JANUARY 2011

THE SECONDARY N E W S L E T T E RSecondary News from the Pupils and Teachers of The British School of Alicante

Swimming Gala

2010

As part of our ongoing commitment to the wider community, Kings College, the British School of Alicante has, as in previous years, been collecting donations of food, toys and clothes for less fortunate children and families in Alicante. Parents, students and staff have generously donated an enormous amount of gifts, which have all been wrapped. The gift’s were donated to the Asociación

Humanitaria whose ongoing work here in Alicante is an ongoing source of great help for under privileged families, especially at this time of year.

The collection of gifts is just a small part of the fundraising activities of the school this year and we have so far, this year, donated over 2000 euros to charities both locally and worldwide.

Helpingthe Community

RugbyTrip

As a young boy growing

up in the North West of

England, my father had a

saying which will stay with

me my entire life: ´A book

is like a friend; it´s always

there when you need it

most.´ Over the years I´ve

read such sentiments in a

number of places. Noble

Peace Prize winner and

former President of Is-

rael - Shimon Peres very

wisely said: ´To read books is like going to swim in a sea of

wisdom, endlessly fascinating. And there are so many wise

people all over the world, throughout history, and you can

have it free, for nothing. And reading must become a daily

habit. It’s not that you can read once a week. I read day

in and day out, and you make acquaintances with books.

After a few pages, you know with whom you are dealing.

Serious, unserious, far-sighted, repetitive.´ For me the best

books, as in life, become friends and allow you, if only for a

brief moment, to escape.

The fact that we all reap great benefits from reading can-

not be doubted or questioned. It is for this reason that as

a school we are constantly looking to instill in our students

a real love for reading and groom them into becoming life-

long readers.

Getting young people to read today is an increasing source

of difficulty. Getting them to read books just for the sheer

pleasure of reading is especially harder since young peo-

ple today have so many other distractions. Gone are the

days when children curled up with a nice little book when it

was too hot to play outside. Today, students spend any free

time they have watching TV, going to the mall, tweeting,

messaging or playing on their games console.

We have over the past year introduced a number of initia-

tives in the school; Books at Breakfast, World Book Day,

book exhibitions to name a few. All of these encourage us

to become more avid readers. We should also remember

that reading itself brings numerous benefits. For example,

it is observed that children and teenagers who love read-

ing have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative

and do better in school. Reading also helps in mental de-

velopment and is known to stimulate the muscles of the

eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of

concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the

reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge ac-

quired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps read-

ers to decipher new words and phrases that they come

across in everyday conversations. The habit can become

a healthy addiction and adds to the information available

on various topics. It helps us to stay in-touch with contem-

porary writers as well as those from the days of yore and

makes us sensitive to global issues.

Everyone knows how important it is to be knowledgeable

to succeed in any area of life that you choose. It will per-

haps be less surprising to learn that the most successful

people in many walks of life would be the persons who

are the most well read. An old teacher of mine once said

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader”. This may well be true,

but I would prefer to leave you with one last quote from

the great author, Dr. Seuss: “The more you read, the more

things you will know. The more that you learn, the more

places you’ll go.”

How very true.

Stephen GreenHead of Secondary

Reading is Importantby Stephen Green

So, how did you do in your mocks? Are you proud of your results? Are they a mixed bag or do they leave you tearing your

hair out and running for the text books / hills? Most importantly, where do you go from here and HOW do you do it? If

you’re on a D for History and your target is a B HOW do you improve that grade? This is where year 11 mentors come in.

It is their job to support their mentees, make sure you understand the grades that you’ve have got, create realistic targets

and help you to develop the skills to reach their goals.

This term Ms Cook, Mr. Wicks, Miss Turton, Ms Davies,

Mr. Panter and Mr. Green are going to be your mentors.

You may have swapped group so have a look. Mentoring

sessions will be advertised on the Key Stage Four section

of the Pastoral Office board. Be there!

