BISI Newsletter May 2012 - British International School

MAY 2012
Forty First Edition
BISI COMMUNITY
NEWSLETTER
GUIDING STATEMENT OF
THE BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ISTANBUL
The British International School Istanbul provides a caring
international environment, fostering cultural diversity. Individual
students achieve their full academic potential, inspired to become
lifelong learners and responsible citizens of the global community.
YOUR COMMUNITY!
YOUR NEWS!
1
Message from the Pre/Primary School
May News
We have been out and about visiting different schools, attending conferences and recruitment fairs
this month. Amanda was part of a CIS Accreditation Team visit for a school in Brussels. Our visit
from a CIS Accreditation Team will be in February 2013. Amanda also attended the COBIS conference in London where over a hundred head teachers meet from different British International
schools across the world. Speakers attend the conference and many seminars on current educational developments are held. Richard went recruiting in London; we now have all the new teachers we need for next year.
The Year 5 students and teachers returned safely from Space Camp in Izmir. The children’s behavior was exemplary. They had a lot of fun but also learned a lot too. Well done Year 5! Year 2 have
also been very busy this month out and about in Istanbul. They visited Rumeli Hisari, the Panorama Museum and the Belgrade forest. Reception classes went to the Kilyos market and also visited
the Belgrade forest. The Year 3 classes visited the Suleymaniye Mosque, and Year 4 to Miniaturk,
to further their studies.
Fun Day will be held on Saturday 9 June from 11:00- 15:00 at the Zekeriyakoy Campus. Therefore,
we have only two Fun Day Fridays remaining; Friday 1 June and Friday 8 June! Your children can
wear their own clothes on these two Fridays as a return for a little bit of help. Please ask your children to tidy out their toy cupboards and bring in second hand toys and games on Friday 1 June to
sell on the White Elephant stall for Fun Day- remember; Recycle, Reuse, Renew. On Friday 8 June,
the children will be given an ‘IOU Cake Voucher’ as a promise that they will bring in a cake on Saturday 9 June to sell on the Cake Stall. The Fun Day profits raised will go to our chosen school
charities of Unicef, Send a Cow, Baba Beni Okula Gonder and local school projects.
The EYFS Sports Day was held on Friday 4 May. The children had to complete many activities on
the field, for example riding a tricycle, carrying water to a bucket, parachute games, and playing in
the ball pool. Well done children! Thank you to Miss Yana and the PE department for organizing a
great morning. The parents were then invited for a delicious barbeque in the playground.
Finally, we would like to say congratulations to the BISI Graduates. The Graduation Ceremony held
on Wednesday 23 May was very moving. It is such a pleasure to see our students grow up and
leave the school to attend university. Well done to you all; we wish you all the best for your future.
Amanda Ilhan
Pre and Primary Deputy Director
Richard I’Anson
Pre and Primary Director
2
Zek EYFS - Sports Day
After the high drama of last year’s EYFS Sports Day being postponed twice
due to appalling weather conditions, there was a slight sense of trepidation
this year as to what the state of play may be on the morning of Friday 4th
May. Thankfully the weather behaved impeccably, allowing events to kick off
on the green field at 10 o’clock with an energising warm-up session led my
Miss Yana.
In a similar vein to last year, each class negotiated a series of sport activities
assembled around the field, rotating anti-clockwise from station to station
when instructed by Miss Bell over the PA system. Events included bicycle,
water and baton relays, an obstacle course and balancing balls on a large parachute. Any flagging athletes in need of water, a rest or a quick chat with mum
were revived at drink stations set up between activities. As ever, the morning
finale was the famous mums and dads race (100metre sprint down the length
of the field) much to the great hilarity, or in some cases, extreme embarrassment of the children, although the jury is still out as to which parent actually
won either race.
All the children were then presented with medals for their excellent participation and impressive sport achievements, before making their way to the EYFS
playground with their parents en masse for a celebratory barbecue to
acknowledge the morning’s resounding success. A fantastic morning was had
by all.
Many thanks to the active participation of a small group of Secondary students who manned each sport station, encouraging and assisting the children
to negotiate each activity safely. On behalf of the children, thank you for the
impressive amount of parental support each class received on the field. Your
sustained interest and cheerful appreciation of their efforts was really important to them and boosted their morale considerably.
Abi Kılıçoğlu
3
Zek EYFS - Sports Day - continued
4
Zek Reception
As part of our Physical Development-Health and Self Care topic we transformed our classroom into Clinics for Animals, Babies and Superheroes, complete with doctors, nurses, receptionists, ill patients and worried parents.
The students completely immersed themselves into their roles and discussed their beloved toys’ ailments and decided on appropriate treatments. The receptionists scheduled appointment times for patients to meet doctors and for
surgery times to occur.
The students enjoyed their topic immensely and many of their skills were demonstrated during their play.
