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News from Bellerbys London
New Foundation Business students (April start) settle into the course
For students who haven’t managed to enrol on the Foundation Business course in time to
begin in September or January, Bellerbys London offers a second chance – a three-term Business Foundation programme beginning in April and completing in December. This gives students the opportunity to apply for university degrees beginning in January, or the following September which means that they don’t have to wait until the next academic year to begin their foundation course. The course includes all the same modules as those starting earlier
so students study the full range of Business related topics, as well as a comprehensive English course and IT classes.
This year, eight students have joined the course, and having spent the last few weeks settling in, are now well on their way to their first set of exams in June. Three of the students, Huang Qian (Analyn), Yeldos Zhexembin and Arman Kamaryan had plenty to say about their experience of the course so far. Yeldos, from Kazakhstan and Arman, an Armenia student, both began the April course as they plan to begin a university course in January 2009.
Arman studied on the English Language Preparation course at Bellerbys London to improve his English before beginning the Business Foundation. Both students commented on the usefulness of their English lessons so far, particularly as their main concern is the IELTS test, which they will be taking in August. Yeldos and Arman are both considering London Metropolitan or the European Business School as options as these universities are among several which have January start dates on Business related courses.
Analyn, a 19 year old student from China, completed school in her home country before starting the foundation programme. So far, her favourite subject is maths, she finds that the teacher really knows how to make it interesting. She is also enjoying the relationships she has built with her classmates. Of the tutorial classes, Analyn says she finds them useful in helping her apply to university – she hopes to study Business Management or International Business at Aston or City, so plans to apply for courses starting in 2009. It is her hope to find work experience in between completing the Foundation and going to university.
A Night with the Stars – Student Volunteers Invited to NME awards at the O2 Arena
In September, the Greenwich Volunteer Centre came to Bellerbys London to recruit some of our students to do volunteer work in and around the borough. Of those pupils, the first two to donate their time to this worthy cause were A Level students Ting Ting Dai and Ellen Yi Ping Tang. This month their altruistic spirit was rewarded as, by way of a thank you, the Volunteer Centre invited the two girls to attend the NME Music Awards as VIP guests, at the O2 Arena Concert Hall (formerly the Millennium Dome), North Greenwich. The girls were also awarded certificates celebrating their charitable nature, before being whisked away for a night of music and glamour. The girls had the following to say, upon reflection of their exciting trip:
“We worked for a charity last term, so as a reward, Greenwich Council organised a prize-giving ceremony for volunteers. They invited us to London's O2 Arena for the Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 Big Gig On the 28th of February as our prize. We had a wonderful night seeing many famous rock music bands such as Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs and so on.
At the start, we heard many famous songs from the Klaxons and The Cribs. This was
followed by Bloc Party’s electric performance. Before the Kaiser Chiefs took to the stage, the MC asked everyone to come down to the standing area. It was so crowded but very exciting as everyone screamed, shouted and clapped their hands.
The show approached a climax shortly after the Kaiser Chiefs finished their performance –
in the end the “Godlike Genius Award” winners, the Manic Street Preachers performed their greatest hits. We finally heard a song that was very familiar to us – Umbrella! We really enjoyed the performance by these bands and hope to have the chance to go to something
like this again one day. From this experience, we learned that without sacrifice, there is no victory, so, we hope more students join the volunteer network and other school activities as you never know, you may get a chance to go to the NME Awards 2009 next year.”
More Exciting Opportunities for Art Students
Continuing with the enrichment of Bellerbys Foundation and A Level Art Students’ education, Foundation Art teacher Rosie Montford has organised yet another excellent extra-curricular trip. This time, the students attended a workshop at the South London Art Gallery, held by a German set designer, and designed to explore the work of German artist Thomas Zipp,
whose installations were simultaneously being exhibited at the gallery.
Students on the September and January starting Foundation Art course, and students
studying A Level Art – accompanied by their teacher Josephine Roberts – went along to the gallery to take part in the workshop, designed to encourage the students to think about the use and negotiation of space within art projects. The research done by the students as part
of the workshop became part of assessed projects counting towards the final grades for their courses. As well as this workshop, some of the A Level students took part in a film course on four consecutive Saturdays, running in conjunction with the set design workshop.
