JANUARY 2012

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

Head of Secondary Message

Reward t r ip for pupi ls of Year 7 , 8 & 9

A new year brings with it many new resolutions. Talking to many students, the phrases ´will try harder…or will work harder to….´came up time and again. It wasn´t just in particular subjects, but in different aspects of their lives, be it exercise, helping each other or getting up earlier in the morning. But do we really see all the benefits of working hard at school? Sure, we can name some of the benefits like better grades but do we truly understand what better grades mean. Good grades are a benefit in themselves but they are just a reflection of the true benefits. There is a huge hidden benefit to deciding to get good grades and then getting them. The hidden benefit is that you are mastering the art of achievement.

Achievement is a simple process. You set your mind on a target, put a plan together to meet that target, follow the plan and adjust it as required until you hit the target. The realisation that you have the ability to achieve anything is worth a fortune to you. King’s College is a training ground for achievement. These are celebrated daily here at school and we should take pride in working hard. We should all use the opportunities we are given to learn and practice the achievement process.

Stephen GreenHead of Secondary

CHILDRENARE HEARED

As part of the Biology IGCSE course Y11 students are studying the effect of humans on the environment, with one of the key issues

being deforestation. The Biology group took part in an activity designed to increase their awareness of the complexity of environmental issues that we face in the modern world.

Each pair of students was allocated a country to represent in a debate at the United Nations on how to tackle deforestation. The students had to deliberate not only the biological consequences of the problem but also economic and political considerations, and to decide whether or not they would be willing to contribute money to combat the issue.

The arguments from all sides were persuasive and, perhaps in a reflection of reality, no clear outcome was reached by the group. All the students enjoyed the activity however, and agreed that it was a memorable learning activity.

YEAR 11 SCIENCE: DEBATING DEFORESTATION AT THE UNITED NATIONS

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For enterprise week a competition was announced to the students. Their brief was to come up with an idea to improve the school. 2 groups of Year 8 girls entered the competition and this week they presented their ideas to the year 11 ‘dragons’. The girls have worked incredibly hard and done a lot of research into their ideas, the ‘dragons’ asked some hard questions but the girls managed to answer them professionally.

The year 11 ‘dragons’ were left with the difficult decision of choosing the winner, after much deliberation they thought that both ideas were equally as constructive and positive for the school. They suggested that the groups should combine their great ideas to create one super idea!

Who knows, in the future the girls´ ideas could come to life and there might be an addition to the school?

ENTERPRISE COMPETITION

9M produced a brilliant anti bullying assembly for KS3 students. This was to promote anti bullying throughout the school for anti bullying week. The tutor group acted out a well rehearsed role play and produced an in depth PowerPoint Presentation explaining how students can help stop bullying.

Bullying can be a lonely time for someone so this assembly was refreshing in reassuring students that no-one should be bullied and they can get help.

ANTI BULLYING ASSEMBLY

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ARE BEING BULLIED?If you are being bullied, tell a friend, tell a teacher and tell your parents. It won't stop unless you do. It can be hard to do this so if you don't feel you can do it in person it might be easier to write a note to your parents explaining how you feel, or perhaps confide in someone outside the immediate family, like a grandparent, aunt, uncle or cousin and ask them to help you tell your parents what's going on. Your form tutor needs to know what is going on so try to find a time to tell him/her when it won't be noticeable. You could stay behind on the pretext of needing help with some work. If you don't feel you can do that, then go to the medical room and speak to the school nurse.

The best idea is if a teacher can catch the bullies red-handed. That way, you won't get into bother from anyone for telling tales. It will be clear to everyone what has been going on. Don't be tempted to hit back because you could get hurt or get into trouble.

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CASTLEMODELSYears 7 and 9 have been creative in History. As part of their studies on the Medieval period Year 7 have made castle models in which they tried to include all the defensive features about which they have been studying.

Year 9 have studied the French Revolution and the period known as the Terror. They have studied the numbers of people executed during this time. They have made guilotines which were first used during the Revolution as a humane method of execution! Some of them have even been cutting the heads off Barbie dolls with horrible results.

All of the students put a great deal of effort into their models. Well done!

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UNITOUR:UNIVERSITY FAIR On Wednesday 18th of January, Year 12 and 13 pupils visited UNITOUR, a University Fair in Meliá Hotel. Pupils were informed about universities, degrees and careers they can take in Spanish universities.

Thank you to all parents, pupils and staff for a record breaking amount of presents collected this year for our annual Christmas Charity Asociación Humanitaria Americana de Alicante . The amount of childrens’ toys, presents and clothes collected far exceeds any of our four previous years and I am delighted that our school community has shown such generosity at this time of the year. I know that the Asociación is extremely grateful for our donations as they are often the only presents some of the children receive.

CHARITY RECORD

I arrived at Earl’s Court in London, where the British Military Tournament was being held, at around 9 o´clock on Tuesday 29th. I was one of the first of my group to arrive and so I spent the evening watching the workers put the arena and the surrounding area together. It would later become the five most tiring days imaginable!With over 700 participants from all three services, 100 horses, the legendary Field Gun run, and the iconic Musical Drive of the King’s Troop putting on a performance which was watched by over 50,000 spectators, including Her Majesty the Queen, SoSkAn’s first appearance at the world famous show was exciting enough for me and the members taking part.

