BSB News: Issue 22

5th March 2010

Key Dates

From the Executive Principal Dear Parents,

Another superb and busy week for us here at BSB.

Our students came 8th IN THE WORLD this year in the World Maths Day

competition. I can‘t begin to say how proud I am of all the hard work and

effort which they put in and would like to say that the whole school

community is behind them and the work they did. I won‘t single out any

individual student, this was a team effort and something that we can all be

justly proud of. A truly amazing achievement that will have me smiling all

weekend and well into next week.

I‘ve been so pleased to welcome so many new families to our school over the

last few weeks. It has been my pleasure to welcome families from the UK,

Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Ecuador, Malaysia, and Taiwan just this week!

A second joy was the performance of our teams at the Handball tournament

this weekend. It was a massively competitive event. We cruised past Dulwich

college and into the finals but then were defeated in a very close game by

the German school. Rest assured that this young sport at BSB will develop

further and soon…the cup will soon be ours!

In other sporting news I‘m looking forward to going to the soccer match at

Shunyi this weekend when we take on TEDA in the U19 competition and the

upcoming ―Swimviational‖ event to be held soon. I‘m not looking forward to

the staff Table tennis tournament though...I fear I might not fare so well!

Musically the activity level has remained high with the

house music contest which was a real showcase for our

young talent in the secondary school. Apart from the

level of simple expertise which one can almost begin to

take for granted on occasion (wrongly!), it was the

bravery and bravado of the performers that impressed

me the most. The confidence to get up and perform or sing a solo or in a small

group is something that must be built and nurtured. The decision was

extremely hard and only 1.5 points separated the houses in the end, truly the

closest possible margin.

I‘ve been visiting most classes every morning this week and will continue next

week just tightening up on the school uniform. The vast majority of students are

of course extremely smartly turned out so it‘s just been a matter of helping one

or two to remember the correct uniform so we all look at our best. Of course

some of the boys in secondary school ―forget‖ to do up their top button from

time to time but I‘m always happy to remind them!

On a personal note I have been working with the year 12 students organising

revision sessions and work experience. I was also able to get into a classroom

and teach a science lesson this week which is something I love to do. The

students were very gracious and actually clapped as I finished the lesson…I

think they were just surprised I could still actually teach!

Mike Embley

International Day—To

Be Confirmed

Key Dates

March

4 Coffee

Morning,

Sanlitun

8 FS (Sanlitun)

Music Work-

shops

9 Model United

Nations

14-

15

Last week of

Secondary ASA

16-

17

Last Week of

Primary ASA

15-

19

Yr 5 Residential

Trip to Xi‘an

19 Primary Reports

go Home

15-

19

Yr 5 Residential

Trip to Xi‘an

27 Jumble Sale

3 Secondary

House Music

Competition

2 Coffee

Morning,

Shunyi

2—3 Numeracy

Workshops

12—

14

FS SY Music

Workshops

20 –

21

World

Scholarship

competition

Notices

Whole School, Shunyi and Sanlitun:

Dear all

Following a recommendation

made at the Parent Advisory

Board meeting I‘m pleased to

confirm that in future it will be

possible to have the annual

school trip include in the school

fees.

We are working towards a flexible

parent focussed solution for this

matter and a detailed proposal

will follow shortly

Many thanks

Mike Embley

BSB will be hosting a World Scholarship Regional competition on the

weekend of March 20 / 21. About 170 students from many regional and

international schools (including 12 from BSB) will be participating in the

competition.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

BSB News:

Kids On The Stage is back with its second

theatre course for kids between 6-12 years.

Beginning March 7, students will spend 10

weeks learning about Mozart’s life and music

in preparation for a performance of the

musical, “Of Mice and Mozart.”

Instrumentalists, singers and actors are all

welcome. Rehearsals take place every

Sunday from 9am-12pm at The British School

of Beijing’s Shunyi campus. RMB2,000 for BSB

students (RMB2,500 for students from outside

schools) includes two tickets to the final

performance. To apply, please

contact Maggie at 13331066610 or 15710076196 or kidsonthestage@gmail.com

The next Shunyi Parent Society Meeting will take place on Tuesday 9th March at 9.30am in the school Coffee Shop.

