Imporant Dates: FFOX TROTOX TROT 22015015 · • GCSE Music Showcase, 7:00pm Thursday 22nd • Girls MS Soccer vs. St. Francis (HOME), 4:30pm • Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Bryan

Spring 2 British International School of HoustonNewsletter

Spring 2 16th January 2015

NEWSLETTER

School Closed Monday, 19th January

Monday, 19th January• School Closed for Martin

Luther King Jr. holiday

Tuesday 20th • Boys Varsity Basketball

vs. Logos Prep (AWAY), 6:00pm

• Girls Junior Varsity Soccer vs. Duschene (HOME), 4:30pm

• GCSE Music Showcase, 7:00pm

Thursday 22nd • Girls MS Soccer vs. St.

Francis (HOME), 4:30pm• Boys Varsity Basketball

vs. Bryan St. Joseph (AWAY), 5:30pm

• Varsity Soccer vs. Hous-ton Lutheran (AWAY), 7:00pm

• Years 7-10, Year 12 Re-ports Published

Next Week:Week 2

Imporant Dates: FOX TROTFOX TROT20152015

British International School of HoustonNewsletter

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Saturday RugbySessions will begin on Saturday 24th January.

Please note that if you have registered your child for Saturday Rugby the timing for each club is below. These Rugby groups do not begin until 24th January.

• KS1 Rugby (Years 1-2) will run from 9am-10am.• KS2 Rugby (Years 3-4) will run from 10am-11am.

Next week Mrs. Pearce is in London with other NAE Heads interviewing for our key positions. She will be sup-ported by another NAE Head throughout.

Over the next 6 months the school will be reviewing a number of policies to ensure they are fi t for purpose and up to date i.e. School Trips, Homework, Behaviour, Social Media and such like so we are all ready for the start of the new School year

The Fire Marshall visited this week and he was pleased in general but Mr. Wright is leading a team to tidy the back of the stage (!!) and we are installing a fi re detector in the IT hardware cupboard

Water Fountains have been fi xed and the new one ordered for outside the PE area. A quote for the girls’ show-ers is due but this may be a very big job due to the age of the school!

IT ‘bars’ will be fi tted in the IB Common room shortly and bar stools ordered. We will then move on to the furniture.

Geraldine ‘GiGi’ Giraffe certifi cates are now operational and I have had the pleasure of signing a few for children bringing me outstanding work or demonstrating great effort.

Outside my offi ce is an outstanding piece of IB art work by Serena, a Year 13 student. The story of what in-spired her is wonderful. I shall be placing a small information piece underneath it. Please have a look when you are in school. I am hoping to display much more outstanding art work in weeks to come.

A very positive and informative meeting this week with the SSG representatives

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone.

Mrs. Ann McPheeFRIENDLY REMINDER: 2014/2015 2nd Term Bus Invoices are now past due.

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Physics and Astronomy Moodle Lectures

Dear Parents and Students in Years 10 through 13,

The Science department aims to get students thinking about challenging aspects of the physical sciences beyond the examination curriculum.

To encourage students to learn about the wider applications and impacts of scientifi c work, there are a number of discussions open on the Physics Moodle pages with links to lecture series from the Institute of Physics (UK) and JPL (Caltech), where students can fi nd talks and lectures on a variety of specialist topics. The target audiences range from school children up to university level, so some parents may well fi nd them interesting viewing too.

I would also like to assemble an accessible reading list of books related to Physics and Astronomy topics and have started a Moodle discussion for this as well.

When students have viewed a lecture or found an interesting book about Physics, Astronomy or related disciplines, I would like them to post a reply in the Moodle forum, so that other students may identify those most worth watching. One house point (or sim-ilar encouragement for Y12 and 13 students) will be awarded for each video or book reviewed.

Multiple reviews are allowed, nay encouraged and students who fi nd further sources of scientifi c inspi-

ration are encouraged to start their own discussion threads about other interesting lecture series and useful fonts of Information and News!

I would be particularly grateful if parents might sug-gest (via their children) any particularly helpful and informative specialist publications relating to their own technical disciplines, which students might fi nd useful (and accessible) to inform their choices of uni-versity or scientifi c career by letting them get a look at the kinds of information real scientists have to use in their work.

The websites are:

http://www.iop.org/resources/videos/education/schools-and-colleges-lecture/page_50044.html

for the Institute of Physics’ School Lectures

and :

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.php

for the Von Karman Lectures from Caltech.

Thank you for your support

Bret Gantry (Head of Physics, BISH)

Calling all Blue Peter fans....... the Primary Library needs you!The Primary Library is a great resource and the children love their weekly visit. We have so many new books waiting to go on the shelves that just need backing. If you can spare an hour either Wednesday morning after drop off or Friday afternoon before pick up, I would love you to join me; many hands make light work. Coffee and cake will be provided to keep us going. Please let me know if you are planning to come.