Foundation Art student, Bertha Lee, had the following to report about her experience of the workshop:
“Our Art and Design Foundation Group went on an art trip to Thomas Zipp’s Exhibition at the South London Gallery for a workshop on 10 January 2008. Thomas Zipp is a German artist. In his exhibition, we saw his work based upon life and death. His works combine abstract painting, drawing and sculpture to create fantasy-inspired installations. Some of his sculptures had holes cut through them, there were also different pieces of material and
sheets of wood used to create various effects in his exhibition.
His work had a very gothic style – almost like dark fairytales. For example, he built a big wooden room inside which were mushrooms – it felt like it had brought us to into another world. I think his work is fascinating. After we viewed the exhibition, we had a workshop at the gallery. We were divided into two groups to work on different ideas, the first group worked in 3D design and the other group, collage. Lastly, we all had a brilliant day and enjoyed it very much!
Popular Annual Film Screening Event Returns to Raucous Applause
For the third year running, Foundation Media Studies students – with the help of their teacher Isabelle Bristow – have successfully orchestrated an evening of film and fun, in order to show students and staff some of what they get up to in their Media classes. There is often a bit of an air of mystery surrounding the subject of Media, and students on other programmes often pop into the Media classroom to have a look at what goes on in, so this was an excellent opportunity for members of the college to find out. As part of the Film module taken in the Autumn term, students are required to make two short films, the second of which counts for 50% of their mark for that module.
Film making is one of the most enjoyable parts of the course (take a look here for some student comments) and this years’ students took to the activity with gusto, really allowing
their creative juices to flow and producing some highly original and imaginative work. Once the Media pupils had planned, scripted and storyboarded their films, students from many different programmes – including A Level and Foundation Business – were recruited as actors, and filming began. Back in the classroom, the students used Pinnacle Studio to edit their films, cutting scenes, putting in effects and adding music.
On the day of the screening evening, three classrooms were opened up and transformed into a film theatre, with the students’ films being projected on a big screen. The event was very well attended, with upwards of eighty students and staff. Films shown included short non-verbal stories – where meaning was created without the use of words – and film openings, with the idea that the story could be continued. Styles ranged from comedy to thriller, romance to horror. Some notable examples of good work included “The Cheat” a comedy by Desislava Terziiska and Murat Sharapov, “Revenge” a thriller by Ksenia Kassoni, Alexandra Chervotkina and Polina Klimenko, and “Losing Jane” a drama by Cheryl Fernadez, Priska Febrina, Coco Ka Wai and Anzhelika Khalikova.
Upon reflection of the student’s work, Principal Andy Quin was very impressed stating that
“the films with the most simple ideas, but excellent camera work and editing” were his favourite.
Further Accolades for Maths Whizz Thien
Having sat the second round of the national “Senior Maths Challenge” competition, and following his success in the first round, Thien Phung has achieved further glory by gaining the highest mark in the country – thirty out of a possible forty.
This competition, open only to the UK’s top student mathematicians, is designed to find candidates for the British team to take place in the British Maths Olympiad. The competition
is open to all students studying in the UK, sadly only students with British nationality can take a place on the Olympiad team.
Having gained a higher score than anyone else entering the competition this year, Thien
would certainly have been first choice for the team had he been eligible. Thien’s Maths teachers, Dr John McDarby and Clive Cubitt have been working with Thien to prepare him for the competition, and are of course staggered by the fantastic results that Thien has achieved.
Postgraduate Exhibition a Success with London and Brighton
Students from London and Brighton had an excellent opportunity to chat to representatives from several major universities at the annual Postgraduate Exhibition, this year held in London and co-ordinated by Chris Hovell and David Rowson, programme managers at Bellerbys London.
More than twenty universities held stalls, including popular choices such as London’s City University, Bath, Lancaster, Nottingham and top centre for Business related courses, Aston.
Students studying on a variety of programmes designed for graduates wishing to study for Masters level degrees were invited to spend a few hours browsing the stalls, and chatting to representatives of the universities in which they were interested. Students came away armed with plenty of information, brochures and free gifts from their chosen institutions.
Keyvan Estiri, a student studying on London’s Pre-Masters course, which offers subject specific and English classes for students wishing to go on to study for an MBA, had the following to say about the exhibition:
“I was familiar with many of the universities at the fair, however I knew which ones I wanted to speak to and – because the exhibition was set out well – it was easy to spot their stalls and make a beeline for them. I spoke with City, Aston, Bath and Lancaster, all of which are excellent institutions and gave me useful information. All the representatives had a friendly and welcoming attitude and gave all the worthwhile information to which they had access. I was looking for an MBA course and after chatting to the spokespeople, I think Bath is a good option for me. All in all I was grateful for the chance to speak with a good variety of universities”.
