Newsletter
Issue 2 - Term 2 - 2012/2013
A Newsletter for The British School of Nanjing
To download a copy of this newsletter please visit: www.bsn.org.cn
HEAD’S
WELCOME
Dear Readers,
Headmaster: Matthew Shephard
Welcome to our first British School of Nanjing newsletter for the Year of the Snake! For
those of you who missed it, you can read all about the wonderful Chinese New Year Show
that was held on February 8th at the Jiangning Exhibition Hall in this issue – for those with
access, don’t forget you can see even more photos, and even some video from the show on
our facebook page!
I’d also like to draw your attention to another up-coming event. Red Nose Day is a biennial
event held in the UK to raise money for the Comic Relief charity. Now in its 25th year,
Comic Relief has raised millions of pounds to improve the lives of disadvantaged children
and their families in the UK and across Africa. A lot of Comic Relief ’s fundraising takes
place in schools across the UK. The British School of Nanjing is proud to be taking part in
Red Nose Day 2013 and hopes that you will get involved with us! You can learn a little more
about Comic Relief and the work they do via www.comicrelief.com
On Friday 15th March, children, staff and visitors will be able to take part by wearing
something red and donating to Comic Relief. In addition, we were hoping to be able to sell
official “Red Noses” – the symbol of support for Comic Relief – but were unable to obtain
these outside of the UK. However, we will be selling ‘unofficial’ red noses that children and
visitors can buy (and wear) during the week form our Reception Desk – 100% of the money
collect from selling red noses will go to Comic Relief.
However, one of the best aspects of Comic Relief in the UK is that it encourages individuals
to come up with their own fund-raising ideas and, after Mr.Jones ran an excellent assembly,
children have been inspired to come up with a range of ideas – from sponsored tea-making
at home (10 rmb a cup!) to the, ever-popular with parents, sponsored No-TV days! If you or
your child want to be involved in an event like this and need inspiration or support, please
contact Mr.Jones for more information!
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FOUNDATION
NEWS
Pre Nursery News
Keran Jdali: Pre-Nursery
Beware of the Creepy Crawlies!
The last few weeks have been extremely busy as we not only celebrated Chinese New Year but we also made a start on
our new class topic on ‘Mini-beasts’.
Leading up to our spectacular Chinese New Year whole school assembly we spent some time learning a little about the
festival itself and to reinforce this we went on a ‘red’ walk, played a ‘Lucky Money Game’, where the children had to fill
a red envelope with gold coins to match the number on the front. The children also got very creative and made paper
lanterns, fans, paper chain decorations, firework art and dancing dragons.
In our topic of ‘Mini-beasts’ the children have been listening intently to our class topic books and turned into bug
hunters themselves, looking for creepy crawlies that may have been lurking in our garden area. Our role play area came
to life with lots of bugs to be found in amongst the jungle atmosphere.
Beware of the creepy crawlies lurking in Pre-Nursery…
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FOUNDATION
NEWS
BSN Idol
By Raj Gill – Foundation Stage Leader
There was a buzz of excitement, as some of the children from Pre-Nursery, Nursery and Reception were getting ready
to participate in our Foundation Stage BSN Idol! We had a variety of amazing acts and the children put on a fantastic
performance in front of their parents and the Parents and Toddlers group. Some of the toddlers also joined in too! The
children showed off their skills in dancing and playing instruments. The wonderful acts showed how incredibly talented
and confident the children are and everyone was so proud of their brilliant performances. All the children who took
part in the Foundation Stage BSN Idol received a certificate of participation. Well done Foundation Stage! With all this
talent, we may even see some of your names up in lights!
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FOUNDATION
NEWS
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Reception News
Collage
By Adeline Sutherland – Deputy Head
The children in our Reception class have been experimenting with using lots of different
materials during their topic-work sessions. They made a collage of the various shops and
buildings found in a busy city. For their collage, the children used different types of card,
pasta, rice, noodles and paint to represent the chosen shop.
During the sea-life topic, the children used different types of fabrics, paper, pipe-cleaners
and paint to make collages of different sea-life creatures. Whilst making their collage of seacreatures, the children developed and refined their fine-motor skills. The children traced,
cut, placed, stuck and painted, skills which allowed them to experiment with a variety of
materials, textures and shapes. The wonderful collages enhance the children’s creativity and
imagination.