We began Wednesday with breakfast at 7 o´clock and we would get up at this time every morning. After we took our roll call, there were around 60-70 of us, we were marched off to rehearse our performance.

All day Wednesday was spent rehearsing, as was Thursday, long into the night. We rehearsed again on Friday and then, after her majesty The Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh had arrived at the venue, we gave our first performance, watched by more than 10,000 people. On Saturday, there was a matinee performance and another one in the evening, and then two more on Sunday afternoon.

The British Military TOURNAMENT

The scenario that we did for our performances was the Battle of Franklin. This battle was the death knell of the Confederate Army of Tennessee as wave upon wave of Confederate soldiers marched towards the Union fortifications. My unit in the performance, the 1st Arkansas, was the third and last wave. As our performance starts we hear the Battle Hymn of the Republic being played as the Union march into the arena (we are hidden from sight under the stands.) Once the Union were set up, our band started to play Dixie. A Rebel Yell rose from the throats of those in the first wave, it was quickly taken up by all of us. The first wave went forward and managed to get the first set of barricades before they all “died”. The second wave got past the barricades, but they all went down. Finally, I and the first wave went forward. As I was carrying the flag, I was stationed in the centre, waving the colors and encouraging the others. We managed to get further before we were cut down by the Union cannons. After the Union soldiers cheered their success, the lights dimmed down and the somber tune began to play.

After this we were asked to play injured WW1 soldiers (for a short piece telling the audience the story of the various wars throughout the ages).

It is usually only members of the armed forces who get to participate in the British Military Tournament and it was a huge honour for all involved to take part. It was something I, and the other members, will never forget

Keifer, Year 13

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Year 12Takes AudiovisualClasses

We have been fortunate to attend audiovisual classes in “La Ciudad de La Luz”. Something that, without doubts, will enrich our education. But sincerely, those classes have started to become some of our personal interests; it’s not just a simple title to add to our CV, now it is something more similar to an activity we could not go without.

The base of this course is to learn everything related with the audio-visual reporter. We began studying the news and different aspects of television, we’ve learned how the cameras work and we have put it into practice, recording some small news; in the following weeks, we will record news that afterwards we will produce in the production studios. Also, we’ve been able to witness the recording of a short, and we had the chance to try out the experience of a radio from the inside.This course delights us as it’s a very different theme from the ones we study at school. All of us are learning a lot and our knowledge from television is really different from what we used to have. They’ve showed us to understand that audio-visual language communicates through shots, instead of using words.

The fact of having to walk up and down every Thursday morning from the studios refreshes our mind and stimulates our brains; this way, we wake up and start classes with more energy.

All aspects from this course give us several benefits, on a personal and accademic level; and that’s the reason why we enjoy to the maximum each class. We love audio-visuals.

Maria and Claudia (Year 12)

On 18th of January I came to school with all the enthusiasm of the world; we were going on a trip! My friends and I were talking for half an hour until the bell rang to go to class, then we went to class for the register and to wait for the bus. When all was ready we set off.

It took forty minutes to arrive and when we got off the bus we met our guide, Enrique. After a short walk we arrived at Santo Domingo School. Enrique explained to us that there was a church inside the school and the best students carved their names on the front wall with the blood of a bull. Then we entered the church.

At first glance, the church was spectacular. It had a lot of decoration, amazing domes, balconies and television! We sat in the front row and the explanation began. They told us that the church was Baroque. It had many hidden details and you could not fix on one thing. The church had been restored 10 years ago. They told us many details about the shields, the décor and balconies. They told us how the dome was made of wood so that the church would not collapse because of its weight, it looked like the sky and above all was the sun. After the explanation, we walked around to explore and then we left.

When we left, we had some time for lunch, then we proceeded to visit the home of Miguel Hernandez. The house was quite small but it wasn’t where he was born, that was three or four streets below. His father bought it because it was near the school, but he left the school when he was fourteen to become a monk.

Then we visited the inside of the house. The main hall had several pictures and was separated into three rooms. On the right, was the bedroom of his sister. On the left, there was a book for making comments and the parents’ bedroom. In the centre was a small kitchen, and beyond that the garden where we read some poems of Miguel Hernández such as the “Nana de la cebolla”. We climbed the stairs to the barn and finally into the garden where there were fig , lemon trees and cactus, down the mountain behind the house where the poet used to go to write and to graze the animals.

Then we walked a little more and arrived at the cloister of the cathedral that was the most important in the Valencian Community. The next street was the street where Miguel Hernandez was arrested. The tower had been a former jail. There we said goodbye to Enrique and another guide took his place.

CULTURALTRIP TOORIHUELA

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We were told that this was one of the smallest cathedrals and was supported by the transverse arch. At first, the cathedral was going to be a parish, but was converted into a cathedral. The altar and the choir were an altarpiece lattice. The altar had the story of the three pillars of Christianity. The Virgin Mary the archangel, Adam and Eve with the forbidden fruit and Christ crucified. The shield of the choir represents the whole territory of Charles V of Germany. After the explanation we said goodbye to the guide.

By Pablo (Year 8)

Important Dates

Glorieta del Reino Unido 5Alicante 03008 Spainwww.bsalicante.cominfo@kingsgroup.org

1st February – Year 8 Monitoring Day

7th & 8th February – Visiting school – The John Madjeski Academy

9th February – Year 11 Parents Meeting

16th February – Year 9 Options Meeting