Bellerbys London Alumni Continue to be High Achievers
Principal Andy Quin and Head of A Level, Erin Robinson were pleased to discover that previous A Level student Hoang Le Nguyen, who achieved outstanding grades of AAABb when she took her exams with us, has been awarded a prestigious prize after being recognised as one of the top first year students studying BA Business Economics at Durham University.
The 'Shell International prize' was awarded by the Board of Examiners in Economics, Finance & Business. Winners of the prize were chosen on the basis of academic performance, with special reference to an unsupervised project completed by Le in Economic Methods. Further to an excellent result in this project, Le’s first year consisted of six modules, in four of which she achieved over 80%. This brilliant performance contributed towards the prize – an accolade awarded to only four other students that year.
Hoang Le Nguyen has very much enjoyed her time studying at Durham so far, and had the following to report upon reflection of her first year there:
“I have been at Durham University for more than a year by now, if I had to describe student life in one word, 'amazing' would be the one. Due to the university being the third oldest in England, I have observed plenty of tradition which I might not have had the opportunity to do so in other universities, for example: the formal university and college matriculation at the beginning of my first year, the formal balls in colleges and so on.
I spent my first year living in college to experience the collegiate system, and I am currently living out in rented accommodation to gain a different taste of student life. Academically, compared to A-level, university degrees require more self-study, as for each module, lectures of up to 300 students are only one or two hours weekly, and we only have one one-hour seminar per fortnight in a group of sixteen to twenty students to further discuss topics that have already been covered in lectures through case study, problem sets and more. Because of this, students must be fully responsible for their own study and work ethic.
There are always so many exciting activities to join apart from studying. I have joined a student voluntary organisation: Student Community Action (SCA); participating in the Homework Club project. I spend a couple of hours each week helping GCSE students in a local secondary school with their Maths homework. I am currently a student ambassador, working for the Undergraduate Admission Office in the Student Targeted Aspiration Raising Scheme (STARS) programme that aims to motivate and inspire young people studying Year 9 to 11 in the North East to apply for any Higher Education Institutions for which they are academically qualified. Usually, pupils come to the university for STARS sessions and campus tours, however, sometimes, student ambassadors go out to regional schools to run the sessions, hence, I have had the chance to explore the North East, I have been to schools in Darlington, Billingham, Hartlepool, and Seaham. Both societies run social events in which all members meet up in a local pub and chill out. I have made a lot of friends from multi-cultural backgrounds, home students from different parts of the UK, and international students from all over the world. All of these experiences have made my time in Durham very enjoyable”.
Aspiring Business Entrepreneurs Test their Skills with Young Enterprise
Since September last year, Business Studies teacher Claire Marcouse has been working tirelessly to help a group of A Level students get their Young Enterprise company off the ground. After initial fundraising events last term, the company is now preparing to launch their first proper business, selling imported goods from their members’ home countries. Ting Ting Dai had the following to say about the project:
“The Spring Company is a newly established real business, taking part as a Young Enterprise Organisation. You may wonder: what is Young Enterprise? Young Enterprise is a UK registered charity on a mission to "inspire and equip young people to learn and succeed through enterprise". Each year, 291,000 young people like us get a head start on their working lives while they are still at school or university. We do this by taking part in a Young Enterprise programme where we gain knowledge and skills for business and enterprise either through a series of workshops and seminars or through setting up and running their own real company.
So, what kind of company is Spring? It is a young enterprise company consisting of 10 members (all students are on the six term A Level programme) whose aim is to run the business with the help of an advisor and a teacher. Our Spring Company decided to sell products such as Chinese knots, jewellery, purses, silk and other items imported from China and other countries. Our main focus was on products showing different cultures and arts to local citizens.
Now, let me introduce the different roles of our business. We have two Managers, making decisions and communicating with each member on a day-to-day basis. We have two Financial Directors as well, they need to be responsible for finance and resource management, keeping track of the money, recording every transaction the business makes. Marketing Directors are also included to identify markets and opportunities, carry out market research, design advertisements and so on. Other roles include an Administration Director, Sales Director, Production Directors and Human Resource Director.
As we can see, every member has their own responsibilities and experience as well as learning each steps of being a good manager or director. From joining the Spring company, I believe that everyone has fun, can learn to communicate, learn to think more, learn to be a member of a group and develop a range of skills.
