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Well, where should I start? After graduating from IBSB in June 2017, a few months later I moved to Paris to study fashion design. Speaking French has made everything easier, from sorting out accommodation (bills and rent) to obtaining a metro card, a bank account in France and health insurance. It helped me in my daily activities: like buying fabrics for pattern making and design classes, learning fashion and business words in class, doing my shopping and many more. We all know that the French love to speak their own language, so being able to communicate in French helped me solve all the daily problems I encountered. I had friends who didn’t speak a word of French and they had difficulty getting around Paris on a daily basis, because even to ask for directions, it was better to ask in French than in English – the chances of getting an answer in French were high.
I then moved to London to study something else, and 6 years later I’m still here, I haven’t really had the chance to speak French anymore, just maybe to give instructions in French to foreigners. Recently, I started teaching beginner French lessons to children, so learning the language in high school helped me find a side job.
To conclude, I no longer ended up doing fashion design or staying in France to find a job, but every year I spend vacations in France and come back to Paris to visit my old classmates, and get to know French is always very practical. So, I can say that speaking French helped me much more than my fashion degree.
This week was another big step forward for of our primary school PE teacher, Paul Georgescu, as he returns from New Zealand victorious, having successfully swum the Cook Strait. Departing the southernmost tip of the North Island from Ohau Bay, Paul began the 29km crossing early Monday morning, battling strong currents in cool 17° waters, to eventually touch the shores of Arapaoa Island, at the northern eastern most tip of the South Island in a time of 9:02:11. For Paul this was the sixth leg of the of the OCEANS SEVEN CHALLENGE, which involves crossing 7 of the most difficult straits and canals in the world:
· English Channel
· Catalina Channel
· Molokai Channel
· North Channel
· Strait of Gibraltar
· Cook Strait
· Tsugaru Strait (July 2024)
If Paul completes the final leg of his journey, the Tsugaru Strait, Japan, which he is scheduled to swim in July 2024, he will be one of the few in the world to do so – and the first Romanian – with just 27 swimmers having completed the Oceans Seven Challenge to date. In 2021, Paul was named International Swimmer of the Year at the World Open Water Swimming Association Awards, having set a new Word Record of the Ice Mile (swimming a mile in water below 4°C), having set a new world record for swimming the fastest mile in the Antarctic Circle, and winning a gold medal for the 500m freestyle at the Ice Swimming World Championships.
A huge congratulations to Paul for his incredible achievement from the entire IBSB Community – you are an inspiration to our students and to the next generation of Romanian athletes, teaching us all that with a great deal of effort, perseverance, an unwavering sense of self-belief, and a dedicated support team behind you, the almost unimaginable can become reality.
Healthy habits are the basis for success in any field, from becoming a world-class athlete or businessman to reaching your academic potential. Such habits are not magically built overnight, but require a select number of steps to be implemented most efficiently. The book Atomic Habits by James Clear outlines the four main steps required to adopt any practice, those being making it: obvious, easy, attractive, and satisfying.
Making it obvious:
The easiest way to make a habit obvious is to connect it with a pre-existing habit. This can be done through the creation of a habit stack.
With habit stacking, all you say is: After [current habit], I will [new habit]. For example:
● After I pour my morning coffee, I will read the news for 1 minute
● After I get into bed, I will read for 5 minutes
● When I start to [make myself a plate of food], I will put vegetables on first
Making it easy:
In order to build a habit, you need first to start off small and then build up progressively. James Clear uses the term ‘ Habit Shaping’ to explain how to work your way up to big goals. You simply take a goal (which we’ll identify shortly) and break it down into a series of smaller habits that will lead there. This is the case as it is inhuman to, for example, want to start reading for 2 hours if you are not used to reading before.
Making it attractive:
Humans are naturally drawn to activities that provide immediate pleasure and satisfaction. Therefore, in order to create a long-lasting habit, you should make it as attractive as possible. This can be done by rewarding yourself after completing a habit or by pairing it with something you already enjoy.
Use Temptation Bundling:
This technique involves pairing an enjoyable activity with a habit you want to cultivate. For example, listening to your favourite podcast only while exercising can make working out more attractive.
Making it Satisfying:
Clear argues that the more satisfying an experience is, the more likely you are to repeat it. This means that in order to try to pursue a habit actively, you need to make it as satisfying as possible—however, Clear cautions against rewards that directly contradict your new habit. So, ice cream wouldn’t be a good reward for eating a healthy meal. But it could be a fine reward for reading more books, making sales calls, or any non-health-related goal. You can achieve this by:
Celebrating Small Wins:
Acknowledge and celebrate your achievements, even if they seem insignificant. Celebrating small milestones can create a positive feedback loop that keeps you motivated.
Using Immediate Rewards:
Make sure there is an immediate payoff for completing a habit. This provides a sense of satisfaction and reinforces the behaviour. For example, if you’re trying to read more, reward yourself with a small treat afterwards.
Avoid Breaking the Chain:
Maintain a streak of successful habit completions. The longer the chain, the more satisfying it becomes to keep it unbroken, which can help reinforce the habit.
I wish you the best in your journey to create good habits and recommend that you read AtomicHabits in order to get an even greater understanding of the process.
On Friday, March 31, IBSB participated in an International Middle School Debate Competition, hosted by the Cambridge School of Bucharest. Both IBSB teams participating performed exceedingly well, finishing the day undefeated to place 1st and 2nd in the competition standings overall, maintaining the well-established IBSB reputation for excellence in debating.
1st Place
George V. (Y8), David M. (Y8), David F. (Y8), Luca P. (Y8), Dinu P (Y8)
2nd Place
Felix D. (Y9), Irina G. (Y9), Andrei U. (Y9), George P. (Y9), Maia B. (Y8)
Special congratulations Maia B. (Y8) for winning theBest Debater Award, with Felix D. (Y9), and George V. (Y8) officially the 2nd and 3rd highest scoring debaters in the competition.
Thank you to CSB for organising the competition and for the warm welcome and hospitality received throughout the day. We look forward to returning again next year!
There are many ways to lead a sustainable life. One that could potentially impact our planet more than others is the eating habits we have; eating organic food is an important cycle that can reduce the use of plastic, and decrease the amount of animal waste and animal abuse. In a world full of artificial tastes, unhealthy restaurants, and harmful food habits, our health is in peril, and as such it is vital to treat our bodies well and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the animals we have been intrusted to protect.