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FOUNDATION
NEWS
Colourful sounds
Vanessa Medecin - Music and Movement Teacher
Vivaldi’s violins singing like birds (“Spring”)… Haendel’s horns blowing a dance for the
Royalty (“Water Music”)… Kabalevsky’s xylophone amusing the crowd (“The Comedians’
Galop”)… What a programme in Music and Movement!
During this half-term the little children in Foundation Stage investigate and explore timbre
(characteristic sound quality, or “colour”) and texture (layers of sound).
In class, the children learn more about the way instruments produce sound and sound effects,
and about families of instruments and their different roles in an orchestra.
They enjoy some fantastic music such as “Peter and the Wolf ” (Prokofiev), a symphonic story
in which every instrument represents a character. They have fun with a lot of listening games
and dance to the sound of their favourite orchestral pieces.
The children also have the opportunity to try playing a few notes on a ukulele, and the privilege
to listen to Mrs Naradikian play the clarinet for them.
Of course, “classroom-orchestra practice” takes an important place in this unit, with all the
children playing small percussions, plus xylophones in Nursery and recorders in Reception.
In addition, the children learn about instruments from other musical cultures, and explore
lots of types of sounds: body percussions, voices, environmental sounds and noises…
Music is everywhere to whoever can hear it: some composers even “recycle” pre-recorded
sounds to make music!
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PRIMARY
NEWS
Life Cycles
By CLARE CANNON - Year 1 Teacher
Year 1C have been working on their Science unit,
‘Life Cycles’. The students investigated the life cycles
of various plants, amphibians and insects. They also
identified the differences they observed between the
life cycles of butterflies, ladybirds and frogs.
The topic was introduced to the students with an
examination of the life cycle of a ladybird. The students
viewed a model of a ladybird with a magnifying glass
and discussed their observations. They watched an
interesting time-lapse video showing this life cycle
and completed interactive activities on the Activboard. During the following weeks they
investigated the life cycle of a butterfly, frog and dragonfly in a similar way.
The students also examined the life cycle of a plant, in particular a sunflower, and detected the
differences between the life cycle of insects and plants. They also went on a discovery walk to
explore the various plants and trees that inhabit our school. The students collected a variety of
samples to look at more closely when they returned to the classroom.
The students worked together during art lessons to create an amazing display, showing the life
cycles of some of the insects and plants they have been learning about.
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PRIMARY
NEWS
Learning Alongside Students
By Nicola Birch – Year 1 Teacher
Although we are a British School, it is important that the children at BSN feel part of the culture
of the country that they live in. Since this is my first year in China I have been fascinated to
learn alongside Year 1 all about the celebrations surrounding Chinese New Year. Rehearsals for
the Chinese New Year Performance started early this term and I was thrilled to see everyone
in 1B participate with zest and enthusiasm. Children enjoyed dressing in traditional Chinese
clothes and learning about the customs and stories behind Chinese New Year, particularly the
legend of ‘The Great Race’. After seeing many fireworks and experiencing a very quiet city (as
many people in Nanjing went home to celebrate the New Year with their family) we returned
to school and children made paper lanterns to mark the end of the celebrations. As you can
see they measured carefully and enjoyed decorating their lanterns. Hopefully these came in
handy during the Lantern Festival!
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PRIMARY
NEWS
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Year Two Crack the da Vinci Code!
By Matthew Jones – Primary School Leader
Year Two have been learning about the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci in their Humanities
topic, Famous People. The children discovered how Leonardo was raised on his grandparents’
farm before becoming one of the world’s greatest artists and inventors. They learnt how
Leonardo did not go to school as a child but developed his understanding of the world by
asking lots of questions.
The children were fascinated by the story of his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa.
Originally commissioned as a portrait of the wife of a wealthy merchant, Lisa Gherardini,
rumour has it that da Vinci took so long to complete the work that he ended up keeping it
for himself. The painting was given to da Vinci’s patron and close friend, King Francois I of
France and it passed through the French royal family until it was acquired by Napoleon after
the French revolution. It was later donated to the Louvre gallery where it still hangs today.
The painting has captured the imagination of millions and inspired many songs, books
and movies. It also inspired our Year Two Spring assembly which told the story from the
perspectives of da Vinci (played by Petr and Edoardo) and Ms. Gherardini (played by Helena).
As you can see by the pictures, the assembly certainly brought a smile to everyone’s faces!
