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."

Fine Art Students' Fine Afternoon Out!

The International Study Centre GCSE Art class went to visit the Oxford University Natural History Museum on Wednesday 28^th of September to investigate forms in nature as part of their GCSE coursework.

It was a beautiful afternoon with clear blue skies and a low autumnal sun making it perfect for drawing and sketching both inside and outside the museum.

The students were able to use a whole range of materials as inspiration, from dinosaur skeletons to tree roots, fossils, shells and even a living bee hive! Helen Wilson, one of our Art teachers, who lead the group said, "it was a great success and the students all produced some excellent work".

Wendy Rawding, Head of Art

A Trip to London

ISC students Yuyang Zhang and Jackie Zhang describe a recent visit to London.

"On 25th September, we went on a trip to London - The capital of England! We met each other at the Swan building, which is where the Sixth Form usually study. We saw everyone was really excited: people in colourful clothes, carrying big bags...

We spent almost two hours to get to London on the coach, so the traffic was quite bad.  The first thing we saw was the well-known river: the Thames! It is a long, wide river and there were many boats floating on it. Then we got out of the coach and began walking. We passed the Big Ben which was huge and spectacular. After that, on our way to the Buckingham Palace, there was a soldier sitting on a horse, this was the first time for many of us to see a real soldier, so we all took some photos of it.

Finally, we were standing in front of the Buckingham Palace where the Queen lives. Also, the landscape in it was great as there were grass and trees and different kinds of animals everywhere!  One of our teachers, David, took a school photo of us there.

After a long time of walking, we felt tired and hungry.  Our teachers led us to the Chinatown which had many Chinese restaurants and shops.  Some of us were so excited, because we miss Chinese food a lot.  We went to one of the restaurants and had some noodles, rice and chasubao. Haha, the Chinese students feel like they are the guides to help their new international friends to choose which dishes are tastiest.  David also showed us some fruit from Thailand which is very smelly!

In the afternoon, students got really excited because we had free time for shopping! Some of us went to a big market in Covent Garden which sold different kinds of lovely things. We bought some souvenirs in there as presents for our friends back home.  We had a really good time!

By the way, there were some people who pretended to be statues were in some silver and gold clothes, they worked really hard and we took pictures of them, too.

We had fun in London and liked it very much!"