Heather Caron
5
Etiler Primary—Year 4
Van Gogh Exhibition
On Wednesday 9th of May the Etiler Campus children went to one of
the most exciting art exhibitions at the Modern Istanbul museum in
Kabatas.
The Vincent Van Gogh art exhibition was all digitalised and was projected on big screens in one GIANT room!! :)
All the children were amazed by the pictures because they faded into
each other and were always moving. Some of our favourite paintings
were the Starry Night, The Sunflower and his bedroom. When we went
back to school we painted Van Gogh pictures using his technique with
the dots. we couldn't believe that one of the worlds greatest artists managed to make over 2000 paintings in 10 years and only sold 1 of them!
By So Yong, Esha, Aman
Year 4G
6
Zek Primary– Year 4
Year 4’s Trip to Miniaturk
On Wednesday 23rd May year 4 took a trip to Miniaturk to look at Ancient Greek inspired architecture. Here
are our impressions of the day:
“The day was extremely hot, we were baking like shish kebabs in a hot oven”. Togay - 4T
“It was like we were in a helicopter because everything was so tiny”. Ana - 4T
“A fun part was when I listened to information about Artemis’ temple. It was so funny”. Tara - 4T
My favourite was the model of Capadocia. I really liked it. It
had little people in hot air balloons. Elene - 4T
7
Zek Primary—Year 4 - continued
It was so much fun it felt like we were giants. Lauren - 4T
Miniaturk had miniature landmarks that could be found
in all of Turkey. Ataturk airport was phenomenal and
very detailed. Tim and Malik - 4SS
We also loved the Bosphorus bridge and the Olympic
arena which had the most amazing small details.
Marcos and Sweder - 4SS
8
Zek Primary—Year 4 - continued
We saw many amazing miniature landmarks and places. The weather was fabulous and the sun was shining.
Julia W. and Giulia - 4SS
We saw Parliament building, the Bosphorus bridge and an amazing replica of Galata Tower.
Ecehan - 4SS
We absolutely loved the mini Cappadocia with the colourful hot air balloons floating above the rocky fairy
chimneys and the people looked like ants staring into the cloudy sky.
Helin and Ga Hyun - 4SS
We thought Miniaturk was great fun and it is a great idea because not everyone can travel around Turkey
but they can if they visit Miniaturk.
Polly and Julia K.
9
Zek Primary—Year 5
Space Camp
Space Camp has become a Year 5 tradition. This year Miss Fox, Miss Prior and
myself, Mr Dave took 38 students to the lovely purpose-built facilities located in
Izmir. As a space and science education centre, Space Camp Turkey is primarily
focused on motivating young people from around the world in pursuing careers in
science, math and technology. Through interactive, space-related simulations,
both students and teachers also learn about communication, teamwork and leadership in a dynamic, fun-filled environment. The simulators were machines, computer programs and space shuttle instruments designed to give participants the
sensations of working and living in space. There were plenty of other activities
too, discussions and experiences to educate and inspire about life in space.
It was such a fun experience for everyone. It will be happening again next year starting
with Miss Beth from Space Camp coming up in November to talk to next years Year 5
parents about the program.
Dave Scarf
10
Zek Secondary — Year 5 - continued
11
Message from the Director of Secondary
Can it really be June already? The year has simply flown by and will be over in no time at all! But this is the
May newsletter and May is, of course, a very important month in the life of Secondary School; this is the
month of IB and IGCSE examinations, a month in which concentration is very high on the agenda for our senior students. The reward, at least for Year 13, is Graduation and this year our seventeen Year 13 students
made everyone proud of them at the Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2012.
Graduation is the single most important event in the school year and it is something that our students spend
thirteen years working towards. So on Wednesday the 23rd of May our Graduands elegantly stepped through
the doors of the Administration building and took the slow and measured walk to their allotted positions before
being called up onto the stage to receive their BISI Diploma, no longer school children but adults eager to get
on with the next phase of their lives. Parents and siblings, friends and teachers gathered for the ceremony in
which we honour these young ladies and gentlemen for their achievements.
Once again the school was happy to be host to Her Excellency Mrs Jessica Hand, the Consul General of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland who gave the Graduation Address and handed out the Diplomas. Sadly this will
be the last BISI Graduation that Jessica will be attending as she is moving on. She goes with the best wishes
of everyone at the school and our thanks for her help with various events throughout the last two years.
A tradition of BISI Graduation ceremonies is to have students perform and it would be impossible to mention
the ceremony this year without making mention of Jae Hyuk, Irina, Arda and Ji Won who all demonstrated the
fabulous wealth of talent we have in the school. Well done to all three of you for your wonderful performances on this important occasion. Of course, Jae and Irina will not be performing next year as they will themselves be graduating as part of the Class of 2013, but there is a lot of work to do before then!