Our most recent business project was to raise the money to pay the Young Enterprise registration fees of £80. After careful consideration, we planned to make crystal fruit (a kind of sweet snack made of sugar and fruit). In fact, none of us knew how to make crystal fruit, however, some members of the company investigated the method to make crystal fruit and put a lot of effort practicing making that snack. We did fail a lot of times, but finally made it. The crystal fruit was amazing.
At the end of November last year, we made a lot of advertisements to potential consumers (our target audience being people in Bellerbys College) and prepared to sell our products in the Canteen – this was our first product, the first real sales we’d ever made. Everyone was looking forward to raising more money. Finally, we made a profit of £17 which might not be a big deal compared to the £80 we needed – not to mention our expectations – however, at least, we tried, we succeed, and we found out what we should improve to make better profit next time. We learned a lot. Our Spring Company is still at the start of the game and we are certain will learn form every failure and ultimately, our success!”
Charity Group “harvest” the Profits of their Valentine’s Rose Delivery Service
Yet again the Bellerbys Student Union Charity Group have been raising funds for Plan International – a charity organisation involved with building schools in developing countries.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a group of ten students from both our A Level and Foundation programmes canvassed the school, advertising their rose bouquet delivery service. Then, for a week, the students gave up their lunch break to run a stall taking orders.
Customers could choose from a wide variety of roses in many different colours, and send their loved ones single blooms or custom made bouquets. The students attributed different meanings to the different coloured flowers, such as red for love, yellow for friendship – even black for passion! Prices for the roses were very good value, starting at £1.25 for a single flower. Students could choose any combination of colours to be made into a bespoke spray, the price of which depended on the number of blooms chosen.
Once all the orders were taken, the members of the charity group headed off to Columbia Road Flower Market in Hackney, East London, to buy both the flowers and decorative lace, ribbons and papers to decorate their product. Spending their weekend putting the bouquets together, the students then descended upon the classrooms the following Monday and Tuesday, making their exciting deliveries. Students from almost every class received gifts, and all were delighted with the result. Even some lucky teachers were awarded the privilege of a delivery! In total the charity group raised over one hundred pounds – not bad for a week’s work!
Further Success for A Level Student Following the Senior Maths Challenge
A Level student Thien Phung has impressed his Mathematics teachers even further. Not only did he reach the second round of the national “Senior Maths Challenge” competition, taking the exam this month with results to follow soon, he has also been presented with a prize, for achieving 7th place in the country for the original test paper.
Thien beat off competition from some 1,800 students from around the UK, the large
proportion of whom had English as their first language; only six students in the UK received a higher grade. In recognition of this achievement, Thien received a gold medal, certificate and a book by Ian Stewart – well recognised in the world of mathematics – “Letters to A Young Mathematician”.
His maths teachers, Dr John McDarby and Clive Cubitt are once again very proud of Thien’s latest achievement.
Two Gold Awards for A Level Maths Students
Having taken part in the “Senior Maths Challenge” competition last month, twenty-eight Bellerbys London students received their results and were invited to a prize giving ceremony with the Principal Andy Quin, and Maths teachers Dr John McDarby and Clive Cubitt.
The competition, designed to test students’ raw maths skills, included some incredibly difficult and complex maths, however the school received a record number of certificates this year, including two Gold Awards, which have never been awarded to students at Bellerbys London before.
The Gold Awards, which required a score of 75 or above, were presented to Thien Phung, in the second year of his five-term A Level programme, and Chen Chen, in the first year of his six-term A Level course. Thien Phung also took away the prize for “Best in School”, with an outstanding score of 85 out of a possible 125.
Because their scores were so high, both Thien and Chen have been invited to take part in the British Maths Olympiad. This national competition, run by the UK Maths Trust is only open
to a very small proportion of Maths students in the UK, and, if the students also do well in this test, they will move to round two of the competition, which is designed to find teams to compete on an International level. Also receiving certificates were seven A Level and Foundation Business and Engineering students, who all got a Silver Award, and eight A Level and Foundation Science students, presented with Bronze.
Further to the Senior Maths Challenge, for the past two years, Dr John McDarby has been running a weekly maths competition within the school, where students – and even staff – are invited to work out the solution to maths puzzles, differing in style each week. A Level
student Saman Farahbakhsh won a prize for submitting one of the most exceptional solutions so far this year.
