Join the Jig

In the lead-up to St Patrick's Day last weekend (the patron saint of Ireland), the Irish pub chain O'Neill's held an event involving the whole of the UK, including Oxford, to attempt to beat the record of 'The most people Irish Dancing at the same time'.

Since the incorporation of Irish Dancing in our Christmas pantomime, I have been running an Irish Dancing sports club for the student's on Tuesday afternoons.

As soon as i heard about this event, i thought it would be a great opportunity for the students to get involved in something to do with the Oxford community, not just the d'Overbroeck's school community, and they were all equally excited and prepared for the challenge.

At 20:00 on Thursday 14th March, all of the O'Neill's pubs in the UK started the challenge at the same time in the hope of cumulatively beating the current record of 10,036.

We all had to dance a particular step continuously for five minutes, which is longer than you think!

Overall, we did not manage to beat the existing record however the students and myself had a lot of fun attempting.

During the evening there was a reporter from the Oxford Mail present who were particularly interested in our students and who also took a photo for the paper. This added to the experience for the 6 ISC girls as they were able to send an Oxford paper with an article and a photograph of themselves to their parents in their home country.

I am delighted that i have been able to give them this opportunity as they were very excitable and grateful and i have since had an extra two girls sign up for my class.

You can view the online version of the newspaper article by following the link:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10294217.Pub_hopes_to_jig_its_way_into_the_record_books/

Lisa Gilmore

Administrative Assistance, Activities Coordinator and Irish Dance Teacher

Comic Relief/World Book Day

On Friday 15th March, the students at the ISC got involved in fundraising attempts for British charity - Comic Relief.

Due to another recent UK event, World Book Day, we decided to combine the two as they both seemed causes worth celebrating.

Comic Relief's motto to encourage the fundraiser is 'Do something funny for money' so to try and fit in with this the students all had to come dressed up as a character from their favourite book.

Each student who came dressed up paid a donation towards Comic Relief, with the ones who didn't having to pay a higher 'forfeit' amount.

Students were encouraged to dress as characters from a book from their own country where possible, and during assembly particular students were asked to explain a bit about their character and their chosen book.

Melanie, the ISC administrator, also made cakes to be sold during break and lunch times.

Overall, we managed to raise an amazing £165.31 for Comic Relief!
Take a look at some of the pictures on our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/dOverbroecks-International-Study-Centre/53044674775?ref=hl#!/media/set/?set=a.10151516628074776.1073741826.53044674775&type=1

Mathemagicians!

We are fantastically proud of our International Study Centre mathematicians who took their IGCSE Maths exam in January, after just one term of teaching.

Maths teacher, Ursula Boughton, was ecstatic to learn yesterday morning that her 16 students had achieved 82% A*-A Grades and a 100% pass rate!

Amazingly one student, Anna Yamshchikova, who has won a scholarship to our Sixth Form, gained 99%, with Kadence Lu and Xida Li just a couple of marks behind.

"Overall this is an incredible achievement" said Rob Dixon, who also teaches the students. "We are looking forward to seeing how the rest of the students do in the summer" said Ursula, adding that the students who have already taken the exam are now moving on to Further Maths.

International Women's Day

This morning all the female ISC staff were greeted with flowers and cake from two very thoughtful students to celebrate International Women's Day.

Darya Naumchenko and Ingrid Marin generously gave each female staff member an individual box of flowers along with a cake for everyone to share.

International Women's Day is a celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements. It is celebrated all over the world especially in countries such as Romania and Russia.

More information about International Women's Day can be found by following the link to a promotion video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaf_X9qSeVY&feature=youtu.be

Jill Partridge, Melanie Johnson, Darya Naumchenko, Ingrid Marin, Helen Wood, Sandra Monger and Lisa Gilmore

Ice Skating Disco

A review from ISC student Cathy Zhang

"Last Friday a group of us went to an ice skating disco which was an amazing experience that we all enjoyed a lot. I was the only one who had never skated before so I started with a really nervous motion. Larisa helped Sherry and I to walk and slide on our skates, teaching us to keep our legs straight to help glide better on the ice. It was quite difficult for us to keep balance at first.

When we dared to leave the edge of the ice skating rink, Lisa helped us to move apart, held our hands and skated with us. I found it was getting easier for me to control where my legs went, and I began to attempt going faster. I even started to be able to control the direction that I wanted to go. Suddenly, all the main lights went off and they were replaced with disco lights that reflected off the ice. Disco music also began playing and soon enough my confidence increased and I started skating as if I was flying. I went around the rink a couple of times increasing my speed and confidence until suddenly I lost my balance and couldn’t control where I was going. I then experienced my first fall on the ice! However, I was not the only one; Li fell over 8 times but still enjoyed himself!

 I really enjoyed the experience and it is an activity I would like to do as I would love to improve on my new skills."

ISC Citizenship Trip - Royal Courts of Justice

"d’Overbroeck’s is an interesting college. The College staff always make sure we make the best of our studies in the UK and that our time is spent usefully. Most of the time we study for our exams in the classrooms on various sites, but the College also organises some educational learning experiences for outside the classroom. Yesterday was one of these experiences.

All the students from the International Study Centre went to London to the Royal Courts of Justice for a mock trial workshop and tour. The whole trip was related to our Citizenship Studies and all four English and Citizenship teachers came with us – Sandra, Nyree, Anna and Dave. The day before the trip, all the students read through the script and got to know the story and their notes. This meant that we were already aware of the case and the characters which made it easier to follow and understand.

The students who had roles within the mock trial took their parts seriously and you could see they were experiencing new feelings and emotions. The students got more confident as the trial progressed, interacting with the other characters and asking questions.

After the mock trial, we were then taken on a tour around the whole building. We were all very excited as this is not an event that happens every day. We got to view the some of the many courtrooms within the building and also see how different Judge’s clothing has changed from centuries ago, to the present date.

 I can honestly say that this was one of the best educational trips so far and in my opinion, d’Overbroeck’s College should continue to organise this activity for students in future years.

-Vivian Decheva. Aged 16 and from Bulgaria

ISC Citizenship Trip to the Royal Courts of Justice

"After getting off the coach we all stood back for a moment to admire the Royal Courts of Justice.  It had a gigantic door with an impressive number of steps leading up to it. We then entered the court, which was incredibly big on the inside. Lamps were hanging on a long chain coming from the high ceiling of the building. At first we had to pass through security and then we all followed the guide that showed us around the place until we arrived in the room in which our mock trial was to take place.

In the mock criminal the suspects (a teenager and a young adult) were played by Alberto and Sarah. The play was interesting and the staff provided costumes and wigs like those worn in a real court case. The room in which we performed was also interesting.

There were a vast number of seats and shelves of books ranging from 18^th century to now. After the mock trial had finished, we had a tour of the court when we had the opportunity to see some real trials taking place and saw judges discussing with each other outside the rooms. "

by Luca from Switzerland