Congratulations to each and every one of our Graduates this year:
Mohammed, Olga, Hyun Jun, Georgina, Danial, Susanne, Jake, Raghad, James,
Eylem, Peter, Jackie, Sinan, Hala, Afiny, Karine and Efe
Well done all of you, I wish you every success in your future endeavours.
William Bradley
Director of Secondary
12
Zek Secondary — Junior Volleyball
Istanbul Schools League
Middle School Volleyball Tournament
Thursday 26th April 2012 @ IICS
Junior Boys Volleyball Team
Junior Girls Volleyball Team
Niklas Kulekci
Arthur Langlet
Marius Mueller
Joshua Wyatt
Benjamin Bedoni
Ismar Klom
Mads Hemmingsen
Parrmys Noohi
Yu Jin Bang
Lieke Blanken
Serra Peker
Elena Vivaldi
Melis Topaz
Lauren Watson
Selin Dolay
RESULTS :
FINAL :
BISI v
25
25
IICS white
18
17
BISI v
14
26
15
IICS blue
25
25
9
BISI v
25
25
MEF
7
22
BISI v
25
16
13
20
RESULTS:
IICS blue
21
25
25
25
Our boys team played 3 matches in the tournament to finish
seeded 1st place.
BISI v
25
25
MEF B
4
6
BISI v
25
25
IICS blue
8
18
BISI v
25
25
MEF A
20
21
BISI
25
25
IICS white
20
23
v
Our girls team played 4 matches throughout the day with outstanding results.
They managed to win all games with an impressive 2 sets win.
Fantastic serving and teamwork from all.
This meant they challenged IICS blue again in the FINAL –
this was a tough match playing the best of 5 sets. We finished
with the 2nd place trophy!
BISI Istanbul Girls Sports League Champions 2012.
CONGRATULATIONS to all the players.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Sandra Scotland
13
Zek Secondary Junior Volleyball - continued
14
Zek Secondary—P.E. Department
15 students from BISI secondary school went to Enka on Thursday 19th May to compete in the final rounds of the i-Olympiad
track athletics competition (some are missing from the photo). For those who read the previous newsletter, you may know that
this is an event where the our students times and distances recorded for athletics after our sports day are entered into a central
database. Then, from the 6 schools that are participating in this trial competition (Israel, Athens, 2 from Madrid, Tunisia and
BISI), the top 10 athletes per events are then moved on to the finals round. A new set of times and distances need to be collected
from these students and then in June, we should see if any of our students finish in the top 3 for their event after all 6 schools
results have been received. Basically, we compete against other schools without the cost of travelling all over the world!
Next week, we will have the students who qualified, compete in their relevant field events but I will comment on this in the following newsletter. Hopefully by then, I will also know the top 3 students. Check out the June newsletter to find out the results.....
Attached is the list of students and the events they qualified in for the preliminary rounds.
Thanks!
PE Department
Jordan Poku-Gyanfi
Daav Meerdink
Weibe Willemsen
Alessandra Barberis
Laura Cole
Tolga Guven
Tobias Eckhardt
Ishmar Klomp
Sarah Orton
Ji Won Min
Laura Cole
Jordan Poku-Gyanfi
Zev Meerdink
Weibe Willemsen
Alessandra Barberis
Laura Cole
Zev Meerdink
Lauritz Bonnen
Carmelo Konmaz
Felix Mueller
Lauritz Bonnen
Serra Peker
Jana Al-Zawawi
Burak Akin
Pinar Oguz
Si Hyun Park
Jordan Poku-Gyanfi
Mare Blanken
Pinar Oguz
Ishmar Klomp
Leike Blanken
Orhan Akinci
Alessandra Barberis
Jordan Poku-Gyanfi
Jana Al-Zawawi
Sarah Orton
Pinar Oguz
Weibe Willemsen
Jordan Poku-Gyanfi
Parrmys Noohi
Arthur Langet
Oliver Deyhle
100m
100m
100m
100m
100m
1500m
1500m
1500m
1500m
1500m
1500m
200m
200m
200m
200m
200m
400m
400m
800m
800m
800m
800m
Discus
Discus
Discus
Discus
Discus
High Jump
High Jump
High Jump
High Jump
High Jump
Long Jump
Long Jump
Shot Put
Shot Put
Shot Put
Shot Put
Triple Jump
Triple Jump
Triple Jump
Triple Jump
15
Zek Secondary—Berlin, Auschwitz, Vienna Trip
Berlin Auschwitz Vienna Trip April 2012
Twenty-five students, three teachers, three cities, three hotels, two planes, four coaches and one huge blister - this proved to be a
mega BISI trip.