Exciting New Opportunities for Economics Students
This term has seen the arrival of an exciting, and extremely useful, society for students, the Economics Club. Primarily aimed at A Level Economics students – although students from all programmes are welcome – the club was conceived by René Bradford, teacher of A Level and Foundation Economics and is designed to give students an opportunity to practise their skills
of analysis and evaluation – essential for the A2 exams. Each week, either René or the students decide upon a topic to research, then through presentations, discussions and debates, the subject is brought to life. Lectures are also given, with Jerome Lee, another of our Economics teachers, giving a recent talk on the Stock Exchange. A lecture on the Economies of India and China is also planned.
Although René is always on hand to facilitate, the club is very much student run, including the administration and promotion of the society. One second year A Level student, Amy (Boa Ngoc Lieu) has even created a website detailing which topics are being discussed each week and allowing students to chat on an online forum. Between 20 and 25 students meet each week on a Monday afternoon, with the aim being to have fun as well as learn. The society is definitely something that students can write about in their university applications. Another benefit is that club members can attend free lectures by some of the top professors and doctors in their field at the London School of Economics, Britain’s top university to study the subject, the most recent example of this being a talk on “Economics and Human Rights”. A Level student Leon (Chun Ki Chan) had the following to report about the club in general:
“First of all, I would like to introduce you to what we do usually and for what purpose we are aiming. Every Monday afternoon, we have a one hour discussion; normally one or more members may bring us some up-to-date Economic news. In addition, we start our discussion and go through those topics by using Economic key words which means that we learn them by applying them to the conversation. To some extent, we may use logical sense, statistics and evidence to back up our opinions. This is extra material that we are unable to learn from lessons which may not mentioned in books. In one meeting, there was a lecturer who participated in the Economics Club. He gave us expert advice about stock investment. There will be more guests coming in the future.
The Club started in October 2007. So far we have discussed Globalization, Financial Crises and the Economic Development of China. All these issues are related to our studies as well as our exams. Our Economics teacher, Rene, often provides assistance in order to guide us in discussing in the correct way and she always emphasizes that Economics is learned through discussions. At the beginning, members tended to be quiet and afraid to speak. However, after a few weeks, more members took the initiative to talk and express their ideas. The trend shows that it is certainly useful for those who do not speak often to improve their knowledge and also range of language.
So, the Economics Club not only solves Economic problems but also raises the standard of speaking and organizing. In conclusion, I think that participation in the Economics Club and things that I have learned are immeasurably helpful in my academic work and make me more concerned with the world, which I had previously not thought about. Moreover, I personally recommend to students who are studying Economics or Business to join this Club; it will be immensely helpful for your studies.”
The Art Foundation Course Goes from Strength to Strength
Now in its fourth year, the Art Foundation Course is swiftly becoming an established and important part of the curriculum offered to our students. Indeed, the Art department has grown considerably, and for the first time, A Level Art is also offered here at Bellerbys London. Rosie Montford, teacher of Foundation Art here, and Module Leader for Art overall has worked hard to make the course as interesting as possible for her students. The class
are taken on regular trips to some of London’s most famous and interesting galleries and exhibitions. Recent visits have included trips to the Tate Modern, Royal Academy and the British Museum. Students were also recently taken to the London Design Festival, which this year was showcasing artists and designers from Deptford, a stones throw away from Bellerbys London campus. Rosie also organises an annual exhibition of student work, displayed in various locations around the school.
With a subject such as Art, making links with local organisations and universities is essential in giving students a rich and varied experience. The college has strong links with the University of the Arts London, a centre of excellence in undergraduate art, and a destination very popular with many of our students both of Art and Media related course. Representatives for the university regularly visit the college and provide workshops for the students on a variety of topics. Students have also recently worked with members of the South London Art Gallery on contemporary art topics such as film making. In January, the students will be taking part in an exciting project with a Stage Set designer, also through this gallery.
Foundation Art student, Mariya Kolesnychenko answered a few questions about the course:
“I decided to study Foundation Art because all my life I have been interested in drawing and creating things, and I want to develop my skills for the future. Most of all I like three dimensional art, for example model making. Sketching is also very interesting to me. I really enjoyed the recent mixed media project we undertook – I made a lamp. We always work with different materials, which I really enjoy. The trips we go on are very interesting and useful for our research, however my favourite one was probably a trip to the Design museum to the Zaha Hadid exhibition. It impressed me very much and I found her work very inspiring. It is my aim to study at the University of the Arts London. I want to become a product designer, so Art plays an essential role in my future plans. Students should study Art at Bellerbys, because it is a very good course. We have a lot of opportunities to visit interesting exhibitions in order to become familiar with modern artists. And also the style of teaching here is really nice, because students always have a choice in what do they want to do and what materials they want to use”.