The next Sanlitun Parent

Society Meeting will take

place on Tuesday 9th

March at 2pm.

Over 50 000 schools from

around the world took place!

The top 5 students in the

school were;

Joowon Lee 20133

Diana Park 16535

Minnie Park 14594

Danny Yang 14539

Edward Park 14100

The total correct answers for

the school was 679 366

Congratulations to Ngs

Numerators for the 8th place finish in the world! SIMPLY

AMAZING!

Also a quick note to say thank you to all the parents who attended the numeracy workshops this

week. The staff and children are very lucky to have such a committed and enthusiastic parent group

that make the world of difference to their children and the whole school community.

Catherine Hall, Numeracy coordinator

BSB News: Whole School, Shunyi and Sanlitun:

Click here for

Shunyi

Click here for

Sanlitun

Beautiful Harbour

Mrs Ross and Mrs Ridout were delighted to be able to make

a return visit to the Beautiful Harbour Orphange this

week. They were keen to follow up on the progress of little

Mary, since her first operation at the end of last year. As you

may remember, the operation on Mary‘s cleft palate was

paid for from the sponsorship money generously raised by

the BSB community in October. The teachers were thrilled

to see how well Mary is doing since the surgery. She is a

beautiful, strong and healthy baby, who is now eating well,

and has even begun to crawl. It was also lovely to see the

other children being looked after so well, in this caring and

nurturing environment. Team BSB is now in training for the

Great Wall run in May, and hopes to raise yet more money

for deserving causes such as Beautiful Harbour. Watch this

space…….

Mrs Ridout

News From Sanlitun:

Dear Parents,

What a lovely Open Morning we had in the main campus, with an array of different lessons to

observe. I know those of you that came were extremely impressed with the standard and quality of

both teaching and learning that was going on. I have a very hard working, talented set of teachers

who are continually striving to do the best for every child in their care.

We held a very informative coffee morning which was a great refresher course on first aid for

children. The Parent Society are looking in to organising a more in depth one for anyone who is

interested.

Thank you to all those who are sending in goods for the jumble sale. Please keep a couple of hours

free between 10&3pm on Saturday 27th March to pop in and join in the fun.

Mrs Robinson has been working hard to set up sporting clubs for our youngest children. The Nursery

and Reception gym classes are now full but she has put names on a waiting list and they will be first

to enter the next set of classes. There are still some places left in the pre nursery gym class and it is

also open to siblings and friends even if they are not in our pre nursery.

I will be in England next week, interviewing for Teaching Assistants and Teachers and am very

impressed with the CVs I have been sent. If there is anything you need during that week, Mr Young

will be available in person or I will be continually checking emails.

Warm regards,

Janet Brock

From the Headteacher

BSB News:

Having made ice sculptures at the

beginning of the term, the children

have since completed totem poles

made from boxes, bottles and plaster

that dries rock hard. Following the

Native American style of totem pole

design the children decorated them with images of possessions, places, beliefs,

activities and people they hold dear to them. Now the children have embarked

upon a project using clay in which they have created miniature statues of human

figures twisted and warped in artistic and creative ways following the style of the famous English

sculptor Henry Moore – an artist who made similar sculptures out of bronze. The moulding,

smoothing and bending have led to some fascinating shapes!

SCOTTISH DANCING ASA

We have had a lot of fun in Scottish Dancing so far this term. Dances that we have learnt and can do

quite well include Strip the Willow, the Virginia Reel, Duke of Perth and the Gay Gordons. The children are

getting better and better at dancing without Mrs Grierson calling out each move, and hopefully, by the

end of term, will be able to do this for all four of our favourite dances. The difficult task will be choosing

which one to perform in assembly at the end of term! Jennie Grierson

ASA

Have you been spotted????

This week we have started something exciting in Foundation Stage.

We have introduced our ‗Spotted book‘ which the adults are looking

for children who do nice things. When they are spotted they will

have their name and photo put in the book and on the display

board in the main entrance.