An important way we can work together as a school community and wider society to reduce animal waste and abuse, by eating bio organic vegetarian food at home and when going out eating to restaurants. Finding vegetarian and vegan, organic food in Bucharest can be challenging, but there are some great choices available.
FruFru is a restaurant that has products displayed on shelves in supermarkets. Their products have an expiration date of two days, because they are super fresh, their product ingredients are honest and clean. Their products are directly from the source, so they can control the quality, with vegan and vegetarian options always on offer, and they reuse all their products, all packaging is recycled or recyclable, so there’s little waste.
Bistro Raw & Vegan is a restaurant and market that is working on creating healthy, delicious food that can excite people, whilst working with beneficial and invigorating ingredients to satisfy the body. They wish to show that health is not a series of restrictions, a diet, or a detox program, but a tasty balance. It’s simple: you eat healthy, you feel good, the energy you receive helps you continue your daily plans with gusto. This is what these restaurants want to give to you.
Sublimme is a vegan coffee shop and restaurant, serving desserts only with vegetal ingredients, not thermally processed, which means they keep their nutrients fully intact. Their products do not contain refined sugar, but are sweetened with organic agave syrup and dates, without containing flour, milk, eggs, or gluten. The nuts and seeds that they make are also rich in fibre, protein, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and essential fatty acids. For all those who want a healthy sweet, for diabetics, for children, for those who have allergies and intolerances to gluten and lactose, for pregnant or breastfeeding women, for those on a keto diet, so…for everyone who loves sweets, this is a great option.
Sara Green, the first Fast-Food vegan in Romania, was born out of love, for children, for humans, and for nature. They want to offer gluten-free, vegan, burgers, wraps, salads, and sweets. In the centre of Bucharest you’re able to eat the most delicious foods, enjoying the rapid service as well as the wonderful flavours.
Eating healthy, reducing animal cruelty, recyclable food will create a better lifestyle for you and the rest of the world, so I hope you will consider starting now and support this great local restaurants to ensure they thrive and that more options open up.
Ariana Ciju
IBSB EcoWarrior
Congratulations to Andrei Peli (9K) and Andrei Ghita (11H) for reaching the Grand Final of the COBIS World Music Competition 2022.
Both students made it through to the final two of their respective categories: Middle School Piano Solo and High School Contemporary Solo. Results from the Grand Final will be released on Sunday, May 08.
Please join us in wishing both students the very best of luck!
This week, the students of IBSB rose to the formidable challenge of hosting the 1st edition of IBSBMUN on the main school campus.
With the clock ticking, and the winds of fortune blowing in our favour (COVID restrictions were lifted just days before the planed start of the event) the organising committee launched into action, working over-time to ensure the success of this event.
The conference, attended by approximately 100 students from 8 schools, addressed important current issues in each of the five committees (ECOSOC, UNHRC, ICC, EUCO, HSC), and start with a training session for beginners and intermediate level participants before the official Opening Ceremony,which took place on Friday, March 11th, with Her Excellency the Turkish Ambassador to Romania, Ms Aramaz, Colin Lovering, Chairman of the BRCC, and Neil McGregor, Former BRCC Chair and Current Board Member, formally welcomed onto campus as the events headline guest speakers by Head of School, Kendall Peet.
Over the course of the two day conference, committee sessions were kept engaging by introducing a series of unexpected crises (a rarity in other MUNs) in specific committees – such as the kidnapping of the Chinese delegate from HSC, a French representative getting arrested for smuggling Russian contraband, and in ICC, Putin was tried for war crimes – to successfully keep the delegates on their toes, as they tackled not only the main topic of discussions, but also had a crash course in crisis management. Added to this were fun activities such as the trading game (buying and selling barrels of oil based on news stories).
Throughout the event, the press team, representing a plethora of news agencies from around the world, reported on committee proceedings through the respective lenses of their political perspectives. To read their articles and view a selection of event photos, please visit: https://mun.ibsb.ro/blog
“Having hosted the first two editions of the World COBIS MUN in 2016 and 2018, it was clear that we had a high standard to maintain,” said IBSBMUN Coordinator Dr Blessy Savu “and the students certainly did not disappoint”.
The IBSBMUN provided the perfect platform to showcase student leadership and engagement throughout the conference, which ended with the official Closing Ceremony on Sunday afternoon, with Head of Secondary Matt Tansley inviting Eduard Iosiper, Director for EU General Affairs, and Andrei Dogaru, IBSB Head Boy (2016), to say a few words before the presentation of student awards and the closing gesture by the organising committee.
Thank you to the student organising committee, Dr Blessy Savu, the admin team, the attending delegates and chairs and staff from the participating school, the guest speakers, and our event Sponsors, Deloitte, Pro Business Solutions, and AQUA Carpatica for making this event possible.
See you at IBSBMUN 2023!
Developing effective communication skills is central to the future job market, which is why our summer school programme is not simply focused on improving English, but on developing effective listening skills and speaking confidence. Each lesson begins with a fun speaking activity, to encourage students to use English in everyday situations, with students rotating from table to table, talking about topics of common interest. What better way is there for students to regain their social confidence and improve their English speaking skills after a long period of isolation, than joining the IBSB Summer School Programme.
On April 21st, the Animal Welfare CAS Team visited the Bruno Shelter for the first time in 2021. It has been a particularly challenging year for all of us due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which affected our operations in a number of ways. Nevertheless, we have continued to work hard and move forward, undeterred by recent events, determined to still achieve our goals, and were particularly excited to be able to visit the Bruno Shelter once again.
The trip out to the Bruno Shelter from IBSB took around an hour and a half, and upon arrival we were immediately greeted by the incredibly friendly caretakers who offered us treats to give to the dogs. The dogs stationed near the entrance were some of the most friendly dogs I’ve ever meet; they were so happy to see us, and approached us wagging their tails excitedly, and played with us energetically. We even had the opportunity to interact with some of the baby goats on site- it was like visiting a small animal farm.
We then entered what felt like a small hallway with dogs stationed on either side, instead of walls. This group of dogs seemed a little more lively and less friendly, as they barked excitedly in harmony when we got too close. One of them seemed a little too friendly, very keen on nibbling at my fingers when I offered a treat.
There were many highlights on this trip, including interacting with two huge Rottweilers, who let us hold and play with their puppies. Another highlight was watching this one dog constantly bark at me, while standing on top of an old washing machine. Just ordinary dog shelter business.
