tapestry magazine, 3rd edition
DESCRIPTION
A celebration of highlights throughout the past year at The British School of Brussels (BSB)TRANSCRIPT
NEWS AND REVIEWS FROM IN & AROUND THE BSB CAMPUS
I S S U E N ° 3 I 2 0 1 3
An educated approach to financial planning
Fulcra is Brussels’ leading independent financial planning firm, providing services to individuals and businesses for over 16 years. We recently became part of The Fry Group, further enhancing the depth of our expertise.
Our team of experienced advisers provides straightforward, sensible and honest advice on investments, retirement planning, pensions and tax planning.
We can help you manage your wealth and reduce the amount of tax you pay.
We can also help you with higher education funding and estate planning.
If you would like to discuss our refreshingly individual approach, please call us on +32-(0)2-639 4560, email [email protected] or visit our website.
www.fulcra-international.com
Fulcra is regulated in Belgium by the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA 23345 A-B).
Fulcra is part of
Fulcra is Brussels’ leading independent financial planning firm, providing services to individuals and businesses for over 17 years. Being part of The Fry Group further enhances the depth of our expertise.
Our team of experienced advisers provides straightforward, sensible and honest advice on investments, retirement planning, pensions and tax planning.
We can help you manage your wealth and reduce the amount of tax you pay.
We can also help you with higher education funding and estate planning.
If you would like to discuss our refreshingly individual approach, please call us on +32-(0)2-639 4560, email [email protected] or visit our website.
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
www.brit ishschool.be
‘Tapestry’Principal's Foreword
ReportageA Year in Photos
FeatureCalifornia Dreaming...
PrimaryiPads in Primary: A Class of Their Own
MusicRhapsody in Schools
Secondary DramaA Dramatic Year at BSB
FeatureDesign and Technology
Sport at BSBJolly Good Sports
FocusGirl Power!
FeatureCreative Writing and Art Gallery
Year 6 ProductionDancin’ in the Street – BSB style
PrimaryCelts, Cartoons and Côte D’or!
SpotlightThe Social Network
Staff MemberHappy Families
Language UpdateBilingual Reaches Secondary
AwardsThe Duke of Edinburgh's Award at BSB goes from strength to strength
BSB AlumniWhere are they now?
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BSB AlumnaThe Beginning of a World Class School...
BSB Alumna'A Festival of Life'
Friends of BSBFriends will be Friends
FeatureAmnesty Action
FeatureThe Write Stuff
School Trip'Berlin ist immer eine Reise wert'
BSB Film FestivalLights... Camera... ACTION!
Textiles Fashion ShowRole Models
Early Learning & Development Centre (Kindercrib)Cultural Creativity
CampusVision of the Future
LearningBTEC @ BSB
CampusReady, Steady, Cook!
AdmissionsFamily Focus(ed)
UpdateA Look to the Future...
ExaminationsBSB Results' Summary
CompetitionPrimary School
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In this issue...An educated approach to financial planning
Fulcra is Brussels’ leading independent financial planning firm, providing services to individuals and businesses for over 16 years. We recently became part of The Fry Group, further enhancing the depth of our expertise.
Our team of experienced advisers provides straightforward, sensible and honest advice on investments, retirement planning, pensions and tax planning.
We can help you manage your wealth and reduce the amount of tax you pay.
We can also help you with higher education funding and estate planning.
If you would like to discuss our refreshingly individual approach, please call us on +32-(0)2-639 4560, email [email protected] or visit our website.
www.fulcra-international.com
Fulcra is regulated in Belgium by the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA 23345 A-B).
Fulcra is part of
Fulcra is Brussels’ leading independent financial planning firm, providing services to individuals and businesses for over 17 years. Being part of The Fry Group further enhances the depth of our expertise.
Our team of experienced advisers provides straightforward, sensible and honest advice on investments, retirement planning, pensions and tax planning.
We can help you manage your wealth and reduce the amount of tax you pay.
We can also help you with higher education funding and estate planning.
If you would like to discuss our refreshingly individual approach, please call us on +32-(0)2-639 4560, email [email protected] or visit our website.
26
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Canon_singlepage_BritishSchool_CS5.indd 2 03/06/13 13:09
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
www.brit ishschool.be PAGE 04➜05
Welcome to the latest edition of Tapestry – another celebration of some BSB highlights from the last year. Undoubtedly one of the proudest moments for me was the tremendous CIS report. The school was rated so highly against exacting international standards and it was wonderful to see the hard work and developments of the recent years validated externally. As I write, we have been short-listed for the award of British International School of the Year 2013 which is further testament to BSB’s growing reputation beyond Belgium.
This year, as you will read, we became the first school in Belgium to sign a special charter with the Belgian Special Olympics. In addition, our FoBSB ball raised €13,550 which is the latest figure over and above that quoted in the annual report for the charity, as our parents enjoyed a night’s masquerade. Coupled with the re-launch of Super Saturday to begin our own Charities Week we saw further developments with Best of Both who succeeded in bringing
along another school in Belgium to unlock more external funding. Added to that the BSB Talks initiative, the work of Amnesty International and, more locally, our CAS students, and you can see that this has been as busy a year as ever thinking of others before ourselves.
Movingly, a personal highlight for me came when we planted a tree in honour of Nathan Ramet, an Auschwitz survivor who was always such a good friend to BSB, speaking to our students from first-hand experience about the Holocaust. Planting a tree at the heart of the campus, with his wife and one of his daughters, will remain with me as a particularly special moment in my career and we hope that the family will come back to visit each year when it blossoms.
Of course last year also saw our biennial Book Week with a busier programme than ever that encompassed illustrators and publishers, as well as authors and TV historians. Students were able to learn about the power of the written word in fiction and non-fiction, and in Primary School they created their own books from scratch – a really exciting initiative!
This year, we also celebrated a crop of superb results from our most recent alumni. In April we heralded two Cambridge blues for Rugby and Football, plus another BSB alumnus who played for the England U21s Rugby team. We saw three former BSB students graduate from Oxford and Cambridge this summer just as we sent
two to take up their places! One of our Cambridge students graduated with a first, but in fact it was a bumper year for first class honours degrees; at least seven including three Masters in Engineering from top 10 UK universities and a Historian from LSE who also won two departmental prizes before heading off to Oxford to study for an MPhil.
As our ‘technology for learning’ developments unfold, we have purchased hundreds of iPads too, with more to follow in the next few years as we add variety to the learning processes and journeys for our students. Investment in the campus beyond technology also continues, not least as we edge ever closer to our dream of being able to build a new, state-of-the-art sports’ hall and swimming pool. BSB is a School that does not stand still but is always looking ahead and seeking recognition as world class in every area.
However, the best way to celebrate the year is not to read what the Principal says, but hear from the students themselves! This edition of Tapestry includes some wonderful creative writing and art work alongside some inspiring stories and profiles of students (and staff!) who are making a real difference. The real testament to this wonderful school is theirs, and so as you turn each page, I hope you are as encouraged and inspired as I am every day to work with such talented and energetic people. Happy Reading!
‘ TA P E S T R Y ’
Principal's Foreword
Sue Woodroofe, Principal
R E P O R TA G E
A Year in Photos...
Captions from top left: September 2012 Radio Swoosh is launched I Pauline Markey, VP & Head of Primary School joins BSB. October
Adisa is back for Book Week 2012 I STEM Day. December Freddie Sleiffer – BSB’s very own tennis star! I Opening of Food Technology
rooms I Veterans' Reception.
September '12 October
December
www.brit ishschool.be
January 2013 BSB celebrates outstanding report from Council of International Schools (CIS) I BBC’s Nick Robinson visits BSB.
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January '13
www.brit ishschool.be
Captions from top left: February BSB’s key client event and the signing of the official Charter with the Belgium Special Olympics I Year
3 Production I Charities Week I Medea Years 9 & 10. March GISGA I Students visit Palais du Congres I Amnesty group welcomes Mary
Honeyball MEP on International Women’s Day I Music Concert I Students visit Model United Nations I Primary School Council visits
European Parliament I In honour of Nathan Ramet I Year 5 drama production of Robin Hood I BBC telenet public speaking success,
Andrew Muir I Year 13 A Level Practical 'Teacher, Tuba, Tea'. April Alumni sporting successes Paul Mallaband & Simon Court (featured) I
February
March
May
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Lars Vogt visits BSB I iPads use across Primary School huge success. May Debating Competition I Baskets being made in Ghana to
support Best of Both I Before and after installing computers in Ghana. June Summer concert I Year 6 Exhibition I Kindergarten lets the
butterflies free! July/August BSB celebrates another amazing year of superb results. September Gary Minnitt, VP & Head of Secondary
School joins BSB.
April
June July/August Sept.
Director of ICT DARAGH COMERFORD has an exciting trip planned for October 2013: a tour around the high-tech industries of Silicon Valley, California.
California Dreaming...F E AT U R E
www.brit ishschool.be
In just a few weeks’ time, a group of twenty
Post-16 students studying computing at
BSB will travel across the world to visit
the anecdotally-named Silicon Valley:
a label coined in the 1970s because of
the high number of blue chip companies
which were incentivised to set up their
headquarters there. It was the birthplace
of the first commercially viable computers
and is still the base for the central offices
of companies such as Facebook, eBay,
Google and Apple.
BSB students will explore many different
aspects of the town. They will visit a number
of different large IT organisations in order
to gain an understanding of the industry
overall as well as looking more closely at
the ways in which these new companies
operate individually. The schedule will
involve visiting companies such as: CISCO,
the largest networking company in the
world; Google, the biggest global Internet
service based company; and world games
company leader Electronic Arts. Students
will see the real-life application of the skills,
knowledge and qualifications acquired in
their BSB Computing course, and gain a
greater understanding of the long-term
opportunities presented by studying ICT-
related courses.
Students will also be able to soak up the
atmosphere of the town by visiting several
of the museums which attempt to illustrate
the dramatic rise of the Information age,
including Intel’s processor museum. And it
won’t be all work and no play: students will
also have the chance to relax and see some
of the famous sights of San Francisco,
from the large sequoia tress to the golden
beaches, which should (hopefully!) be
glistening in the autumnal sun.
We are positive that this trip will be an
inspiration to our students currently
studying computer programming and
encourage them to consider setting their
career sights on this incredibly interesting,
powerful and lucrative industry.
Students will see the real-life application of the skills, knowledge and qualifications acquired in their BSB Computing course, and gain a greater understanding of the long-term opportunities presented by studying ICT-related courses.
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
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“A number of years ago BSB embarked
on an ambitious strategy to integrate
new technological advances into the
classroom. This is in recognition of the
ever-increasing importance and influence
digital technology has on our daily
lives. A WiFi campus, more advanced
computer suites, Apple TVs and iPads
are all examples of how we are striving
to meet our original aims. The Primary
School has been at the forefront of this
with a significant investment in iPads from
Kindergarten to Year 6,”announced Chris
Dodge, Deputy Head of Primary School in
a letter to parents last term.
Previously in Tapestry Charles explained
about iPads in the Primary School being
very much at a trial stage. “Teachers had
just been given their own iPads to help
them become familiar with the technology
and to develop the skills that would
become absolutely necessary as students
got to grips with the devices, their various
functions and their apps – although,
obviously, many young people in Primary
were already familiar with this particular
type of technology!”
www.brit ishschool.be
iPads in Primary: A Class of Their Own
P R I M A R Y
Tapestry caught up with CHARLES MYERS, ICT Subject Leader for Primary and CHRIS DODGE, Deputy Head of Primary for an update on how increased access to iPads means that children are taking charge of their learning.
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
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Since then, the use of iPads in Primary
has grown at a phenomenal rate in
accordance with our Technology for
Learning plan. As of September of 2013,
Primary has access to 1 iPad to every 2
children: an astounding ratio. Every year
group from 3-6 now has access to 25
devices, and Lower Primary also has a
store of 20 for their exclusive use. Years
4 and 5 are trialling a one-to-one system,
and Year 5 students will be allowed to
bring the device home with them this
academic year. As our Technology for
Learning plan continues to develop, we
envisage that even more year groups will
join the one-to-one system and be able to
benefit from the creativity and enrichment
these devices can bring to learning.
Teachers who have engaged in this
scheme so far agree that the iPads
are ideally suited to the classroom
environment where, used thoughtfully and
with careful planning, they help to capture
the students’ interest and motivate them.
As a result, teachers have been busy over
the last year creating movies, cartoons,
documents and using the iPads in many
other ways that help the students learn
creatively and in a hands-on manner. As
well as all of the obvious benefits of using
them – student engagement, access
to texts and educational apps, easily
accessible and portable - students are
also able to demonstrate their learning in
a huge variety of creative ways. They can
share their work effortlessly with their peers
or even with the rest of the class, and invite
constructive comments. It is important to
note that the integration of the iPads into
the classrooms and beyond is to enhance
learning and does not replace key skills
children need, e.g. writing.
We have many plans in place to support
both students and teachers in this new
development. Amongst these plans is
the creation of our iSwoosh club, in which
Primary students from the current ICT extra-
curricular activity club have been given iPad
minis. This has allowed Year 3 and 4 students
to test the devices and ascertain what they
want and need from them. Consultation
with this sample of group of students has
ensured that we are more aware of students’
preferences and requirements, and this has
helped us to select apps to purchase. These
students have shown real commitment, and
will become ambassadors for ICT, helping
to train younger students in the use of these
devices.
