Life at Alexanders

DUKE OF EDINBURGH VOLUNTEERING

2012-01-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

Our current Duke of Edinburgh Students have been hard at work completing their volunteering section of the award. We have 28 students who have volunteered their time at the local Primary School. As you can see by the photos, the primary school students are enjoying activities including reading, music, dance, football, rugby, basketball and art!

Well done to all of the students taking part!

Sport Teams Autumn 2011

2012-01-05T07:16:00.001-08:00

Here are some team photos from the Sport Teams that represented the school in the Autumn term. As you can see in some of the photos it was a windy cold day! The highlights of the term were the fixtures against other schools in Basketball, Football, Volleyball, Cross Country, Table Tennis and Badminton. Well done to everyone who represented their school, we look forward to another successful term.

School Life Photos

2012-01-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of what the students get upto in their free time.

ClockTower Repairs

2011-10-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

For the past few months the Clocktower has had some repairs to the actual tower that holds the clock mechanism. Scaffolding has been erected and a host of builders have been busy repairing the tower. On Friday Mr Paul and Mr Oliver were brave enough to climb to the top of the tower and take some photos of the beautiful scenery as well as the amazing workmanship on the tower itself.

On Monday the scaffolding will be taken down and the Clocktower can stand on it's own again for the next 100+ years.

Halloween Photo stories

2011-10-27T06:09:00.001-07:00

Halloween Photo stories

2011-10-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

During half term, a mix of term students and holiday students worked together to create some fantastic Halloween photo stories.

Here are some of the photos they took to create them and the work they produced at the end. Scary stuff!!

Cross Country Championship.

2011-10-14T01:32:00.000-07:00

On Thursday five students took part in the Suffolk Cross Country Championship at the Royal Hosptial School. There were over 2000 students taking part from all different schools across the county. Yijie, Alexey, Mariya, David and Alejandro should be proud of their efforts in running the event and representing the school.

Student's Work

2011-10-10T11:48:00.001-07:00

Boys U16 Table Tennis Team Tournament.

2011-10-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

On Monday the boys U16 Table Tennis Team entered the East Suffolk team tournament. Players were ranked from 1-4 and played against other schools. Damir, Gherardo, Bogdan and Boca all played fantastically and made it all the way to the final but were beaten 3-1 by Claydon High School.

As we came second we are automatically put through to the County Finals being played on November the 23rd!

Well done to the boys who took part and they represented the school in a very good manner.

English Schools FA Cup Second Round, Alexanders International School vs Ipswich School.

2011-10-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

The boys football team entered the English Schools FA Cup for the first time this season and after a bye in the first round they were drawn against Ipswich School which has a good reputation in all sports.
Even though the team has only been together for a few weeks they played very well and never gave up.
In the second half Damir scored the first goal for the school thanks to a well taken penalty. Ipswich School showed their skills and in the end they won comfortably.

A few days later the football team played against the International Community School from London and we faired much better by beating them 4-0!!

Congratulations to all of the boys who took part and represented your school well.

PE at School

2011-10-08T08:49:00.001-07:00

This term in PE we have been covering Orienteering, Volleyball, Football, Rugby and Cross Country Running.

As you can see in the photos the students have been working very hard and having a lot of fun. Miss Cara has been very impressed with the students ability in volleyball and we have been able to field a girls volleyball team.
Mr Tom and Mr Tamas are very impressed with all of the students taking part in rugby. Mr Dane and Mr Davian are pleased with the skills in football and Miss Alex and Mr Paul have seen some excellent teamwork in orienteering.

After half term the students will be taking part in squash, badminton and circuit training.

Ice Skating in Chelmsford

2011-10-08T08:47:00.001-07:00

Beachwatch 2011

2011-10-08T08:44:00.001-07:00

New Term Begins at Alexanders

2011-09-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hello,

After a successful summer with the Alexanders Summer Programme the new term began on Monday with our new students from all around the world arriving and acclimating to the Alexanders way of life. We are lucky enough to have students from Colombia, China, Serbia, Italy, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Kazakhstan to name but a few.

In their first week the students had their placements tests in English, Maths and Physical Education. They also had a lot of activities to get to know each other including ice skating, shopping, raft building, bowling and a disco.

All of the staff and students are looking forward to a fun, enjoyable and educational term.

Sports Day 2011.

2011-07-13T09:04:00.001-07:00

In the last week of term we had our annual Sports Day with each House having their own team. Deben, went into the day leading overall but they had Orwell and Stour close behind them.

In the morning we had team competitions of football, basketball and volleyball for girls and boys. In the afternoon we held track and field events including the 100, 200 and 400metres as well as field events of Javelin, Long Jump, Shot Put and Discus. The day culminated in a 4x100m relay race.

Congratulations to all of the students and staff who either took part or cheered on their teams.

Leaving Assembly

2011-07-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

On the last Thursday of Term we had our Leaving Assembly. All of the students attended and Mr Alister spoke about the past year and how well each and everyone had done. There were speeches from staff and students as well as awards handed out ranging from the Messiest bedroom (Ghina) to the best Mathematician (Mark). There were also certificates handed out to those people who had passed their KET and PET exams. The assembly was time to reflect on what everyone has achieved in the past year as well as wish every student all the best in their future, wherever it may take them.