Some of the other main attractions were Emma, a very friendly husky, more baby goats, a massive blind dog who acted as the shelter’s mascot, and of course, the moment when we proudly handed over the funds we had raised in the last two years.
As we walked out, I stared at the nearby lake, reminiscing on this incredible year at IBSB with my fellow colleagues, all of whom have been incredibly committed to the Animal Welfare CAS Team. For those of us in Y12 who will still be here next year, we know that the next academic year will provide new opportunities to support Bruno Shelter even more than we were able to do this year, and so we can’t wait to get started and looking forward to visiting all the new friends we’ve made in 2022.
Altay Aramaz
Y12 Bruno Shelter Team member
Community Action Service
Bucharest Homes is your friend and partner in the adventure of discovering BUCHAREST and its treasures. The founder, Andreia Lewis, was an expat for 10 years in various cultures (Asian, European, American) and returned home “to grow roots and wings”. The love for her country, its architectural beauty and culture, also her experience as an expat, made her dream to assist expats in their journey in Romania, with professional real estate service and with extensive information on everything they might need. She learnt that being in expats shoes, in many difficult situations, when she promised she won’t waste anyone’s time. Dream came true!
Passionate about people and beautiful homes, Andreia is explaining us that she is a broker, meeting the offer and the demand, always in favor of the deal. Starting with Bucharest Homes logo, we can see her passion for the beautiful architecture of Bucharest.
“By selling old architectural jewels we are making a small contribution to Bucharest “face lift”, which is becoming more and more visible nowadays. We always encourage landlords to restore what they have so the property reach an international standing where I can see an expat living and encourage clients to buy those unique gems to transform them in practical living architectural assets that will definitely increase the value”.
On the rental side, Andreia is working with expats and assisted many of our parents who registered at IBSB to find a suitable accommodation in the area or nearby. The area of the school is the historical area of Agricultori and Mantuleasa, with beautiful villas, mature vegetation, legendary stories and some cobble stone streets. A real residential area, an ‘up and coming one’, where you can walk and bike, with easy connectivity to other lovely areas as Universitatii or Icoanei. Andreia can be reached by mail alewis@bucharest-homes.ro, or by visiting the site www.bucharest-homes.ro
Once again, the students from IBSB were honoured to be invited to attend the annual LSE MUN Conference for 2021. It was even more of an honour this year, when our students discovered they were in fact the only students from an international school joining the many UK based British schools for an event which typically attracts the brightest students from the top schools around the world.
Our student delegation, representing the People’s Republic of China, joined the online LSE MUN conference, running February 26-28, dressed in suits and ties, in the roles of both young diplomats and journalists striving to find solutions to global problems.
Maria Sticlea (Y11) joined the Security Council, with 3 students attending General Assembly committees:
1) Rares Sas (Y12) – UN High Commission for Refugees
2) Vlad Nedelcu (Y10) – Disarmament and Security
3) Medeea Constantinescu (Y11) – Social and Humanitarian Committee
We also had 3 students, including Matei Bitu (Y13), Tamara Boaca, and Iulia Badiu acting as journalists representing Global News, Die Zeit, and UN News perspectives in the committees they were assigned to. Matei, being an exemplary MUNer in his last conference, reported for Global News on the South China Sea negotiations within the UN Security Council. Here are some of the articles Matei wrote during his attendance at the event:
https://lseyouthmun.munplatform.com/press/news/article?id=3
https://lseyouthmun.munplatform.com/press/news/article?id=7
https://lseyouthmun.munplatform.com/press/news/article?id=8
At the end of the conference, all students agreed that it was an extremely worthwhile experience, with three of the students being presented with the following awards:
Rares Sas – Best Delegate Award
Maria Sticlea – Honourable Mention
Vlad Nedelcu – Honourable Mention
A big thank you to Ms Blessy Savu for supporting the students in their preparations for this event, and for joining them in attending the LSE Online MUN over the weekend. We hope 2022 will allow our students to once again return to London to attend the LSE MUN in person.
Congratulations to the 12 students who joined Ms Croci and Mr Hudson on their Qualifying Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey.
Last week the students all successfully completed their practice journey, which took them from Bucuresti – Cheia (Prahova) – Pasul Bratocea (1263m) (red line trail) – Saua Tigailor (1745 m) – Vf. Ciucas (1954 m) – Cabana Vf. Ciucas (1595 m) – (blue cross trail) V. Berii to Podul Berii (1050 m). It was a memorable trip that luckily returned them to the bus just minutes before the rain started to fall.
This week, the students were off again, this time on their Qualifying Journey, departing Bucuresti en route to Cheia (Prahova) – (yellow line trail) Cabana Muntele Rosu (1280 m) – (red triangle trail) to La Rascruce (1805 m) – (red cross route) to Vf. Gropsoarele (1883 m), Vf. Zaganu (1817 m) Poiana Zaganu (1336 m) – Cheia (900 m). It was to be another incredible experience, as you can see from the photos.
You can check out their routes on the Ciucas Mountains map and online at: muntii-nostri.ro
A special thank you to Ms Croci and Mr Hudson for providing support both before, during, and after both expeditions. Without your dedication to the Duke of Edinburgh International Award programme, and the participating students, worthwhile experiences such as these would not be possible.
Congratulations to IBSB Student, Luca Dobronauteanu (Far left), Year 13, an aspiring ATP tennis player, for reaching the U18 Semi-finals ITF Junior Tournament in Oradea last weekend.
Luca is one of many students studying at IBSB with an individualised educational learning programme, designed to allow him to train toward his sporting dreams, whilst completing his studies.
Congratulations to Maria Sticlea, Y11, who received the ‘Best Delegate Award’ at the BYMUN 2020, organised by YMTS at Casa Universitarilor last week.
For the uninitiated, MUN is a simulation of the United Nations, with each delegate representing a country in one of several committees.
This is what Maria has to say about her experience:
“Because of the coronavirus situation, the conference was held outdoors and restricted to just two committees; I was lucky enough to be offered a place in the EU Council, representing Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, on the topic of ‘Addressing the rise of right-wing extremism in EU member states.’
As my first MUN outside of school, I didn’t really know what to expect, so was pleasantly surprised to discover that the experience was by far much better than anything I could have imagined.
I didn’t know anyone when I first arrived on Day 1, so it was a little scary to begin with, but soon made friends with many of the delegates, who all seemed to share similar interests.
The weather on Day 1 was rather overcast, so the improved sunny weather on Day 2 was a welcome change, with everyone arriving eager to start debating and negotiating.