Monday the Foundation Stage children will dazzle their mummies

and daddy‘s with our music assemblies. Please refer to the note for

each year group‘s time.

'The weather might not be fantastic outside but it was bright and

sunny in Pre-Nursery as we pretended to wash clothes and pegged

them on the clothes line to dry. We have been looking at wool and

sheep this week. We made a huge collaged patchwork

blanket. We learnt that wool comes from sheep and had fun

unravelling knitted fabrics. We practised our cutting skills by cutting

wool into little pieces and sticking them onto our wooly jumper cut-

outs. We also collaged a huge sheep using balls of cotton wool.'

We had such fun on the farm last week in Nursery that we have

stayed on for a second week! This time we looked at all the different

patterns we can see on cows and then used sponges to paint and

create our own breeds. We moved from the cowshed to the

chicken coop to find out about the life cycle of a hen. We ended

the week with stories and songs about a scarecrow and found that

scarecrow begins with our sound of the week‗s‘!

Reception have been learning about lifecycles of animals this week.

We have looked at frogs and butterflies and how they grow. We

became authors and made our very own information book on ‗The

lifecycle of a butterfly.‘ We have also used past learning of patterns

and shapes to decorate our butterflies.

Sandi-Rae Keating

Reception Teacher

Foundation Stage

BSB News:

News From Sanlitun:

EAL All of our EAL students are continuing to make so much progress. It's hard to believe that everyone is

still improving week after week! Highlights from this week included writing stories about a rabbit who

likes to pull tails, reading about Roman invasions, and making very silly sentences about Mr. Fromer

and Mr. Michalak. Here's a tip for all of our EAL students: Are you reading every night? Even if it's not

a book for school, reading a little bit before you go to sleep will not only be great for your English,

but will also be a lot of fun! Mr. Fromer and Mr. Michalak

This week during topic lessons Year

3 have been learning all about

pneumatics. We know all about

the different jobs that pneumatics

systems complete in our everyday

lives and we were desperate to try

building some of our own.

With that in mind we designed,

tested and built our very own

‗Moving Monsters‘! Each monster featured 2 pneumatic systems

which were meant to scare, disgust or amuse our unsuspecting

audience. Each member of the group had to fill out a booklet of

ideas and pneumatic features which were then compiled to create

a single, monster-tastic creation.

These monsters will go on display in the lobby area of the Sanlitun

campus. Those of you that are brave enough are more than

welcome to try them out but beware; you could be in for the fright of your life!

David Thomas

Key Stage Two

BSB News: News From Sanlitun:

The Year 1 children in Sanlitun have been busy

this week researching different animals that live

in the Polar Regions as part of their topic work.

They decided on the animal they wanted to

find out about and then learned about the

way it looks, where it lives, how it keeps warm,

how it camouflages itself and its position in a

food chain. They presented all this amazing

information on a poster so that they can share

their facts with others.

1M have also been preparing for their class

assembly which they performed for us all

today. This was an amazing re-telling of the

story of ‗The Magic Paintbrush‘. The children

had previously filmed themselves reading the

story aloud, so we listened to this narration

while the children acted out their various roles wearing fabulous costumes. Fantastic!

In Year 2 the children were excited to watch a real sparkler burning in the dark as part of their

literacy work on firework poetry. Having watched and listened carefully they came up with lots of

new WOW words and similes to use in their work. In topic lessons the children got stuck in with

investigating whether various materials can be changed by twisting, bending, squashing or

stretching them.

Key Stage One

BSB News: News From Sanlitun:

Storytelling Howdy from

Texas! Our family

has been home

introducing our

newest addition

(Aaron, 4 months)

to all the

extended family

here in the States.

This trip has also

allowed me to

spend time

talking with my

Aunt, Sharon

Hogan, who is a

25+ year veteran

reading specialist

working with

dyslexic children.

She shared a few

of her own tips,

which I plan to pass along to all of you. If you have any tips that you have discovered as you work

with your child, please pass them along, too. The more information we share, the more equipped

we are!

