NUMBER 15APRIL2010

Interview with Julia Signes

Trip to Játiva

Inter-SchoolSports Day

Message from the Head of SecondaryFinishing StronglyAs we approach the final few weeks of this academic year, all our pupils and staff will be working hard to ensure that we achieve the best outcome from our labours throughout this year.

Our Y11, Y12 and Y13 students will be concentrating on their GCSE and A Level examinations which will determine which pathways they follow next year. For some of Y11 and all of Y13, this period represents the beginning of the end of their school career at BSA. For our Y7 pupils this represents the end of the beginning of their secondary school life. For each group of pupils it serves as a time to reflect on what we have achieved this year and how we have grown and learned together. It also gives us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and help us to plan for future successes in the coming weeks and months.

For our pupils in Y8, Y9, Y10 and Y12 there are opportunities to build upon previous learning and achievements and to demonstrate individual and collective progress both in and out of the classroom. In all cases, everyone needs to focus on making the best possible ending to this school year, finishing strongly, celebrating our successes and looking forward to new challenges and opportunities. We wish all our pupils every success in their forthcoming examinations and look forward to celebrating all our successes at the end of term.

Derek LaidlawHead of Secondary School

The British School of Alicante Monthly Update

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Per què vas decidir presentar-te a la realització de la prova de Valencià Mitjà de la Junta Qualificadora de Coneixements de Valencià ?

Vaig decidir-ho, en primer lloc, perquè portava estudiant valencià tota la vida i era una llàstima deixar les classes sense tindre algun títol que ho certificara. A més a més, no creia que anara a tindre moltes dificultats, bé que no es tracta d’un examen gaire fàcil, per traume-me’l. Finalment, era conscient que, almenys a la Comunitat Valenciana, el Mitjà es un títol molt valorat que podria ser-me útil en un futur. He de dir també que la meua professora de valencià va fer una bona tasca de convicció.

Creus que el coneixement del valencià et servirá en un futur pròxim?

És molt probable que siga així. Actualment, tots som conscients de la importància que estan cobrant les diverses llengües d’Espanya dins la majoria d’àmbits de les nostres vides: l’educació, els mitjans de comunicació, l’administració… És més, el títol Mitjà de Valencià és ja un requisit imprescindible per a accedir a determinats llocs de treball. Per això estic convençuda que, a la Comunitat Valenciana i probablement també a Catalunya, em serà útil en un futur profesional.

Fas us del valencià actualmente?

Ara que visc a Catalunya, estic molt més en contacte, sinó amb el valencià, amb la llengua catalana. Encara que a la meua universitat (ESADE-Barcelona) les classes s’imparteixen en castellà, estic envoltada de moltes persones de la zona, que solen utilitzar el català; i m’encisa poder entendre-les sense tindre la necessitat que em traduïsquen al castellà.

’agradaven les clases de valencià? Què en recordes, d’aquestes classes?

Clar que sí! Sempre m’han agradat les classes de valencià amb la Senyoreta Guio; erem poca gent, dins un ambient de confiança i sempre es donaven situacions graciosíssimes quan tractàvem de parlar en valencià, especialment quan tocava dictat. No obstant això, ¡m’alegre de no haver de fer més exercisis de pronoms febles!

Interview with Julia Signes

Why did you decide to take the Valencian Mitja test?

I decided firstly because I had studied Valencian all my life and I thought it would be a shame to finish the classes without an official certificate. Also I didn’t think I would find it that difficult, although I didn’t approach it like an easy exam in order to pass. Finally I was conscious of the fact that, at least in the Valencian Community, the Mitja is highly valued and could be useful in the future. I have to say also that my Valencian teacher worked hard to convince me!

Do you think your understanding of Valencian will be useful to you in the near future?

It’s very likely, yes. Nowadays we are all aware of the importance of the diverse language of Spain in many aspects of our lives: education, methods of communication, administration…also the title of Mitja de Valenciano is now a prerequisite to be able to get certain jobs. So I am convinved that in the Valencian Community, and probably in Catalunya, it will come in useful for my future profession.

Do you acutally use Valencian?Now I live in Catalunya I encounter it more, if not Valencian certainly with Catalan. Although in my University (ESADE) the classes are taught in Castellano, I am surrounded by many locals who prefer to speak Catalan on a day to day basis; I love being able to understand them without having to translate everything they say into Castellano.

Did you enjoy the Valencian clases? What do remember about them)

Obviously! I always liked the Valencian classes with Sra. Guio; there weren’t many students, in a trusting atmosphere and there were also funny situations when we tried to speak Valencian, especially when she was dictating. Despite that I am glad I no longer have to do exercises on “pronoms febles”!

UNA CIUTAT MONUMENTALXÀTIVAIn olden times this village was called Saiti and Saetabis, it is located in the central part of the Valencian comunity, between the Ibérico and Penibético mountain ranges, and it is the heart and capital of La Costera region.

We travelled to Xativa to learn more about this village and discovered many details that Year 9 pupils are going to tell you.

MANUEL. Játiva's castle is the most visited in Spain. It has two parts: Castillo Mayor and Castillo Menor.

CARLOS J. The Borgia’s Popes lived in Játiva.

JORGE. In L’Amodí Museum in Játiva you can find a painting of Felipe V upside down because he forbade anyone from speaking Valencian.

MARINA. I loved all the fountains in the village and the constant whisper of the water.

LAURA. People from Jativa are called “Socarrats” because the village was set on fire by Felipe V (“socarrats” are burnt people in Valencian).