PRIMARY
NEWS
Lights, Camera, Action!
By Tom Birch – Year 3 Teacher
This term, Year 3 have taken their first steps into the glamorous world of film-making. Inspired by our recent work in
literacy lessons, we decided to retell the Ancient Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice using very modern techniques.
First of all the children storyboarded the main events in the myth, writing sentences to describe the action. Then
each child worked in a small group to write a script for a short scene, including dialogue and stage directions.
We then set about constructing the scene, and characters. We made two sets: one of the Ancient Greek countryside,
and one of the underworld, complete with creepy-crawlies and cobwebs (and the famous River Styx).
Children then performed the scripts several times to practise their delivery. We included a few ukulele chords to
recreate the sound of Orpheus’ lyre, and then it was time for lights, camera… and Action! Miss Petty used her skills
honed in Filmmaking Club to record using iMovie on an iPad, and edited together the scenes with transitions and
voiceovers. The finished result looks very professional and we all very much enjoyed watching the ‘world premiere’
on Friday afternoon.
It was a hugely enjoyable project for us all. It is an interesting fact that Orpheus and Eurydice was the subject of one
of the first operas ever written: ‘L’Orpheo’ by Monteverdi. Keep your eyes peeled – because who knows, maybe our
own film version of the story will be coming soon to a cinema near you!
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PRIMARY
NEWS
Read Around The World
By Rob Crook – Year 4 Teacher
Read Around the World, the geography-based Year 4 reading scheme, is in full swing as many of the students have
completed up to three continents! The initiative rewards students for their reading outside of school and, through
the completion of weekly activities, provides the class with an opportunity to critically think about the books that
they take home.
A single session of reading earns each pupil 50 air dollars; and weekly activities, dependent on quality and effort,
can earn up to $250! This money is used to purchase stickers that feature some of the world’s most famous locations
and are placed inside the students’ travel album. Children in Year 4
are encouraged to read between five and seven times a week at home
and their individual progression is also monitored and supported in
observed library sessions whilst in school.
So far, the popular continents have proven to be Europe – whose
many countries are affordable at $350, and Africa – the continent
that contains only four locations and provides the children with the
chance to complete a whole region quickly.
This exciting race has seen a marvellous response from each student
and everyone in the group is showing great encouragement to keep
up the hard work with rumour of a mysterious extension to the
format for those who complete their reading albums first.
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PRIMARY
NEWS
The Willow Pattern
By Sonia Bradley – Year 5 Teacher
Friday, 22 February saw the Year 5 Assembly. This term the class has been looking at stories
from other cultures, concentrating significantly on stories from the Arab nations. For their
assembly, however, they decided to tell a traditional story from China. The story was that of
‘The willow Pattern Plate’.
Through story, song and dance the students told the story or Kong-Se the daughter of a
wealthy Chinese Mandarin. He wanted her to marry a rich man but she had no interest in
money and wanted to marry for love. Kong-Se fell in love with their gardener Chang and as
you can imagine this did not go down well with her father. In the end the young couple ran
away but they were chased by her father’s men. They got trapped in a small pagoda and the
pagoda was set on fire. But, fortunately, the Garden Spirits turned them both into immortal
white birds and they flew away.
Year Five put on a show with elegant dancing from our spirits, a few Kung Fu moves from
the warriors, some wonderful singing from the Guards and great storytelling and acting from
everyone else. They finished the show by handing out fortune cookies to all the parents.
We would like to thank Dr Hua for coming into school and teaching the children the Kung Fu.
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LANGUAGE
NEWS
German
Learning About Germany
By Elizabeth Ellerman – German Specialist
The German students in Year Two and Three are currently learning about German geography.
They are doing this by creating a board game together, which allows them to ‘travel’ through
Germany to find out about different cities and areas and what kind of sights they have. So far
they have learned that Germany is divided in 16 Bundeslaender (counties) and that each of
them has its own capital. They are currently looking at the Bremer Stadtmusikanten and the
Rattenfaenger von Hameln and other fairy tale settings around Germany. They are creating
question and answer cards about each thing they learn so that, at the end of the unit, they can
play the board game together.
Maybe you would like to see how much you know about Germany? Here are some example
questions from the students. I translated them into English for you:
What is the capital of Germany?
Name three Bundeslaender (counties)!
Where do the Bremer Stadtmusikanten come from?