In the middle of the conference, the CRISIS Committee (who were re-enacting the Biden vs Trump 2020 presidential elections) called me over for an impromptu Q&A session as Angela Merkel, which was unexpected, but very pleasant.
At the end of the conference, different prizes were handed out, and I was given the honour of receiving the Best Delegate Award.
Overall, it was an amazing experience that I would definitely recommend to other students.”
Maria joined IBSB in 2013 (Year 4). During her time at IBSB, Maria has been a student representative on the School Council and a senior member of the IBSB Middle School Debate Team, which has won numerous debate competitions. She has also attended a number of international MUN conferences and has been the recipient of the Academic High Achiever Award for her year in the last 4 years.
Congratulation to Tamara Minea, one of our Y13 students, selected alongside three other students to represent Romania in the International Economics Olympiad taking place next week.
Here are a few words from Tamara on her selection:
I’m very excited to in in the Romanian team selected to represent Romania at the International Economics Olympiad next week. During the summer.
For those of you not familiar with the Olympiad Competitions, there are three stages in the competition: economics, finance, and business.
Economics stage: knowledge beyond the A Level syllabus is required, so I have been preparing for some weeks, learning new terms and theories to be ready to complete a multiple choice and essay component.
Finance stage: involves an online simulation of the stock market where one must invest, and after each turn see whether your money increases or decreases consequently.
Business stage: each team has 24 hours to complete a project based on a given topic to present to a panel of judges.
I expect the whole of the competition to be challenging, but nonetheless an exciting experience.
Students like myself from around the world will be participating and hopefully all going well, Romania will reach the top tiers.
Fingers crossed!
We wish Tamara and the rest of the Romanian team the very best as they make their final preparations.
Stay tuned for future updates!
Congratulations to the IBSB Senior Debate Team, Winners of the 2020 COBIS World Debate Competition Silver Plate.
Taking place in Marbella, Spain, this year, the IBSB Senior Debate Team, consisting of Thea (Y10), Andrei (Y10), Tamara (Team Captain, Year 12), Milena (Y12), and Max (Y12), debated teams from around the world across two days of intensive debate, facing The British School Azerbaijan in the Quarter finals, The English International College of Marbella (Two time world champions) in the semi-finals, and the British School of Amsterdam in the finals.
This is the third year in a row IBSB has made it through to the finals at the COBIS World Debate Competition, confirming that the IBSB remains one of the best schools in the world for public speaking and debating.
IBSB will also have the honour of hosting the inaugural COBIS U16 Debate Competition 2020, with teams flying in from around the world in late March to enjoy the warmth of Romanian hospitality and two days of intensive debate.
As I walk around the MUN committee rooms, I have come across true to life representation and as well some unexpected policy approaches. For instance in DISEC, the delegate of Indonesia spoke up strongly against China’s use of drones, notwithstanding their ASEAN and trade relations – a risky move I dare say, but surely our Indian representative, Irina, is happy with this scenario as her nation has a lukewarm (at best) relation with China.
In the most dynamic of all committees, the joint cabinet crisis, Matei’s task is to play out a balance between diplomacy and warfare stemming from a historical 1853 crisis within the Qing Dynasty due to the Taiping Rebellion, with outcomes that resonate in current-day China. His leadership, ease of contribution, and interest on this 1st day of committee sessions was exemplary; the room filled with his allies representing the Qing Cabinet are constantly checking with him before they write up proposals, entering into geographical detail in mapping out their strategies for military action, negotiating terms for a potential British alliance, and more. Fake news of their attacks against the British unfortunately led to a breakdown in negotiations; propaganda and all sorts of complex minute by minute twists are taking place as I write.
In ECOSOC, as China is a crucial member of this committee that is debating tarriffs and trade, our delegate Leo stepped in, switching on short notice today from India to representing China, to fill the gap. The flexibility and confidence of our delegates, even those without prior MUN experience helps move debates forward. It is going to be an intensive late night for Leo as he researches more in depth about China’s position and arguments and juggles between China and India – a complex task at hand.
In the HRC, Melissa, representing India, argued for the need for pooling funds from WB and international agencies to finance treatment for HIV/AIDS.
More interesting outcomes will surely be revealed in the next feedback session.
On Wednesday, December 18, several of our senior school A Level History students joined Mr Hudson in attending the ‘30 years of Freedom Conference’ organized by the British Embassy and British Council at “Carol I” Central University Library in Bucharest.
The conference focused on the history of freedom in Romania, beginning with the December 1989 moment and the years leading up to it, and covering the decades of change that followed, with a focus on future opportunities.
Keynote speakers included: BBC World Services journalist John Simpson, who was in Romania in December 1989 and broadcast the month’s events to international audiences, the British recent history professor Dennis Deletant, himself a personal witness of the Revolution; actor Ion Caramitru, director of the National Theatre in Bucharest and the first Minister of Culture in Romania after the Revolution; Prof. Dr. Bogdan Murgescu from the University of Bucharest; British writer Jessica DouglasHome, President of the British-Romanian foundation, Mihai Eminescu Trust; and television translator and film critic, Irina Margareta Nistor, amongst others.
“Today I had the honour of representing IBSB at the ‘30 years of Freedom Conference’. These are 3 things I took away from the conference:
– The outstanding level of knowledge, understanding, and genuine passion for Romanian history and desire to help Romania;
– I had the opportunity to ask many questions and interact directly with the speakers;
– I also had the opportunity to take an interview with Radio Free Europe.”
Max Mihailovici
Y12 A Level History Student
Senior School Prefect
Thank you to the British Council, and in particular Gabriel Ivan, for the invitation extended to our students to attend this conference, and to Octav Ganea & Inquam Photos for the permission to publish the photos accompanying this article.
Each year the students, staff, and parents of IBSB shake the dust of their trainers and head out into the streets of Bucharest to participate in the various events of the Bucharest Marathon last weekend on Saturday and Sunday, October 9 & 10. This year saw another large turned out on both days, with the Primary School out in force with Mr Georgescu on Saturday, and with six IBSB relay teams on Sunday, including 3 teacher teams, 1 teacher-student team, and 2 student senior prefect teams. It was a fun weekend, with everyone enjoying participating and some impressive results achieved, including Paul Georgescu, Alina Barbu, Andreea Albu, and Ana Nanau coming 36/224 in the adult relay, in a time of 3:30. Well done to everyone who took part. We are now officially on the countdown to the Bucharest Half Marathon in May, 2020.