All in all, it’s been a fantastic and very exciting
year for the Primary School, trail-blazing this
initiative.
“ This is an exciting time for the School community as we aim to utilise 21st century technology to engage our children in critical thinking, collaboration and communication,”
Here we see students filming a science experiment showing how light travels. They recorded and annotated a movie which was then shared with others in their class to review and comment.
confirmed Chris Dodge, Deputy Head
Primary School.
www.brit ishschool.be
Rhapsody in SchoolsM U S I C
Concert pianist Lars Vogt gives a new dimension to passion and learning. By FIONA HICK, Head of Primary School Music at BSB.
“What actually is music?” asked Lars Vogt
of his young audience.
With this profoundly philosophical question
concert pianist Lars Vogt addressed
The British School of Brussels’ (BSB)
youngsters after having given them first a
spellbinding impression of his pianistic art,
performing the deeply moving cadenza of
Edvard Grieg’s piano concerto.
“Music is expression!”, “Music reflects our
moods and how we feel” and “Music is
passion!” were just some of the answers
from the inspired 9 – 11 year olds. Indeed,
Lars managed to convey changing
moods, explaining how every note has a
life and how crucial it is for notes to be
interconnected within a musical phrase.
You could almost hear the piano sing!
Recent research has proven that learning
an instrument at a young age enhances
language acquisition and develops areas
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 14➜15
of the brain, which stimulates memory
capacity and the ability to learn. Asked
how he manages to learn so many long
and difficult works, Lars explained “regular
and progressive practice builds up
stamina, both physical and mental, similar
to an athlete who develops skills when
engaged in an on-going sporting activity.”
Lars is an internationally performing artist,
born in Germany and now living between
Berlin and London and giving around 90
concerts a year, travelling all around the
world.
“How and why did you start playing the
piano?” was one of many questions.
There had always been a piano at Lars’
grandmother’s house and this is where
he had his first encounters with the
instrument. He started learning at the
age of six and spoke very warmly of his
first teacher, who always encouraged him
and taught him how to believe in himself
as well developing his technical skill.
Lars emphasised how important it is to
have faith in oneself, saying “It is normal
to have doubts. Learning an instrument
can teach us how to overcome moments
of discouragement and helps build
confidence and character.”
Rhapsody in Schools is a project which
Lars created and is already widely known
in Germany. He believes strongly that
all children and teenagers should have
exposure to classical music despite their
backgrounds and interests. Together with
other world class fellow musicians, Lars
visits schools and familiarises his young
audiences with the often elitist world of
classical music, breaking down barriers.
“I am a bridge between the audience
and the composer,” Lars told the BSB
students. “My job is to communicate
wonderful music written centuries ago
by my favourite composers, Mozart,
Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Haydn
or Schubert, to name just a few!”
Lars led his young audience into the rural
world of Bartok’s children’s pieces, based
on Hungarian folk songs; into Brahms’
dark and gloomy sounds of the Paganini-
variations; and the virtuoso, sparkling
cascades and trills of Beethoven’s first
piano concerto cadenza, which was
greeted with thundering applause. Lars
made new fans very quickly, not just
thanks to his terrific playing but also
because of his wonderfully natural,
engaging personality and the manner with
which he interacted with the children who
asked questions relentlessly throughout.
He was indeed a bridge between the
music and the audience and stirred many
a soul in the audience.
The British School of Brussels teaches
music through the medium of English,
French, Flemish, Polish and Spanish
and boasts 25 instrumental teachers, 24
different instruments taught, 350 lessons a
week and 12 music rooms for instrumental
teaching to complement its fully equipped
recording studio, music technology suite
and 240 seat theatre. The Department
organises and celebrates with 10 concerts
a year across all age groups.
Recent research has proven that learning an instrument at a young age enhances language acquisition and develops areas of the brain, which stimulates memory capacity and the ability to learn.
A Dramatic Year at BSB
S E C O N D A R Y D R A M A
Never one to shy away from controversy, ROB MESSIK delivers Spring Awakening. Here, he reflects on the performance as well as the stunning Years 9 and 10 production of Medea.
Performing Spring Awakening was
actually a student’s idea. Thank
you, Philippa Roberts. I had read
other plays by Wedekind, but not
Spring Awakening although I knew,
of course, about its reputation. And
it has quite a reputation. Written
in 1891, it didn’t receive its first
performance in Germany until over
fifteen years later. The run didn’t last
long, being forcibly removed from the
stage due to its scandalous content.
1917 saw the play arrive on Broadway
where the Supreme Court shut the
play down after one performance
on charges of offending public
decency and stating that it had “no
proper place on the stage of a Public
Theatre.” The play wasn’t allowed to
be shown in London until 1963 where
it ran for two nights, and only then in
heavily censored form.
Theatre students could be forgiven
for thinking that pretty much every
play ever written was first condemned
as being utterly scandalous, and that
if a performance didn’t cause riots
then it really wasn’t worth the price
of admission. However, in the case
of Spring Awakening it’s easy to see
why it caused the outrage it did.
The play is dangerous.
Teenagers buried under an avalanche
of work to prevent them from ever
thinking for themselves; wanting
to break away from the status quo;
wanting answers to questions ignored;
and when the truth is not forthcoming,
they search for it themselves. In
Wedekind’s day, and for a good while
afterwards, these were terrifying and
potentially revolutionary concepts.
But a play should not be a historical
document. What place does it have in
today’s society? Our teenagers might
be getting younger, might have access
to more information than ever before,
but are they any more sure of their
place in the world? Are they any more
able to deal with the pressures heaped
upon them? Can we not still remember
that recoil from authority; that energy,
power and potential; and do we not
www.brit ishschool.be
all have a responsibility to handle
that delicately? Is not the pursuit of
answers part of growing up?
Years 11 – 13 tackled this work with
energy and vigour, fully embracing the
dreamlike nature of the text. The Brel
theatre was transformed into a forest
with branches covering the back
of the stage and leaves blanketing
the floor. We added state-of-the-art
pinhole cameras attached to parts of
the set in order to project their view
onto the back wall; the most notable
was to provide a gun’s eye view in an
integral suicide scene. The Year 13
art students added to this dreamlike
atmosphere by building grotesque
head masks to show off the true
horror of the authoritarian figures in
the piece. All of this was accompanied
by the piercingly haunting music of
Tiger Lillies which created a powerful
and moving theatrical experience.
The cast were dedicated from
the start and created thrilling
performances, whether it was
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PAGE 16➜17
www.brit ishschool.be
Ally McDermott’s Melchior Gabor,
Philippa Roberts’ Wendla Bergmann
or Isabelle Trentesseau’s nightmaric
headmaster. They were given an
incredibly demanding text and rose to
the occasion magnificently.
“Spring Awakening” is a dangerous
play: not because of its content, but
because it raises so many questions
and doesn’t attempt to answer a
single one. It’s funny, it’s tragic, but
it will never be gracious enough to
tell you what you have to think. Our
hope with the production was always
to follow Wedekind’s aims; that is
to make the audience leave the
theatre with questions. Why did she
do that? Was he right? Who are the
villains? What’s the significance of…?
Because if the cast can ensure that
the audience leave asking questions,
it also means they leave thinking. And
then the legacy of this marvellous
play continues to shock, appal and
ultimately move the next generation
of theatre goers.
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PAGE 18➜19
The Year 9 and 10 production of Medea
followed hot on Spring Awakening’s heels;
another troubling and powerful piece. The
Horta studio played host to Euripides’
troubling tale about a mother taking the
ultimate revenge on her disloyal spouse
by murdering their children. The play was
performed in an arena style with audience
on three sides and the cast worked far
beyond their years to produce a genuinely
troubling piece of theatre that made the
very most of choral work, gymnastic
skills and incredible focus and discipline.
Georgia Crowe in the titular role was
terrifying but also managed to convey her
point of view; a fact that made the whole
piece that much more effective.
As well as this there were over twenty
exam performances taking in scripted
work from John Godber to Mike Leigh;
devised storytelling to the Primary
school; five original plays from the year
11s that saw every single student - thirty
of them - gain an A* and A level pieces
that transformed the costume store into
a prison and the studio into a functioning
suburban house in an exploration (and
ultimately celebration) of the Theatre of
the Absurd. Throw in trips to London, in
its original language and it’s been a pretty
packed year. Well done to the many, many
people involved.
“ Our hope with the production was always to follow Wedekind’s aims; that is to make the audience leave the theatre with questions. Why did she do that? Was he right? Who are the villains? What’s the significance of…? Because if the cast can ensure that the audience leave asking questions, it also means they leave thinking.”
Design and Technology
F E AT U R E
www.brit ishschool.be
From left to right:James Thomas I X Box games storageHolly Wilson I Storage boxDuika Smit Sibinga I Cello chairStephen Snyders I TableRodrigo Hochschild I TableJulien Martin I BarbequeRyan Cook I Desk
Right:Youssef Bakr I Sun lounger
GCSE
A2
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PAGE 20➜21
A2 from left to right:Marcel Vrolijk I Computer deskSam Pears I Bike trailer
AS from left to right:Victor Samyn I Guitar chairSean Brown I ChairRhodri Richards I Chair with speakersJames Tommey I Gaming chairJosh Cunningham I Outdoor bench
A2
AS projects
Trains, Planes and Automobiles
This year BSB were joint hosts to the
ISST Swimming Tournament in March
and hosted the ISST Tennis Division 3
Tournament at the end of May. Our athletes
and coaches have travelled all over Europe
to participate in sporting competitions:
Milan for ISST Football; Zurich for ISST
Cross Country; the Netherlands for ISST
Hockey and London for ISST Rugby.
In addition to the ISST Tournaments there
were many other sports trips including a
rugby trip to Buckinghamshire, a netball
tournament in Kent, swimming in Paris
and multiple gymnastics trips to the UK
as well as to the Netherlands.
ISST
Our cross country team travelled to Zurich in
November with the challenge of defending
their Junior Boys triumph from 2011. They
proceeded to do so in fine style, with Euan
Campbell again winning the Junior Boys’
race. Not to be outdone, our Junior Girls’
team put in a magnificent effort to win the
Junior Girls’ title as well. Stefan Snyders
placed second in the Senior Boys’ event
in his first year at the Senior level, helping
the Senior Boys’ team to finish 5th. Lastly,
the Senior Girls’ squad put in a solid
performance to finish 8th, which was an
improvement from the previous year. A
superb team effort, and just reward for
the dedication of the runners and the hard
work of coach Ben Carvell.
ISST Football was held in Milan this year.
Despite only losing one match at the
Tournament, the team ended in 5th place:
a good indicator of how closely contested
the matches were. Nevertheless, the
team left the competition in good spirits
with plenty of enthusiasm for next year.
Our hockey girls once again headed off to
the Netherlands for the ISST Tournament
and played some fine hockey to finish in
second place overall. Steph van Doninck,
Pippa Forsyth and Danni Moore were all
selected for the Tournament ‘All Stars’
team.
BSB has an outstanding record in rugby
at ISST and were looking to win the
Tournament for the third consecutive
time. Despite playing some quality rugby,
the hat-trick eluded the team with a final
position of 4th overall perhaps not a fair
reflection of the team’s true potential.
Nick Gaskell, Quinten Koster and Alex
Uyttenhoven each received individual
www.brit ishschool.be
Jolly Good SportsS P O R T AT B S B
We are fiercely proud of our sporting track record at The British School of Brussels, both at ISST and other competitive forums around Europe. RICHARD MACLEAR gives us a run-down of another outstanding year in sport at BSB.
recognition when they were selected to
take part in the ‘All Stars’ team.
One cannot discount the positive effect
a home ground advantage can have on
any team, and as such our Dolphins Team
were determined to achieve a number of
victories at the ISST Tournament held at
Sportoase in Leuven. The team finished
6th out of 12 teams despite not being
able to train regularly due to renovations
at the Evere pool. There were outstanding
individual performances from Karel de
Paepe (3 gold medals), Elliot Sodemans
(1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze) and Maya
Shannon with (1 gold and 1 silver). Notable
achievements indeed, but even more so
when the calibre of the competing teams is
taken in account; Cairo American College
even had an Olympian athlete who had
participated at London 2012 in their team!
Gymnastics
And, finally, onto BSB’s most flexible
athletes: the gymnasts. The highlight
of the year for gymnastics is, of course,
the annual GISGA competition. As usual,
there was huge competition to gain a
place in each team, which encouraged
each group to perform harder and with
more determination than ever before. The
Under-13 team did particularly well to
gain 6th place team medals. Similarly, the
Over-13 team performed well and gained
6th place medals in Group Sequence, and
they were also awarded the Improvers’
Trophy for their overall performan ce.
This year’s big success story, however,
was the Under-15 team. This is a new age
group and our team qualified in 4th place
to take one of the five places available
in their competition. As a new team,
this group surpassed all expectations.
Rhiannon Pritchard gained individual 6th,
Nina-Jo Buttigieg gained individual 3rd
while the team finished 3rd in the group
and an amazing 2nd in the overall team
event. Well done, girls!