We started in Berlin, Germany. Our aim: to speak, eat and see as much Berlin as we could manage in two days. Leaving our luggage at The Generator Hostel in East Berlin we rushed across Berlin westwards on S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains to the Story of Berlin Museum. The Year 10 Boys won the Quiz Race – well done Batu E, Ramon, Kerem, Cem , Mingyu and Arda – and we descended 30 meters into the nuclear bunker built during the Cold War period. If anyone finds themselves in Berlin and nuclear war
breaks out, this place will keep you alive for another 30 days. Then the walking began passing the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate,
and Holocaust Memorial ending at our restaurant, Maxmillians. Some of our boys were even brave enough to eat the famous German white sausage filled with brains! Well, we didn’t get a chance to warn them before they finished up.
The second day began with short guided tours of the Jewish Museum focusing on Jewish life in Germany. Some of us were lucky
enough to sit in on an excellent string quartet rehearsing for their evening show. Can and Daav found the Currywurst Museum for
lunch, while we lounged at a fake beach at Checkpoint Charlie. Our second tour took in the sights of Cold War Berlin particularly
focusing on the Wall, which Mingyu tried to climb with help from Cem and Ramon. At the Death Strip we listened to stories about
Berliners who had tried unsuccessfully to escape the Wall, and at The East Side Gallery, one of the longest stretches of artwork in
the world, Hannah tried unsuccessfully to take a picture of every work – a total of 106 wall panels. Daav collapsed at the end of it
struggling with the biggest blister we had ever seen and Lara wanted to pay for a taxi for everybody as her feet simply gave up. In
the evening we stopped at Tacheles, a huge graffiti-strewn building housing counter-culture artists and their crafts, where Kerem
took some suitably aesthetic photographs. We eventually found our way back to the hostel late at night, though not too late for our
9th graders it seems.
Our third day was a rest day travelling the 600km to Krakow in southern Poland. Eight hours later, after some en-route snoring, we
arrived at our hostel, an amazing set of period-style apartments situated in Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter of the city. Nobody really
wanted to leave the apartments, as they were so nice, but we headed off for a walk around the Jewish Quarter and to a trendy burger bar for dinner. Day Four began with Auschwitz Concentration Camp, an hour and a half away from Krakow. The museum was
jammed packed with people from all over Europe as we trailed across the site witnessing the horrific remains from the Nazi Holocaust. Auschwitz Birkenau was a ten minute drive from the main camp. This is the Extermination Camp associated with the many
films depicting the Holocaust. Though much of the evidence for the mass-murders has been destroyed, Birkenau is darker and
more oppressive. It stands as a poignant testament documenting what human beings can be capable of doing to others. Leaving the
camps behind, we visited the historic centre of Krakow, where Batu E went missing in The Hard Rock Café, and in the evening we
returned to Kazimierz to eat Jewish food, potato kugel and kreplach accompanied by live Klezmer music, a comforting reminder
that Jewish people are returning to their homes in Poland.
The next day was set aside for travelling – this time six hours westwards through Czech Republic to Vienna. Our hostel was situated on the ‘Belt’ of the city, and we quickly checked in, leaving our luggage behind to see beautiful Stefansdom and to eat at the
famous Esterhazy Keller, the scene of 19th century revolutionary debate, fine Wiener Schnitzels and the first restaurant where Toby lost his passport and money. Day Six was set aside for Schonnbrun, the beautiful Rococo style palace of the Austrian Emperor.
The weather had picked up proving perfect for a visit to the Maze and Vienna Zoo. Justine, Baraa and Frances took three pandas
away with them, while Sibel carried a huge white panther with her for the rest of the trip. We ate a quick snack before we walked
up to Belvedere Palace, home of Klimt’s, The Kiss, but also some excellent realist paintings. We sent our budding student artists to
sketch their favourite paintings. Daav and Justine won prizes for their sketches. We decided to unwind in the evening at the opening night for The Avengers, when Toby realized he left his bag again the restaurant where we had just eaten.
Our last day in Vienna began early with some of us visiting the Natural History Museum, while others went to Sigmund Freud’s
House for some much needed psychoanalysis. We met up again to visit the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s House of Sound,
housing five floors of sound experiences. Some of us tried to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic, while others created their own
musical pieces. Batu O even bought a jaw harp and became quite good at it by the end of trip. With a couple of hours left in Vienna, the students demanded the right to shop. Lara and Gohar ran off for shoes, Chiara got her last bubble tea while the teachers
stocked up on souvenirs and Austrian chocolate. Then there was a quick dash to the airport giving Cem time to buy some expensive aftershave, an uneventful flight home and lastly waiting for ages for our luggage at Ataturk International.
All in all, a wonderfully exhausting experience. Thank you to those students who behaved impeccably throughout. They were a
real credit to the school. Finally a huge thank you must be extended to Mrs Azizoglu and Mr O’Hara for their immense effort and
support over the last few months.
Mr Somers
Continued…………………...
16
BERLIN
AUSCHWITZ
VIENNA
17
Zek Secondary—Science Week
Science Week may 14th to 18th
The Science Department recently held a week of spectacular events to raise awareness
and interest in Science. The annual Science Week is important for showing students
how Science applies to the real world and also to show how subjects link with each
other.
