Abbey College Cambridge Spring 2015 Newsletter

SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015

A note from The Principal Welcome to the Abbey Cambridge Spring Newsletter.

We have had a busy spring term that included a very successful “Speak English

Week” featuring over a dozen activities from debating, singing, voice coaching to my

personal highlight - our students reciting their own poetry.

We have also gained a new Vice Principal Academic when Gavin Copland was

promoted to the role during the term. He is a tremendous addition to our senior

leadership team and will work with our teachers and department heads to ensure

students at Abbey continue to have excellent lessons and achieve the very best

examination results.

We are now entering the season of exams and it is worth pausing to think how we can

spend our revision time as productively as possible. There are no shortcuts when you

are learning your school work and only hard work and dedication will bring you the

results you want. However, I would strongly advise that you work intelligently. It is

becoming well understood that reading and rereading your notes will only get you so

far when revising. It is essential that you test yourself during your revision time.

One technique that has been shown to be effective is to convert the main points in a

piece of work into a series of questions. Return to the work after you have taken a

break and write out answers to the questions and then leave the work for a day or

two before comparing your answers to the original text to self-correct your work. In

this way you are spending more time thinking about the work and this leads to more

effective learning that lasts for longer. You may achieve even

better results if you ask a classmate to correct your answers

while you correct theirs.

Good luck with your revision; make a plan for it, take it slowly

and remember that your friends and your teachers will be

there to help and support you.

Best wishes

Julian Davies - Principal

ABBEY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015

Words from Gavin I am thrilled and honoured to have been invited to take more of a leading role here as Vice

Principal Academic at Abbey Cambridge. I have had such a great time in the last few

months teaching Government & Politics to some fantastic students who I have developed a

genuine respect and affection for, and then getting to know more of our students and staff as

Head of the International Foundation Programme. Those of you who know me already

know how dedicated I am to the success and welfare of you all here, and I look forward to

guiding your academic progress through to the end of the year and beyond. This is such a

wonderful community to live and work in and I am proud to be part of the team.

We really are on the last part of this academic year as we gear ourselves up for the exam

period. I urge you all to double your efforts and commit yourselves fully to your studies in

this final phase – remember the goals you have set yourselves and keep these

targets in mind, whether they be achieving highly in your AS exams or gaining

entrance to one of the top universities with great scores in your Foundation or

A2, and you will succeed!

Kind regards

Gavin - Vice Principal Academic

Words from Karen Some of our students are sitting their mock exams this week and I’m impressed with our

students work ethic: students are on time, prepared, following our high expectations perfectly

– this is incredibly important as all exams require focus for success. I wish you all the best of

luck and make sure that you sleep well, eat well and speak to someone if you are finding it too

challenging or stressful. We are here to help you, and it is quite common to suffer from exam

anxiety – please do not hesitate to see me or any member of staff if you are worried. Also,

remember that we have lots of sports and activities to help combat stress – such as Yoga in St

Paul’s on Thursdays. Keeping your body healthy and active will boost your brain power!

This Saturday we have the Charity Fair – JUNGLE FEVER! All money raised will go to EACH

so please bring money to spend so you can enjoy all the activities, games and entertainment.

There are so many surprises to look forward to.

Also, the May Ball at the prestigious Madingley Hall of Cambridge University

taking place on Friday 1 May. We only have a few tickets left…email

[email protected].

Enjoy the summer and to all those who were on the Italy trip – arrivederci!

Karen—Vice Principal Pastoral


Congratulations Well done to the following students who achieved IELTS scores

that meet standard university offers! What a great achievement!

Fatjon DOKO

DANG Thai Son

CHEN Hainuo

CHAN Chia Chun

Pasith ANGKANANUKROH

DUONG Minh Duc

LEI Dan

Emily Siew Mei LIM

Alisher SUPYGALIYEV

Ahmed Ibrahim TUMSAH

YU Zhaoyuan

Grigory ZHURAVLEV

Congratulations to the following students who successfully

completed the Chemistry Olympiad. What amazing results!