Thanks,

Gail Helmore

[email protected]


The Start of Something NewThis year, completely new to BISH, we have a varsi-ty basketball team. The boys are being coached by Brandon Pierce, a highly skilled coach and ex-profes-sional player. Being completely new to the game, they have had a steep learning curve. Despite three heavy defeats, they have continued to persevere and most importantly learn from their mistakes. As a team they are now beginning to look like real basketball players with great hands, a strong zonal defense, outstanding rebounds and some excellent 3- pointers! Last night’s game against Lutheran North High School saw our best game yet; we managed to stop many baskets being scored through the strong defense and played with real assertion and passion.

We still have 8 games left to play in this season and we know with pure dedication and continued hard work the team will go from strength to strength.

A Note from Charlie Dineen Head Boy…

Since the end of last term, Coach Brandon has been coming to school to coach the Bulldogs. Through developing our technical skill and overall teamwork, we have been able to compete against other schools within our league. Although at fi rst we appeared to be lacking in confi dence, the work of Coach Brandon, Ms Watson, and Mr Boak greatly helped to improve our play. From game to game, we came out and played with real effort. We’ve shown great progression each game and the lads have all worn their hearts on their sleeves.

Let’s go Bulldogs!

BULLDOGS BASKETBALL needs your sup-port…

Tuesday 20th January 6pm at Logos Prepa-ratory, 6:00pm Tip Off. We have spaces on the bus; see one of the PE staff if you would like to come and cheer the boys on!

BULLDOGS BasketballBULLDOGS Basketball

3-pointers Hall of Fame: Bohdi Dahlin, Sean Byrne, Nick Hopwood.


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This week, Year 12 and 13 students have had the traditional “galette des rois” in French class. A fi gurine, la fève, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who fi nds it in their

slice becomes king or queen for the day. To ensure a random distribution of the cake shares, it is traditional for the youngest person to go under the table and name the recipient of the share which is indicated by the person who cut the

cake. This year our two queens are Megan and Elisabeth!Vive les Reines!

The creative writing competition has launched!

Theme: ‘Somewhere Unforgettable’

Word Limit: 500 words

Deadline: Wednesday 25th March

Your entry should focus on a description of a place. You can include something that happened there, or someone you met, but the emphasis should be on cre-ating a picture of your unforgettable place in the read-er’s mind. The place can be real or fi ctional, it can be somewhere you’ve been or perhaps somewhere you’ve always wanted to go.

We will submit the top 5 entries into the competition. There will also be primary and secondary online work-shops available to support the competition, starting to-wards the end of January.

All details are available online on the Global Classroom.

The winner for the tapestry competition has been announced!

Congratulations to Megan Roberts Loeza for designing the winning entry. We now just need someone to sow the entry onto a patch. If anyone wants to take on this challenge then please see Mr Newman who has the materials. There are lots of house points available.

Debating

The motions and fi xture lists are now available for the Debating League Round 2 and the motions for the up-coming For & Against primary and secondary debates. All debates will begin on Monday 19 January.

Take the time to read through your team’s feedback from Round 1, and make sure you are clear about the judging criteria. Several teams lost points for failing to post a closing statement for example. The teams to beat after Round 1 are Sanlitun 1, King Khaled’s min-ions (Bratislava) and BISH Bulldogs (Houston)!

Global ClassroomGlobal Classroom


Debating All debates (Debating League and primary/secondary for and against) will begin on Monday 19 January. Do make sure your teams are prepared to post their opening statements.

Student Moderation Attached is a poster/ hand-out to encourage students to develop their digital leadership skills by getting involved with the Global Classroom as a Student Moderator. If you areinterested, please contact Mr Franklin.

Global Maths Challenge The Global Maths Challenge (secondary students) is going live on Monday! Martin Brown, Maths Teaching Fellow from Puxi, has created a series of challenges to be run throughout the term. maths departments can enter students into any of the 4 challenge weeks and there will be opportunities for all students to discuss and have a go at the challenges on the Global Classroom, even if they’re not entered into the competition.

Thinking Futures The third fi lm in the series, Transition and student life, is now live on the site. Great Post leader boards They have created Great Post leader boards for primary and secondary, hosted on the re-spective GC homepages. These are designed to celebrate students’ success and to encourage more students to aim to achieve this level of online engagement.

Upcoming Dates: Monday 19 January: Debating League round 2 debate begins Monday 19 January: For and Against debates begin Monday 19 January: Global Maths Challenge 1 Friday 6 March: Make It Right deadline Friday 6 March: World Book Day Wednesday 25 March: Creative writing competition deadline Friday 17 April: Open Mic competition deadline

Global Classroom Global Classroom ContinuedContinued


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DOE CLUBWe will be cooking next week (Thursday 22nd) at DofE Club – students will need to bring their stoves/trangias, fuel (stored correctly), matches in waterproof container, a pot or pan to cook with, food to prepare/cook, something to eat with (plate/silverware) and things to wash up after. They can coordinate with others in their group to share what is being brought in.