Years 7 to 9 had day trips, with Year 7 attending the new Istanbul Aquarium, Year 8
carrying out an ecological survey and Year 9 attending the Aviation Museuem. These
trips give opportunity to show how Science is related to other subjects with The Year 8
ecology trip also involving a Geography task and the Year 7 aquarium trip involving
the use of Turkish .
Themed Science lessons were given during the week including designing solar cookers
(Year 7), writing and performing a Science song (Year 8) and designing balloon powered cars (Year 9). Other activities during the week included a Science spelling competition, elements bingo and an opportunity to watch classic science fiction.
Michael Tarbuck
18
Zek Secondary—Science Week - continued
19
Zek Secondary—English Department
Best Young Poet of the Year 2012
Throughout the month of March, 64 secondary and a handful of primary students made themselves
busy by writing poems for the BISI English department’s now annual poetry competition. With multiple entries the department received and enjoyed just under eighty poems in all. This year’s theme was
an animal one with the hope that students might bring to life and capture the essence of their chosen
animal. Within many of the poems entered students were successful enough to do exactly this. As was
the case last year (and of the year before that) the judging panel found it difficult to narrow down just
three winners. With so many good poems to choose from the only way agreement could be reached was
by highly commending the effort of several strong entries.
Plaudits then to the following highly commended young poets of BISI, all of whom wrote some fine
poetry; Lara Dinç (year 10), Batuhan Gultekin (year 10), Michelle Chang (year 9), Selen Demirel (year
7) Tommaso Danna (year 6) and Max Gunnell (year 3).
In third place came Rafi Goudy (year 7) with his poem, The Puma. Rafi did well to capture the dark instinctive nature of his chosen forest beast.
Second place went to Ronaldo Konmaz (year 9) whose Swarm arrests the reader with the indifference of the collective mindset
of locusts.
In first place, taking home the title and trophy for Best Poet of the Year 2012, was Frances Eby (year 9) for her poem entitled
Spiders. Frances gives her reader atmosphere, attitude and poetic technique within concise language and nicely controlled pace.
Very well done Frances!
Congratulations to all the students mentioned here and thanks to all who entered. I hope you enjoy the following poems as much
as we did.
The Puma
by Rafi Goudy (3rd)
I am the swift puma
The jet-black torpedo
I am the phenomenal puma
An exquisite dark gem
I am silent,
Sitting on my haunches
Ready to pounce on startled prey
I am the grace of the rain forest
Found between speckled leaves with droplets
Between the rocks cracked with age
Up in the trees
Or in the deepest cave.
I am the fearful puma
The night – the real black beauty
The slickest of the cats
That can slash a hog in two.
I am the savage puma
No one can tame.
20
Zek Secondary—English Department - continued
Swarm
by Ronaldo Konmaz (2nd)
We came.
We filled the sky and left room for no others.
We came in numbers too great to count.
The village of Abeokuta didn’t know
What was in store for it.
We landed.
And immediately we got to work,
Devouring anything green in sight.
The dark green grass was such a relief
From the prickles we normally had to get through
On the Opuntia Cacti.
The villagers came out and collected tons of us,
Buckets full;
They roasted us on long yellow poles.
Afterwards we moved into farm territory
And yellow fields of corn.
Again they started to attack
First with bare hands and then with rocks
I witnessed many fine soldiers fall from the fatal swipe
Of the wooden stick.
Still most of us survived.
So they sprayed something on us
That made our legs stop moving.
They wanted us dead.
We ate and ate, while they kept on spraying.
It was not enough to stop us.
We finally devoured all and everything and left
For our next spot.
Spiders
by Frances Eby (1st)
We are the dark
We are the web
We are part of something bigger
We are born together
We live together
We are judged together
We are new
Yet live within the old
We are born into darkness
We live in darkness
And in the shadow we become the darkness
We do not want
We do not need
We live quietly and consent
To live a life avoiding light
In a world where
We are the exception to time
No memories
No future
Just now
Going on
Today and tomorrow
Now and then
Here and now
This sameness
Forever
We will not change
Except to get bigger
We will be here
Always here
In a world of sought after
Darkness
Behind us: famine and a void
Mercy means nothing to a locust.
21
Zek Secondary—English Department - continued
A trip to the Dolphinarium
On Wednesday 23rd May, our last day before the weekend break, Mrs Bozkaya and I took her Year 10 class to Istanbul’s Dolphinarium – the largest of its kind in Europe. For many this came as a surprising trip from school, but this was no nostalgic reminisce of nearly forgotten childhood outings at the sea lion aquarium. Here there were no sugared iced lollies, no sticks of candyfloss, or popcorn for students of BISI. Instead we were solely interested in the conditions these animals lived and performed in
and how different this was from their rightful natural habitat. The trip, organised to support these Year 10 students in their current argumentative piece of coursework, will no doubt prompt many of them to structure an argument against the keeping of
animals in this way.
