News von Bellerbys London
Bellerbys Students visit London's Design Museum
Just down by the River Thames, not far from London Bridge, is a wonderful little hidden treasure. The Design Museum might not be as well-known as other museums in the capital, such as the British Museum or the Science Museum, but it certainly has many charms of its own. Luckily for some of our students, they got a chance to visit last week thanks to teachers Rene Bradford, Andree Jenni and Rui da Silva, who set up coursework tasks which linked in with the museum's current exhibitions.
The first floor gave the students a chance to check out the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, highlighting some of the world's most innovative design projects. For example, the latest EyeWriter technology, which allows people with physical disabilities to draw graffiti only by moving their eyes. And the amazingly slick BMW Gina Light Visionary car, made from, would you believe, fabric! It was a fascinating insight into contemporary design and it was difficult for students to choose only their two 
favourite designs to take notes on.
"Personally, I really liked the hydrogen car and the electric superbike", said Alex from China. "It's interesting to see how designers are trying to solve environmental problems in these ways, and still making the designs look so cool". Alex's choices highlight how our ELPP students have recently been studying the topic of the environment and the museum visit was chosen because these exhibitions linked in so well with this.
In fact, the second floor exhibition was titled 'Sustainable Futures' and focused even more directly on eco-friendly design projects, including the world's first carbon-neutral city in Abu Dhabi. "That was cool, but what stood out for me was the new Puma shoe bag", said Alex's classmate Nikolay from Bulgaria. "It's a nice, attractive design and so people might change their buying habits, especially with the World Cup in Africa coming up soon". Puma's eco-friendly bag was just one of a number of very exciting initiatives which we will all probably be hearing more about soon.
In the meantime, students will be producing their own projects, in the form of coursework based on their visit to the Design Museum. Some of their work (posters designed on the Eduglogster.com website) will be shown soon on this news page. So, from a teacher's point of view, what are the benefits of such a trip?
English teacher Andree thinks there are many. "Not only does it get students out and about exploring all the cultural treasures in London", says Andree. "But it also inspires their own creativity and helps them apply the things they learn in class to the real world out there." Andree’' comments remind us that education is not just about what you learn academically in the classroom, but also about how you develop yourself creatively and socially.
We'll definitely be planning more interesting and useful trips in the next few weeks and months… especially with the summer sun just about to welcome us. Then maybe we can be solar-powered too!
London's Design Museum is just five kilometres from Bellerbys College London. Find out more about current exhibitions at the Design Museum Website.
Foundation Success Rewarded in a Prize-Giving Ceremony
On June 4th, just ahead of their final exams, students studying on Foundation programmes that started in September 2007 were rewarded in the annual Prize-Giving Ceremony. For each subject, the Foundation teachers decided on one student who had really excelled in their class. Sometimes it was a student who got the highest mark, sometimes it was a student who had a natural talent for the subject, and sometimes it was a student who had worked the hardest, or been the most pleasant student to teach.
At the ceremony, the teacher who chose each student to win a subject prize gave a little speech about the student, before giving the student his or her award – a certificate and book token. The subject prize winners were:
Accounts - U Kam Pio from Macau
Art - Mariya Kolesnychenko from Ukraine
Biology - Ufuoma Ederewhevbe from Nigeria
Business Mathematics - Zhuang Zhijie from China
Business Studies - Maria Sokolova from Russia
Chemistry - Nurlan Asylbekovitch Mansurov from Kazakhstan
Economics - Lee Ka Yan from Hong Kong
English (overall) - Mihaela Zop from Romania
English (most improved) - Kim Hyeong Gyu from Korea
Information Technology - Ji Guseon from Korea
Mechanics - Gulperi Yurt from Turkey
Media Studies - Alexandra Chervotkina from Russia
Physics - Muumin Amur Al-Hajri from Oman
Psychology - Cheryl Fernandez from Malaysia
Pure Mathematics - A Ram Jeon from Korea
As well as subject prizes, special awards were given to three students who had done exceptionally well all round. These students also received a certificate and book token as well as a special commemorative cup, and were as follows:
Most Improved Student - Jang Kyoung Jin (Aster) from Korea, pictured right
Most Conscientious Student - Kuan Ka Wai (Dorothy) from Macau
Principal’s Prize for Best Student - Tang Siu Wai (Alan) from Hong Kong
All these students were studying Foundation Business. The ceremony began with a few words from the school Principal Andy Quin, and after the prizes were given out, Academic Director Paul Langman made a short speech, wishing students luck for the future, and reminding them to come back and tell us how they’re getting on! After this, students and teachers made their way to the courtyard outside the school for heartfelt goodbyes and photographs.
Read more about the Business 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!