The last step of the induction to the CAS programme for the KS5 student volunteers were the Basic First Aid workshops led by the Romanian Red Cross volunteers. For two hours the students learned about the responsibilities of the first aider, the primary survey, resuscitation, the recovery position, asphyxia, wounds and bleeding. They also had the opportunity to practice the procedures demonstrated and ask questions. We are now ready for the CAS visits.
Following on from their recent success crossing of the English Channel, Ana N. (Y8) and Andreea A. (Y9), joined forces with another junior member of their English Channel swim team, Alissa P., to achieve a 2nd Place podium finish in the Women’s Open Sprint Triathlon Relay over the weekend- 750m Swim, 20km Cycle, 5km run. Well done to the entire team and to all those IBSB participants, who participated in the Mamaia Tri Challenge over the weekend, including IBSB parent Andrei Pietruschevici (placing 3rd in the Sprint Triathlon in his age category).
Find our more at www.trichallenge.ro
Photos taken with TYR staff (sponsors), Andreea A. (left), Ana N. (right), and Head of School, Kendall Peet
Congratulations to Lisa, Eva, Anastasia, and Ioana, who have just returned from successfully completing their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Qualifying Expedition in the Ceahlau mountains.
The team was supervised by Ms Johanna Croci and assessed by Mr Octavian Gavrila, who said the participants’ involvement was excellent from all points of view: planning, communication, research, behaviour, drive, and determination.
Following the completion of their objective to explore the flora of the Ceahlau Mountains, with the purpose of creating a digital herbarium comprising 100 exhibits, the students were invited to speak in front of the entire national team of supervisors and assessors about their experience, and in so doing won the appreciation of all present.
Our Head of School, Mr Peet, had the pleasure of visiting some of our students on their work experience placement, including St Mary’s Hospital, Dentestet, PwC, Merck, and BTL. Mr Peet was especially pleased to see the care the companies had taken to provide the students with enriching experiences, saying that student feedback was universally positive and that many students had been successful in affirming their future career choice. Tomorrow, it will be our Head of Secondary, Mr Tansley, heading out for the second round of visits.
The Year 9 Tourism Project was an opportunity for the students to present and be judged on their group startup projects; combining their new found knowledge of business with the history and geography of Romania.
The aim of this project was to enhance independent research and presentation skills within the context of a tourism market place, highlighting the many atteactions of Romania to prospective tourists.
The students had a wonderful morning, many of them commenting on how much they enjoyed the learning experience, asking to do more of these types of activities in the future.
The judging panel, made up of Corina Boronea, Camelia Platt, and Dr Blessy Savu looked at various aspects of the group presentations: Ms Boronea, who works within the travel industry, was particularly impressed by the depth of knowledge of the country and some of the websites that the students had created; Ms Platt felt that the bar had been set much higher than the previous years and discussed the importance of accessibility; whilst Dr Savu ejoyed looking at the projects from a business viability perspective.
All visitors and guests agreed that students did an incredible job and should be universally congratulated.
The winners for 2019 were declared ‘Peony’ – well done to Maria, Angie, Ioana, and Li, who each receive a cinema ticket as their prize.
Following on from the success of winning the Sir Winston Churchill European Schools Debate Competition in November, and coming 2nd in the COBIS World Debate Competition in February, the IBSB Junior Debate Team have finished off what has been a standout year for the IBSB Debate Club by winning the European U16 Debate Championships last weekend, in a closely fought final with St Georges, Sofia. Best Debater Award for the tournament went to IBSB student Jeremy Smith. Well done to all our young debaters, including Melissa Y10, Jeremy Y10, Ronny Y10, Maria Y9, Millie Y8, and Thea (Kiki) Y9. Its looks like the future of debating at IBSB is in safe hands.
Six students from IBSB are attending Middle School MUN this weekend, offering our junior students a taste of MUN, representing China, Iran, and Indonesia, as they debate the way forward on tackling climate change, the repatriation of cultural heritage, the need for continued security in Afghanistan, and protection of refugees. We also have Kyriaki, a senior student and Y12 Prefect, joining us as a seasoned MUNer, chairing the Environmental and Cultural committee.
By the end of the first day our delegates were successfully rounding up support with 5 signatories each: Maria, Melissa and Patrick have all pushed forward resolutions within their committees, which will be debated on Saturday.
There’s a long day ahead tomorrow, so our delegates have all headed home to do further research and speech prep, hoping to sway more countires in their favour tomorrow.
Best regards,
Blessy Savu
MUN Coordinator
Saturday, November 10, saw an excellent turnout from the IBSB community to support the U9 & 11 boys and girls football teams in the Autumn Cup. As always the level of competition was extremely high, making for an exciting experience not just for the players, but also for the parents and supporters on the side-lines. In the end, the teams collected three trophies from four competitions, including U9 Girls 2nd Place, U11 Girls 2nd Place, and U11 Boys 1st Place, with an excellent performance also from the U9 boys, who only narrowly missed out on progressing on from the group stage. All students played exceptionally well, but more importantly were ambassadors of fair play and good sportsmanship!
Congratulations to all the students who participated, and a big thank you to the staff and parents for their continued support and encouragement.
Exploring the history and vibrant life in Athens, our students were first treated to the sights of the Acropolis museum, impressive not only in the content, but also in its layout, juxtaposing the artefacts from the Acropolis with a view of the Acropolis itself through the modern glass structures of the museum. They chanced upon the official changing of guards in front of the Hellenic parliament, an impressive ceremonious display, and explored the markets, shops and restaurants in the city centre at Syntagma Square. It was a wonderful start to the CSMUN, with the students returning their hotel full with the day’s adventures and the delights of gyros and souvlakis, ready for the MUN conference on Day 2.
Standing on the side-line as a blur of red blue and yellow passes before your eyes, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the students competing in their house colours for the annual IBSB Sports Day Cup. This year was no exception, with emotions running high as the students moved from station to station collecting valuable house points along the way.
Sports Day has and will continue to be one of the highlights of the IBSB Calendar. You could say that it is the sporting activities themselves which are the main attraction, with the traditional track and field events for the secondary school students, including for example the 100m sprint, high jump, long jump, and shot put, and the rather more quirky and colourful activities for the younger primary school students, such as the sack race, the egg and spoon race, the dressing up in funny hair relay, and gumboot throwing, to name just a few.