Tennis
Tennis at BSB has continued to grow under
our elite coaching staff of Joanne Davies,
Eduardo Masso and Nicolas Jacques.
This year saw the selection of both a senior
and junior training squad and participation
in the Tennis ISST Tournament for the first
time. Despite many of the senior team
being unavailable for ISST due to exams,
the team still performed well with captain,
Andrei Ionescu in the singles and the
mixed doubles pair of Nic Coenen and
Francesca Moore winning silver medals.
Our boys team placed third overall. Our
annual fixture against the British School
of the Netherlands gave us the chance to
unleash our talented juniors who justified
their selection by winning comfortably.
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 22➜23
“ It’s been another fantastic year for sport at The British School of Brussels. Our students have achieved astonishing outcomes in a wide range of individual and team sports.”
“ Here’s to a continuation of sporting success at The British School of Brussels next year!”
www.brit ishschool.be
Girl Power!F O C U S
Despite the significant gains made in terms of gender equality over recent years, sport is one area that is still stereotypically a ‘man’s domain’. Sponsorship for male athletes and male sporting events is substantially higher than in women’s, for example, and in many sports women struggle to gain recognition whether at local, national or international level. LINDA McNALLY, PSHCE Coordinator & advocate for girls' sport, explains why this is simply not the case at BSB and highlights some recent girls’ sporting success.
Sport for girls is alive and well, with
significant numbers of female students
taking advantage of a wide range of active
opportunities - from golf to gymnastics
and from weightlifting to hockey. Let me
list just a few ‘stand out’ female successes
at our school: Olivia in Year 5 plays rugby
with the predominantly boys’ team; Katie,
Rhiannon, Nina-Jo and Amber made it
into the individual medals at the GISGA
Gymnastics Nationals; Ellen, Mathilde,
Issie, Ava and Juliette all represented their
province in club gymnastics this year; and
Nina-Jo was also selected for Vlaams
Brabant Basketball. Meanwhile, Stephanie
is the undisputed star of Year 7 soccer, and
that’s taking the boys into account too!
Our girls’ sports teams are growing
steadily in strength and numbers.
The minimes girls’ hockey team has
completed an undefeated season thanks
to their tenacity and application to training.
A special mention should go to Captain
Steph, who not only carried out her duties
for the hockey team but also participated
in the swimming competition at the ISST
International tournaments.
The U15 GISGA gymnastics team
finished 2nd at Nationals, demonstrating
a real commitment to excellence. Head of
Design and Technology Simon Jones has
also started a girls’ football team. As such,
uptake in girls’ sport is not just limited to
Primary and the younger year groups, but
many more girls in the upper year groups
are also getting involved in competitive
activities.
There have been a multitude of glorious
moments for our female athletes:
Francesca Moore was delighted to make
it to the finals of the ISST mixed doubles
tennis finals, while Libby Ward and
Rhiannon Pritchard have represented BSB
in three international competitions this
year. Meanwhile, In May, Minseo, Verity,
Carolina, Islay, Sophie and Alice completed
the gruelling Brussels 20km with smiles on
their faces and, more importantly, raised
lots of money for the School charity Best of
Both. Nina-Jo wanted to take on a slightly
different challenge, and participated in a
16km Gladiator Run with 26 obstacles.
Despite waiting time at several obstacles,
she managed to finish in under 2 hours
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 24➜25
(1:54:27) and placed 102 out of over 350
women (there was no junior category since
the minimum age for competitors was 14).
And then we have a number of students
who are competing at a national and
international level. Dilara Uzdil in Year
13 is a Belgian champion and record
holder in -63kg category in Weightlifting.
Maxence Corman in Year 12 plays golf
off a handicap of zero and she is the best
golfer in the School, with a number of our
male teachers queuing up to challenge
her (and boast about playing someone
with a world ranking!)
Let’s not forget, however, our adult
runners and walkers who inspire BSB
girls on a daily basis. Marika Vernon and
Charlotte Lemaitre regularly train with the
cross country team, while Ursula Maley
will undertake a 24 hour relay for life in
mid-June. Claire Williams, Katrina Farlow,
Tamara Jones and Laura McDonagh were
marvellous examples to their students
as they also participated in the Brussels
20km… and did you know Sarah Jones
plays cricket for Belgium?
International honours are also within the
reach of two of our tennis players. Sophie
Beech in Year 10 is playing tennis for Great
Britain on the 16 and under International
tennis tour. Furthermore, Freddie Sleiffer
in Year 13 has just signed a letter of
intent to take up a tennis scholarship
at UC Davis in California. The coach at
the university, Bill Maze, said ‘She’s just
the type of student athlete we look for:
bright, athletic and hard-working’. Freddie
already has a Belgian women’s ranking of
58 and a world junior ranking of 609, and
we wish her the very best for her future in
sport and beyond.
So to everyone contemplating getting
involved in female sport, my advice is ‘do
it’! It’s fun, it’s social and, of course, it’s
good for you. What are you waiting for?
“ Sport for girls is alive and well, with significant numbers of female students taking advantage of a wide range of active opportunities - from golf to gymnastics and from weightlifting to hockey... So to everyone contemplating getting involved in female sport, my advice is ‘do it’! It’s fun, it’s social and, of course, it’s good for you.”
What are you waiting for?
www.brit ishschool.be
Creative Writing
and Art Gallery
F E AT U R E
FreedomI was the king. I was free. I planted my paws in the carpet of sand
that stretched to the horizon. It was all mine. The glazing sun
scorched my golden mane, turning it into a ring of fire, burning
fiercely around my face. I could run, chase after prey. Strength
coiled like a spring, muscles rippling beneath my sand-coloured
fur, I attacked my prey, leaving it hopeless. My almighty roar could
be heard from five miles away, shattering the serene atmosphere
of the savannah. I could taste freedom and power from every kill,
repeatedly proving my strength. Adrenaline coursed through my
veins. I lay on the soft sand under the sun, piercing my skin with
warmth, surrounded by my pride. I lay in my happiness, watching
the sun splash hues of pink, orange and red across the horizon,
and the stars litter the sky. We rested until the sun rose out of the
horizon, giving life to a new day, spreading its light to the corners
of our land. I was free.
That was my life before I was killed.
Now I spend my days glaring out of the glass case that is trapping
me in this museum. Each day I watch as countless visitors and
children come to stare and point at my helpless form, giving
squeals of excitement and awe. I am forced to watch as they
examine me with their merciless stares. I am forced to listen to
their constant chatter and laughter. I have no choice. The stale
air chokes me, the glass case suffocates me and the darkness
consumes me. Not a single ray of sunlight has managed to
infiltrate the dark hallways of this prison. I have been reduced to a by Eliska Vojakova, Year 12
weak and fragile existence, my power diminished - I am no king.
I am the spectacle of the museum. People come to see me,
poised in the centre. I receive admiration and pity. I am constantly
under scrutiny, leaving the other animals with a quick glance.
I can see the other animals around me, with an expression of fear
frozen on their faces. There are no species that have evaded this
fate, the high, cold walls restraining us from freedom, fabricating
our sense of dread that chills us to the core. The memory of the
day I lost everything scarcely leaves my head, forever haunting
me. I will never forget my last moments of freedom…
I was separated from my pride. Fences surrounded me. I attempted
to break free, however I found my body convulsing on the floor from
the shock of the fence, the bite of the wire leaving its mark in my
flesh. There was no way out. In desperation a roar leapt out of my
throat, the panic and fear mirrored in my eyes. Pacing around the
perimeter of the fence, the realisation that I was alone and helpless
dawned on me. Men approaching in a vehicle loomed in the
distance, bringing with them the horror of impending death. Death’s
cold clutches gripped my heart. My body radiated confusion and
disbelief. I was lured away from the fence with an animal carcass.
I spun around in time to see the rifle that shot me. The shot rang
out, violating the peaceful atmosphere of the savannah. Pain
exploded where I had been shot. Fury ripped through me as the
second bullet punctured my skin. Severe numbness took over my
body, as I desperately attempted to retain the image of my home.
I could see my home behind the wires of the fence, stained with the
crimson of my blood, and my predator looming over me, gloating.
My last expression of rage has been frozen onto my face forever.
My menacing glare portrays the horror of being gruesomely
skinned and stuffed, only to be left in a museum. I have been
placed here as a trophy, depicting the strength of the humans;
humans that are egotistical, cruel and callous. This brutality has
been lost to the many visitors that come to see me. They do not
understand the truth. All they see is the shell of what I used to
be, the dulled fur, the vulnerability in my eyes and the diminished
expression. Their ignorance is what brought us in here, and what
will keep us in. Our looming future in this museum leaves us
heavy with horror. None of us will ever leave. I am trapped.
by Daphne Kyriakaki, Year 10
PAGE 26➜27
by Shannon Girvan, Year 13
www.brit ishschool.be
It seems as if my sole purpose is to act like some sort of trophy for people
to look at inside this museum and this is deeply upsetting. All of the other
animals here were also wrenched away from their homelands just to be
constantly gazed upon. Is this all that has become of our lives? Will we
remain here to be looked at until our bodies entirely rot away? I was the king
of the jungle, but that feels like a century ago. Now I’m the king of nothing,
all I can do is think whilst stuck inside this confined space, enduring the
infinite amount of time, waiting and waiting for peace to finally arrive. But it
never comes…
Extract from Ceri Rees, Year 10
The life of a wild, living Springbok is entertaining for people to watch. There is a lot
more to it than the eyes of a human can understand. Living in the wild, exposed
to nature’s elements, enhances the feeling of freedom. At night the stars become
bright, lighting the night sky and the moon smiles upon nature. The wind whizzing
by, ruffling our fur, combines with the other sounds of the night. On a summer day
the sun overwhelms us with heat whilst during the winter it can be quite chilly. Food
is scarce when it does not rain enough, forcing us to walk long distances every day
in search of something to eat.
Extract from Jano van der Merwe, Year 10
They think they know who I am. They think they know what I was. But they are
all wrong, entirely astray. Those petty signs are a knife to my dignity, a stake
to my heart. They speak of me as a heartless lion, a cold blooded killer, one
that has no soul. That I am not; everything has a soul except for the humans. A
cold race with no trace of empathy or meaning of life, they only leave a path of
destruction and barren emptiness. They should know my royalty, my dominance
and eminence. The fact that they are nothing to me, of how I could rip them to
shreds and devour them in seconds. I am the apex predator, not them. They
have sly minds; cunning and inexorable. Their young have no discipline or
restraint. They're just overgrown monkeys; weird hairless ones.
Extract from William Willson, Year 10
by Mariel Rutherford, Year 13
by Lauchlan Mackenzie, Year 12
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 28➜29
I miss the bygone days where I would wake up to the baboons chattering and the swallows producing soft, mind-
cleansing tones. The sight of the warm, damp fog rolling over the untamed African Savannah. I would perch at the edge
of my nest, spread my wings and let the golden rays of the sun seep through them. Then leap from my platform and hurtle
towards the ground at eye-watering speed, pulling up before I impacted with the lion's domain beneath. The thermals
would help guide me towards the crimson coloured sky. I would gaze upon the cradle of life and watch the baby gazelle
concealed in the bush awaiting its mother's return in vain.
Extract from Ceri Rees, Year 10
by Gaby Hyde-Tetley, Year 12 by Isobel Wain, Year 12
PapegeiParadies wo er wohnt
Anpassen in seiner Wohnung
Plappern mit den anderen Papagei
Attraktiv mit vielen Farben
Grün, Gelb, Gold und Grau
Elegant wenn sie fliegen
Intelligenter als Menschen
by Yannick Queffelean, Year 10
Drawings from top left to right by Daniel, Year 2, Virginia, Year 2, Murphy, Year 2 and Amy, Year 2
Maine beste FreundinMaine beste Freundin
Attraktiv wie eine Blume
Elegant wie ein Engel
Viele schöne Wörter
Eine Freundin für immer
Talentiert
Hat nette Augun
Oft lächelt
Macht mich glücklich
Auch intelligent
Sehr fruendlich
by Henry Richards, Year 10
by Sophie Corrigan, Year 11
www.brit ishschool.be
KnutKnut war gut
Er hatte sehr viel mut.
Er war ein lieber Eisbähr
Er wollte leben sehr.
Sehr berühmt war er
Aber er lebt nicht mehr.
by Florien Smit Sibinga, Year 10
by Sophie Corrigan, Year 11
PAGE 30➜31
Y E A R 6 P R O D U C T I O N
Dancin’ in the Street – BSB style
TRACY DE BELDER tells Tapestry about the great success of Year 6’s all-singing-all-dancing 2013 production of Dancin’ in the Street.
Inspiration for The Beatles’ legendary
hit ‘Yesterday’ famously struck Paul
McCartney in a dream. Tracy de Belder was
similarly hit by a flash of creativity, although
the idea for the Year 6 production came to
her as she was sitting in her car during her
long commute to Kapellen. “Dancing in the
Street came on the radio,” she explains,
“and I just knew I wanted to write a
production about street music from around
the world; music that represented peoples’
cultures and backgrounds. Once I had the
song, I had to build the story around it.”
