Out and About Club

On Thursday afternoons, Annie and a small group of students from the ISC go out and about in Oxford, to discover all of the cultural delights the city has to offer.

Recently they all went to The Ashmoleon Museum to visit the Kabuki Art Exhibition featuring work by Japanese artists Kunisada and Kunichika.

Kabuki is a popular theatre from Japan, which has been captivating audiences since the early 1600s. Kabuki theatre involves singing, dancing and colourful costumes. It has often been considered as being rather ‘bizarre’ and ‘avant-garde’.

Kabuki artists Kunisada and Kunichika have brought the sense of this theatre to life by portraying the famous actors in their elaborate costumes and make-up.  The woodblock prints are brilliantly coloured, and really capture a sense of the main characteristics of each persona. The fine differences between characters are defined by the contrast in the tonality of colours used, as well as the diversity of clothing and especially their facial expressions.

ISC student Jack Hu decided that his favourite print was The Catfish Priest by Kunisada (1852)

Another favourite was 'The actor Nakamura Shikan IV as a fisherman' (below).

ISC Student Dasha Zhukova writes:

"'The actor Nakamura Shikan IV as a fisherman' shows an amazing actor who could play any role whether a villain or brave man or even beautiful heroines. This print expresses all Shikan’s roles, his eyes glow abnormally, and the picture presents us with the actor and helps us to be involved in this play. The print is a half-length portrait, not a traditionally full-length portrait. Its background is black, the artist shows us just the shoulders and the head of the actor. This print shows the best way of expressing the actor’s performances and also these new-format prints brought fans much closer to their favourite stars. "

Doctor Beauty & Sleeping Who

A review of the ISC Pantomime by Debora Brand

The ISC Pantomime, performed at the end of 2011, was a 10th anniversary celebration written by ISC Director Helen Wood. With the hilarious plot, great direction from David Wareham and wonderful performances from ISC students, 'Doctor Beauty & Sleeping Who' was an undoubted success!

The venue was quickly filled with parents, host families, teachers and staff – among them the college principal Sami Cohen, registrar Bridget Norton and bursar Peter Talbot. As the lights dimmed and the stage lights rose, we could see that this was going to be no ordinary production. Live music played by our talented school musicians accompanied the most hilarious fairies - played by Pavel Kutsenko, Abay Amangeldin and Yuang Zhang - who took centre stage to initiate a night of constant laughter, great performances, audience interaction and singing... lots of singing!

Every student participated in this great production; most as actors, few as part of a small choir, some as musicians and others backstage. The ever changing set and diverse range of props and costumes were also designed and built by the students and ISC staff.  The plot itself could not have been a better mish-mash of well-known pantomimes and famous stories like Dr Who, Red Riding Hood, and Snow White.

I could easily write thousands of words describing the whole night, but I will leave it instead to the memories of those who participated and to the imagination of those who couldn’t be there.

Congratulations to all ISC students and staff. I think that it's safe to say all of us present had a brilliant time and could easily have watched at least another hour.

The Magic of Electricity

It may seem a million miles away from Didcot, but the steam billowing out of Hogwart’s express as it thunders over majestic railways bridges is also what lights our schools, roads and homes. And like  the speed with which Harry can summon light using the magic words ‘luminous’, electricity is available to us at the flick of a switch.

The seemingly magical process of producing electricity was explained by kindly volunteers at Didcot power station on a recent visit.  With Visual aids akin to a 1970’s game show, all was revealed, and if comprehension required a decent amount of brain power of our own, staff were on hand with biscuits and squash to recharge our batteries.

After the theoretical explanation, it was our chance to see the power station in action, but before setting off, some safety regulations had to be met. Waiting on the table in front of us was a canary yellow industrial hardhat, an innocent looking packet and some lab glasses. As the realisation dawned that we were expected to don these, reactions varied: some giggled, others sighed; a deathly hush fell over a table of trendies.

All looking the part, we were ferried to our next stop by mini bus, which gives an idea of the scale of facility, to our next destination: the control room. Many commented on how it lent itself to comparisons with a NASA mission control centre; however, in place of frenzied activity by short-sleeved shirt and tie wearing astronautical engineers, the area was populated by blue boiler suit clad technicians reclining in swivel chairs. The relaxed pace can be explained by the fact the power station was standing idle. Day-shift workers were holding the fort, ready to hand over to their colleagues, who would, our guide informed us, respond to the increased nocturnal demand for power by firing up the boilers.