Maybe it is the teamwork and comradery that comes with competing side by side in your house colours, yellow cheering yellow, blue cheering blue, and red cheering red, with the mentality of ‘one for all and all for one’.
For some it is the quest for gold and individual glory, and every year there are a number of incredible, standout performances revealing hidden talents, but more often than not are a honest and true reflection of the passion and intensity that has gone into training day in, day out, in all weather, with other opportunities forgone in the pursuit of excellence.
As a school, Sports Day offers our students a valuable opportunity to grow and mature as individuals, learning what cannot be taught in a classroom, which is the importance of fair play and sportsmanship, how to be gracious in the wake of defeat and humble in the fortunes of victory, to celebrate the achievements of others, building character as you test yourself by exploring your limits, and learning about yourself as you explore the full gamut of human emotions.
It was as it always is, an incredible day enjoyed by all in attendance, with Dobrogea shining through in red as the deserving victors, lifting the House Cup for the second year in a row. For Transylvania and Muntenia, will always be next year to look forward in the hope that the winds of fortune below in their direction.
Special thanks go out to our community partners BORSEC, Sun Wave Pharma, World Class Gyms, Danone, Mega Image, Nescafe Alegria, Aqua Carpatica, and Tinmar for contributing to make the day such an incredible experience for all our students.
Congratulations to Andrei Peli Y5E for winning the National ‘Friends of the Piano’ Competition. Andrei has been playing the piano for 5 years and performing publically for 4 years, which is proof that practice does make perfect. He will be performing at the end of week assembly for the entire Primary School to enjoy and celebrate, hopefully inspiring other students to learn a musical instrument.
There has been success for IBSB mathematicians in the annual UKMT Mathematics Challenge, with a number of year 10 & 9 students competing to solve the fiendish problems in the Intermediate challenge. Congratulations to Mario G. (Year 10) and Melissa A. (Year 9), both receiving Silver certificates, and Leo Ye (Year 10), who received a Bronze certificate. The Junior competition will be held on April 26th, and our younger mathematicians are currently working hard in preparation. The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust was founded in 1996 to advance mathematics education. Each year, they run a series of competitions designed to challenge students and stimulate a passion for mathematics. The questions are carefully designed to develop creative problem-solving skills and encourage students to investigate patterns, skills that are at the heart of mathematics. For those considering further study in mathematics or the sciences, the challenges are an excellent opportunity for development as they introduce an open-ended style of problem, similar to those studied in university courses. If you would like to take part in the challenge, please speak to your maths teacher and come along to the UKMT club on Wednesdays.
The Secondary School play this year was Lady Windermere’s Fan, a witty comedy by the English playwright, Oscar Wilde, performed by a talented cast of KS4 and 5 students.
The venue for this year’s show, the Metrolpolic Theater, offered the perfect setting for this late Victoria play, being both small and elegant. The students were able to use the actors changing rooms and had to find their way through a rather complicated backstage area, giving our students a real taste of thespian life.
In the end the students all had a lot of fun, with a number of hilarious moments shared both during rehearsals, and on stage- which is often the case when performing comedies. The entire team enjoyed the experience, learnt a lot about their colleagues as people, and the boys, in particular, also learnt what formal attire really means and how it should be worn properly.
Director of the play, Ms Ioana Dumitrescu, said “It was a great experience, with excellent team work, and everybody got an opportunity to show their talent for both acting and stage directing. We tried to be as professional as we could, to raise the standard each year and I think we achieved this. Thank you to our Year 13 students who, more or less, took charge of the entire team and helped the younger students, including organising the costumes and the props.”
It was a wonderful show for all in attendance boding well for the future of drama at IBSB.
Congratulations to all the students who were able to participate in the interschool swimming competition. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter our full team this year, due to a number of other commitments, but still managed to finish on the podium, coming 3rd Place overall. An incredible achievement! Next year with a full team we’ll be back for gold!
A blizzard of apocalyptic proportions could not prevent the suited and booted delegates from beginning their MUN journey. Debates, discussions, clauses, amendments, resolutions all flew out of hard drives and pens! Then… of into the centre of town for a traditional Romanian meal: 110 students from around the world, enjoying their experience at Bucharest.
It was an exciting day for everyone participating in the annual COBIS MUN Conference on Day 1, with the students up bright and early for their city tour. The Kings College students being hosted by IBSB students were dropped off by 8:30, everyone fed and ready, and so the tour departed for Peoples Palace and the Village Open Air Museum in Herastrau Park where the students enjoying a taste Romanian culture and a lot of snow.
The afternoon was dedicated to the mock Model UN session as a lead up to the Opening Ceremony at “Carol 1”Biblioteca, with the line-up of speakers including Ionut Simon, General Country Manager of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Colin Lovering, Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce, Hannah Porritt, COBIS Representative, and Peter Built, the UN Representative to Romania.
Next up was the Diplomatic Diner at the InterContinental with a number of ambassadors present, seated at the tables with the students, including the Austrian, Nigerian and Indian Ambassadors, the Canadian Charge D’ Affairs, the First Secretary from the Belgium Embassy, and several representatives from the British Embassy, including Doyin Adele-Shiyanbola, Head of Political Section, to name just a few of the invited guests. It was a wonderful night with more speeches over dinner, some traditional Romanian dancing, and plenty of conversation in good company. It really was the perfect start to what will surely be a memorable MUN for all.
Well done to Melissa A. 1st place winner of the NASA Ames Space Settlement Design Contest 2018. This competition organized by NASA required students to design a space settlement able to accommodate a minimum of 10 000 people plus an addition of a minimum of 500 visitors taking into consideration factors such as the cost (which ended up being $167 520 000 000), protection from space radiation, materials, position, education, life support system, society, and many more. Melissa spent 5 months designing her 87 page project and says the project was inspired by an irrational number which can be found everywhere: in your DNA, famous paintings and even nature. Melissa said that the scale of the project almost led her to give up at certain points, but in the end it was all worth it when the final result came out. Her Project Phi was selected from approximately 2,500 submissions from an estimated 10,000 students. Well done Melissa! You are an inspiration to us all – perhaps one day we will be living in your Nasa Settlement on some far distant planet!
On Saturday January 27, IBSB had the honour of hosting the ESU Junior Public Speaking Competition for the sixth consecutive year.
In total, more than 60 finalists from International and Romanian schools all over Bucharest came together to deliver speeches on the theme: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better, it’s not”: a tricky and profound statement taken from the Dr Seus story ‘The Lorax’.
