December Events Calendar

 Click here for important events coming up.

We always want to continue to improve events offered for your children. Your feedback on the Guy Fawkes Evening and the Fall Festival 2009 is important to us. Take a minute and click here to complete a QUICK on-line survey. Thank you!

Interested in Car Pooling? Send your name and area that you live to focusbsw@britishschool.org

A Focus on Learning - Years 3 to 6

A Message from Jo Saunders, Primary Learning Leader

As a team, our thoughts over the past 3 weeks have been filled with Cinders! During rehearsals we posed the following questions to the children. “The purpose of Cinders, our play, is to entertain but what else are we learning or practising during rehearsals? Is everyone learning or just the people with lines to say? Their responses were very impressive, making direct reference to their IPC Personal learning goals.

“I have been practising respect and thoughtfulness by sitting listening to others” Isaac T Year 5

“I have been practising co-operation by working with others” Michaela I Year 3

“I have been practising patience and my community learning goals by learning my part and helping others” Katie B Year 5

“I have been practising adaptability because things keep changing and we have to just do it and not complain” Shukura B Year 6

These were just a few of the many responses. We are proud that our pupils are able to make connections about all aspects of their learning. Albert Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Having the opportunity to be creative gives children curiosity and confidence. It raises their self-esteem, self-belief and helps them develop new tools with which to communicate, transfer and adapt in all areas of life.

At the simplest level we hope you enjoyed the show as entertainment. As teachers we not only enjoyed the sheer pleasure of creating a quality performance but we have the great professional satisfaction of seeing growth in so many other ways for so many children.

Editor's Note: Did you know that Jo Saunders wrote "Cinders"  herself with a friend? 

A Focus on Performing Arts Activities - Years 3 to 6

Cinders- A Musical Review by Simon A. Bird, English Teacher

A holiday can be defined as a time of happiness, celebration, good humor and, if fortunate, sheer unadulterated pleasure. I had a holiday experience when watching Monday’s matinee performance of the KS2 pantomime Cinders, where vast forces were skillfully and imaginatively marshaled by BSW’s own answer to Cecil B de Mille, Josephine Saunders

With a witty script that avoided the usual clichés – although the necessary traditional elements such as hissing the villain(esses), cries of ‘he’s behind you/Oh no he isn’t/Oh yes he is and a couple of local allusions – the afternoon sped by.

A key element in the success of the whole production was the musical support given by Scott McCall and Heather Jacob which was well integrated dramatically into the action with first-rate choral singing from all and some excellent solos – one of the best being Ijaz whose pure tones and heartfelt feeling made a considerable impact.

In terms of acting, Evelyn confidently held the stage when required while Lalla brought icy effectiveness to the role of the Evil Stepmother and Ethan as Cinders’ father was sweetly ineffectual (this is a compliment!) However, the scene-stealing was done by the two stepsisters played, disconcertingly effectively, by Alejandro and Charlie.  They gave the audience as much enjoyment as they were clearly having and through voice, movement and gesture created vividly repulsive personalities.

Dance played its part with a ‘thrillering’ ball sequence including a witty tribute to the UK. A happy success by all concerned. 

Cinders - A Musical Review by Katie B, Student in Year 5 York

I was a mouse in the Key stage 2 pantomime – Cinders. It was so much fun going to all of the rehearsal and acting in the play. At first, I didn’t think that Cinderella would learn all of her lines and we would never learn the songs, but it turned out great in the end.

We started by learning the songs during our music lessons and auditioned for parts. I was so excited when I heard that I was a mouse. We had a lot of fun with the play and we completed many of our learning goals: respect for other people when performing, co-operation to put on a performance all together, resilience through all of the rehearsals, adaptability when someone was off sick and communication to share the story clearly and with expression.

See photos of the the Cinders production in our Photo Gallery.

A Focus on Primary Curriculum Enrichment Activities

Years 5 and 6 Visit Politics and Prose Bookshop to Listen to British Author Anthony Horowitz

On November 24th, Year 5 and 6 visited the Politics and Prose Bookshop to visit author Anthony Horowitz, who was there to talk about his newest book, Crocodile Tears. The main character, Alex Rider is a boy whose uncle died in a car accident. The only thing Alex thought he knew about his uncle was that he was a banker, but it turns out that his uncle was a spy that works for MI6. As Anthony Horowitz said himself “The Alex Rider series made my life different.”

Later, he was asked by a school student which book was his favourite. His answer, ”Which son is your mother’s favourite? It is as hard for me to choose my favourite book between all I have written, but I would properly say that the first Alex Rider book (Stormbreaker) is my favourite of all them I have written.”

He shared with us a lot of tips about how to be a writer for example: If somebody is in your way and tells you that you’re not good at writing stories, just ignore them. Secondly, if you want to be a great writer, write a bit every day and finally go out and explore things to get inspiration, you have to have experience to be able to write.   