And so the seed was planted. Tracy set to
work writing the script that would become
Dancin’ in the Street and the story started
to take shape. “The story centres on a
teacher who used to be a dancer as a child
and was devastated when her best friend
abandoned her. She was so heartbroken
she decided that music couldn’t play any
part in her future,” Tracy says. “Many years
later, as a teacher, she refuses to let her
students enjoy music too. The students
decide that they must give the gift of music
back to their teacher, and so set off on a
quest to find music from different parts of
the world to convince her to fall in love with
music all over again.”
As well as plenty of singing, dancing and
fun, Tracy is keen to point out that Dancin’ in
the Street also aided students’ knowledge
and understanding of international diversity.
The entire production linked to the Primary
School’s Integrated Learning Themes
(ILTs), with students making connections
to books they had read, themes they had
studied, songs from the past, different
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
cultures and popular music from today. As
well as carrying out detailed research, they
also developed a huge range of different
skills. As Tracy explains, “Teamwork was
vital. The students had to work together
as a huge team to make the production as
smooth and professional as possible. They
had to work on their organisational skills in
order to deal with quick costume changes,
as well as be where they were supposed
to be on time and with the right energy to
entertain the audience.”
Of course, a large-scale, high-profile
production takes lots and lots of work.
“It’s particularly challenging for everyone
involved to put together a piece that
involves many children and a complex
story line full of singing and dancing,”
Tracy admits. “But when the actual
performance happens and the students
and audience love it, it’s simply euphoric.”
Tracy has a lengthy list of people to
thank, for example Lisa, Ishbel, Charles,
Karen and Dan for turning her sudden
moment of inspiration into an enormous
hit. The biggest thank you of all, though,
belongs to the Year 6 students: “We, as
teachers, set very high expectations of
them and they met those expectations
and exceeded them with ease. Each and
every student did their part to make the
production wonderful and they deserve
recognition and praise for that.”
And Tracy’s plans for this Year 6
production? “It’s still hidden in the depths
of my brain!” she laughs. “I’m just waiting
for the song that will spark the story.”
www.brit ishschool.be
The entire production linked to the Primary School’s Integrated Learning Themes (ILTs), with students making connections to books they had read, themes they had studied, songs from the past, different cultures and popular music from today...
PAGE 32➜33
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
Celts, Cartoonsand Côte D’or!
P R I M A R Y
Primary teacher FIONA CHRISTIAN summaries a most exciting year in 2012-2013 for Year 4 in their ‘learning by doing.’
It is difficult to pick out a particular
highlight, what with trips to the archeosite
where we experienced life as a Celt, a visit
to the Côte D’or chocolate factory where
we saw chocolate being made and, of
course, the Herge museum where Tintin
really did come to life!
To conclude our year of events we travelled
to Malmedy for our School Journey. We
had the chance to visit a wind farm and
stand inside a wind turbine – exhilarating
stuff! We visited Hidrodoe, the science
museum dedicated to water, where we
saw model dams, displays showing the
power of H2O, Archimedes’ screws and
water fountains (where we ended up
getting completely soaked; all in the name
of science, of course!)
Our sensory walk in the woods was
particularly memorable. Being blindfolded
and led amongst the trees was both scary
and liberating, as it gave the children time
and focus to really listen to the sounds
of the nature. Add to this a dash of folk
dancing, plenty of discoveries at the mine,
a sprinkling of wonderful food and all of
the friendly people we met, and you have
a recipe for a perfect week.
The children had some wonderful
experiences and will have memories they
will talk about for years ahead.
“ Our sensory walk in the woods was particularly memorable. Being blindfolded and led amongst the trees was both scary and liberating, as it gave the children time and focus to really listen to the sounds of the nature.”
www.brit ishschool.be
The Social NetworkS P O T L I G H T
“ Social media has become an integral element of our everyday lives. The endless flow of information from, for example, Facebook and Twitter, has allowed us to connect with people and organisations across the globe.”
Since the summer of 2012, BSB has
been building its social media presence to
communicate with students, parents and
potential families. The External Relations
Department is responsible for managing
the various social media sites where BSB
has a presence and includes Facebook,
YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr and Twitter.
“Social media is crucial to keep in touch
with our communities and to see what is
happening in our world,” says Chui Hsia
Yong, Web editor at the School. “It’s a
really great way of building relationships
with our audiences and showing off our
world class facilities.”
One of the exciting elements about utilising
all these different platforms is the varied
audience each receives. The Flickr account
allows current students and families to
view photos of past events, with the ability
to share them on Twitter or Facebook.
BSB’s global community of families are
able to send pictures to relatives with ease.
In addition, the LinkedIn profile makes it
very easy for BSB alumni to connect; they
can chat with their fellow classmates and
continue those connections long after they
have left BSB.
As the BSB’s social media presence
continues to grow, with over 500 likes on
Facebook and 300 followers on Twitter,
we are mindful that keeping abreast of
new developments in technology will
be essential in the future. Social media
provides futuristic-seeming opportunities
for BSB parents, such as the opportunity
to see their children learning and playing
in real time. The students are also given
the chance to explore new technology
and communication channels as well,
with iPads now available across the
school. Social media is an innovative and
exciting part of life at BSB, and as Chui
Hsia points out, “such services make it
easy for people to see what a great school
[BSB] is!”
“ Such services make it easy for people to see what a great school [BSB] is!”
Deciding to move to Belgium was a
relatively easy decision to make, although
we were very happy in the UK and
originally had no plans to live abroad. My
husband, however, needed to be located
more centrally in Europe for his job, we
already had some family here and it would
be easy to get back and forth to London
with the Eurostar and Channel Tunnel. We
came for a 6 month trial in 2004 and are
still here over 9 years later! Along the way
we have acquired our own house, a dog,
countless experiences and many, many
friends – some still with us in Belgium and
others scattered around the world.
BSB has always been, and is even more
so now, a pivotal focus of our lives. Our
children - Tara is 13 (Year 9) and Oliver 11
(Year 7) - settled quickly into the School,
made friends from diverse cultures and
countries and quickly took advantage
of what the extra-curricular programme
has to offer. Both children regularly go
away with the School on extra-curricular
activities for sport, music and drama –
between them last year they visited the
UK, Paris, Luxembourg, Norway and Italy!
There are so many opportunities for them;
it’s amazing really, and they are very lucky.
My nature is to be involved in things around
me, and my relationship with BSB is no
different. Initially I was a Class Rep, and
then I became more actively involved with
the Friends of BSB. Having spent most of
my career as a Management Consultant,
I then started working at the school four
years ago in the Lower Primary office. It
couldn’t be a more different type of job
from my original career, but I find working
with the younger children in the School
truly delightful. I get involved in whole
School initiatives such as Book Week
and Charity events, and they provide a
different perspective as well as being great
fun. My husband is also engaged with the
School, for example through sport and
his commitment to the under-11 Rugby
team. Although we as a family are very
involved, the atmosphere at BSB is one
of inclusion and welcome for all, whether
you want to do a little or a lot.
Many of the people around us at BSB
are much more seasoned travellers and
expats than we are. The benefit of this is
that we, children and adults alike, have
acquired a network of friends around the
world from New Zealand to Charleston to
Loch Lomond.
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 34➜35
Happy FamiliesS TA F F M E M B E R
AMANDA NOBLE made the move to Belgium nine years ago. Four years ago she started working at BSB, and therefore has an unusual and valuable perspective as parent, employee and active BSB supporter.
“ BSB has always been, and is even more so now, a pivotal focus of our lives... Our children settled quickly into the School... There are so many opportunities for them; it’s amazing really, and they are very lucky.”
The bilingual programme was and still is a
fantastic opportunity. As a teacher, I had
very high expectations in terms of academic
standards and linguistic abilities. However, I
knew that with a mixed group of native and
non-native speakers (for some students,
French was actually their third language),
I would have to choose my resources
carefully and provide for different abilities.
The planning involved was extensive. My
Science colleagues and I had to choose
which topics would be taught in French in
Year 7 (and for Years 8 and 9 in general).
I was faced with an interesting challenge:
I could either translate all the existing
worksheets, textbooks and tests into
French or look at French textbooks.
The way Science is taught in the French
system is very different from our teaching
style at BSB. A very simple example to
illustrate this point: at BSB, the chapter on
Cells and Human reproduction is taught
in Year 7, but to prepare my lessons
in French I had to use different French
textbooks ranging from upper Primary to
the equivalent of GCSE.
The cultural differences between the
two languages often affect the approach
to the topics: in the French system, the
content of a topic can be quite wordy and
theoretical whereas it is far more practical-
based in the British one.
It was also interesting for me to see how
similar topics were taught in the French,
Belgian and French-speaking Canadian
systems. It was very eye-opening and I
learned a lot… and I’m still learning!
When planning my lessons, I had to
be very careful about the quality of my
French. My French speaking colleagues
and I believe that there is a significant
difference between talking in French about
the weather or other current affairs and
teaching Science in French. The grammar,
the spelling and the level of the language,
including the technical words, have to be
carefully chosen and thoroughly checked.
One of the high-points so far this year
was when the class were facing their
first end-of-unit test in French: some of
them were very stressed and anxious.
Who wouldn't be? Having taught using
my second language (English) for many
years, I can certainly empathise with the
challenges my students are facing. After
a few words of encouragement, however,
www.brit ishschool.be
Already in its second year in Primary, it’s now the Secondary School’s turn for a bilingual curriculum. Science teacher DAVID DOUHERET tells us about his experiences teaching the new Year 7 French/English bilingual cohort.
L A N G U A G E U P D AT E
Bilingual Reaches Secondary
“My bilingual students have a natural curiosity and are always happy
to share their views and ideas with the rest
of the group... Their confidence is
growing and I am very proud of them.”
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 36➜37
they all got on with their work and most
of them achieved A or A*. Actually, so far,
they tend to do better in French than in
English. Isn't that just amazing?
My bilingual students have a natural
curiosity and are always happy to share
their views and ideas with the rest of the
group. I am always impressed to see the
quality of their group presentations, in
English or in French. Their confidence is
growing and I am very proud of them.
Would it be fair to say that my bilingual
group is my favourite group? They are
keen and interested in learning new words
or new topics. They are very enthusiastic
when it comes to practical work. I also
enjoy observing them, working in groups
and speaking French and English together.
They seem to switch from one language
to another without thinking about it.
All in all, I have thoroughly enjoyed the
experience and look forward to more
bilingual teaching and learning next year.
And from the students themselves:
“ Je pense que la classe bilingue est
très intéressante. Je pense aussi que
c’est amusant d’apprendre des choses
en français que je ne connais pas en
anglais.” Polly
“ I think that, as a bilingual scientist,
learning in two languages helps
understanding Science more easily.”
Youssef
“ Learning Science in both French and
English is a very exciting experience.
Being a bilingual scientist is amazing!”
Nicole
“ Fun and enjoyable, lots of practical,
a fun teacher. This way, science is
awesome!” Jill
“ Dans la classe bilingue, on a un grand
avantage: celui d’être scientifique
bilingue.” Marta
“ The bilingual science programme is
an amazing chance for students to learn
Science in both English and French.
This also expands their knowledge
about French and Science.” Sera
An internationally recognised award for
young people aged 14-25, participants are
required to show commitment to a sporting
activity, a skill and a service for a period
of between 3 and 18 months and take
part in two expeditions. Gold participants
additionally take part in a residential activity.
Not surprisingly the section students find
the most exciting is the expedition. An
impressive 50% of Year 10 is working to
complete their Bronze and in Year 11, a
small but determined group have almost
completed their Silver, having had two
rather wet expeditions in Belgium! BSB
Gold participants were the most intrepid
as they headed to the Brecon Beacons in
Wales last June for an extremely challenging
journey. We look forward to a film of advice
and tips made by some of these Gold
candidates in the near future, helping all
candidates to go from strength to strength!
strength to strengthA W A R D S The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
at BSB goes from
Sarah Jones gives Tapestry an update
Camille Henrot
Graduated from BSB: 2011
Studying: Mechanical Engineering
at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT)
So, Mechanical Engineering. That sounds
fascinating. What got you interested,
Camille? As a dancer I've always been
fascinated by movement and the human
body. My long-term goal is to be able
to work in prosthetics and find a way to
create a human-like mechanical device
that could recreate and rehabilitate
natural movement. In light of recent
tragic events here in Boston I've never
felt stronger about my goals, and I know
that MIT is the place where I will be
able to accomplish them. Mechanical
Engineering is such a broad field but the
fact that I've found my niche within this
science is very motivating.
Alongside the likes of Oxford, Cambridge
and Harvard, MIT enjoys a reputation as one
of the most prestigious Higher Education
and Research facilities in the world. Does
it live up to its reputation? Absolutely.
The professors here are phenomenal,
and the research opportunities are so
broad. I think something that makes MIT
really unique in this respect is the close
interactions that undergraduates can
have with incredible professors, and the
willingness that professors and graduate
students have to teach and train the
younger students. I find it admirable that
they find the time to help us understand
what research academia is really like.
And how have you found the social side
of University life? It has been surprising.
You tend to hear a lot of things about
MIT before you get here. We are ‘nerds’;
that's true, but we're not the typical
sort. Sure, we spend hours discussing
physics, computers and anything in
between but it's not just work all the time.
There are always events and interesting
things to do on campus. What's even
better is that if campus life is getting
stressful, Boston is just across the river
and there's always something to do in
the city, and it’s always interesting to meet
students from other colleges.