The children presented speeches discussing far reaching topics on Human Rights; immigration; bullying & poverty, but mostly the environment.
All those who had the privilege to witness these young children speak were universally impressed with their content and delivery – it was easy to forget that the chikdren speaking were just 8-11 years old, as they spoke with a sense of confidence and conviction far exceeding their years.
Thank you to Mr Ennion, who prepared a programme for all children from Year 4-6 to write and deliver their own speeches in front of their classmates in the weeks leading up to the competition. This experience gave them the opportunity to discuss important topics, express their views, challenge each other, and, more importantly, organise their thoughts by writing and delivering a speech. All vital, transferable life skills fundamental to an IBSB education.
As a school we are extremely proud of our pupils’ achievements and participation, with special congratulations to our 6 finalusts, two of whom were awarded 2nd place prizes in this year’s competition – a tremendous result!
Thank you to those teachers who were involved in running the internal rounds to select the pupils to represent IBSB, to the staff and parents who came along at the weekend, to Ela Nicolae the event Director, and to Prior, the event sponsor, but mostly importantly to the children themselves for being so fantastic.
Our final school week started with something rather special organised for our children and staff, as we had a special visit from the Rainbow Fairy, Pongo the Clown, and Oli their golden retriever who together put on a wonderful show with an important message about healthy eating.
The show was arranged by Noi Orizonturi Familia, a not-for-profit association in Romania, to raise money to enhance the quality of life for all members of the community, especially those who are poor, suffering, or are otherwise disadvantaged.
In the show named “Let’s grow beautiful, grow healthy!”, Pongo (Victor) has a sore stomach and is wondering why? The Rainbow Fairy (Alina) helps him and together with Oli teaches Pongo how important it is to eat fruit and vegetables, but also the consequences of an unhealthy diet! Interactive games, humorous skits, songs, dances, and “Oli’s stunts”, were all a part of the 1 hour show that had our students and staff clapping, cheering, and laughing throughout.
We also managed to raise over 1000 ron for a very worthwhile cause.
If you would like to find out more about this educational presentation by Noi Orizonturi Familia and their work then please visit the following website: www.noiorizonturifamilia.ro. They are always looking for volunteers to help.
Congratulations of the IBSB Middle School Debate Team for their recent success in the Sir Winston Churchill International Middle School Public Debate Competition, hosted this year by BSB on Monday, June 12. Having a large group of passionate debaters in the middle school debate club, IBSB entered two teams in the competition this year, and for the first time ever won both the 1st Place and the Runners trophies up this year- so well done to all our debaters for this incredible result and a big thank Ms Blessy Savu for running the Middle School Debate Club this year, giving up many weekends to ensure they were prepared and ready on the day.
Below is a short review of the competition from our students who took part:
Junior Sir Winston Churchill Debate Competition By Gekko Ioancio
A healthy mix of competition and cooperation is what makes debate an excellent growth opportunity for the able and talented students of IBSB. With a very young team, this year was all about getting the basics right. The skills that lead to success in debating include confidence, good oratory skills, and a broad general awareness of world history and current events. Developing these wide ranging skills takes time and practice, however, and we have come a long way over the course of the year.
To our surprise, we won both the 1st and 2nd Place Trophies in the competition, attended by 5 international schools from Bucharest. Below a few comments from some of our debaters:
“This event really pushed me out of my comfort zone – it made me realise that I can perform under pressure”- Irina
“I really enjoyed myself, and it was a great learning experience. The debates were exciting and passionate. It was a wonderful experience.” – Christie
“It was a great experience, since we all learned new things. I enjoyed it, and it helped me develop skills, such as public speaking and teamwork. I would definitely participate again.” – Maria
“This exciting experience has taught me how to work under pressure and time limits which I will definitely need in the future. It has also given me insight on what it means to be a public speaker, motivating me to get better.” – Kyriaki
“It was a successful productive day, overall a memorable experience for all. Can’t wait for next time to discuss even more interesting topics relevant to today’s world.”- Milena
“Definitely an event I would rank in my top 10 best things I have done so far at IBSB. The debates boosted my confidence in public speaking, and I know the experience gained will help me later on in life as well.” – Gekko
There is no doubt that the event will remain in the memories of the students for quite some time. For all present, it was a great event to participate in and it really did push both of our teams to do our very best as well as to experiment with newly learned debating techniques.
All debaters are now eagerly awaiting future debate competitions, as debate has brought us closer together. Through these preparations we got to roleplay as successful members of society who debate in order to solve issues concerning modern day problems and one day soon we will be doing just this in the real world.
On Friday, May 26th, the MFL Department proposed a Year 4 & 5 educational visit to the Cervantes Institute to visit their extensive library, to encourage our students to read more in Spanish, and to enhance our students’ awareness of Spanish culture.
On the trip the students were really excited to discover new aspects about the wonderful Spanish culture. The visit involved educational activities, the presentation of the institute and the library, and even a food workshop (they learned how to prepare guacamole con nachos). In fact, some of the students enjoyed the visit so much that they have decided to go back with their parents to set up an annual subscription. Our visit ended with a quiz about Spain and Spanish culture- all the students did really well and received prizes for their effort.
The Cervantes Institute is a place full of cultural and linguistic interest, and I am sure we will go back there again soon, as the students seemed to have enjoyed it so much.
On Tuesday, the 23rd of May, the students from Year 6 attended an exquisite culinary workshop. They went to the London Street Atelier in order to cook a French menu and were guided by the one and only Rachel Sargent- a big fan of local, natural, and seasonal ingredients in her creations. Our students were very excited and curious, asking Rachel a lot of questions about food and cooking. They made their own Quiche Lorraine, having the chance to choose their favourite ingredients, and also prepared a five minute couscous recipe. The best part was the dessert: croquembouche. Just imagine profiteroles piled into a cone and then decorated with chocolate. We will definitely go again!
Following on from the success of our Open, U16, & U14 teams last weekend, the Boys and Girls U9 Teams, displaying a combination of excellent ball skills, speed, teamwork, passion, and good sportsmanship were eventually rewarded for their efforts with the Winner’s Trophies. The U11 Boys and Girls teams were also in action, but with half the team out, were not able to replicate the success of the U9s. Congratulations to all 42 students who played, with special mention to Maria who received
Best U9 Female Player Award, to Alis for receiving the Best U9 Female Goalkeeper Award, and to Andrei, the top goal scorer in the U9 Boys Tournament. You are an inspiration to us all. A big thank you to our junior coaches Paul Georgescu and Magda Caminedis for your unswaying support and encouragement. Let the celebrations begin!