Through screams of compressed delight from the youngest members of the audience (many local Turkish primary schools sat in
the wettest of the front rows grinning and sucking boiled sweets), we sat and watched and occasionally squirmed to see once
majestic walruses, now named Lolly and Sarah, clap, dance and even play the saxophone.
Unsurprisingly, we were not allowed to see the animals outside of their performance. Instead, we watched their beluga whale
fetch and spin, their dolphins attempt to play basketball and a walrus bark out the news – all in the name of entertainment. What
we didn’t see, despite being there most of the day, was any evidence of their much reported ‘dolphin assisted therapy’… perhaps
this took place after the three 1 hour shows a day the dolphins endure. This is also true of the Dolphinarium’s promise that those
who pay their 20TL are enriched by ‘scientific facts of these sea mammals’. The real fact of the day was far from promising.
Below is our own photographic evidence:
Russell Gunnell,
Head of English
22
Zek Secondary—Maths Department
International Awards Expedition
On Friday the 25th of May at 9.30am we
assembled outside the school gates, all lugging
bags that were to get yet heavier in a few hours
when we would be given all our hiking gear. The
journey to the Eskisehir mountains passed quickly
as we all imagined the strength and sweat which
would come with our trek up the mountains to the
finishing goal of bronze award. Luckily, the first
night was spent in a hotel watching olympics and
cherishing the last scraps of real food. The next
morning we gathered in the lobby with our
massively heavy bags in tow (I thought it was
heavy.) We carried with us: A sleeping bag, a tent,
enough food for 4 meals, 6L of water each, spare
clothes, cooking equipment and a hell load of
tuna. Once we arrived at the university where we would meet with our guides, we discovered that we would
have to wait another 2 and a half hours for another Turkish school to pack their bags, buy food and water,
and have a small moaning feast. We finally arrived at our destination where we trekked into the woods and
along small paths for around an hour until we stopped at what we thought was an ideal camping location.
Later we were told that we were only half way however and so we continued our walk along many muddy
paths and up a couple of hills that were too steep for my liking. After hours of walking, dodging, jumping
over rivers and trudging up hills we finally arrived at our destination. Although filled with scary bugs and a
decent amount of thistles, the setting was rather beautiful. The weather complimented it- the clouds covering
the hilltops in a magical mist and making the passionate green colours stand out in contrast.
The guides told us to make our tents and Selin and I were quick about it, rapidly making ourselves a cosy
second home while the Turkish schools stood clueless with poles and fabric. Our success, we thought was
further boasted at dinner where we used our little gas cookers to make a delightful pasta meal while the
Turkish schools munched on crackers. Our success however was not long lived seeing as once the fire was
cooking we were put to shame. They had:peppers, tomatos, potatos, sucuk, marshmallows, chicken shish etc.
We, on the other hand although we had sucuk and marshmallows also made a fool of ourselves by warming
our socks, burning some bread and dropping cheese everywhere. Nevertheless it was a good night, despite
the Turkish rendition of Adele’s whole album and a repetoire of unknownTurkish tunes. After, we retired
into our tents which were surprisingly cold. The shadows of scary bugs looked menacingly at me as I
attempted sleep. Being accustomed to a city life this was hard. We missed our pillows, and our matresses and
in the morning as we all dragged ourselves out of our tents, complaining about sore necks, backs, etc. I did
not complain about being cold however, seeing as my sleeping bag had a perfect little hood which you could
tighten and so in my little caccoon I slept.
The next morning we were greeted by the beaming sun and we prepared for the day with bug spray, sun
block and plenty of water. First we climbed up a hill, which although tiring, had a fantastic view over the
valley. We then descended down the mountain with a quick stop for a swim in an ice cold river. We finally
reached the end and we picked up our bags, put on some deo and then got on the bus ready to go home.
Hananh Watson
Year 10B
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Zek Secondary—Int. Awards Expedition - continued
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Zek Secondary—Int. Awards Expedition - continued
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Zek Secondary—Maths Department—International Award
THE INTERNATIONAL AWARD SCHEME BRONZE AWARD
Congratulations to the following students who undertook the challenge of The International Award and
successfully completed all of the criteria to be awarded the bronze record of achievement. These students
recently received recognition of their award at the British Consulate Award Ceremony, being presented by
Mrs Jessica Hand, Consulate General.
David Davutoglu
Emma Wignall
Lara Dinc
Oliver Deyhle
Stephen John
International Award Coordinator
**************
International Award Speech - by David Davutoglu
Honourable Consuls,
I would like to start off by saying that I am honoured to be here at this wonderful consulate amongst such important individuals.