Reading Tip #2:

Have a set amount of reading, either time or number of

pages/chapters. For reluctant readers, it allows them to

see the end goal and know when the reading will begin

and end. For eager readers, it allows them to understand

that there is an end point where they must put the book

down and wait for the next day. Take a colorful sticky tab

and put it at the designated end point for that reading

session, so when your child reaches the sticky tab, they

know they are done. For eager readers who want to read

more, use it as a reward for completion of tasks, good

behavior, or excellent performance in something.

Book Recommendation:

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. This

Caldecott Medal Award winning book tells the tale of a

donkey named Sylvester who discovers a magic pebble

that allows him to wish for anything he wants. Read and

see just what it is Sylvester wishes for the most! This book is

aimed for the Year 2/3 crowd, but its good vocabulary is

great for younger children and its message can reach

older children, too.

Maths Magic in the Primary School

Maths (or numeracy as it is often called at BSB) is a very popular subject at BSB. We can be certain

about this fact: data from standardized tests tell us most children in Y3 and Y6 really like or love

maths, children work enthusiastically in class and we have had an overwhelming positive response

to this week‘s World Maths Challenge! The Shunyi campus answered a staggering 679,366 questions

during the challenge and we are very proud of Y4JN who are now officially #8 in the world! A most

wonderful achievement for this class of 8/9 year olds. We were also very proud of Edward (Y5),

Danny and Minnie (Y4) and Joowon (Y4) too as they all answered over 14,000 questions EACH. Many

thanks to everyone who took part – we certainly made our mark in maths!

Parents too have been learning and increasing their maths knowledge. Miss Cat Hall and her team

of teachers led 2 numeracy workshops this week. Parents from Rec to Y2 came along on

Wednesday, and KS2 parents came along on Thursday to hear about and try for themselves the

modern maths methods used at BSB - methods taught to enable children to UNDERSTAND their

maths and be able to use mental strategies with even large numbers. Parents earned House Points

for their children by answering well in class and using new methods. Thanks to all who came along

and tried the ICT games and new strategies too with such enthusiasm!

We are certainly a learning community!

Have a lovely weekend Jane Smith

Message from Head of Primary

BSB News:

News From Shunyi:

Primary School Magazine ASA

Each Tuesday this term a team of creative and hardworking

pupils have got together for Primary School Magazine ASA.

In the group we have budding reporters, artists and editors,

all working together to produce a magazine for pupils, by

pupils, that all members of the ASA will definitely be proud

of!

Ice skating ASA;

Each Wednesday this term a small group of Year 5s and 6s

have been ice skating for their ASA. They have dramatically

improved their skills on the ice, and they had the chance

to compete against their TAs! Both the students and TAs

have had an excellent time.

BSB News:

News From Shunyi:

Handball ASA

The handball ASA started with some trepidation,

their coach (me, Ms Thomason) had never seen

the game before! Luckily the German School

were happy to help and after spending an

afternoon watching how they played and

practiced we were off. The 16 boys and I from

years 4 to 6 have had a brilliant term.

The game itself is quite simple you can dribble,

pass and even run with the ball (maximum 3

steps) and you score by shooting at a football

style goal. The difficult bit is that you are not

allowed into the goal area unless the ball is

leaving your hand for a shot and of course there

is the opposition to worry about.

We have played matches against Harrow and

have been in two tournaments at the German

School, we managed to reach the quarter finals

on both occasions! Now we are looking forward

to reaching even greater heights next handball

season.

Below is a great report written by the team about

out latest tournament.

We took two teams to the German School

handball tournament on 27th February 2010.

Team 1 played WAB 3 first, they are a really good

team and we were beaten 7 – 0.

Meanwhile team 3 played BCIS we won the

game easily 6-1, Brian was our man of the match

he played in goal and was fantastic!

Team 1’s next game was against the German

School another really strong team, we played

much better in this 2nd match but…we were still

beaten 10-2.

Team 3 were up against WAB 2, we lost 9-2, we were all shocked because we

thought we were the best team.

Team 1 now played BISS we knew it was going to be hard for us to get through

to the quarter finals, we lost again 7-2, we were out of the tournament.

Team 3’s next game was against Dulwich we were petrified because if we lost we would be

knocked out, but we played fantastically and won 4-2! It was a close game.