How did your gap year in China prepare
you for independent living at MIT? China
was my greatest learning experience to
date. High school does not necessarily
prepare you to be on your own, or to grow
up; it's still a very nurturing environment.
I think it was good to rip the bandaid off
and jump into a situation that really was
unknown; it's made my transition to
university much smoother.
Finally, could you sum your entire University
experience so far up in five words? Well,
that's quite difficult. By no means is it easy
here. Everything fluctuates so rapidly. I
have so much to do, so much to learn and
it seems almost impossible sometimes.
But I know throughout all of this that I
made the right decision to study in this
demanding environment.
Five words? I have found my place.
www.brit ishschool.be
Where are they now?B S B A L U M N I
BSB has an enviable record of helping students to achieve their aims, and is enormously proud of the fact that 90% of students last year were accepted at their first choice of Higher Education establishment. We caught up with some of BSB’s most recent alumni to find out how they’ve found their first year at university.
“ In light of recent tragic events here in Boston I've never felt stronger about my goals, and I know that MIT is the place where I will be able to accomplish them.”
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 38➜39
Caterina Soave
Graduated from BSB: 2012
Studying: English at York University
How did you decide that English was
the subject for you, Caterina? Studying
English has always been what I wanted to
do due to my love of reading and writing.
English at Sixth Form was stimulating, but
I knew that it didn’t quite satiate my love
of literature. Studying English at university
would enable me to explore the relationship
between Tolkein and Tennyson, as well as
further my knowledge about the various
schools of literary criticism briefly brushed
upon at A Level.
What have been the highlights of your
course so far? One definite highlight
has been interacting with and being
taught by some of the world’s leading
academics in English Literature. It’s
extremely reassuring to know that you are
being advised by those at the forefront
of literature and literary criticism. Also, it
has been invaluable to cover such a wide
variety of texts and literary genres already
within First Year. It’s been a learning curve!
York has been named the number one in the
UK in new Times Higher Education world
rankings of universities less than 50 years
old. How does it live up to its impressive
reputation? York has a stellar academic
reputation, with its English department
ranking number four in the UK. The facilities
at York are second-to-none, with an
impressive library located in the centre of
campus. The campus itself is beautiful, with
the majority of colleges positioned on the
central lake (although you do have to mind
out for the ducks!), and is situated only ten
minutes away from the historic city centre.
Perhaps most importantly, the individual
academic staff are supportive and always
willing to help, which is incredible for a
university with over 15000 students.
And how have you found the social side
of University life? As a collegiate university,
there is never a dull day at York. Freshers’
Week was a definite highlight, as it
introduced us to the college rivalries and
allegiances within the university, as well as
showing us the exciting nightlife of the city.
On campus, there is always an opportunity
to make even more friends due to the
sheer amount of activities, societies and
sports run by the Student Union.
Did BSB prepare you adequately for making
decisions about Higher Education? BSB was
very supportive and informative in terms of
preparing me for Higher Education. The wide
range of academic and social opportunities
BSB offers allowed my confidence to grow
immensely and ensured I was well-equipped
for university life. The English Department,
in particular, was invaluable. My teachers
encouraged me to read a wider range of texts
than prescribed for my A Level syllabus, and
always expressed a real interest in helping
me achieve the top grades needed for entry
at York.
And five words to sum it all up? Lots of
reading and ducks!
“ BSB was very supportive and informative in terms of preparing me for Higher Education. The wide range of academic and social opportunities BSB offers allowed my confidence to grow immensely and ensured I was well-equipped for university life.”
www.brit ishschool.be
Joe Harding
Graduated from BSB: 2012
Studying: Medicine at Sheffield
University
How are you finding the course so far, Joe?
Well, I'm really enjoying it all. I've just finished
a two-week placement in Doncaster
General Hospital that was really interesting
and informative. The early mornings and the
long commutes were gruelling and my social
life died a sudden death, but I'd happily do
it again (which is good, as that'll be my
job one day). We're also very privileged
because we do human dissections in small
groups, which is strangely great fun and an
excellent ‘hands on’ approach to teaching.
And the biggest challenge you've faced?
Managing my time. It's very easy to lose
your head in the first two weeks and join
every society doing all those things you've
never got round to doing or haven't had
the opportunity to try. I'm also not very
good at saying "no" to people, so I'm
now in four hockey teams, two climbing
groups and many other societies that love
putting events on at the same time.
In 2011 Sheffield was named as Times
Higher Education's University of the Year.
What‘s your view? This university is superb.
The main site is very close to the city centre,
where there’s a vast array of club, pubs
and bars. The Peak District is also only a
ten minute bus ride away. Apart from the
hockey pitch, the facilities are very good
and most people seem to find their courses
interesting, so I couldn't ask for more! (a
new pitch would be lovely, though).
And how have you found the social side
of University life? Making friends was
amazingly easy because everyone turns up
in the same friendless state. As far as going
out is concerned, I could do it every day of
the week for the whole year with one group
of friends or other if I wanted to. There's
always a baffling array of events going on
at places I've never heard of. It's great!
Did BSB prepare you adequately
for making decisions about Higher
Education? My preparation by BSB was
very good. The friendly and informal
ethos of the school is very similar to that
of a university environment. For example,
there's no dress code or calling lecturers
"Sir" or “Miss”. Also, the liberal nature of
the 6th form - like being able to leave for
lunch and having time for private study -
made the transition to complete university
freedom much easier for me than for other
people from more traditional schools.
Finally, those magic five words? Best time
of my life. I'm lucky that's five words long.
“ Making friends was amazingly easy because everyone turns up in the same friendless state... There's always a baffling array of events going on at places I've never heard of. It's great!”
Forty years ago as a recently-qualified
teacher, I applied for a job advertised in the
Times Educational Supplement. Following
a successful interview in London with Alan
Humphries, the then Principal, I travelled
over to Belgium during Easter 1970 to
visit the School site. Looking around now,
visitors are confronted by an amazing
array of buildings and facilities set in a
magnificent woodland setting. Was that
what I saw, you may ask?
Well, we drove along the Leuvensesteenweg
and found the entrance path. We managed
barely two metres, got stuck, abandoned
the car and crept cautiously down to the
entrance on foot – only to be confronted by
the most enormous hole with diggers and
bulldozers weaving their way around like
Matchbox toys! Was I perturbed? Perhaps
a little…
The seven starting members of staff were
invited to a weekend of planning. BSB at
this point was essentially a blank canvas,
and my colleagues and I were shaping
the future. For me, it was tremendously
exciting as everyone’s opinions (even the
opinions of those with little experience)
were valued. This inclusive ethos extended
to the sort of relationship we wanted to
have with our future students and their
parents, and the use of first names was an
integral part of this envisaged relationship.
If the staff, students and parents worked
together in a respectful manner, we knew
we could move mountains!
We all returned from the weekend
impatient and excited about the future.
However, the infamous Belgian weather
delayed the build, and so in September
we started in some offices on Rue de la
Loi (Wetstraat). Parc du Cinquantenaire
served as our makeshift playground. One
morning, while my class of lively six-year-
olds was waiting patiently in line for the
shuttle bus to the park, one student began
to fiddle with a button on the wall. It was
a fire alarm with a direct link to the fire
station! Pandemonium ensued as the siren
vibrated throughout the building and street
and office workers vacated, piling out onto
the busy street outside in a panic! Then,
in the following months, we all managed
to pack up and move to Tervuren by mid-
November in anticipation of the Grand
Opening on 9 December by the Duke of
Edinburgh; a very memorable evening.
As I reflect on my time at BSB, I realise
that it has been one of the most important
aspects of my life. Over the years I
have worked with numerous brilliant
staff members: teachers, maintenance
and administrative staff. I have taught
hundreds if not thousands of talented
children, and I have reams and reams of
fond memories stored up in my mind. But
most of all, I know I have been so very
privileged to have been nurtured by two
inspiring educators: the visionary Alan
Humphries (the first Principal of BSB) and
Peter Saunders (Former Leadership Team
member).
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 40➜41
“ As I reflect on my time at BSB, I realise that it has been one of the most important aspects of my life. Over the years I have worked with numerous brilliant staff members: teachers, maintenance and administrative staff.”
World Class School...B S B A L U M N A
BSB Almuna HILARY VERVAECK reflects on her experience of the very early days of The British School of Brussels...
The Beginning of a
An explosion of life. Streams of bustling
commuters battle through shouting traffic,
herds of goats and squawking street
vendors. Beggars and businessmen scurry
between the wanderings of restless street
dogs and the tired limbs of the homeless
stretched out across the pavement. The
dust that thickens the air adds to the
heavy shroud of pollution overhead. Under
the smog, the oppression of open sewers
is only momentarily avoided by the sweet
aroma of road side chai. It’s easy to get
swallowed whole in India. I certainly did.
I fondly remember the time when waiting
by ‘the flags’ at the end of the school I
used to feel crowded. Or when the
appearance of yet another dreaded
‘omlegging’ road sign seemed like an
inconvenience of mammoth proportions.
That was before I had to re-work my
definition of chaos. I was part of the BSB
old guard, graduating in 2012 with an
IB Diploma and fourteen years of BSB
schooling under my belt. Still, something
was pulling me to better understand the
context in which I lived. Could I put a face
on poverty? No; not within the shelter of
my comfortable expatriate life. How then
could I understand or begin to appreciate
all that I was and had if I couldn’t relate
to the lives of those who had been dealt
a harsher hand? The answer was simply
that I couldn’t. So, I signed up for a
new adventure. I decided to spend a
year before university volunteering with
different social welfare projects, including
six months in Kolkata (Calcutta), known
affectionately as ‘The City of Joy’.
The gap-year programme I chose with
BMS Action Teams was no holiday. It
consisted of one month of overseas
training, six months in India and two
months raising awareness with a small
team of total strangers. I always suspected
the streets of Kolkata to be bombardment
of the senses but I didn’t know it would
be such an assault on the emotions. In
one stretch of sidewalk you would see
all extremes: life, death, despair, delight,
glamour and destitution. I couldn’t even
claim a breath without my lungs being
filled with that distinctive, sharp tang
that the air in India somehow produces.
There was no Tervuren Aboretum in that
concrete jungle to find solace; there was
nowhere to hide. At first, I was appalled.
Slowly though, things began to change.
My very wise supervisor said: ‘If you only
look at Kolkata through your eyes you will
be disappointed by the filth; if you see it
through your soul, however, you will see a
festival of life.’ After a time I began to relish
Kolkata’s fullness of character and its
rugged honesty. That was when I began
to love it.
www.brit ishschool.be
'A Festival of Life'B S B A L U M N A
Former student SARAH DOBSON fills us in on her gap year in India.
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 2 I 2 0 1 2
One of the main reasons for this was that
the projects I was involved in were simply
fantastic. Three days a week our team
would work in a school for street children:
‘The Good News Children’s Education
Mission’. We would pick up around eighty
kids from the pavement where they lived,
and take them to school on a yellow minibus
(ordinary capacity: 20 adults). The bus
ride to school was thus quite a spectacle;
the overpopulated streets mirrored our
overpopulated vehicle. What’s more, the
driving itself was like a life-sized game of
Mario Kart, complete with wild weaving and
overindulgent beeping. It always made me
laugh when I saw the message printed on
the backs of buses: ‘Obey the traffic rules.’
I certainly didn’t discover them.
The children I worked with are real
treasures; not the kind with pre-packaged
halos, mind, but rather the kind with bitten
feet, nits, thick skin, feisty energy and
ragged clothing. They ranged from ages
two to ten but all of them seemed a lot
more responsible than their chronological
age would suggest. Plastic baby dolls
were replaced by animated and squirming
baby siblings. It was always a strange
phenomenon to see some of our four year
olds cradling new-borns with an expression
of complete nonchalance. During the course
of the school day, the kids have access to
washing facilities, breakfast and lunch; all of
which might be difficult to obtain back on
the street. We helped teach some English
and boosted the number proportion of staff
to children. Really, it was just a privilege
show these little ones some love. Being
there for six months also meant we were
able to build significant relationships. They
spoke volumes about true community and
they knew that life was in the living. I can
say without a doubt that they gave back
more to me than I could ever give to them.
Was the experience hard? Well, of course.
It just so happens that food hygiene just
isn't quite the same in much of Kolkata
as it is in Belgium. I'm still haunted by
one memory in particular: on arrival at my
local curd shop, I discovered the owners
showering in the same area that they
completed the manufacturing process.
Between soap suds they casually asked
me how many grams I required. In utter
shock, I automatically replied that 100g
would be just fine. Not that I could stomach
it afterwards. Nevertheless, I still have my
suspicions that my purchased curd may
have been cleaner after communal shower
time than it ever was before. Delhi Belly
was thus a notorious and frequent visitor,
and it was during bouts such as these
that Google-earth became a torment.
Searching my old home address and
longing for a bowl of my mother's chicken
soup became a terrible indulgence.
Was it worth it? A thousand times yes. I
learnt a lot about myself that I probably
didn't want to know. However, it was only at
these moments of vulnerability that I began
to grow as a person. I was able to befriend
some of the bravest and most hilarious
individuals I have ever met. I discovered
aspects of faith that I didn't expect. I
learnt new and exciting skills from another
culture; I can now head wobble with the
best of them. Most importantly, I found that
investing in people can be costly, but then
the personal gain is unimaginably great.