Read more about the Art Foundation course
Students Go To Work
In order to enhance their social skills, enrich their cultural understanding and, very importantly, give students interesting and relevant experience to write about in their
university applications, the Extra-Curricular department, headed by Sara Bewes, has been giving students the chance to do volunteer work. At the beginning of term, Karen Amas from the Greenwich Volunteer Centre came to talk to students that were interested in volunteering. Following that, those students still keen to take part went to the centre itself for an interview, and to discuss what sort of work they wanted to do. Karen then sought out placements for them.
Another, extremely important way of enhancing a university application is to gain appropriate work experience by shadowing people in the work place. Saman Farahbakhsh, a first year A Level student keen to study Dentistry at university, took the initiative, with the support of the college, to organise his own work placement at a local dentist’s surgery. He had the following to report:
“Volunteering can be one of those experiences that keeps on working for you. For recent high school graduates, volunteering can put you ahead of those who have only held minimum-wage jobs. Because it is unpaid, volunteering is risk-free. It gives you a time to learn, to develop a sense of self, and to figure out more specifically what it is that really interests you besides, mostly, volunteer work ends up being the most rewarding of all jobs because not only can it give you the opportunity to learn new skills, gain much-needed experience, and make some lasting contacts, but the work itself can also be hugely fulfilling. I’m working in a Dental Clinic as an observer. I was really keen to take part in observation and get some information about Dentistry before going to the university. Moreover, it is located directly opposite the college so, its easy to get there. I have learnt a lot so far, for example; basic principles of dentistry, communication skills, how to understand patients become aware of their expectations of their dentist. I observe twice a week on Mondays and Tuesdays. I think that doing work experience is very valuable. Students have to first know about their favourite career by doing a voluntary job, so that they can make informed decisions about their future career.”
Twenty-Eight Students Take Part in Senior Maths Challenge
This November, twenty-eight students studying on the Foundation and A Level courses, took part in the “Senior Maths Challenge”, which was coordinated by Maths teacher and Oxbridge Tutor Dr John McDarby. The “Senior Maths Challenge” is a nationwide contest, involving 1,800 private and state schools from all over the country.
The students had been preparing for the challenge for the last six weeks, with specially organised extra classes run by Maths teacher Clive Cubitt. Of the competition, Clive said that it was “a very useful extra-curricular activity for students of Maths, as it incorporates a puzzle element, involving lateral thinking and application, which can often be neglected in A Level classes, with the focus being so much on the exams”. Dr John McDarby added that “it gives students who may not necessarily shine in exams, but still have very good natural
mathematic skills, the chance to be recognised for their interest and talents, and is a great thing for students to write about in their personal statements for universities”.
Foundation Engineering student, Alireza Jaberi, stated that the challenge was “hard work and quite difficult”, but that he got “an enormous amount of satisfaction” from seeing all the revision he had done come to fruition.
The students who took part in the contest will be receiving their results by the end of the month. As a follow up, the top four students from each of the four Bellerbys centres will then take part in an inter-college Maths challenge, also orchestrated by Dr John McDarby. The students will compete for a trophy, which will subsequently be named after the first winning student, to become an annual prize for this event.
New Equipment for Media Studies Students
As the Foundation Humanities course, incorporating Media Studies, continues to grow in popularity, Bellerbys London has been keeping up with the intake and invested in some new Canon digital cameras. Students have been using the cameras this term as they plan, shoot and edit their own short films, which will be shown to the whole school in the Spring Term in the form of our annual Film Screening Evening.
Practical film work – which makes up fifty percent of the film module – is one of the most popular parts of the Media Foundation, and really allows students to put into practice the analytical theory that they have learnt.
Media student Angela Sadriyeva, from Russia, says, “I like everything about Media as it is all new and interesting to me. I enjoy looking at films and discussing them. Future students, I think, should choose this branch as it is interesting and will be more and more important in the future as new technologies appear and develop”.