Well done to all the families who took part in the Bucharest Half Marathon last weekend. It was fabulous to see 40+ children from IBSB competing in the various kids’ races on Saturday morning, and having great fun too! Congratulations also to Team IBSB who joined in the relay race on Sunday. Mr Georgescu, Teodora Albu (Year 1), and Maria Roates (Year 4) achieved the almost impossible, coming 16th out of 529 relay teams entered in the adult race. An amazing effort! The students and staff entered also used the opportunity to raise awareness for ‘Light into Europe’, wearing their bright yellow t-shirts as they made their way around the course. In every way, it was a great event and we look forward to seeing many of you at the Bucharest Marathon on October.
The international schools often come together for various sporting events and academic events such as public speaking and debating, but there is less interschool collaboration in the area of the arts. This is why the Interschool Talent Show is such an incredible night, as it showcases student talent from many of the international schools in Bucharest and this year was no exception. This year Avenor College hosted at the Centrul Cultural Otopeni for the very first time, with 20 acts from six international schools, including students from IBSB singing ‘Shape of you’ by Ed Sheeran. As always it was extremely difficult for the judges to decide, but in the end Best Solo Performance went to Zixuan Jin (AISB), who sang deeply moving ballad in Mandarin, with best group performance going to Avenor College, performing ‘Someone in the crowd’ from the La La Land soundtrack. Well done to all students involved and thankyou to event Sponsors, Senia Music! We hope to see of you back again next year!
I had the great pleasure of watching the IBSB footballers play in the Lumina Competition on Saturday, May 13. It was wonderful to see the determination, the team spirit, and the skills that were displayed by all players. The level of play was impressive by all teams present, and so I have to congratulate the boys senior team who came 2nd in their competition, the U14 boys team who finished third, and the girls team who also collected the trophy for third place. Particular congratulations go to Maria in Year 9 and Yunis in Year 11 both of whom were awarded the Best Goalkeeper Trophy in their respective competitions. Thank you to Ciprian Iacob for his passion in coaching and to all those who came along and supported. The U9 & 11 teams are in action this weekend- we wish them all the very best.
With spring finally here, what better way to celebrate than heading out into nature to recharge our batteries! The IBSB Tree Planting weekend gave us the perfect opportunity to do this, and at the same do something good for the environment.
Working with our community partner, the Children’s Forest Association, around 50 IBSB students, parents, and staff headed north on Saturday, March 25th, to help replant the former Vlasiei Woods, located to the SW of Ploiesti.
As you can see from the photos there is a lot of work to be done- not a tree in site- but with so many hands contributing to the project, the woodlands and forests will be back in no time.
Thank you to all those that came along to help out. It was a lovely community event, and a great way to teach our children about the importance of reforestation projects and sustainable living. A special thank you to Ms Orla O’Dwyer and Ms Johanna Croci for rallying the troops and making this event possible- you each get an additional ring to your already bright halos.
This was our first IBSB Green Team Tree Planting outing and it certainly won’t be our last!
For more information about how you can get involved in replanting Romania, please visit: www.padureacopiilor.ro (an environmental NGO working for community development through afforestation (creating forests where they did not exist for hundreds of years). The afforestation program is 100% sustained by private funding, and is working to restore degraded lands in Romania, creating a valuable legacy for the future generations.
On Friday, March 17, IBSB had the honour of hosting its third biennial International School Advanced Child Safeguarding Workshop, with a total of nine international schools taking part in the training session this year. Ensuring student welfare is an area of high priority for international schools – it is the first area that inspectors look at when conducting a school inspection.
International School Inspectors look to see if senior staff have been trained to ensure safer recruitment practices are adhered to. This is certainly the case at IBSB. They look to see that staff have received the relevant training to be able to provide the necessary duty of care to students, including the ability to identify signs of child neglect or harm. To this extend, all staff at IBSB receive training each year, completing a total of eight online child safeguarding and health and safety related certified courses each year. Our staff also receive face to face child safeguarding training each inspection cycle from a UK specialist in the field. Staff at IBSB also complete Basic Medic First Aid Training, with 10 staff completing the Advanced Paediatric Medic First Aid Diploma.
The biennial Advanced Child Safeguarding Training, which our IBSB Child Safeguarding Team and Safer Recruitment Team receive, covers the following topics:
On behalf of all nine international schools in attendance, we would like to thank Robin for openly and generously sharing his knowledge and many years of experience with us, ensuring we that we are all up-to-date with the latest policies and procedures, and for providing our respective school teams with models of best practice to help keep our students safe.
Instructor: Robin Watts
Robin worked as a Police Officer and Detective for 30 years, focusing on the area of Child Protection, creating courses for police officers and social workers, training them in joint investigation, achieving best evidence, and for police officers the national ‘Specialist Child Abuse Investigators Developers Program’. After retirement Robin became a Child Protection Adviser and Trainer, working with international organisations such as COBIS, assisting international schools in improving their Child Protection Practices, Standards and Procedures and helping them to prepare for school inspections in the arena of Safeguarding- all of which achieved ‘Outstanding’.
On Saturday the 28th of January, IBSB once again had the honour of hosting the Regional English Speaking Union’s Public Speaking Competition for students aged 8-11 years. This was the fifth consecutive year that IBSB has hosted the competition, which seems to grow more popular among international and state schools alike with each year. This year, we even welcomed a contestant from Cluj, which shows just how much the contest has expanded.
IBSB entered the maximum number of 8 students: 3 from Year 5, and 5 from Year 6. These students were selected based on their performances in our own internal Public Speaking competition; there were many other impressive speakers, but unfortunately we couldn’t send them all to the regional round.
As well as the number of entrants, the quality of the speeches also seems to increase every year. The judges, supplied by the English Speaking Union and other competing schools, had a really difficult task choosing the prize winners. A big congratulations too all the students who took part from all schools, with a special well done to our excellent IBSB students, Zohar (Y6P), who took second place and Vlad (6P), who achieved a third place. Victor (6M), achieved an Honourable Mention prize, with Honourable Mention certificates for Ana, Luca, and Alkyoni from Year 5, so we hope to see them return even stronger next year! Anastasia (6M) and Ilinca (6P) also represented the school with distinction.
We would like to thank all participating schools, the English Speaking Union and, of course, all of the speakers for making this year’s event the best yet.