Even though I've left India, sometimes I still
wake up with my head spinning amongst
the colour, noise and energy of its memory.
I may not have come back significantly
tanned (unfortunately what I thought was
browned skin was actually just dirt), but I
learnt in six months what I couldn't have
gathered in three years.
PAGE 42➜43
www.brit ishschool.be
Friendswill be Friends
F R I E N D S O F B S B
JANICE WIGGINS, previously Vice Chair of Friends of BSB, reflects on the unique and highly valued relationship between BSB and the Special Olympics Belgium.
Serendipity – a ‘happy accident’ or
‘pleasant surprise’ - is the first word that
comes to mind when thinking about the
Friends of BSB’s connection with Special
Olympics Belgium. However, although
our original introduction may have been a
‘pleasant surprise’, it is no ‘accident’ that
our relationship has grown into a rewarding
and mutually beneficial partnership.
The Friends of BSB (FoBSB) first
approached the Special Olympics
Belgium (SOB) in autumn 2011 with the
simple idea of matching our 2012 Charity
Ball theme of “Olympics” to a local sport-
based charity. We immediately realised,
however, that as a parent body we could
play an important role in the support and
development of this organisation which
receives limited government funding
but assists over 12,000 Belgians with
intellectual disabilities.
Last March, with the support of BSB
Gymnastic coach Linda McNally, we
invited three Special Olympic Athletes
from La Clairière gymnastic programme in
Watermael-Boitsfort to participate in the
year-end gymnastic display at the School.
This event was a resounding success
because it illustrated something that the
BSB and Special Olympic gymnasts have
in common: the love of their sport.
The Special Olympic Association’s
objective is to give men, women and
children with an intellectual disability
the chance to reach beyond their limits
and to feel proud of their achievements.
Although this is done primarily through
sport, the Association also promotes
their objectives through art. In April 2012
BSB had the opportunity to view over
400 pieces of art created by people with
intellectual disabilities and select pieces
for an art Vernissage which was held in
May. The Vernissage, hosted by Enoteca
per Bacco in Tervuren, was attended
by the British Ambassador Jonathan
Brenton, members of the Board, parents
and special guests. We not only sold
paintings with the profits going to SOB
and the artists, but we also helped raise
awareness of the Association.
Our largest event in 2012 however, was
the “Going for Gold” Charity Ball held
in June at the Sheraton Airport Hotel,
“The Special Olympic Association’s
objective is to give men, women and
children with an intellectual disability
the chance to reach beyond their limits
and to feel proud of their achievements.”
Zaventem. One hundred and eighty
guests including parents, staff and friends
enjoyed an evening of good food, drink
and dancing in aid of the Special Olympic
Association. In total, the raffle, live auction
and sponsorship contributions raised
€8000, doubling the amount raised at
past Charity Balls.
In February of this year, the €8000
cheque was presented to Eddy Beckers,
Director of Special Olympics Belgium
during a VIP event at the Comic Strip
Museum in Brussels. On the same evening,
Sue Woodroofe signed a Charter with
the Special Olympic Association formally
recognising the relationship between the
School and Special Olympics Belgium for
a 5 year period. BSB is the first School in
Belgium to have made this commitment
and SOB is now using BSB as an example
for other Belgian schools to follow.
FoBSB have committed to continue to
raising money and awareness for SOB
and we plan to work together with the
School to play a role in the European
Games, which will take place in Antwerp
in September 2014, bringing together
2000 athletes from 58 countries. And
to think that all of this began almost by
chance… now that’s serendipity!
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 44➜45
“ BSB is the first School in Belgium to have made this commitment and SOB is now using BSB as an example for other Belgian schools to follow.”
Mark Inglis presents awards to Special Olympics' competitors
www.brit ishschool.be
F E AT U R E
Amnesty ActionBSB‘s BARRY SAYER reviews a busy year where some campaigns have involved core Amnesty work and some of our action reaches out into the local and global community.
two organisations – one an orphanage in
Pretoria in South Africa and the other a UK
charity in Manchester. Over five hundred
red ribbons were sold by our team during
the fortnight leading up to the occasion
and our thanks to Shevani Murray and
to Dorian Varga. Our thanks also to the
students and staff who supplemented
the money raised by their work at the
Christmas Bazaar.
Our other focus is the Write for Rights
campaign which Amnesty runs on behalf
of Prisoners of Conscience. This year the
group had selected six causes from the
long list unfortunately that is available.
Thus we were focusing on human rights
abuses in South Africa, Azerbaijan, Syria,
Afghanistan, Kenya, and Japan. Students
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 46➜47
The academic year is busy and fulfilling
for everyone at BSB, but especially so
for the Amnesty group. The year we
have commemorated two key dates:
World Aids Day and International Human
Rights Day. A dedicated team of students
excelled themselves in these spheres.
This year in the lead-up to World AIDS' Day
we were able to explore in our assemblies
how there is hope in terms of the this year’s
UN report and its statistics, in particular
the number of people worldwide who are
now receiving treatment.
Memorable and outstanding was the
testimony of our own Year 13 student,
Callum Scott, who spent his summer in
Tanzania working with people who had
contracted the disease. It was Callum’s lot
to administer the test to patients in his daily
work and on two occasions tell people
that their lives had inexorably changed.
In four assemblies to five different year
groups students fell silent as to how this
moment must have been for this ‘rookie’
medic and his patients. Well done, Callum,
for your work and your testimony.
Our approach has always been to raise
awareness and funds. So this year we
are delighted that we again raised over
€1,000 to be able to send money to
in Years 10-13 were asked to address
and sign cards to the authorities in these
countries. This was the very essence of
Amnesty’s work when Peter Benenson
founded the organisation in 1960. Over
eighty letters and faxes were dispatched
to land in embassies and consulates in
these countries.
We also marked International Human
Rights Day with the visit of Phil Lane and
Miet Vandebroek of Stop the Traffik who is
an old friend of the School and who on this
occasion spoke to Year 11 on the work of
his organisation here in Tervuren. Stop the
Traffik is demanding that at commune level
Tervuren becomes a commune free from
human trafficking which is both at times
very visible and invisible in our midst.
Lastly, we renewed our contacts with
the refugees of the Reception Centre in
Rixensart and, to this end, ten of their
number attended and enjoyed the school
production of ‘Spring Awakening’. How
appropriate with this play’s title that it was
refugees from Afghanistan, the Middle
East, and North Africa who should be our
honoured guests!
A very big thank you to all those students,
staff and parents who have supported the
work of Amnesty this year.
“ Peter Benenson, the founder of Amnesty, was inspired by the proverb
‘better to light a candle, than curse the darkness’
and we hope that we live up to this challenge in all our work at BSB.”
BA (HONS) IN BUSINESS STUDIES 3-YEAR BACHELOR DEGREE• The opportunity to study Business in Brussels or Luxembourg.
• Small classes (±25) taught in English by business professionals.
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BA (HONS) IN BUSINESS STUDIES 3-YEAR BACHELOR DEGREE• The opportunity to study Business in Brussels or Luxembourg.
• Small classes (±25) taught in English by business professionals.
• Strong academic course of study plus practical training.
• Yearly in-company internships arranged for undergraduates.
• International environment.
• A perfect preparation for a Masters abroad.
• Program offi cially accredited.
OUR VERY PRACTICAL BACHELOR WILL CHANGE YOUR FUTURE!
UNITED BUSINESSINSTITUTES - BRUSSELSAvenue Marnix, 20B-1000 Brussels - BelgiumTel. 02 548 04 [email protected]
UNITED BUSINESSINSTITUTES - LUXEMBOURGCampus Wiltz - Château de WiltzL-9516 Wiltz - Luxembourg
www.ubi.edu
011013_BSB_UBI_270Hx215L_Q.indd 1 25/07/13 16:06
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 48➜49www.brit ishschool.be
I’ve lost count of the number of writers’
talks I’ve attended over the years. The
best leave you with a ‘can do’ feeling at
the end; a sense that you, too, have a
novel in you trying to get out. Then what
happens?
A while ago a friend and I went to a series of
writers’ talks at Charleston, near Lewes in
Sussex, a place rich in Bloomsbury Group
associations. On a clear day you can look
out across the South Downs landscape
and trace with your eye the nine-mile
walk Virginia Woolf used to make from
Monk’s House to visit her sister, the artist
Vanessa Bell, at Charleston. It was at this
place that my friend and I decided to stop
listening to the words of other people and
to make a start on our own writing.
On a monthly basis we emailed drafts to
each other for comment and this was how
our separate stories began. Mine seemed
to come from the merging together of two
strands of history: one the true story of
a love affair with a sad ending between
a German officer serving on the Eastern
Front and a young Latvian woman. The
other strand was the German occupation
of a small wine village in the Burgundy
region of France. The story is told by a
French woman looking back and coming
to terms with her buried past.
The Good Housekeeping 2012 Novel
Competition helped to impose a deadline
on us at the end of February last year, and
I submitted a whole-novel synopsis and
5000 words of the first chapter. For a while
I more or less stopped writing, and even
forgot that I’d entered the competition.
Then in late April, when routinely checking
my emails, I was astonished to read the
following message from the Features
Editor at Good Housekeeping:
“ Thank you so much for entering the
Good Housekeeping 2012 Novel
competition. Our judges (a panel
including a literary agent, two publishers
and the writer Kate Mosse) met last
week and I am happy to tell you that,
while you didn’t make the top four, we
have singled out Diamond Edelweiss as
highly commended... We received over
7,000 entries so to have reached the
top 10 is no mean feat...”
So it seemed my story missed the slush
pile after all! In the May 2012 edition of
the magazine, while the winning entry was
given the double-page spread, there, in
small font on the bottom right of the page,
was the title of my work and my name in
print. A 250-word extract was published
on the magazine’s website. A source
of hope for me and other struggling
wordsmiths perhaps?
I’ve learned it’s better not to say too much
about your writing and to keep ideas to
yourself. Always have a pen and notebook
ready. Write regularly even when you think
you don’t have the time. Try not to think
that you’re writing a novel: you’re just
trying to connect one word to the next
until about 80,000 words make sense as
a whole.
F E AT U R E
The Write StuffWe have a budding author in our midst at BSB ANN KRONBERGS, one of our Secondary School English teachers, is penning a historical novel with a dramatic twist...
Newly widowed, Elisabeth looks back on her love affair with a German soldier in occupied France...“ I never told Sid when I married him that I had killed a man...”
Diamond Edelweiss by Ann Kronbergs
www.brit ishschool.be
' Berlin ist immer eine Reise wert'
S C H O O L T R I P
HEIDI MacNAUGHTON, Head of German, reflects on over thirty years of BSB trips to Germany, during which time students have witnessed this fascinating country’s recent history.
BSB’s first visit to Berlin dates back to 1982
and undoubtedly this initial visit and those
until 1990 highlighted the “other” Berlin:
Berlin Hauptstadt der DDR, providing
students with a glimpse of life behind the
Iron Curtain. In the years following the
reunification and in our more recent visits,
it is with some nostalgia that we visit the
remnants of the wall, the East Side Gallery,
monuments and museums that stand as
reminders of its shady history, particularly
the unknown soviet secret prison for
dissidents the Hohenschönhausen. Once
there, we follow the outline of the wall as it
threads its way through the centre of Berlin.
In the 1980s while West Berlin was
to all intents and purposes an integral
part of the BRD (West Germany), it was
unequivocally located in the heart of the
DDR with an American check point (Alpha)
at Helmstedt. We would spend a tense
hour or two waiting while East German
and Soviet personnel carefully scrutinised
both the bus and us. It was always a relief
to hit checkpoint Beta and enter West
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 50➜51
Berlin. On the transit road, the bus was
not allowed to stop for fear of picking up
any DDR citizens and a motor cycle track
ran parallel to the road the length of the
journey; an extra security measure by the
East German Volkspolizei.
Until the reunification of Germany we were
quite privileged visitors, with the BRD
subsidising our visit and assisting with the
programme which provided lectures and
visits and lunch in the Reichstag. Later,
this money was used for the Berlin Bear
Award and today it is still used towards
the annual Languages Award.
Of course, a visit to East Berlin – exciting in
its drabness - was a highlight of the week.
We had to change our currency in advance,
swapping the Deutsch Mark for the East
German equivalent, as well as declaring all
other currency and running the gauntlet of
close inspection of passports and faces
before making our way into the long
avenue of Unter den Linden. Everywhere
we went, we beheld the lack of colour and
traffic, the omnipresence of soldiers and
a general sense of depression behind the
appearance of order. Contact with East
Berliners was limited, but it was cheap
and easy to eat in the Palast der Republik
(the East German Parliament).
Today Unter den Linden is a vibrant,
colourful and modern avenue and students
probably no longer feel that much of the
Berlin trip is far removed from their own life
experiences. However, they continue to
gain an insight into this important aspect of
Germany’s past, as well as enjoying some
lighter activities such as a visit to the world
famous Berlin Zoo, shopping and a visit to
a German cinema. A Level students today
do much of their research for the Unit 4
Paper whilst in Berlin; IB students focus
more on different types of writing while in
Berlin, which is important for their Paper 2
examination. Year 10 students compile a
diary in German every evening, which is an
excellent opportunity to practise the past
tense and expressing opinions. With iPads
today, of course, filming and audio diaries
are sometimes the more popular option.