So we had made it to the quarter finals! We were playing the German School and we knew they

would good. We felt that the ref was really unfair to us but we still played our best.

Unfortunately the German School won the game 8-5 and so we were knocked out of the

tournament.

Until next time!!!!

ASA

BSB News:

Year 1 continued with their new Unit on Materials this week. They

looked at the materials that are used to build a house, and discussed

the different properties of the materials and the suitability for their

purpose. They also did an investigation to see which materials float

and which sink. They continued developing their weaving skills, as they

began to weave a warm scarf out of wool for their class teddy bears.

This week in our Changing materials topic, Year 2 looked at how

different materials change when they are heated and then whipped

up some delicious pancakes with chocolate to demonstrate this! The

children are also enjoying their poetry unit focusing on firework poems.

They have been thinking about onomatopoeia, similes and metaphors

and picked out their favourite descriptive lines to create a piece of

firework art to illustrate them.

All the children had a ―mathemagical‖ time taking part in World Maths

Day on Wednesday, and did themselves proud when they competed

against children from all over the world. Well done!

Susan Anderson

Key Stage One

News From Shunyi:

Foundation Stage

What a fun week we have had in

Foundation Stage!

In Reception the children have been

continuing their work on ‗Life-Cycles‘.

They have been learning all about the

life-cycle of a frog and a butterfly. It has

been fascinating to look at the different

stages of development, draw pictures

and paint them. The children have

made frogs with moving legs, beautiful collage butterflies and a

wonderful frog display for each classroom. The classes have even made

an amazing real life ‗frog world‘ from stones, sticks and leaves that they

found outside.

In Nursery the children have been continuing to learn

about the farm. They have been making animal noises and

talking about animals and their babies. The children have

also been talking about the life-cycle of a chicken and

identifying how the baby chick grows and changes. It has

been so much fun making playdough mummy and babies

and making animal prints with sponges.

In Pre-Nursery the children have been focusing on clothes

and learning to dress and undress independently. The

children have been matching and sorting socks and

dressing up from the fun treasure box. Pre-Nursery children

have been fabric painting socks and pants and playing

dress up on the interactive whiteboard.

BSB News: News From Shunyi:

World Maths Champions in Year 4

I have had the most amazing week this

week with my class! It all began when Zen

and Joo won came back from G&T maths

excited about ‗World Maths Day‘ and telling

4N that Miss Hall had enrolled them and us

in ‗World Maths Day‘. Their enthusiasm was

infectious and so I had a peep at the

website. The class decided to go home and

have a go and managed in the practice

rounds to get themselves top of the league

– ‗World Maths Fever‘ had begun and what

a thrilling ride it was to be!

When the competition opened on Tuesday

night 4N decided they were going for it-

they‘d had a taste of success. They clocked

up a massive 30,000 points in their own time

at home and got Mr Fitzmaurice and I

enthused by their sheer enthusiasm. They

have worked together all week tirelessly,

cheering each other on, encouraging

everyone- and it has been a week of maths

for all! We are so proud of them. They have

amazed us with their stamina and

determination!

On Thursday after school they were 5th in the

world! Ace Bae had got to level 5, Ace, Joo

won and Willie from our class with Nathan Bell

4T and Danny Yang 4T got themselves in the

top 100 in the world. How amazing is that?

Everyone in the class was now calculating at

an amazing speed!

Thursday evening the competition was

extended for 12 hours but the weary children

battled on! At 11pm they reached 160,000

and continued to add points until they

reached their final total of 166,337 and

average of 8,000 points a child!

The competition ended this morning at 7am.

4N ‗Ng‘s Numerators‘ finished 8th in the world

and will now receive a gold trophy for being

one of the top 10 classes in the world!

Amazing!

I would like to thank Miss Hall for having the vision to enrol us. Mr Fitzmaurice, and the parents for

their unwavering enthusiasm and support. But most of all I would like to thank the children in my class

for the experience – you really are the best class in the world!