What do people in Bavaria like to eat?
(Answers: Berlin – Hamburg, Thueringen, Bayern, etc. - Bremen – Weisswurst)
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LANGUAGE
NEWS
EAL
EAL Environments
By Piers Hunday – EAL Teacher
This is my fourth year teaching in China and each year has been completely different to the
last. When I first arrived I taught in a Chinese middle school on the outskirts of Guangzhou
and was introduced to my classroom of over 40 students and then my 17 classes: around 700
students in total and a real baptism of fire for this EAL teacher! I’m always thankful for those
times as it taught me invaluable skills of classroom management, differentiation and to create
open-ended tasks for a wide range of abilities. My students were polite, hard-working and
very curious to talk to me and find out about Western culture so it was an easy decision to
stay on and continue teaching here in China. In the British School of Nanjing we are lucky
in many respects to have a plethora of teaching resources at our disposal and technology
to aid our classes. It is an ideal environment to build a child’s fluency and confidence in the
English language. We work with small groups and are able to give them time and support that
in a Chinese school wouldn’t be possible. In two months working for the school I have seen
a drastic improvement in many of the EAL students’ English already and it’s a pleasure to
witness. With these tools integration becomes so much easier. From class assemblies to banter
over the lunch table, the students are clearly settling in well and enjoying life in the melting
pot that is our school. Long may it continue in the coming weeks and months.
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LANGUAGE
NEWS
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Chinese New Year
CHINESE NEW YEAR!
By Chu Laoshi – Chinese Language Specialist
Chinese New Year is the longest and the most important festival in the Chinese calendar. Also
known as “Spring Festival”, “春节” (pinyin: chūn jié), it marks the end of the winter season.
The spring season is essential to China, with its large agriculture society and its history of
farming dating back over 6000 years. At this time therefore the Chinese people celebrate the
coming of the spring and look for favourable weather for the coming year and a guaranteed
good harvest.
This Year at the British School of Nanjing we celebrated the arrival of the year of the Snake.
On Friday, 8th February 2013, the whole school, students, staff, parents and friends gathered
together in Jiangning Exhibition Hall.
The hall was filled with traditional Chinese New Year photos and decorations. The students,
dressed up in their best Chinese costumes, had worked very hard to practise their pieces for
the show and were excited about the performance.
The martial arts performance by Reception children was both adorable and delightful and the
Year 2 and 3 students used traditional Chinese rhymes to tell the story of how to prepare for
the Chinese New Year. Girls in Year 4 and 5 performed a brilliant dance to share their New
Year resolutions while Year 6 and 7 students let everyone know the importance of learning
Chinese in an interesting and amusing sketch. The wonderful performance and the talents of
the students thrilled everyone. We are sure the Year of Snake is going to be great one for BSN
and all our students!
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SPORTS
NEWS
Anyone for Tennis?
By Daniel Aylward – Head of Sports
This term students in primary school have started playing tennis. Over the coming weeks the
children will be given various challenges to balance the ball, send the ball, and keep rallies
going with partners.
Areas covered in the module include:
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catching
Sending
Balancing
Holding a racquet
Underhand serves
Overhead serves
Returning a serve
Rallying
Tennis is such a great sport as all skills learnt are transferable and promote excellent hand-eye
coordination. There are psychological benefits too, as students will develop both a work ethic
as practice reinforces the value of hard work and a sense of discipline as students learn to work
on skills in practice.
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MUSIC
NEWS
Update!
By Timo McVey – Head of Music
It has been almost a month since BSN Idol
and I would like to congratulate all those who
auditioned and took part on the day. Marine
Cazamian from Year 6 was awarded the title
of BSN Idol 2013 for her performance of
“trouble is a friend” on the guitar and vocals.
A well done to our two runners up, Chelsie
Wei, Year 6 and Cooper Bond, Year 4.
BSN Idol is always a fun packed morning and
it was great to see so many well rehearsed
acts and I am now looking forward to seeing what next year’s BSN Idol has in store.
Audition places for scholarships are filling up fast and students are busy practising their pieces
ready for their performances. The scholarship places are open to all students from Year 1 up
and they cover the cost of instrumental tuition for a whole academic year from the time the
scholarship is awarded.
We have 5 scholarships to give out next term to students who have demonstrated a commitment
to their chosen instrument of study. Please contact Mr McVey for details about available
auditions. Students who are not awarded a scholarship this time around are encouraged to keep
practising and re-apply at the beginning of the next academic year when more scholarships
will be offered.