When I first began the Duke of Edinburgh International Award, I wasn’t quite sure of what it meant. All I knew was that it
would offer me many new adventurous opportunities and that it would look nice on my CV. However, after a bit of a rocky start,
I found the award scheme to actually be very intriguing and fun. Whether it was the new, exciting experience of going on a physically taxing expedition to the responsibility of having to document all of the activities that I had done, I found that I really enjoyed partaking in the activity as a whole as it managed to help me develop many important skills as well as help me mature as a
person and take responsibility. There were many moments when the work seemed to overwhelm me and I simply wanted to give
up, however through much perseverance and effort I overcame these difficulties and ultimately managed to achieve the goal of
completing the award. Needless to say, I believe that this award scheme is an excellent way for young people to develop their
skills and mature as people.
Thank you for this prestigious award.
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Zek Secondary—Maths Department–Interntaional Award - continued
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Zek Secondary—Maths Department - continued
This year we are again awarding Mathematician of the month. There will be a different focus each month. A student in each year
group will be nominated as Mathematician of the month. For the month of February our focus has been on overall attainment. The
students listed below should be really proud of themselves and their achievements this month. Each student will be presented with a
certificate in a secondary assembly. Congratulations to all the Mathematicians of the month!
Year 7 =
Year 8 =
Year 9 =
Year 10 =
Year 12 =
Selen Demirel
Josephine Randet
Michelle Chang
Selin Olenik
Christian Tilley
Stephen John
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Graduation Ceremony of the Class of 2012
On Wednesday 23 May we witnessed the Graduation of our Year 13 IB students. Due to uncertain weather conditions, we debated
for many days before and right up to the event, whether to hold the ceremony outside in our school courtyard or in the school theatre... but our prayers were answered as the black clouds disappeared and the sun shone down on us ensuing a beautiful and emotional
ceremony.
Our students proudly entered down the grand staircase to a wonderful ceremony hosted by Mr John Bosman, Mr William Bradley
and Mr Richard Robinson. For the second consecutive year our guest speaker was her excellency Mrs Jessica Hand, the British Consul General. The guests and students enjoyed Musical interludes performed by Irena Fikirlier, Arda Oguz, Jae Chang and Ji Won.
The Valedictorian Speeches were presented by two of our Graduates, Raghad Kurdi (in English) and Efe Alatan (in Turkish).
The ceremony ended with the Class of 2012 following tradition by throwing their caps off the BISI balcony followed by the cake
cutting. After many photos the Graduates took their last steps as students of BISI leaving this chapter of their lives behind them
ready to enter the next.
We would like to wish all our Graduates the best of luck in their ventures new. We will miss you!
Helen Kiran
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The Class of 2012
Selcuk Efe Alatan - University College London to study Business and
Information
Hala Al Zawawi – University Mimar
Sinan to study Art
Karin Aebi– Stafforshire University
to study Sports Therapy
Sinan Erdal – Corvinus University
Budapest to study International Relations
Peter Findikliev – La Roche to study
Business Administration & Hospitality
Eylem Gorgulu – Cardiff University to
Study Law & Politics
Mekhmet Akdemir– University of Toronto to study Mathmatics & Economics
Jacqueline Cole - Aberdeen University to study International Relations &
Sociology
James Gwillim Ozkaya – University of
East Anglia to Study International
Relations
Jake Haverstock – University of Alberta
to Engineering
Raghad Kurdi – Uk or Lebanon to study
Medicine
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The Class of 2012
Susanne Mueller - University of
Kent to study Law
Hyun Jun Kim - University College
London to study Business Management
Danial Hisham - Monash University
Melbourne to study Law Biotechnology
Olga Stawska - University of West
London to study Pscychology
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Georgina Spicer - Writtle College to
study Law Equine Sports Therapy
Mohammed Waleed - Sheffield Halam to
study Urban & Environmental Planning
Article for Lale Magazine - May/June Issue
The Importance of Courage in Primary Education
Although it seems like a minor little element of school
life, I have long been quite stumped when working with students
on computers. When faced with making decisions or trying to
use new icons and buttons, many students freeze completely,
really rather terrified of simply trying out clicks that may or may
not help them achieve their aims. From the perspective of someone who has learned computers primarily through experimentation and exploration, this attitude was completely bewildering.
It wasn’t until considering a topic for this article that it hit me,
that really, what hampered the students with computers was fear
and hence, the importance of fostering courage in primary education.
Speaking about the need for courage in primary education to a colleague, she felt quite strongly that courage was only
something needed to face physical danger. As a primary teacher, I immediately felt an emotional pull toward disagreeing with
her. Throughout the years, I have seen many of my students
while maybe not terrified, rather scared of school work.
Social fears also play a large role in a student’s need
for courage. How many students do not “have a go” simply
because they are afraid of letting their teacher know they do
not know the answer? How many students do not “have a go”
because they are afraid of disappointing or upsetting their
teacher with the incorrect response? Will they be shouted at?