Well done! Julie Ng

Key Stage Two

Secondary

From the Head of Secondary

Music has filled the secondary corridors this week whilst students fine tuned their vocals and

instrument playing skills in preparation for the highlight of the week; the secondary House Music

Competition. The competition involved the entire secondary school and it was fantastic to see our

students really reflect the spirit of the event; applauding, supporting and encouraging all performers

not just those in their own houses. The afternoon was highly entertaining and showcased the

immense musical talent that we have here at BSB and created a fantastic opportunity for us to

celebrate the high calibre musical achievements that we are known for. A huge thank you to both

the staff and the students for all their efforts.

The U19 boys football team but in a valiant performance against ISB this week, creating many goal

scoring opportunities but unfortunately they failed to put the ball in the back of the net on this

occasion. However, I am confident that there is some prolific goal scoring to come; a solid team

effort, well done.

Today a representative from the University of British to Columbia visited our school and gave a

presentation to our upper secondary students who will be shortly preparing their university

applications. Today‘s presentation is just one in a series of events that we have organised to ensure

that our students are equipped and supported to make sound fully informed decisions about their

futures.

Martyn Steel, Head of Secondary

BSB News: KS2

This week in year 6 we have been learning about

what may happen to the landscape of the world

if Greenland, the west Antarctic ice shelf, Antarc-

tica or all were to melt because of global warm-

ing. We spent some time in the laptop and ICT

suites studying about this topic on several web-

sites.

We learned that if the west ice shelf in Antarctica

melted it would raise sea level by around 3 me-

ters but if Greenland melted the sea level would

raise by 3.6 metres. If all of Antarctica was to melt

sea level would rise 61 metres higher than it is to-

day. We went into the ICT suite to study more

facts about the ice melting in Greenland on http://cires.colorado.edu/

steffen/greenlad/melt2005/. On the website it shows maps of Greenland as it melts.

Year 6 also traced the world map or one of country or state of choice and then we colored in the

effects of the area according to how high it is above the sea level, so you can see how flooded the

country or state would be if the polar ice caps were to melt. We went to the laptop suite and used

a website to help us on the task; the address of the website is http://www.global warmingart.com/

wiki/special:sealevel. On that website there is a color coded map of the world that shows the sea

level, just like our maps above.These maps show how the UK and the state of Florida might look if

global warming continues to cause rising sea levels. The dark blue on the map of the UK and the

red on the map of Florida show the areas which are less than 6m above sea level, which given the

rate of melting happening in Greenland is very worrying. By Vincent Shonka (6J)

BSB News:

Visit from University of British Colombia Year 10, 11 and 12 welcomed Dayna Li to the British School of

Beijing, She is an international advisor from the University of

British Colombia. UBC welcomes and fully recognizes applica-

tions from qualified A level students. For students achieving A

or B grades credit can be given for the certain first year

courses, reducing the total course length. Students first apply

to a faculty or school and generally Major in their third year.

So students have time to decide what they want to study.

There are faculty specific requirements in addition to the gen-

eral requirements. These are all explained on their website and

in the prospectus that your child is bringing home today.

https://you.ubc.ca

There are many opportunities to work in order to help towards

living costs and after graduation they can remain in Canada

for 3 years to gain work experience. Limited Awards and Fi-

nancial aid are available to cover the costs of the complete

degree course. There is one full scholarship and BSB can nomi-

nate 3 students for this award yearly. They must have academic merit and demonstrate financial

need. Dayna Li

Stock Market Challenge.

Students have been given £10 000 to invest on the UK Stock exchange (FTSE 100). They were given a

choice of 25 companies to invest in. Each week students are required to research different compa-

nies and decide if they would make a good investment. At the end of the ASA programme we will

discover the BSB top investor. Students will also be taught the basics of the stock market including

information of dividends. The current leaders are Hannah Jang with a profit of £695, and Doris Sun

with a profit of £518. Tim Brightwell

Team Earth is a group dedicated to saving our planet from the effects of climate change. We

would like to raise awareness of issues that affect our environment. We shall be participating in

global initiatives to address climate change and using online collaborative tools to stay in touch with

our project partners. Locally, we plan to plant trees, recycle and help to reduce energy

consumption. Kim Ng

Secondary ASA

We are delighted to announce the start of the first Year7 social club at BSB!