The Berlin trip is the longest running trip
at BSB and one can say “Berlin ist eine
Reise wert” (Berlin is worth a trip) as much
today as yesterday!
“ In the years following the reunification and in our more recent visits, it is with some nostalgia that we visit the remnants of the wall, the East Side Gallery, monuments and museums that stand as reminders of its shady history, particularly the unknown soviet secret prison for dissidents the Hohenschönhausen.”
“ Until the reunification of Germany we were quite privileged visitors, with the BRD subsidising our visit and assisting with the programme which provided lectures and visits and lunch in the Reichstag.”
www.brit ishschool.be
B S B F I L M F E S T I V A L
Lights... Camera... ACTION!Forget Cannes, Sundance and Toronto; MARK ANDREWS is putting Brussels on the Film Festival map with the first ever BSB Film Festival on 3 October, 2013.
As part of this innovative celebration of
film at BSB, all 17 short films made at
the school since 2008 will be screened
to an invited audience and acclaimed jury
members. This gala occasion in October
will be the first time that they are viewed
together in public. However, cinema fans
will be pleased to know that they are also
all available to view via the BSB website.
All of the students’ offerings had already
been highly praised by the International
Baccalaureate and will go head to head
in competition against each other. There
will be the usual technical and acting
categories, with "Best Film" (or should that
be the "Swoosh D'Or"?) as the ultimate
accolade.
The Jury will be led by Professor Ginette
Vincendeau of King's College, London
and featured John Rowe, Head of Visual
Effects at the National Film and Television
School in the UK, amongst others. At the
time Tapestry went to press the winner
was not yet known.
"Hunter & Mason" (2010) trailer
This Is Not An Apple
BSB’s Film Festival Line-Up
"I Am Undefeated" (2008): Is boxing his
way out or just another cage? The fight
isn't just in the ring.
"Dead Man's Hand" (2008): Poker for
the highest stake of all. Even though he's
hit rock bottom, he still has something left
to lose.
"Sick Building Syndrome" (2008): White
collar crack-up by the Parc Cinquantenaire.
Is the workplace conspiring against this
stressed salaryman?
"Martha" (2009): Has his ex-wife hired
a private investigator? If she hasn't, then
who’s in that car?
"Nocebo" (2009): Don't ever tell the
director "It's sooo Fight Club." It's not
who you run from, it's who you turn to.
"8:03" (2009): Life is a circle on the mean
streets of Antwerp. Death is not the end.
"The Doll" (2009): Two sisters learn about
the meaning of family. And so does their
mother. But only two of them are alive.
"Trick or Treat" (2010): "Halloween"
played for laughs. And some scares.
Pumpkins, masks and a terrorised
babysitter - all present and correct.
"Hunter & Mason" (2010): Who is rich
and who is poor: the business woman or
the cleaner? And which one will survive
until dawn?
"Three of Nine" (2011): Lost soul seeks
a place to rest. Watch out for the kiss of
death. And roast chicken.
"This Is Not an Apple" (2011): Bitter-
sweet romantic comedy. Contains a
glorious, fully choreographed song and
dance routine, but could this still be more
bitter than sweet?
"I Love Your Eyes" (2012): Do not go
down to the woods today. A touch of gore
from the Sisters Grimm.
"Lilikoi" (2012): Can a mismatched father
and son close the gap between them?
Music, nature and the imagination are ways
to escape. And ways of coming home.
"Birthday Girl" (2012): When you wake up
in the woods with a hangover, what do you
expect to find at the end of a trail of balloons?
"A Sweet Little Thing Like Me" (2012):
Meet Liberty, an assassin on the rampage
against Time itself. Taxi Driver meets
Descartes.
"The Romeo Complex" (2013): Amanda
is looking for love. In all the wrong places.
With all the wrong "Hot Guys".
"New South Man" (2013): An allegory
about immigration and social acceptance
or a flirtatious tale of self-discovery? You
decide.
These films were made as part of the IB
Diploma in Film by students from the UK,
Belgium, Denmark, South Africa, Sweden,
Latvia, Estonia, France, Australia, Taiwan,
Mauritius, the Czech Republic and Japan.
Their influences were equally wide-ranging,
from Kafka, Dante and Magritte to Mean
Girls, Rocky and Marvin Gaye. There's
something for everyone, with a shot of film
noir, a splash of German Expressionism
and a dash of Surrealism. There is also lots
of love, a ukulele, donuts, togas and an
exorcism. Not all in the same film, I hasten
to add.
May the best film win!
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 52➜53
Trick Or Treat (2010)
Nocebo (2009)
Three Of Nine (2011)
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Helen Sumner, Head of Textiles, launched
a very exciting project in September
2012: the Textiles and Year 2 Best of Both
Design project. She announced that we,
the Year 10 Textiles students, would be
working as designers with lower primary
students, and our work would culminate
in a fashion show attended by staff and
parents. We would be paired with Year 2
students, and have a set amount of time
to design and produce an outfit for each.
What is it they say about never working
with children or animals…? Well, we
certainly found the experience to be very
positive – from our viewpoint as budding
designers it was very useful, but it was
also simply a lot of fun!
Helen provided very clear guidelines for
the project so that it was as ‘real’ a design
experience for us as possible. The Year
2 boys and girls were our clients, and it
was our role to work with them to help
them envisage and then to create the
outfits they desired, rather than dictate
to them. These outfits had to be created
in a Steam Punk style, which means they
had to incorporate recycled products. Our
brief also required us to use denim and
Ghanaian fabric, to tie in with Best of Both
charity efforts which helps fund BSB’s
partner schools in Ghana.
The Year 2 students were very specific as
to what they wanted; in fact, there was
little room for persuasion! We had to be
realistic, however, and some of the more
adventurous ideas had to be reigned in
due to the limited time period we had to
produce the finished garments. For some
designs, details had to change during the
production process; yet each time the
Year 2 clients were consulted and involved
and the partnership between the two
Year Groups grew. The Year 2 students
loved visiting us in the Secondary Textiles
classroom; they enjoyed the ‘privilege’ of
walking around the Secondary School and
sharing their ideas with older students.
The production room was frequently filled
with the giggles and singing of the Year 2
students as they tried on their new clothes
and posed for the camera.
The most challenging part of the project
was overcoming the embarrassment
of having to parade in front of the adult
audience. To be honest, though, this
was more of an issue for the Year 10
students than for the Year 2s, some
of whom treated the catwalk like their
personal dance floor! We were all put to
shame by one young boy in particular:
he didn’t let the adults faze him at all and
threw outrageous dance moves at every
possible opportunity!
On the day everything went without a
hitch, with speedy outfit changes in the
corner and practised catwalk struts Naomi
Campbell would be proud of. The Year 2
students’ excitement was infectious, and
the booming music and the expectant
faces of the audience created a fantastic
atmosphere.
All in all, both groups of students had
tremendous fun. The parents loved seeing
their children enjoying themselves with the
older students, and there were plenty of
cameras and camcorders at the ready. The
experience helped bring Lower Primary
and Secondary School together - and,
best of all, it was all in the name of charity.
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 54➜55www.brit ishschool.be
T E X T I L E S F A S H I O N S H O W
Role Models
The British School of Brussels’ charity, The Best of Both, received a boost this year with a collaboration between the Secondary Textiles Department and Year 2 Primary students. Student Sian tells Tapestry about the fashion-based project.
“ On the day everything went without a hitch, with speedy outfit changes in the corner and practised catwalk struts Naomi Campbell would be proud of.”
As part of BSB’s ongoing commitment to
raising awareness of and sharing different
cultural occasions and festivities, The
Early Learning & Development Centre
celebrated the Hindu festival of light,
Diwali, in November 2012. Kyra and her
mother wore their beautiful saris and
shared Diwali snacks. Gillian made chicken
tikka and vegetable curry to stimulate the
children’s senses and all enjoyed a range
of colourful activities, including making a
collage of an Indian lady in a sari, making
Diwali lights, cooking hand biscuits to
decorate with mehndi, dancing to Indian
music and making rangoli patterns.
The celebration of Diwali is just one of the
many cultural events that children have
enjoyed this year. The Early Learning &
Development Centre staff pride themselves
on the fact that they make parents and
children feel welcome, and this includes
speaking to them about important cultural
and religious festivals and other events
which they might be keen to share with
other children. “As we get to know the
parents, we start to talk about these
things,” says staff member Laura Maguire.
“They’re thrilled to realise that you want
to make the effort to celebrate a date
that has special significance for them. A
lot of the children have never lived in their
parents’ country of origin, so it’s a lovely
way to make sure they remain aware of
the importance of their background.”
And with around fifty children attending
BSB’s Early Learning & Development
Centre each year, there are always a host of
different events and festivals to learn about.
“We do all of the ‘usual’ festivals: Mothers’
Day, Fathers’ Day and St Valentine’s to
name a few,” explains Laura. “But before
Christmas, for example, we celebrated
the Swedish feast of St Lucia. A parent
brought in traditional bread and biscuits
and the children made their own advent
crowns to wear. For Chinese New Year, a
parent brought in a paper Chinese dragon
and the children were able to dance and
weave underneath it. We also made stir fry
with the children, which they loved!”
Of course, all of these craft and creative
activities benefit children in a number of
ways as well as helping them to become
aware of cultures other than their own. The
celebrations also help them learn language
through singing and story-telling, fine motor
skills and sensory awareness through
artistic work and confidence through
dance and other types of interaction. With
such a dedicated team, it’s clear that the
children are in good hands.
www.brit ishschool.be
E A R LY L E A R N I N G & D E V E L O P M E N T C E N T R E ( K I N D E R C R I B )
Cultural Creativity
“ Parents are thrilled to realise that you want to make the effort to celebrate a date that has special significance for them. A lot of the children have never lived in their parents’ country of origin, so it’s a lovely way to make sure they remain aware of the importance of their background.”
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 56➜57
C A M P U S
Vision of the futureBSB is about to embark on a building programme that will see the campus expanded and improved to create a learning environment fit for students of the 21st century.
The renovation and extension of the
School’s main building is the largest
single infrastructure project that BSB has
undertaken in its 44 year history. When
complete, the new building will form the
heart of the campus as well as becoming
the focal point for visitors to the School.
World class facilities
Works to be undertaken include the
construction of a new building which will
contain a brand new gym, sports hall,
swimming pool and offices. Existing rooms
will be rationalised throughout to form a
range of multi-purpose open spaces that
will provide teachers and students with
state-of-the-art learning facilities.
A first for an international school
in Belgium
The addition of a swimming pool will
provide the School with a world class
suite of health facilities. The six-lane, 25
m indoor pool is a first for an international
school in Belgium. It will sit alongside
the School’s new sports hall (1,450 m2),
gym (660 m2), fitness room and dance
studio. The new facilities will ensure that
the BSB’s students can develop both a
healthy mind and healthy body.
Flexibility and mobility have been key
considerations during the planning of
the new facilities. All areas of the new
building will be connected and can be
used for multiple purposes. Access will
be improved for all with the addition of
lifts that will connect all floors of the new
building. Ramps and wide corridors will
ensure access for students, staff and
visitors with decreased mobility.
Light and space
The new main entrance to the School will
be situated in this new building area. Walls
in this space will be constructed from
glass, ensuring that natural light can be
optimised. On the first level, there will be
views over the main entrance and into the
sports hall and swimming pool. Vehicle
access to the BSB campus will also be
improved as part of the rebuilding work.
A car park for 120 vehicles under the new
building will exist, and elevators will link
the car park to all floors of the building.
Work will commence in summer 2014 and
total construction time is expected to be
about 17 months.
To ensure that school life can continue
while the works progress some existing
structures on the campus will be
demolished. This includes the current
sports barn, which will be removed to
make more open space and provide a
visual connection with the forest behind
the School.
Eco-friendly options
Although details are still to be finalised, the
architects are exploring a range of green
options for the new building. Rainwater
will be collected and reused for sanitation
and alternative heating systems will be
analysed.
To reduce power usage, all technical areas
of the building have been designed so
that they can be shut down independently
of each other. In this way, a section of the
building can be utilised (for example, the
www.brit ishschool.be
“ The addition of a swimming pool will provide the School with a world class suite of health facilities. The six-lane, 25 m indoor pool is a first for an international school in Belgium.”
“ The new facilities will ensure that the BSB’s students can develop both a healthy mind and healthy body.”
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 58➜59
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“ Flexibility and mobility have been key considerations during the planning of the new facilities... Ramps and wide corridors will ensure access for students, staff and visitors with decreased mobility.”
“ The result is sure to inspire a new generation of open-minded, outward-looking and healthy young people.”
sports hall at night) while other parts of the building are ‘closed
off’ to conserve energy. Double-glazing and insulation will also be
installed throughout to minimise heat loss during winter.
A new standard in educational facilities
An extensive consultation process has been carried out with the
people who will utilise the different spaces in the new building.
Known as the ‘soft landing’ approach, the aim is to ensure that
the new facility will meet the needs of the students and staff and
that any issues are ironed-out before construction begins. BSB
has also developed a ten-year plan for the management and
maintenance of the new facility. This will ensure that the world
class building is maintained to the highest standards.