Hannah  -Year 6 New York 

A Focus on Teachers

Getting to Know Scott McCall, Chair of Arts Faculty & Music Coordinator

I have been coordinating Music at BSW since August 2008. I studied in Durham then began my teaching career in London. Before joining BSW I spent four years in a co-ed independent school in Newcastle. Although a secondary specialist, I teach Music to students across the school. I am currently chair of Arts at BSW, which includes responsibility for overseeing the development of learning as well as subject collaborations, across Art, Music and PE.

I come from Newcastle upon Tyne in the north of England, though the accent disappeared years ago. I wanted to move overseas, and the opportunity to live and work in DC was too good to miss. I have had a fantastic first year working in DC, experiencing a wide variety of interesting and exciting opportunities.

You might not be surprised to learn that a good number of my interests revolve around music, in particular, singing. I have been singing with a choir in DC which involved being part of a major concert earlier this year at the Kennedy Centre. I have been playing the piano since the age of six. I am a Catholic and attend St Matthew’s Cathedral in DC. Recently, I joined their ESL programme as a volunteer teacher. One of my personal aims this year is to get involved in some local theatre, as well as increase my participation in sport activities … just a little.

A Focus on Visual Arts Activities - Years 11 to 13

Students in Years 11-13 went to the Corcoran Gallery of Art on a very special mission. Read more....

Our main purpose for the trip was to view Edward Burtynsky’s photography exhibition entitled ‘Oil’. Burtynsky’s work is divided into 3 sections, the extraction, distribution and uses of oil. Each photograph is individual and eye-catching whether it’s due to the vibrant colour, contrast, use of line and pattern or even just the size, coming in at 2 by 5 feet per image.

What amazed me was the ability to capture the setting so effectively, capturing both horror and beauty depending on how you viewed the image. In addition to this, the detail captured was unbelievable. An aerial view covering hundreds of square feet and the marks made by tires in the dust were still viewable.

After viewing the exhibition we were involved in a workshop in the basement, putting forward what we had learnt from Burtynsky and our personal interpretations. With the materials available we had to make a collage. We could reflect on Burtynsky’s exhibition however we wanted whether it was demonstrating the effect of mankind on earth or looking positively, what beauty there still is and how we can preserve it. The task brought about a sense of excitement, everyone rearing to snag the images they had spotted first and produced some fabulous results.

The trip as a whole was beneficial to our studies, but was also something that we enjoyed taking part in, had fun doing so and would definitely recommend the exhibition to anyone.

Nicolle C. - Year 13

A Focus on Thanksgiving with an International Twist

Nursery Celebrates Thanksgiving in a Creative Way as Part of their IPC Food Topic

A Thank You from Jo O'Grady, Nursery Coordinator - A HUGE thank you to all the Nursery parents for their food contributions for our ‘Thanksgiving Feast’ to link in with our IPC food topic. We were learning about food from different countries and we found out the names of the food and where the foods were from.

We had food from 14 different countries and all the children knew which their food was and its name and told the other children about it. The Nursery children also developed their exploration skills of finding out and trying different foods. The children were very good at trying lots of different foods and really enjoyed them. We had a brilliant morning and it was very interesting to see such a range of foods from around the world and learn the names of them.

A sample of our foods were Fatera (Kuwait) Shortbread, Jammie Dodgers, Mince Pies and Treacle pudding (UK), Traditional Finnish dish, Black Eyed Peas (South Africa), Persian ice cream and Toot candies (Persia), Kolaczki (Poland), Pao de Quiajo and Guarana (Brazil), Samosas and Pakoras (India), Onigiri (Japan) Cornbread and Pancakes (USA) Belgian Waffles (Belgium), Rogaliki (Russia), Hagelslag, Kruid nootjes and dutch sandwiches (Netherlands), Arepas (Columbia) and Salad Olivier (Iran).

We could not let the children taste such a lovely selection of foods from around the world without the fantastic continued support from the Nursery parents. Thank you!

A Focus on Health

 A Note from Sara-Jane Dennis, Our Health Administrator

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I have uploaded all the medical forms you should ever need on to the website! If there is any thing missing or something you would find useful please do let me know. Click here to review all the new medical forms.

Parent's Corner

Attention Parents of Performers:  Refreshments Needed for Musical Evening December 7

On Monday evening, December 7th, we will be having an evening of music performances to ring in the holiday season, celebrating the talents of the Junior choir, the Cantus Britannicus, and the Girls' Singing Group, and including featured performances by various year 10 students. The programme will begin promptly at 6:30 pm and will last 75 to 90 minutes.

We were hoping to have a refreshments table for parents and performers to enjoy after the show. In this season of sharing, we were hoping to ask families of performers to bring a little something to contribute to the spread, which will be modest, as we expect most of you will have eaten prior to the show.

Could we ask the following:

If your surname begins with the letters: A - G - could you please bring: sweet treats for 12?

If your surname begins with the letters H - L - could you please bring: cider or juice for 10?

If your surname begins with the letters M - R - could you please bring water for 10 (individual bottles or gallon sized)?

If your surname begins with the letters S - Z - could you please bring a dozen paper plates each?

We will provide the coffee and tea service, napkins, cups and plastic spoons, and dress the table in a festive way! We look forward to seeing you there and celebrating the gifts of our superbly talented students!