Read more comments on the Humanities Foundation page
The Debating Club Returns to a Captive Audience
After its success last year, the Debating Society has returned this year with growing
popularity – with debates increasing from once a fortnight to once a week. Rapidly becoming an important fixture in the social calendar, chairperson Shehzad Dorairaj has the following to say to students considering joining this popular club:
“The Debate Society was set up to allow students not only to practice their English skills, but
to allow them to express views of different arguments. Each week, us, the students, are allowed to choose the topic for ourselves. Every week we have two speakers for and against who attempt to prove their point to the floor - or audience, based on topics that affect the world around us. In the past we’ve had debates revolving around Abortion, Nuclear Power and more recently, Gender Equality. To make things fair, and much more interesting, after the speakers deliver their speeches, the floor is allowed to ask them questions and the speakers can then argue directly – raising wider issues and getting some blood boiling – and laughter from the floor. The members of the floor are then asked to take a vote upon which side argued the most effectively.
Each debate tends to get pretty dramatic, which is hilarious in its own way – whether it was A Level Jason trying to prove that men were better than women (which got some really angry looks from the women in the floor), to a teacher that laughed so hard she nearly fell to the floor. Whatever the topic, it tends to end with people laughing a lot more than they expected at a debate.
Why is the Debate Society good to join? Other than the fact that it’s fun and helps with English skills, it also allows us to view topics from different angles and contemplate the philosophy of it all – and of course, it looks good on your personal statement. Being part of the Society shows that you have the ability to argue and stand up for a side, and the courage to sometimes stand for the less accepted position in front of an audience. It also shows the ability to think critically and predict your opponent’s moves – and attack their weak spot (a handy technique in the real world!)"
Students Get Actively Involved in Sports
As part of the ongoing extra-curricular activities programme, two new sports clubs have been created, and both are becoming more and more popular as the weeks go on. The members of the tennis club, organised by A Level student Stefan Panov, who have been braving the English weather for the past few weeks on outdoor courts, will soon be relocating to indoor premises. The basketball club, founded by another A Level student, Albina Savitskya has been up and running for the past few weeks, making use of local sports facilities. Of the two sports clubs, Stefan has this to report:
“As a member of both the tennis and basketball societies, the thing I enjoy the most is the fun that we have. I enjoy exercise, and the fact that we can do it in a social situation is great. I have been interested in sports activities for most of my life, particularly the last 5-6 years, and have been playing tennis for the past nine years.
Being part of the sports clubs is a great thing to write about in your personal statement for university because of all the skills you can practice. The main one is team work – the ability to work with other people in the best way to achieve the best results. Communication is very important in team sports. We also learn to be tolerant to others. I think that future students should join both clubs because of the opportunity to meet other people and find new friends. It's also great if they are really keen on those sports or just on sports generally. I find the clubs to be great fun – they help me to deal with the stress of my studies, and keep myself fit and healthy”.
Read more about activities at Bellerbys London
Second Tall Ships Adventure Another Great Success
For the second year running the Jubilee Sailing Trust Tall Ships Adventure trip - upon which various students on the A Level programme sailed - was a great success. A Level and Foundation teacher Lisa Magill once again organised this exciting residential excursion, which took place at the beginning of September.
The students involved - Maria Kosuchenko, Tan King Jun, Ting Ting Dai and Yi Ping Tang - joined Tenacious, which is one of the largest wooden tall ships of this kind, for a six-day trip around the English coast. The Jubilee Sailing Trust is a charitable organisation which
promotes the integration of able-bodied and physically disabled people through activities such as this one.
The students who took part in this trip all felt it was incredibly worthwhile, and had the following to report:
"Throughout the voyage we learned about British culture and managed to make a lot of new friends and improve our social skills. We realized the challenges that disabled people face during daily activities and how important it is to understand them.
While we were on this trip we participated in different tasks, such as carrying out watch duties, setting and furling sails, climbing the yard and many other things that a normal sailor would
do while sailing. We were told to climb the yard right on the first day! This was scary, yet at the same time, extremely exciting for us. It was freezing cold up there and we were not wearing enough warm clothes, as a result our legs were shaking when we stood on a platform. We would definitely recommend this trip to future students - if you are seeking for an adventurous and extraordinary holiday, then this is a perfect choice for you!"
Bellerbys London Welcomes 150 New Students!
Bellerbys College London was once again inundated with new and familiar faces this September, with over one hundred and fifty new, and one hundred and fifteen returning students eager to start their various courses.
From day one an extensive social programme was offered, including trips to musicals, sports clubs and a drinks reception where students could meet their new teachers, as well as each other! After welcome talks and language testing, timetables were issued and students were able to get stuck into their new subjects within a week.
Meet one of our new students, Maria Kamilla Akhabayeva from Kazakhstan, who has just started studying A Level on the six-term programme.