Every week, Year 7 students will be able to meet up at break and lunchtime every second Mon-

day and at lunchtime every second Tuesday in order to socialize, play ad learn at the same

time! We will have a selection of games for you to play with but if you feel you have a game at

home waiting to be played with during our club, please come and talk to your form tutor first,

and we will tell you if you can bring it along!

Alternatively, if you wish to donate games to us, we will make sure they are well cared for and

happy in their new homes! Come on, year 7, let’s have some fun together!

Secondary

BSB News:

Art Focus Secondary art is a wide ranging subject. Not only do

our students learn vital skills that allow them to create

purposeful images and sculptures reflecting on different

styles, genres and art movements throughout history; it

teaches essential life skills, empathy and creative

thinking. In art lessons there is no right or wrong!

Expression is the key. What if? How? Why? What can I

do? Throughout Key Stage 3 students will paint, draw,

sculpt, print, collage, use

mixed media and work

with textiles. Every project

is themed with reference to an artist or

designer, contemporary and from

other times and cultures.

This year so far Key Stage 3 have

created giant Matisse inspired jugs,

plaster Giacometti sculptures, Georgia

O‘Keeffe flowers, Gaudi buildings,

Milroy paintings, pencil studies of

Westminster Abby, expressive portraits,

charcoal landscapes, textured

paintings…..and there‘s definitely more

to come!

The IGCSE and AS candidates have been

working really hard to develop their

personal studies; students can choose a

topic or theme to explore; mind maps,

drawings, media experiments are all

coming together to create a ‘final

outcome‘. Their skills are of a very high

standard and their ideas insightful and in-

depth. I wish them all luck in their 10

hour external examination.

Art club is a thriving ASA; this term we

have focused on our clay skills, learning

techniques that potters use to create

artifacts and objects. We have used slab

techniques, slips and coil pots. Next week

we are off to Happy Land Pottery here in

Shunyi to learn how to ‗throw‘ a pot.

Hopefully we will all be very talented at

this and have lots of fine pots to show off

about in next weeks newsletter and

display at school!

Charlotte Yearn, Art

Secondary Library

I would like to thank Mrs Doris Mannes, who created an wonderful art piece in our secondary library. Students came in to admire the meticulousness and delicate 3D artwork. It's called 'Battle of the Books', which is also happens to be the name of a schools reading competition here in Beijing. Our BSB Reading team is preparing to enter their first 'battle' on 12th March at BISS. Tomoe Barnsley

Judges and helpers needed

BSB will be hosting a World Scholarship Regional competition on the weekend of March 20 / 21.

About 170 students from many regional and international schools (including 12 from BSB) will be

participating in the competition. The main theme of the competition is ‗A World Divided‘.

One of the four main events of each tournament is a team debate (teams are comprised of three

students). We would be tremendously grateful for your assistance as judges at this event.

On Saturday March 20, judging runs from 1:15pm to 4:30pm, with training and lunch provided

for all adjudicators at noon. This tournament is being held at the British School Shunyi

Campus. There are copies of the schedule and the debate guidelines. Please don't hesitate

to e-mail the chief organizer of the event Mr. - Daniel Berdichevsky (dan@scholarscup.org)

for the above information and with any other questions you may have.

The students also have to write an essay. We also need a few volunteers to have a go at marking

their essays. An answer format will be given.

If you are able to judge or mark essays, please email the following –

Mr Nick Bourne- the BSB school staff coordinator of the event.

nick.bourne@britishschool.org.cn

Again, thank you so much for your help. This program wouldn't be possible without the help of

volunteers and the courage of students who cross the world to participate.

Daniel Berdichevsky / Nick Bourne

The World Scholar's Cup is an international non-profit educational foundation that brings secondary

school students together online and in person to compete in a series of events related to a special

global curriculum. The idea is to build an international community of future leaders and thinkers,

while helping students gain new knowledge and skills.