All students will move to 30 minute lessons for Primary and 40 minute lessons for Middle
School next term.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL
NEWS
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From Cold Fronts to the Cold War…
By Frederic Greenall – Humanities Specialists
If anyone had asked Year 8, they would have explained that Mr. Greenall accurately predicted
the current bad weather over two weeks ago, saying something about a cold front and a strong
anti-cyclone passing over. But nobody bothered to consult the Geography teacher, so Year 8
students diligently studied different weather patterns and climate maps instead. What is the
difference between weather and climate anyway? Year 8 can tell you!
Meanwhile, Year 6 pupils have been studying how the sea and weathering is affecting Britain’s
coast, creating landforms such as headlands, caves, arches and stacks. To reinforce this
learning, Year 6 pupils made ‘lift-the-flap’ diagrams to explain the processes of chemical,
biological and mechanical weathering, as well as corrasion (not corrosion – that would be
Science!). Marine Cazamian even earned a merit for her excellent work [inset].
In History, Year 9 have been waging Nuclear War (at least that’s what they’ve been calling
their snowball fights)! They have just finished reviewing the rising tensions between the USA
and USSR during the Cold War and are about to dive into the Bay of Pigs . . . metaphorically
speaking.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
NEWS
Curiosity
By Richard Mands – Science Specialist
Science is very much at the forefront of the world we live in. It is my hope that our students will
be able to make a contribution themselves one day. Every day I read about new and exciting
discoveries that have the potential to make our world a better place. A great example of this
was the algae powered lamps that use up much more carbon dioxide than a living tree does.
These could replace street lamps and help prevent global warming at the same time! How cool
is that? It is examples such as this that I hope will inspire our students and remind them that
science is done by people like them. As long as we can encourage them to remain curious and
diligent, then anything is possible. Maybe I’ll be able to read about a discovery one day made
by someone I have taught. What a day that will be!
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MIDDLE SCHOOL
NEWS
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Fun with Factors
By Daniel Mazz – Maths Specialist
The Year 6 students have been working hard developing their understanding of factoring
numbers in their factors. Recently, we played a game in class to test the students’ skill and
accuracy to find all the factors for a certain set of numbers. However, some tricks were inside
the game board to make the game ‘easier’. On each game board that had been passed around,
the last column was always a set of prime numbers, a number only divisible by 1 and itself!
Thereby saving students time to work on the more challenging questions. Here we can see
Year 6 being timed as they attempt to solve their questions! The pressure is on.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
NEWS
Fishing through the past.
By Matthew Bradley – Middle School Leader
Looking back over the past few years, it is amazing how much we change. Sometimes it is
little things- a slimming of a face, a new freckle. At other times it can be more pronounced- a
change in hairstyle, a new scar. It is partially these changes that separate us from who we are
now from who we were before. But they tell a tale about who we have been, where we have
gone...
Language has very similar traits. It gets battered by usage yet it holds a rich history. The very
word ‘English’ describes the language initially used by the English, from England. Simple. Yet
the Angles (original English) were a Germanic invader. So we find English has a large number
of similar words and cognates dating back to the origins of the language. And why were they
called ‘Angles’? Well purportedly because where they lived, on the Jutland Coast, was shaped
like a fish hook, or ‘angle’.
And so it is that some students have been looking back at some of the older texts from English,
from Beowulf to Chaucer, from the Dream of the Rood to Shakespearian Sonnets, looking
to find meaning and understanding in what might initially appear to be a foreign language.
There is a rich heritage to be found in a language and I hope each takes their own curio to
remember from these great texts.
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ART
NEWS
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What’s in a building?
By Caroline Shephard – Art Specialist
During the Spring Term, the children in Year
Seven explored their ideas and feelings about
buildings and their experiences of walking
through spaces. They recorded interesting
features, such as doorways, arches, windows,
porches and courtyards. In particular,
the made several studies from Canaletto’s
masterpiece, ‘Stonemason’s Yard’, focusing
on the stonemason’s building and Gaertner’s,
‘The Friedrichsgracht, Berlin’, focusing on the
geometric precision of the zinc roof in the
foreground. The students used their iPads to
take complementary photos in the style of the
work of Canaletto and Gaetner to develop their
own compositional work based on buildings.
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