the end of the knockout stage,
numbers had been whittled down to about seven students.
These students returned to Glisson Road Library to try to claim their crown as Abbey
Cambridge’s best speller. As host of the competition, it was my duty to devise more and more
devious ways of testing the contestants’ skill with letters. The devilish round on UK place names
reappeared this year, pushing the competitors to their
limits. Finally, after a tense few rounds, only two students
remained. These finalists then went head-to-head in a spoken
round of spelling, in which they were required to spell words
backwards for extra difficulty!
The winner was Amanda May Li HO, who was pursued all the
way by a most able runner-up, Paloma MARSOLO.
Some of the words from the competition can be seen below.
Accolade
Subpoena
Graffiti
Broccoli
Nyctophobia
dissipate
sheriff
coliseum / colosseum
Dumbbell
disapprobation
ageing
whingeing
rarefy
lifeless
changeable
honorary
persistent
foreseeable
idiosyncrasy
supersede
insouciant
logorrhoea / logorrhea
Darjeeling
chihuahua
psychosomatic
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Patrick Williams
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
Spring Term at
Abbey Cambridge
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015
ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015