LI Yuxun Gold

LIU Jihang Silver

Dmitrii IEVLEV Silver

WANG Haoyang Silver

YU Zhaoyuan Silver

YANG Yumeng Silver

ZHOU Wanqi Silver

Tumisang Tsolope Bronze

XU Zhe Bronze

Temiloluwa

MAJEKODUNMI Bronze

QIN Xinyue Bronze

LIUYifan Silver

HTWE Wei Ko Ko Bronze

Chemistry Success

LOW Shin Tong Silver

HTWE Wei Ko Ko (Jerry) Silver

Nisha MURALIGANAN Bronze

NAW LAT Wun Dan Bronze

Melissa Ai Zhen LEE Bronze

Manjula VIJAYASEKARAN Highly commended

Thaneswari KAPANASAMY Commended

Steffi Kai Lee NG Commended


News from Physics Three of Abbey Cambridge’s students are in the top 50 for the first round of the Physics

Olympiad. LIU Jianfu (Jeff) received a Gold award, SHI Liangchao (Clint) received a Silver award

and HUO Chong (Steven) received a Bronze award.

LIU Jianfu has been selected as one of 15 to take part in the final round; a training camp at the

University of Oxford in the first week of the Easter holidays where the top five will be selected to

make a team to take part in the International Olympiad, held in Mumbai India. We all offer Jianfu

all the best for this exciting challenge.

Also, Well done to the following students who successfully completed the AS Physics Challenge.

This is a fantastic result and you should all be very proud!

AN Junlei Silver

CHEN Hainuo Silver

SHI Zimu Silver

QIN Xinyue Silver

YU Zhaoyuan Silver

NGUYEN Bao Tuan Bronze 1

LIU Yifan Bronze 1

TU Yuchen Bronze 1

Mingiyan USHANOV Bronze 1

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their Biology

Olympiads. What a great achievement and you should all be very proud.

LI Jiayi Bronze 2

NAW LAT Wun Dan Bronze 2

Pasith ANGKANANUKROH Commendation

Grigory ZHURALEV Commendation

Dmytro USHCHAPOVSKYY Commendation

CHEN Huaying Commendation

Jonathan CHEONG Commendation

XU Zhe Commendation

Success for Abbey College Cambridge as Team Alimama reached the IFS Student Investor

Challenge semi-final, 3rd out of 8,720 teams worldwide.

Congratulations to the ACC Economics Department for the great advice and support given

to the team, who will no doubt go far in their future careers, and definitely people to turn to

for financial advice!

Left to right:

LIAO Junlang (William), QIN Yuewei (Chelsea), WANG Yibin (David), WU Ruikang

(Henry)

Also, congratulations to the students who took part in the Bank of England Target Two

Point Zero Challenge.

These students reached the regional heats and we are very proud!

Well done to LIN Xuan (Miranda), ZHOU Qiaohui (Chloe), QI Zhisheng (Scott) and Arthur

DIJOUX.

All Foundation students must study what it means to

conduct academic research, how to do it correctly and to a

high standard. As part of their research work all Foundation

students were invited to attend a trip to a special research

workshop entitled ‘Research Matters’ at the British Library.

Situated in the heart of London, The British Library, receives

a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland.

It houses over 150 million items and its ‘Treasures Collection’

includes the Magna Carta. Each year six million searches are

generated by the British Library online catalogue and there

are nearly 400,000 visits to their Reading Rooms. You could

say it is the heart of academic research in the UK.

The Library also has a team of specialist educators who run

workshops. Our students were shown creative ways to

approach to research process. They practised using

observation skills to discover information about objects and

places. The workshop broadened their understanding of what

research is and the value of it. We were also given access to

the Treasures Collection and through active research students

developed their critical thinking skills and were encouraged

to reflect on their own research processes.


Andrea Joyce

British Library Trip

London Fashion Weekend Students and staff were excited to visit London Fashion

Weekend, a 3 day fashion spectacular that would amaze

anyone interested in fashion photography! On Arrival we

watched the first catwalk where the students got to see real

photographers and designers at hand presenting their work.

The students enjoyed a special exhibition involving unseen

videos followed by Polaroid’s from the artists earlier and later

work in Vogue.

The day was a great success; all the students were happy to visit and be given such a unique

opportunity.

During the Spring term, Photography students will be

learning Landscape. Please join us every Friday in the G5

library.

During the Summer we plan on having lessons outside

full of fun practicals!

Model United Nations


Students from Abbey Cambridge’s MUN took part in an exciting conference in Edinburgh. It

was a fantastic day and included a visit to the famous Edinburgh Castle and Assembly

Rooms. This was a unique opportunity for students to compete in the “ScotMUN”

International Model United Nations Conference

and put their debating skills to practice.

Students role-played as representatives from

various countries and discussed issues such as

terrorism,. access to resources and poverty and

development.

Dasha Grigoryeva

Gavin Copland

Being a member of the Volunteering Club has been an experience

like no other. Right from the beginning we have been so active in our immediate and local

community. We feel proud that a lot of money has been raised for our charity EACH (East

Anglia’s Children’s Hospices) during the process as well as enjoying

ourselves and learning new skills.