Academic Mentoring for Year 11s

• Writing a revision timetable together

• Learning command words in exams

• Improving you essay writing in English

• Practicing PEE paragraphs

• Working out timing on tricky exams

• Testing you on key word lists

• Showing you how to use resources properly in exams

• Helping you to set targets

• Planning catch-up work with you

• Learning how NOT to panic in exams

So how can your mentor help you?

Miguel GregoriMy passion is science. I studied physics because I had to choose something, but

I am also very interested in biology, especially molecular biology, genetics, and

neuroscience (though I am just starting to read about it properly). Recently I have

also developed an interest in history, sociology politics and economics, after reading

a book on the emerging field of social-physics (Critical Mass by Philip Ball - highly

recommended!). My aim is to help students see the value and relevance of the

scientific method and to make physics fun and interesting for them.

Outside school my main hobbies are music and cinema in the arts

department and rock climbing is my sport. I also love chess very

much, I really think it is the best game ever created, but sadly I don’t

have what it takes to be a good player, so I don’t play much.

I have two children, Nacho (4) and Elsa (1.66), and I am married to

Elena, who just finished her studies to become a primary school

teacher.

New Science Teacher

Congratulations to Jaime Sánchez-Ferragut, Year 13, who has been offered

places at all of his chosen universities to study Aeronautical and Motor Sport

Engineering. Jamie has offers from the University of Bath, Brunel University,

City University, Oxford Brookes University and the University of Surrey. Jaime

now has the unenviable task of choosing which offer to accept – good luck with

the decision, Jaime!

Good Luck,Jaime!

Congratulations to Irene Irene Nicolas Zapata of Year 9 achieved Women’s International Master

status at the First International Tournament the Gran Hotel Bali that has

taken place at this hotel in Benidorm (Alicante). Congratulation to Irene

on this wonderful achievement.

The tournament has been played with the sponsorship of the Women and

Sport Sports Council.

Congratulations to Héctor Chapela Lamas(Y8T) for

his outstanding performances in the recent provincial

athletics meeting of Alicante held in Denia last weekend.

With a new Provincial Long Jump record of 4m 31cm

Hector’s magnificent achievement has made us proud

of him. He is now the junior provincial champion. He also

won the bronze medal in the 60 metre final sprint with a

terrific time of 9:04 seconds.

He will now be heading to the “Autonomics“ which is

the regional championship to be held in Valencia. We

wish him every success. Go Hector go!

Written by Yongmin Cho Y8TAthletic Success

During the last century and our present century there has

been such a fast technological progress in which words like

Coca Cola or iPod are very common. Some brand names have

become proper words we constantly use.

Some words are made up of the first letters of the technical

name for the product. “Laser” actually means: light amplification

by stimulated emission of radiation. And I’m sure you didn’t

know that AIDS means acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

What does

By Verena Oetzmann Y11

But what is “google” then? The whole project started

in the 1990s in Stanford University in California,

where two students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin

worked on a way of linking other web pages to one

large searching machine.

At first they wanted to call their new invention

“googolplex” but then decided it was too complex

and renamed it, using the word “googol”, the name

given to the logarithm 10100, since they had based

the system on logarithms.

Google Headquarters

mean?

On Friday 21st 15 pupils from years 6, 7 & 8 went on a rugby trip to the home ground of La Vila who are currently leading the Spanish National League. Once there we met with three of the leading professional players at the club, namely Bob, Neil and Ryan who gave us a great training session on all the basic skills. It was a bright and sunny day but we needed to be kept warm because of the cold wind. We started by doing some running and passing drills where we needed to avoid each other just like in a proper game. We were then introduced to some tackling and this was great fun once we were shown the technique. We practised using large tackling bags where we just charged up to the bags hit them with our shoulders and put our arms around the bags. We then did a drill of hitting a shield bag and making sure we didn´t let the ball go. After that we were ready to tackle each other. The secret was to make sure you landed on top of your opponent so you got up first – easy. We were put into two teams and then we got to play a proper game on the rugby field where we scored plenty of tries and put all our skills to the test. The running and passing was spectacular but some of us had forgotten how to tackle. To finish off a great morning we had a kicking competition at the posts – kicking the ball off a tee on the ground just like they do for a penalty or conversion. If you didn´t get the ball over the cross bar you were out. Soon only four were left then only two – Luis Blaso and the professional player Ryan. To make it more difficult the ball was taken further back and away from the posts. Unbelievably the experienced Ryan narrowly missed the posts leaving Luis with a difficult kick to win. Calmly, Luis ran up to the ball and smoothly and expertly kicked the