Once it is completed, the building will set a new standard in
educational facilities. The result is sure to inspire a new generation
of open-minded, outward-looking and healthy young people.
www.brit ishschool.be
L E A R N I N G
BTEC @ BSBPersonalised learning is at the heart of The British School of Brussels’ ethos. We regularly scrutinise our curriculum and tailor it to best fit the needs of our learners. The recent introduction of a number of BTEC courses in Years 10-13 perfectly exemplifies this endeavour to teach to individual strengths. WILL BOHANNA, Head of Economics and Business Studies, tells Tapestry more about the benefits of these new courses.
Learning by Doing
We pride ourselves on having a course for
everyone. We absolutely recognise that
different learners have different learning
needs, and therefore two years ago
the Economics and Business Studies
department introduced a new course
which places emphasis on ‘Learning by
doing’: namely, BTEC National Business.
This course allows students a coursework
approach to a Post-16 Business
qualification. However, to suggest that this is
merely a coursework qualification would be
doing a huge disservice to BTEC National
Business. This course actively encourages
students to learn in an interactive way:
through investigation of business issues,
practical business situations and work place
simulations. The current cohort of students
has studied modules including Market
Research, Business Accounting, Creative
Product Promotion and Event Management.
In all of these units, the focus has been an
investigative approach based on business
practice or, in other words, ‘learning by
doing’; so much so our first Year 13 group
organised, promoted and managed a charity
dinner dance which raised over 4,000 euros
for the BSB charity Best of Both.
At the end of the 2012-2013 academic
year, we saw the first cohort of students
graduating with a BTEC National Business
Diploma. We are, of course, extremely
proud of the success of this trail-blazing
group. We can now say that, in addition
to the options of an IB and A Level route,
we now offer a vocational route which
comprises BTEC Double Award Business,
BTEC Single Award Business and new
for September 2013 BTEC Single Award
Hospitality which will be run by the Food
Technology Department. A common
misconception is that these courses are
not a route to a university education,
whereas in fact these courses carry the
same equivalent UCAS points as their
IB and A Level counter-parts. The BTEC
qualification is also highly regarded by
employers because it provides learners
with the opportunity to develop a range of
practical skills and techniques, personal
skills and attributes essential for successful
performance in working life. Given the
runaway success of BTEC in Years 12 and
13, we have also decided to extend the
BTEC provision to years 10 and 11 and
are offering a BTEC Business qualification
to Year 10 from September 2013.
From the perspective of staff, parents and
most importantly students, BTEC @ BSB
has been a resounding success and I am
sure with the continued dedicated work of
the teachers it will continue as such. In the
words of one of our graduating Year 13
students:
“ I have loved BTEC Business. I have learned so much and the assessments have allowed me to be successful because it is the way I work best...”
George Davies 2013
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 60➜61
The programme will be taught by Head of
Food & Nutrition, Frances Hyde-Tetley, and
coincides neatly with the opening of new
facilities that will allow students to learn in
a state-of-the-art cooking environment; a
“home from home,” as Frances calls it.
And she should know. Frances was
instrumental in the design and installation
of the new facilities which opened in
November 2012 from initial conception
to realisation. For the six month period
beforehand, Frances “lived and breathed
kitchen planning.” She had a clear vision
for the new professional-standard suite
of food technology rooms and didn’t rest
until it was delivered.
BSB employed a local kitchen company
to give life to the designs, with the BSB
maintenance team working tirelessly
too. And the results are, quite simply,
stunning. The department now has floor
to ceiling store cupboards with sliding
doors, stylish granite worktops, overhead
spot lights creating a calm and relaxed
working atmosphere, the very latest
induction hobs and steam ovens and, of
course, large industrial fridges for storing
students’ work until they take their supper
home at the end of the day!
The kitchens, named after celebrity chefs
Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, not only
have the ‘wow’ factor but also provide
a world-class teaching environment for
16 students in each room. The obvious
beneficiaries are clearly BSB students,
but even the teachers have got in on the
action; members of staff from all over
the School have signed up for cooking
lessons after school hours! “We are so
proud of these fabulous facilities,” said
Frances.
“This is a very exciting opportunity for all
students, but especially for those who
choose to continue their further education
at chef schools,” said Sue Woodroofe.
She added that all students now have the
opportunity to learn how to cook healthy
meals on a limited budget: “a great life skill
for university and beyond.”
C A M P U S
Ready, Steady, Cook!As part of BSB’s expanding range of educational programmes, this coming year sees the start of the BTEC in Hospitality for the Post-16 students.
“ All students now have the opportunity to learn how to cook healthy meals on a limited budget: a great life skill for university and beyond.”
www.brit ishschool.be
A D M I S S I O N S
Family Focus(ed)Admissions Officer DEBORAH LOCHTMAN is a story-teller. And, after spending sixteen years at The British School of Brussels, she has many stories to tell. Debbie has met, quite literally, hundreds of families from across the world, including Japan, USA, Iceland and Africa. “That’s my favourite part of the job, meeting the families because no family is ever the same,” Debbie enthuses.
Her warm smile and love of socialising
comes in handy. Debbie is quick to tell
you she loves her job as Admissions
Officer, especially when she is able to help
a family join the extensive BSB family. “It
gives me a lot of satisfaction to know I’ve
shown them around the School, they’ve
had all their questions and concerns
answered and then chosen us.” Every
tour is different and each comes with its
own story.
In the many years Debbie has been giving
tours to prospective families, she has
encountered some interesting requests.
One tour, she recalls, a smile on her
face, began as normal. Five minutes in,
she noticed the young child was paying
little attention. When asked if there was
anything he wanted to see, he replied
“Can I see the cafeteria where I have my
lunch? Lunch is what I’m really interested
in.” So that’s what they did. Debbie
bought him lunch and it was decided.
The young boy informed his parents of
his wish to attend BSB. “You need to be
flexible with visiting families,” says Debbie.
“Sometimes visitors have travelled for
hours to arrive and might have visited 3
other schools before us.“
Once a parent brought a video camera
on the tour, as his partner was unable to
attend. Debbie received a call shortly after
from the father who explained that he had
an hour’s worth of footage of the floors of
BSB. “He’d set the video camera wrongly
and had videoed the carpets!” she recalls
with a laugh. “We promptly arranged
another tour, of course!”
Debbie focuses on the personal touch
and no one tour is the same. Families
compare many schools and choose the
one which suits their needs the best.
“With over 70 nationalities and a range
of technical courses to choose from, it’s
very easy to fall in love with BSB,” says
Debbie, speaking as a past BSB parent
herself.
But the Admissions Office isn’t just about
recruitment; it’s also a support system, a
relocation agency and being friendship
facilitators. The Admissions Office is
the primary contact for new families,
bringing new challenges each new term.
For Debbie, it’s important to remember
coming to BSB is just as much about the
parents as the children. Familiar faces
and friends help make the transition to
“The Admissions Office isn’t just about recruitment; it’s also
a support system, a relocation agency
and being friendship facilitators.”
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 62➜63
Belgium easier and Debbie can empathise having grown up in a
military family herself.
Debbie has always worked in schools, beginning her career in an
international school in The Netherlands. There, she met her first
linguistic challenge: a German boss who spoke no English. But she
says the linguistic difference wasn't a huge issue for Debbie, who
jokes, “I could do all the work because he couldn’t check it!” From
there, she came to Belgium. All of her work at international schools
has confirmed the importance of languages. Debbie, who is fluent in
Dutch and English, and speaks conversational French, has picked up
more than her fair share of languages. Korean is the next language
Debbie hopes to learn in light of the increased number of Korean
families joining the School. “And Japanese too, if I have the time!”
Debbie’s life at BSB is busy, but this doesn’t stop her from
continuing her busy schedule and passion for travel. This summer,
she went on a road trip with her family from Las Vegas to the
California coast and San Francisco. Her passion, both in her
professional and personal life, is infectious. It is safe to say that
BSB is in good hands while Debbie is around.
Families join in the fun at BSB's Music Concert
www.brit ishschool.be
Starting a new school is as exciting and
intriguing for a headteacher as it is for
a new student. In some ways, I know a
good deal about BSB already. I have a
long association with the School from
my years at the British School of the
Netherlands and I have been working
here since January 2012 for sixteen days
in five blocks of time on release from
my previous school: planning, learning
about procedures, analysing how well the
School is doing, appointing new staff and
working with existing colleagues.
Yet there is much I do not know and so part
of the excitement will revolve around getting
to know the School in depth and the people
who make it special as well as understanding
what makes it unique. In short, I have to learn
and absorb a whole culture! What I do know
is this: BSB is an astonishingly impressive
and remarkable School.
Speaking of culture, I look forward to living
in a country which has been a second home
to me for many years. My wife is Flemish
and my children are bilingual and enjoy dual
nationality. Having lived and worked in five
countries, we understand the importance
of community in an international school
and we can empathise with the difficulties
that some children and their families face in
moving schools and countries.
I am tremendously excited about starting
at BSB and I look forward to working
positively and productively with the whole
community in the years to come.
Gary Minnitt
Vice Principal and Head of Secondary School
And so I begin this piece, perhaps seemingly
incongruously, with some reflections. I’m
sure that many of you will be currently
engaged in the process of reflection as you
look back on the academic year of 2012-
13 and celebrate your child’s progress and
achievements.
This year, mine and my family’s first
in Belgium, held many challenges.
However, although we have made it to
the end of the year relatively unscathed –
and for that we owe our thanks to the
School’s staff members for their expertise
and commitment, as well as to the
parents for their advice and support - we
have certainly been changed, in the most
positive of ways.
My personal highlight? Getting to know
the children, of course. Their infectious
enthusiasm, their international outlook
and their love of learning has made every
day feel like a privilege. Sometimes, I
admit, I get a little carried away, so if I have
on occasion laughed too loudly, cheered
too vigorously or been overcome with
emotion too easily, I do apologise - and
I have promised to pay for any repairs to
the Reception tricycle after the infamous
‘Bike Day incident’. A special apology is
probably due to my own children; I can
only imagine the embarrassment a 10
and 13 year old feel seeing their mother in
the guise of Captain Underpants wearing
a giant pair of Y-fronts for Book Week.
However, I can’t promise to ‘do better’
next year; sadly, I know myself too well!
And now, a glance to the future. In all
seriousness, I look forward to many
more action-packed years as part of this
wonderfully vibrant School community.
I hope that together we can continue to
live up to the School mission statement of
learning together and inspiring success in
all our children.
Pauline Markey
Vice Principal and Head of Primary School
U P D AT E
A Look to the Future...
T A P E S T R Y M A G A Z I N E I N º 3 I 2 0 1 3
PAGE 64➜65
E X A M I N AT I O N S
BSB Results' Summary2013 once again saw some outstanding results in its three pre-university qualifications, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, A Levels and BTEC. 48% of students passing the IB Diploma were awarded the Bilingual Diploma, confirming the success and strength of languages at the School. Well done to all our leavers, we are so very proud of you. The year saw excellent results in Primary School as well as in other exams in Music and Drama.
“ These results are all the more impressive because BSB is a non-selective school, taking students from all abilities and all national education systems, regardless of their prior school experience, BSB students continue to achieve some of the best results in Belgium year after year.”
Sue Woodroofe, Principal
Students with 24 points or more
at IB Diploma
Students who
achieved a
distinction in
BTEC Business
Students who achieved A*-C grades
at A Level
Average IB Diploma
pass rate last 5 yearsStudents who achieved a merit grade
or higher as their final summative grade
in BTEC business
Of all A Level grades
came in at A* or A
Students going to the prestigious
Russell group universities
Students going to their first choice
university
Obtaining 40 points or more
in IB Diploma
(against a worldwide average in 2012 of 6.6%)
Students obtaining bilingual
IB DiplomaRock School and ABRSM
examinations were also excellent
with 96% and 97% pass rates.
LAMDA examination results were
excellent. From 48 exams taken,
4 Passes, 22 Merits and 22 Distinctions.
In 2013 in Primary School, 100%
of children in Year 6 achieved Level 4
and above in Mathematics
Percentage of students taking
IB Diploma with 30 points or more
Students who achieved an A* grade
The British School of Brussels vzwLeuvensesteenweg 19, 3080 Tervuren, BelgiumTel: +32 (0)2 766 04 30 - Fax: +32 (0)2 767 80 [email protected] - www.britishschool.be
Follow us on
I S S U E N ° 3 I 2 0 1 3
Thank you to all our contributorsPublisher: Sue WoodroofeEditors: Kim Burgess I Laura McDonagh
Beth Thomas who designed our front cover
C O M P E T I T I O N
Primary SchoolThis year the European Patent Office are
celebrating 40 years of the European Patent
Convention. As part of their celebrations
they invited students from BSB's Primary
School to enter a poster competition to
show which European invention is most
important to them. We would like to
congratulate Brona Lee and Lina Sataar
for being 'highly recommended' as finalists
from the 3000 entrants from 110 schools
throughout Europe. Their Posters will be
on display at a special 40th anniversary
exhibition in Munich this October.
BERNIE MILLAR, BSB's Primary Art Specialist sent Tapestry this message.
Brona Lee Lina Sataar
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