Having infiltrated the nerve centre of the operation, the next stage approached, but entering a working power station’s beating heart would require further safety precautions. Those innocuous little packets were carefully opened and Madeline, our guide, explained how to fit the ear plugs effectively.  Fortunately, the turbine room was a visually stimulating experience. Walking along a gangway to the muffled din of heavy machinery in use, Madeline pointed out diagrams labelling the various pieces of equipment. Focusing on the tiny pictures- much like those in GCSE text books-then refocusing on the humongous boiler brought home how privileged we were to be witnessing physics in action.

All in all, the visit was a fascinating insight into the energy industry and the production we all take for granted: electricity.


Text by English teacher Anna Irvine and Physics teacher Angus Roberts

Christmas Fair 2011

It may seem that Christmas is still some way away, but it's coming early to d'Overbroeck's College! On Saturday 26th November, between 11am and 2pm, you are warmly invited to join us at Leckford Place for our annual Christmas Fair. There will be an array of stalls and games for adults and children - the perfect place to snap up a few presents - with refreshments available, including mince pies and mulled wine. All money raised will go to local children's charities.

There is also the opportunity for you to have your own stall or to help with the running of the fair, so if you'd like to be involved or would like more information then please contact anne.brooks@doverbroecks.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Rugby: Wasps Stung by Oxford Blues

Oxford Blues v London Wasps
17th October 2011, Kick Off 19.30

A match report by Flaminia Manghina, studying at the International Study Centre

"Sure, at first everyone thought that London Wasps would have won with 100000 points more than the Blues (Oxford University Team), but, that evening, at Iffley Road, the biggest happiness ever reigned over the spectators : The Blues won 35 – 0!

Everybody, approximately 300 people, was watching the match: youngs, children, olds... and because of the cold weather, they were drinking hot tea or hot chocolate, and for those who were a little bit more excited about the match, they were drinking some beer.

At the beginning we were not wonderstruck about the game, because it was quite calm and the players seemed patient and peaceful. But after, the rugbymen were being more and more confident and by the going of the game, they became completely fierce !!

Minute after minute, the men were lying on the ground, with open mouths and open arms, and at the same time , 6 others players were jumping over a huge man who was trying to steal the defenceless ball!

It could have seemed funny to see some guys trying to dive on the grass, but even if they looked invulnerable, i think that sometimes it can be painful and dangerous !!

I really enjoyed to watch this match because I had never seen a rugby match before that one and the crushing victory of Oxford made me proud of my host-city.

Sports at the ISC

Written by ISC student Gabby Malevanyte:

"Sports at d'Overbroeck’s College gives you an opportunity to open yourself as a personality and discover all the deep force of your soul. Here you have a great chance to make lots of new friends doing team sports and individual sports. There are lots of different activities. For example: aerobics, hockey, basketball, netball, football and so on. Also some of these games are played in any weather conditions. This term, Hockey Coach, Dan Austin says the ISC students are doing really well and 'are the best international students he has taught'. We are hoping this means we will be able to play a hockey match against another ISC team soon!

By doing any of these sports you can relax, keep fit and express yourself. In addition, school sports kit is included, which is very nice looking and comfortable for doing sports. If you want to do extra sports in Oxford which you like, you can search for it in the internet or ask your form tutor."

Oxford Open Doors

Written by ISC student Sai Chananithitham:

"When we think of England, I guess the very first place that we usually think about is Oxford. It is very famous by its own history, beautifulness, and also well known for being one of the leading educational cities in the world.

I have been in England and living in Oxford for almost a month now. And I am here as an international student in IGCSE program at d'Overbroeck's College. Since I arrived in Oxford, I immediately fell in love with this city because the city is very beautiful and the way people talk or their accent is so charming for me. On Sunday 11th of September, after our first week at school here, my friends and I got a very good opportunity to go and walk around Oxford on the ISC welcome weekend school trip led by our teachers. The special thing about that day was that it was an 'Open Doors' day for the university and college buildings in Oxford organised by the Oxford Preservation Trust. They welcomed everybody in, and let us find out by ourselves what the university is really like.

We saw many colleges and also many gorgeous old style of architecture around the city. While I was walking and looking around the colleges, it really inspired me to have a goal for my future university education and hopefully I can get into Oxford University someday."