Given extra work? Will their teacher think they are stupid?
Will that question roaming around their mind be considered
off topic or inappropriate by their teacher?
Adding to the social fears that can arise from student
teacher dynamics, is the social fear stemming from the peer
responses to their efforts. Will the student beside them roll his
eyes? Will the student across the room tell someone later how
they didn’t know the answer that was just “so easy”? If they
don’t get the right answers, will their peers groan when they
are assigned to group work with them?
Trying to list all the different ways students can be
confronted with social and academic fears is hopeless. First of
all, when you start to try to make a list, it seems endless. Secondly, you have to take into account the personality and experiences of each student in order to even begin to compile an
extensive list. However, the recognition of courage at school
is not dependent on quantifying or qualifying every fear our
students face, rather, it is necessary in order to help provide
learning environments which encourage courageous learning
events to occur and courageous attitudes to flourish. Inevitably, this leads to the big question – how can we do this?
The Oxford English dictionary defines courage as “the
ability to face danger or difficulty or pain even when you are
afraid” and I am certain that all across the world, there are oodles of children that would say they need to do this regularly at
school. It would seem to me that while our students may not be
in fear of physical danger, lurking somewhere in some subject is
the fear of academic difficulty. As well, in many students, there
lies a fear of disappointing, upsetting, or even angering teachers,
and of course fear of negative reactions from their peers. In
other words, every day, it seems students need well stocked reserves of academic courage and social courage.
Academic courage is an essential part of learning. From
the beginning of pre-school, we try to encourage students to take
risks however, somewhere along the way, the notion of expectations tangles with students’ confidence. Sadly, they often become aware that there might just be “one right answer” and there
might just be “one right way of doing it” (like when working
with computer programs in ICT lessons). And, as true as it
might be that at times it might just be the “one”, the expectation
of a black or white result can be forbidding.
In the face of academic fear, students must use academic courage to take risks, use their prior knowledge and understanding to take chances, and most importantly, they need
courage to face trying - despite the fact that they may just be
wrong.
First and foremost, I believe we need to create learning environments where the students feel it is about them.
This means that teacher expectations are not the primary driving factors of lessons; instead, lessons and topics are shared as
co-exploratory. Students and teachers together, come up with
hypotheses, take guesses, and look for answers. The best part
about this method is that the students themselves decide when
there is one right answer or a proper way to do something. By
empowering them with this decision, they begin to feel ownership of answers and methods. Instead of creating a learning
environment which exposes students to academic fear factors,
this pedagogy provides students with a learning community
focused on fostering academic courage.
Continued……………….
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BISI Article Published in the IWI Magazine - May/June Issue—continued
Secondly and of almost equal importance, I think it
is high time we provide learning environments where the students can be the experts. The social fears stemming from our
teacher response are predicated on the notion that we have the
knowledge. Although it’s often quite hard for teachers to
admit they don’t know the answer, I believe this is an essential part of the learning process that needs to be shared with
our students. After all, aren’t we trying to teach them how to
learn as well as core knowledge? If we don’t model this process and scaffold our students through this process, can we
really expect them to go it alone?
Social fears stemming from peer reactions are based
on the fear that they don’t have the answers but their peers
expect them too. Here too, letting the students be the answer
providers is essential. Hearing and seeing their peers’ reasoning and methods often opens up new views that our adult
minds have missed. As well, quite often having a peer share
or lead steps helps the students reshape their concept of expert
to include kids their age. The inclusion of peer experts allows
students to see the achievable nature of their tasks, lessons,
and subjects. As well, by taking a stewardship role in the
learning environment, it allows these peer-experts to feel responsibility toward helping others thereby removing the peer
related causes of social fear.
Overall, I really am quite amazed at the need for
courage in primary schools. I am amazed at the level of courage the students need to call up every day in order to raise
their hands. I am amazed at the level of courage required for
students to share a question. I am amazed at the courage
needed to work with their teachers and peers and finally, I am
amazed that this is the first time I have recognised the actions
of my students as courageous. Most certainly though my role
as a teacher has been remarkably changed by the recognition
of my students’ courageous deeds.
By: Cara Frigeri, Year 6 Teacher,
The British International School, Istanbul
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DIRECTORS OF SCHOOLS
Amanda Ilhan
+90 212 202 7027
Pre School & Primary School Deputy Director
amandailhan@bis.k12.tr
Richard I’Anson
+90 212 257 5136
Pre School & Primary School Director
richardianson@bis.k12.tr
William Bradley
+090 212 202 7027
Director of Secondary and Principal of
Zekeriyakoy Campus
williambradley@bis.k12.tr
Tuba Guven
+90 212 286 7375
Director of Admissions
registrar@bis.k12.tr
Helen Kiran
+90 212 202 7027
Head of PR/Communications
communications@bis.k12.tr
Find us on
www.bis.k12.tr
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