Miss Currie


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Teen romance. Romeo and Juliet storyline. High school drama. All things that I absolutely love in a novel. Before reading Eleanor and Park, I had heard rave reviews of the book. It was “the best thing I’ve read since Dork Diaries” or otherwise “an absolute masterpiece; a romance with a twist”. It’s hard to put into words how excited I was to fi nally get my hands on it: exhilarated; animated; elated, even. But after two weeks of confusion, dry language yet an intoxicatingly addictive story –Eleanor and Park is possibly the fi rst teenage love yarn that has left me truly ‘sitting on the fence’.

Eleanor and Park tells the unlikely saga of two teenagers who couldn’t be more different. Eleanor – a plump, redheaded girl – has spent most of her living memory as part of a greater, more complex family drama involving affairs, abuse and – perhaps most primarily – a stepfather who is the very defi nition of ‘evil’. Whereas Park – a half-Asian, incredibly intelligent, music/comic book loving boy – is stuck with a loving family and plenty of friends. At fi rst the two characters are on opposite ends of a huge spectrum of teenage spectacles, but when one thing leads to another (and Park starts lending Eleanor a tape recorder and a few comic books), a cosmic chemistry emerges that could not only save them from teenage turmoil – but also from themselves.

The novel is undoubtedly popular for many teenagers who want to dig their teeth into a sumptuous romance – but also deals with an awful lot of adult themes such as abuse, extreme discrimination and serious relationships. These ideas are usually associated with novels pitched at older teens, yet are wrapped up in a novel so interesting and subsequently addictive that it becomes hard for a younger teen, like myself, to put the book down.

Not to say that I was always so engrossed in the text; in fact I found the fi rst few chapters especially dry

(and even a little boring) – however, as I read on, the novel became more engaging and the storyline more developed. I usually stick to the rule that if I fi nd myself bored in the fi rst couple chapters of a book; I have to read at least until halfway before I consider giving up. I have to be honest – this novel really tested me when it came to that. There were a few times when I just found myself skipping over paragraphs – or rereading a sentence two or three times before I took it in. But I am glad that I kept reading. If I could sum up my feelings for it in one word, it would probably be ‘electric’, in that sometimes the text just didn’t connect with me; most of the time the language worked and was relatively normal; and sometimes it would just spark. The language sparked into brilliant phrasing. The storyline sparked into inspired twists. The characters sparked into unbelievable brilliance – just when I thought the end for them was near.

Overall, however, I would be inclined to describe the book as merely ‘okay’. True, there were moments of superlative genius, but most of the time it was fairly average. As an avid reader, I enjoy books that stand out from a crowd, that show me, and other audiences, that the author is truly motivated by exquisite, unorthodox literature. Whether that means the language is regal, patois – or even foreign – who wants to read a book without just a little zing? Rowell is on the right track with this novel, and I might even recommend it for her moments of brilliance, but moreover, I think the book was a bit of an anticlimax.

I would gage Eleanor and Park at being for anyone over the age of 13 – but audiences should be warned that the book contains mature themes that may be more appropriate for older readers. I give Eleanor and Park 2.5 out of 5 stars and if you are someone who enjoys a little literate fl air, this could be the book for you. But I wouldn’t necessarily say the same to someone searching for a book they can truly cherish.

By Hannah Leigh, 9SK

Book Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell


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Calling All Tennis PlayersCalling All Tennis PlayersThe PE Department is seeking to arrange Tennis Fixtures. If your child plays tennis and would be interested in this opportunity, please could they register their interest with the PE Department.



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Gateway Academy Presents...Winter Education Symposium

Friday, 30th January 2015 Did you know you can beat stress, lift your mood, fi ght memory loss, sharpen your intellect, and function better than ever, simply by elevating your heart rate and breaking a sweat? The evidence is incontrovert-ible: aerobic exercise physically remodels our brains for peak performance! These principles are foundational to the practice of lifetime fi tness and learning, as de-veloped through Gateway Academy’s Fit Club™. Please invite family, friends, athletes, educators and mental health professionals as we offer the unique opportunityto explore these principles with our panel of experts! Featuring: Dr. John J. Ratey,Author of: Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the BrainGo Wild: Free Your Body and Mind From the Affl ictions of Civilization with Dr. Jay Tarnow & Mr. Scott Adams

Dr. Ratey will discuss his book Spark: The Revolu-tionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain Gateway Academy is the only private school in Houston with Fit Club™: A program using exercise to SPARK attention, energy and mood.

Please invite family and friends for this informative and educational event. Location: Sheraton Brookhollow 3000 North Loop West Houston, TX 77092Program Time: 8:00AM-4:00PM, Sponsor & Underwriter Cocktail Reception 4:00-5:00PM Website and tickets available online:http://thegatewayacademy.org/spark-ing-connections/


Documents

Imporant Dates: FFOX TROTOX TROT 22015015 · • GCSE Music Showcase, 7:00pm Thursday 22nd • Girls MS Soccer vs. St. Francis (HOME), 4:30pm • Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Bryan