Rugby Trip to La VilaBy Alex Barrenechea Y8T

ball through the middle of the posts – a fantastic kick from Luis who had kicked plenty of footballs but never before an oddly shaped rugby ball. Afterwards we were invited into the club house where we had something to eat and watched videos of actual rugby games of La Vila playing. We thanked the players for their expert coaching and for giving us such a great time and a memorable experience. We then got on the bus thanked Mr Thomas (who told us he used to play rugby years ago) for coming with us and we were back in school ready for lesson 6 and then lunch.

Haiti Relief Fund Mrs. Pilkington and Sr. Mora recently attended an event hosted by the Red Cross in Alicante. On behalf of BSA they collected a certificate in recognition of our donation last year towards the Haiti Relief Fund.

Animal Charity SPAPBSA students were delighted to donate 100 euros to the Socidad Protectora de Animales y Plantas last week. The money was raised last term and some of our Year 3 students were treated to a Q & A session by a charity representative and meet one of the abandoned puppies SPAP was currently caring for.

We are delighted to announce that Krisha Gandhi has

been offered an unconditional place at London University’s

School of Oriental and African Studies to read Chinese and

History from September 2011. Congratulations to Krisha

who is currently on a gap year, working at the British

School of Beijing.

Former Pupil News

There are very few words I can think of to summarise just

how much both mine and Jacks’ lives have changed over

the past few months. It’s hard to believe that it was over

half a year ago since our China dream first began. Writing

our very first CVs and heading to Liverpool – just happy to

have reached the interviews stages – seems a world away.

I’m sure Jack will agree by saying that China is far from

what we both expected but better in a million and more

ways. Though the city itself is at first far from pleasing to

the eye we seen to find a little magic down every street

we pass. Whether it be because of the deep red sky,

manic driving of all vehicles from luxurious cars to tin shed

rickshaws or the scent of fresh street food – Beijing really

had opened our eyes to the rest of the world. With Jack

having already discovered the likes of Inner Mongolia and

as I write this blurb in Chengdu Airport waiting to start my

Christmas Travels through Indonesia, I cannot help but

think that we are both, most definitely, living a dream!

A Beijing Blurg20th December 2010

What’s perhaps more amazing is that we get just as much

excitement from our day to day lives. Working as Teaching

Assistants in the British School of Beijing is in our opinion

the best job in the world! As TAs Jack and myself experience

both the challenging and rewarding side of teaching. From

working with children who can barely speak a word of

English and seeing their development and growth within

just a few months into cheeky little chatterboxes to having

cream pies smothered over your face for class assemblies

– this job really never can get boring! And of course seeing

Mrs. Brock’s face everyday makes Beijing feel even more

like home!

2010 has definitely been a year to remember and I´m sure

there will be just as much excitement for the few months

ahead. We wish all at King’s College Alicante the very best

for the New Year.

With Love from ChinaKrisha Gandhi

Glorieta del Reino Unido 5Alicante 03008 Spainwww.bsalicante.com

email: carlos.lazaro@kingsgroup.org

Headteacher ´s BlogI invite all parents to read the Headteacher´s blog which is available on our new website. News and information will be posted and updated regularly . I hope this will keep you more informed of school developments.

• Friday4thFebruary(Provisional)Year8TriptoAspe

• Saturday12thFebruary–Thursday17thFebruaryY10TriptoFrance

• Monday21stFebruary–Friday25thFebCIEALevelMockExams

• Thursday24thFebruaryY9OptionsMeeting

DatesforFebruary

FormoredatespleaseseeourParentCalendaronthewebsite.

www.bsalicante.com