We kicked it off with Halloween. The club decided to craft some creepy

face masks and hold a bake sale. Our bake sale team came together to

bake chocolate brownies, lovely jam-filled pancakes and a variety of

delicious cookies and cupcakes. The event went very well and everyone

had a blast!

Our next big event was the Mill Road Winter Fair which took place in

November 2014. I was amazed at how many of us were willing to help out in a number of

different activities, including laying down coins in a large piece of artwork! Most of us

were involved in the setting up of the stalls during the morning session. We saw so many

different stalls: from cookies and crafts to wine and jewellery. The whole event was just a

blessing to be a part of and the words, “teamwork makes the dream work” took on a whole

new meaning that day. Our social skills were put to the test as well as our English speaking

skills and I can happily say that we enhanced these skills so much further. At the end of it

all, we spent a little time getting to know each other better.

Besides this, a few members of the club have had the chance of reaching out in Cambridge by

volunteering to serve lunch to the elderly at St Paul’s Church, every Friday. Students who

took part felt that they had a very positive experience and described it as “fun and

enlightening”. It was also a good opportunity to improve communication skills with the more

vulnerable people in society. We plan to continue doing this over the course of this year.

After the Christmas holidays, as Valentine’s Day was swiftly approaching, the committee sat

down together to discuss ideas for yet another fundraiser and we came up

with the idea of selling post cards, roses and chocolates, which could be sent

to people around the school. The whole point was to make another person

in our community smile. Our staff members also got heavily involved in the

sending of cards and chocolates. We managed to raise over £200 and we

were elated when we saw this figure. It was an awesome event in which

everyone could share and experience the love in our community.

Seven months have never gone by so quickly. It seems like it was only

yesterday when we were meeting for the first time and now it feels like a

family. Despite this, we are also very happy to welcome some new

members to the club, and did so in January when members of the 18 month A-level course,

joined us. We look forward to having fun with them in the future events and extending our

volunteering further, beyond the school.


Unknown

A foreign land

I set foot on this place

"Follow the plan"

My parents with their gaze

"But have some fun"

There goes their mercy

They know I'll run and run

Neglecting my boundary

A gorgeous painting

Are the skies even real?

With hues so stunning

Emotions they can conceal

Home here is my second shelter

Boisterous friends, not quite flattering

House parent is my new Twitter

Always asking what's happening

An extraordinary journey

I explore this land

Museums and galleries

Embellish the already grand

Magnificent minds, umpteen cultures

Notable ideas, dauntless voices

Embrace controversy, welcome challenges

Provoke new thoughts, question one's choices

A new start line again

I can't resist my urges

Old broken chain

Yet a new one emerges

I still can hardly believe

That I'm actually adapting

In the grounds of which I perceive

To be different and intriguing

In this land of endless horizon

There's more to expect

Before I leave, before I'm gone

What comes next?

Poetry A beautiful poem about experiences starting with Abbey Cambridge. Written by 18 month A Level student,

Sher Zanne LEE


Speak English Week 2015


Speak English Week is a week long event full of activities designed to help students improve their

English Speaking Skills. As a community, we are connected by speaking one language in school;

English. The week featured lots of fun activities, competitions. It was a fantastic week and well

done to all the students and staff who participated.

Model United

Nations Debate

Students embarked on a battle of

reasoning for the Debating

Champion Trophy!

Winner: Bing Yong XUE

Abbey Students Speak English Together

That’s How Our Hearts Are Connected



Spelling Bee

A spelling challenge for any student

ready to demonstrate their mastery of the

English language! The finalists competed

for a trophy and the prestige of being

Abbey's Champion Speller

Winner: Amanda May Li HO

Sounds of the

Sixties Students rocked their way through

the "Sounds of the Sixties" in this

great show!

Music Star: Pasith

ANGKANANUKROH (Steve)



Shakespeare

Workshop

A fun and dynamic

workshop full of romance

and sword fighting!

Grill Your Teacher

Students were challenged to think of the most bizarre/interesting/challenging questions that our

staff had to answer in 30 seconds. The teacher with the best answer won.

Winner: John Morgan

Winning Question: If milk goes bad when it is out of the refrigerator, why does it not go bad when

it is inside the cow? -

Arthur DIJOUX


Speak English Week 2015 High Tea

Various filled sandwiches were

followed by a variety of tasty tarts,

cupcakes, patisserie, flavoured cakes

and of course scones with strawberry

jam and clotted cream. To wash it

down there was a selection of fruit,

herbal and normal teas.