As the college continues to expand and numbers steadily increase, we have welcomed a number of new staff to the school, who are all settling in well and enjoying teaching a range of classes. Meet William Glover, Clare Marcouse and Rui Da Silva.
London Students to Join Tall Ships Adventure
A group of students from Bellerbys London will be once again joining the Jubilee Sailing Trust Tall Ships Adventure in September.
This is the second year that the college has taken part in the Tall Ships Adventure. Last year students joined Tenacious, the largest wooden tall ship of her kind, for a six-day trip around the English coast, sailing from Southampton in Hampshire to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.
The Jubilee Sailing Trust is a charity which aims to promote integration of able-bodied and physically disabled people through the challenge of tall ship sailing adventure holidays and associated activities.
Tenacious has been specially-built to cater for a disabled crew and includes wheelchair-friendly flat wide decks, powered lifts, a speaking compass for the use of blind crew members and bright track radar for partially sighted crew.
Upon their return, the students created an exhibition of their photographs of their trip and made a presentation to the rest of the college.
Take a look at the Jubilee Sailing Trust website for more information about their work and planned trips.
Media Studies Screening Event
In March Bellerbys London held its annual “Media Students Screening Evening”, an after-school event showcasing some of the best films made by students following the Media Studies (with Psychology) Foundation programme.
Films shown included “non-verbal communication” shorts – stories told without using words – and openings and trailers intended to give the audience a taste of longer feature films.
The event was incredibly popular, with over 80 people – both students and staff – in attendance. All the films were edited in class by the students, and will contribute towards their final mark in Media Studies.
The standard of work was very high, however, some students whose work was particularly accomplished were Natsumi Akasaka, Amy Liu and Victoria Akinlabi, with their horror film “Nox”. Another notable film was the comedy “A Fool’s Game” also by Natsumi, assisted by Arthur Shi, which had the audience in stitches.
Meet the Media Studies Teacher, Isabelle Bristow
Read about the Media Studies Foundation course
Bellerbys London Fund-Raising Group Raises £2,000 for Charity
The Bellerbys London Fund-Raising Group, headed by A Level student Amie (Bao Ngoc Lieu), has raised over £1,000 for the Bellerbys College company charity, Building Futures.
In partnership with Plan International, the Building Futures charity raises money to build schools to provide an education for some of the world's poorest children. So far the charity has built two new schools - Saney School in Aceh, Indonesia and Zounzounkanme School in Benin, and has just started work on much needed extension and redevelopment work at the Rosalina Zaidan School in Northern Brazil.
The money to complete these projects has been raised by various events organised by students and staff at Bellerbys College and other parts of the parent company, Study Group. The company matches every pound raised by staff and students, so the £1,000 raised by Amie and her team has been doubled to £2,000.
Find out more about the Study Group Building Futures charity
Art & Design Foundation Students Exhibit Work
Students on the Art & Design Foundation course recently held an exhibition of their work at Bellerbys London.
Work was displayed around the college and students gave walking tours to explain their projects. Staff and students alike were very impressed by the quality of the work.
Meet the Art & Design Tutor, Rosie Montford
Read more about the Art & Design Foundation course
Bellerbys London Prize-Giving Ceremony
The Bellerbys London Prize-Giving Ceremony took place on Thursday 7th June.
Principal, Andy Quin, awarded prizes for the best students to:
Anastasija Buldokova from Estonia - Best English prize-winner
Andrey Belizky from Ukraine - Economics prize-winner
Dimitri Ginzburg from Russia - Engineering prize-winner
Dinara Dyussenova from Kazakhstan - Pure Maths prize-winner
Jeslyne Ang from Singapore - Science prize-winner
Koo Ji-Eun from Korea - Art prize-winner
Leopold Singer from Germany - British Culture prize-winner
Liu Yi Fei from China - Media Studies prize-winner
Lu Yat Sie - Core Maths prize-winner
Mehkti Sadykov - Most Improved Student prize-winner
Oleg Gerasimenko from Latvia - Business Studies prize-winner
On Ki Hung from Hong Kong - Principal's Prize
Perizat Kurakbayeva from Kazakhstan - Law prize-winner
Pham Tran My My from Vietnam - Most Improved English prize-winner
Sibe Zykaj from Albania - Most Conscientious Student prize-winner
Victoria Akinlabi from Nigeria - Psychology prize-winner
Yoon Yong from Korea - Accounts prize-winner
Congratulations to all students!