Secondary

BSB News:

Sports News

Always busy for the Bears! This week: U11 Handball The Primary handball players were back in action last Saturday DSP. All the been very busy practicing to develop their skills under the watchful eye of Coach Thomason. All pool games were keenly contested and BSB 3 was able to make it through to the knockout stages. Well done to all the players. Handballers have the opportunity to test themselves against an U12 Tournament on March 13. Continued on next page…………….

TRIS Invitational Swim Meet The Aqua Bears and their supporters travelled to

Tianjin for their first official outing and all students should be very pleased with their performances. Every swimmer recorded PB's (personal bests) which is no mean feat considering that this was the first time many of the swimmers had experienced a real competition. Several swimmers also managed to place (first, second or third) in their heats. A wonderful day swimming and fabulous effort from everyone that made the trip. U19 Boys Soccer vs. ISB JV The senior soccer players had their first game of the year and should be pleased with the way they performed. There were a few chances early on in the game which could have swung the game in our favour. Both Andre and Duncan were busy in goals and showed themselves to be more than competent shot stoppers. Perhaps the players could feel a little disappointed with the score line but, on balance, this was probably the right result. 0-1L. Man of the match Duncan Watt.

This weekend: Dragon Cup The U19 soccer boys participate in the Dragon Cup over the weekend with the the first game this Friday against ISB at 4.15pm and two games tomorrow against DCB at 8.30am and HISB at 1.00pm. The places will be determined with Championship Games on Sunday. ISAC Invitation Swim Meet This Saturday the Aqua Bears are back to make another splash at ISB. Swimmers have the opportunity to enter four individual races and test themselves against the best age-group swimmers that ISAC has to offer. Events start at 9.00am U19 Girls Soccer The girls will start their season this Saturday at 11.00am as they host TEDA who are traveling up from Tainjin for the day. Fixtures Monday 8th March U19 Boys Soccer vs HISB (Away) U19 Girls Soccer vs BISS (Away) Wednesday 10th March U19 Boys Soccer vs DCB (Away) U19 Girsl Soccer vs HISB (Home) Thursday 11th March U14 Girls basketball vs HISB (Home) U14 Boys basketball vs HISB (Away) Saturday 13th March U14 Boys basketball exchange @ BSB U14 Girls basketball exchange @ HISB U12 Handball @ DSP Julian Barnsley Athletic Director and Activities Coordinator

Sports News Continued…….

BSB News: News From Shunyi:

AustSwim Teachers of Swimming and Water Confidence Course Last weekend BSB was proud to host AustSwims first venture into mainland China. Seven candidates spent a very interesting weekend with swimming expert Marcelle Frederick as she took them through the fundamental stages of learning to teach swimming the 'Australian way'.

Parents’ Page: BSB is pleased to widen the scope of our newsletter by including a parents’ page, items for this page should be in keeping with the ethos of the School and should be submitted to our Publications and Liaison Officer on newsletter@britishschool.org.cn before 4pm Wednesday on the week in which they are to appear. Please note we cannot advertise businesses, the aim is to promote charitable events and personal ads.

BSB News:

Sanlitun House

Points

Normans 491

Vikings 340

Romans 357

Saxons 367

Congratulations to

the Normans on

earning the highest

House Points for the

week ending 29th

January. Well done,

Normans

Shunyi House

Points

Normans 296

Vikings 281

Romans 304

Saxons 219

Congratulations to

the Romans on

earning the highest

House Points for the

week ending 29th

January. Well

done, Romans

Key Stage 3

Mina Shin 228

Leonie Buschmann 172

Diana Park 155

Minori Yariwake 154

Key Stage 4

Oceane Duprat 55

Doris Sun 49

Prateek Pandey 44

Andrea De Matteis 41

Secondary Merit Awards Primary House Names & Colours

Normans Saxons Vikings Romans

Dear all

Following a recommendation made at the Parent Advisory Board meeting I‘m pleased to confirm

that in future it will be possible to have the annual school trip include in the school fees.

We are working towards a flexible parent focussed solution for this matter and a detailed proposal

will follow shortly

Many thanks

Mike Embley on behalf of the Board.

Book donations wanted for Chatterbox Book Shop. NO Children‘s books please. Books in all lan-

guages gratefully received. Proceeds from book donations will be given to charity.