ALBA. Font del Lleó is one of the most famous water fountains in the village and many people enjoy drinking its water.

ERNESTO. Franco’s coffin was made in Játiva. Játiva has the most important coffin factory in Spain.

PABLO Y CARLOS R. Anna, our guide, told us that the three bronze canyons in the Castle were used in the Sucession War and previously were located in the Plaza de Armas.

MARIO. There is a fun and interesting, interactive museum inside the Castle.

EMILIO. The trip was very interesting and was the best way to find out so many new things.

CLAUDIA R. It was a long trip but worth it. We walked through the village streets and visited many fountains.

GUILLERMO F. We used a small train to get to the Castle and the scenery was beautiful and green.

On Tuesday 13th April, all year 7 pupils went on an ´Hogueras´ trip. It was a fun packed day filled with different activities everyone really enjoyed it! Firstly we arrived at the ‘Museo de Hogueras’ in Alicante city centre and pupils created drawings of ‘ninots’ on display and discovered lots about the history of the festival.

Next stop was San Vicente. We were very privileged to be allowed into an artist’s workshop to see a TOP SECRET ninot being created for Hogueras 2010. The artist, Fransisco Esplá, gave pupils a talk about the vocation of an Hoguera Artist, where his own inspiration comes from, what these impressive structures are made of and how they are put together. Lucky Maria Bañon in 7P was invited to help the artists with a section of the sculpture and she got very messy!

After lunch pupils had a chance to put into practice what they had seen and learnt from the morning. In teams they had an hour to create a sand sculpture inspired

Hogueras Museum TripYear 7by all the Hogueras images they had experienced that day. Pupils had a great time on the beach, even though the wind was blowing strong! We had two winning teams, the girls team and the boys team, who both created amazing sand sculptures. As a reward the winning team got to leave their sand sculptures for everyone in Alicante to enjoy, the others had to destroy their work, just like during the tradition of ´La Cremá´. Hopefully the sand sculptures will still be there now, why not pop down to Alicante beach and have a look for a bird and some mermaids!!

In The FrameDancers from Year 10Hi we are Candela and Alejandra and we dance in Paula Ballester Company. We dance Hip Hop and Newstyle and in the future we want to dance together in London in the Royal Academy. We have been in various competitions and different dance events. We have also danced at many venues such as the principal theatre and palacio de congresos in Madrid and we danced for Leopoldo in his fishing extreme competition last summer, jajajajajaj . We have also had professional dance classes and have been taking lessons from some important people in this field such as Lourdes, Leti, Wiki, Cisco, Erik , In Situ dance and cerebro dimision Co and finally we have danced ballet for Victor Ullate. This Friday we are going to Madrid to dance in 40 el musical fan day!

Candela Garcia and Alejandra Esteve (Year 10)

Hi, I am Julia and I love dancing. I have danced since I was 6 years old. I dance Salsa, Ballet, Flamenco.... There are different types of Hip Hop such as Poppin, Lockin, Ragga, Funky and Gangsta and I love all of them. Few months ago I was in a dance club in Elche with a great teacher, but the club closed down so now I am dancing in intensively in whole day events all those types of dancing I list before and I will try to go to the dance club from Alejandra and Candela, in Alicante. My teachers for these events are from some of the best dance clubs around such as ‘In Situ Dance’, from the television programme‘ Fama a Bailar’ or from other places from Spain that come here to Alicante like the dance club “New Team” or “Katzu”.

Julia Perez (Year 10)

Inter-SchoolSports Day

Our KS3, KS4 and KS5 pupils took part in an inter-schools Sports Day in April 23rd and 27th between our school and El Limonar International School, Escuela Europea and Instituto Haygon. Here are some pictures of the event.

Congratulations Harry. How did you find out about the trials that took place last weekend?The trials were hosted at my cricket club ‘SACC’.

How did they assess your talents?There was a ‘net’ practice before the trial. The director of Spanish junior cricket observed me practice batting. Then I took part in a match. When I was practicing I played well, but in the match I felt that I could have done better.

So what happened next?The director told us that some of us had made the Spanish side. He then took me aside and told me I had made the side and was also to be the vice captain of this team. This means I have to help the captain with his decisions and assume the role of captain in his absence. (The present captain reaching the age of 15 in a few months thus creating a vacancy for captain.)

Cricketer Harry Marshall, 8C achieved recognition for his cricketing skills last weekend on being selected for the under 15’s Spanish Squad. Harry, who has already been enjoying the sport of cricket for over 10 years both in the UK and Spain, has reached international standard. His form teacher Miss Castro, interviewed Harry about his latest accolade.

What does this change mean to you?I’m very happy that I am in the side. It will open doors for me in the future and be a really positive experience. I look forward to touring with the under 15’s side all over Europe.

How much training do you do a week at the moment?I spend a lot of my weekends training but the grounds are quite far from me so I can’t go after school.

Have you ever met any cricketing heroes?I’ve met Steve Harmison (previous England captain when they won the world cup) and I’ve played with lots of members of the England under 19’s side.

How do you feel representing Spain?The chances of me getting into the England side are very slim, so Spain is my opportunity. I am very proud to represent this country.

Leather, Willow and Whites Harry Marshall 8C and Cricketing Success

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MayDates

Dates for your Diary

11th May IGCSE and A Level Written Examinations begin

24th May – 4th June Y8 and Y10 End of Year Examinations

28th May Y6 Transition Day

31st May – 11th June Y7 and Y9 End of Year Examinations