Tables were laid with lace cloths, chi-

na tea cups, saucers and plates, food

served from tiered cake stands and

tea poured from tea pots, all ‘waited’

on by a Team of waitresses and a

smart maître ‘d – our accommodation

team!

Poetry Competition

A creative poetry competition on the theme of

"Seeing the world through the eyes of a child" -

students entered this poetry competition and

students read their entries aloud to an audience

Winner: Chimel DOGARA

Mommy is a log.

Stiff as a toy soldier.

This was what happened when she used ‘evil needle’

I always told mommy that evil needle is a bad monster

come to snatch her away from me

and leave me with…

Goliath.

But mommy was not there anymore,

she was daydreaming.

My tummy laughed at me and I frowned.

I didn’t want to leave

but my legs were moving towards the fridge.

The fridge was full to the brim…

with space.

I pulled out the ice tray

and soon I was eating every kind of food

roast chicken, potatoes and gravy, even candy

oh…

I had forgotten about mommy,

I was a bad boy,

just as Goliath always told me

I caused everyone pain.

I reached down to feed mommy,

her skin felt as cold as my food.

Hugging her tightly under my blanket,

missing her soft silky skin,

my eyes moved to my Legos,

scattered into a billion pieces on the floor like mommy.

I wanted to pick her up

and build her back up

into that pretty mommy I once knew.

I kissed her cheek,

her chest had stopped moving.

I stared at her,

trying to push all my love into her.

I told her stories,

stories with happy endings.

bible stories her sugar candy voice hummed to me

so very long ago,

bible stories about…

‘David’

I froze.

My nose couldn’t find air anymore,

it was time for hide and seek.

but, I couldn’t leave mommy.

I tried to drag her to my spot under the table

but she was heavier this tim

DAVID AND GOLIATH - Winning Poem


2015 Poetry Competition


‘David…’

Goliath was barking.

‘you want me to find you. You little b…’

I started to move back

my legs hit the bottle on the ground

I looked down as the awful liquid

Stretched towards a pile of burnt paper

Goliath always put out on my back

I shivered.

‘There you are’

I turned to Goliath’s hissing face.

He looked hungry.

He licked his lips like I was a big juicy steak

He looked at mommy and stared at her

his eyes growing even darker.

His knees fell

and his eyes started to rain

‘No… No… No…’

Goliath was shaking mommy.

He froze and snapped his head up

his eyes looked like a starless sky

‘you’

he pointed at me

‘you did this you little b…’

he leaped at me and my back met the floor

I became a ball again

and Goliath began to play.

He played harder this time

his boots met my chuckling tummy and shaking

body

until everywhere pained

I never cried anymore

Tears never changed anything

it gave me less time to help mommy

even Goliath.

one of my legs shouted and I screamed.

the room spun

the only thing I heard was Goliath’s robotic voice

‘you killed her’

‘you killed her you little b…’

The darkness covered my body like a blanket.

I thought back to a long time ago

in a life far away

when mommy was still beautiful and still smiling

mommy

and Goliath was still… daddy.

CHIMEL DOGARA

The annual Speak English Week Spelling Bee took place on 3 - 4 March. The knockout stage was

very well attended, with a large number of students battling to get through to the next

round. The Spelling Bee is a difficult contest, however, and by the end of the knockout stage,

numbers had been whittled down to about seven students.

These students returned to Glisson Road Library to try to claim their crown as Abbey

Cambridge’s best speller. As host of the competition, it was my duty to devise more and more

devious ways of testing the contestants’ skill with letters. The devilish round on UK place names

reappeared this year, pushing the competitors to their

limits. Finally, after a tense few rounds, only two students

remained. These finalists then went head-to-head in a spoken

round of spelling, in which they were required to spell words

backwards for extra difficulty!

The winner was Amanda May Li HO, who was pursued all the

way by a most able runner-up, Paloma MARSOLO.

Some of the words from the competition can be seen below.

Accolade

Subpoena

Graffiti

Broccoli

Nyctophobia

dissipate

sheriff

coliseum / colosseum

Dumbbell

disapprobation

ageing

whingeing

rarefy

lifeless

changeable

honorary

persistent

foreseeable

idiosyncrasy

supersede

insouciant

logorrhoea / logorrhea

Darjeeling

chihuahua

psychosomatic


Patrick Williams



Spring Term at

Abbey Cambridge



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Abbey College Cambridge Spring 2015 Newsletter