After the assembly we went outside onto the balcony for some photos, just before the rain came. At lunchtime, Head Chef Atti, had prepared an excellent meal for the students to enjoy.

Heron House - End of Year Photos

2011-07-13T08:14:00.001-07:00

The girls in Heron House dressed up in their uniformone more time to take some lovely photos. Miss Cara, Head of House has been very pleased with all of the girls behaviour during the year. Congratulations girls!

Fulmar House - End of Term

2011-07-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

After another excellent school year comes to an end the boys in Fulmar House dressed up in their uniform one more time and had a group photo. Both Mr Istvan and Mr Tamas have been very impressed with the bahviour of the boys this year. Well done!!

Red Nose Day

2011-03-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

Throughout this term's Citizenship lessons our students have been preparing and understanding the fundraising Project for Comic Relief a.k.a Red Nose Day.

The students set a target of raising £200 but currently the total stands at £380, which is amazing!

Below you can find words from two students, Joy and Gin about their experiences in Red Nose Day 2011.

Red nose day is the day you do something funny to raise money for charity. Red nose day is coming soon on 18th, March, 2011. At Alexanders International School, students arranged some activities to raise money. They started earlier because 18th of March is the end of the term. On Sunday, the 13th of March, the school arranged the water balloon fight in the morning. They prepared whole bunch of water balloon and students had to pay for each balloon to join the water balloon fight. They enjoyed a lot and they didn’t hesitate to spend money for the charity. Also, in the afternoon, students had to do the cross-country and were paid for the charity per each lap. The interesting thing was that boys had to dress up in girls and girls had to dress up in pyjamas and wear ugly makeup during running. Students all had the great fun and the raise of money was successful.
On Tuesday, there will be more activities at Alexanders International School. There will be no prep and students will do their own sponsorship. Some students will wax their legs and shave their hair, spray their hair in red and even stay silent for few hours. Moreover, school will sell cakes during the break time. - Joy.

Yesterday — Red nose day, which allows us to do crazy things to raise money for charity. And the money goes to Africa, West Asia and the place covered by poverty and injuries.
The weather was fantastic yesterday, it seemed that we would have a nice day, and certainly we had.
First of all, the school organized a water balloon fight on the football field and almost all of the students took part in. It was brilliant, although some of us became drowned rats; everyone had fun through the game and laughs.
2 hours after the lunch, we had a cross country. But unusually, that time, all the boys made up as girls, and girls dressed very ugly. And the rules changed yesterday, the more round you have finished, the more money you raise. Some students even finished 3 rounds of the cross country run, I’m really happy for the results they’ve achieved.
The last part of the activities was a basketball tournament. - Gin

A big Thank You goes out to all of the students and staff who took part. Especially Miss Rosaleen who planned the whole event.

Final Team Scores

2011-03-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

The end of term brought a very tight finish to the Team scores. Deben had been in front for the entire term with Orwell close behind and Stour a distant third. Stour, kick started, with a win in the bowling tournament had a burst of points in the remaining week and took the trophy for the term.

The final scores are:

Stour 181
Deben 166
Orwell 139

Well done to Team Stour for winning the Winter Term Tournament and to Charlotte and Lim for captaining their team so well!

Here are the photos from the bowling tournament.

F3 English class presentations

2011-03-13T03:14:00.000-07:00

In Class, F3 had to talk about a favourite dish from their country with information about the ingredients and cooking instructions. They used Powerpoint to make the presentations. The students were filmed doing their presentations. As you can see from the photos they certainly chose some great food to talk about.

Adopt a Beach Clean Up Day.

2011-03-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday the whole school took part in the Adopt a Beach clean up day. We have chosen the beach which surrounds the school to keep clean and we do a quaterly clean up each year.

The presence of litter such as plastic bottles, crisp wrappers and other refuse on beaches and at sea is more than simply unattractive. It is a risk to health and can have an economic impact on local communities, as well as being potentially fatal to marine wildlife that eat or become entangled in it.

As you can see from the photos we picked up a lot of rubbish and everyone had a lot of fun taking part on a beautiful Spring evening.

Well done to everyone who took part you can be proud of the fact you helped keep the area of natural beauty we all live and work litter free.

Student's Artwork on Display.

2011-03-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

Throughout the term in Art the students have created some amazing work. Miss Georgiana chose the best ones and they are currently on display in the Clocktower.

Oxfam Visit - From Narsha.

2011-02-28T12:35:00.000-08:00

We are lucky because we had a speech by Oxfam’s volunteer on Monday. And we know a lot about Oxfam now.
Oxfam is an international charity. They work together in 98 countries around the world to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Oxfam was formed in 1995 by a group of independent non-government organizations. The Oxfam is based in Oxford, UK.
Oxfam helps the poor people get the better lives. In the video, we can see that there are still lots of poor people in the world. The volunteers in the video help the poor people work, or give clean water and food.
Most of the money is from the government. Everybody can give money to Oxfam easily. There are some Oxfam shops. If you buy the things from the Oxfam shop, the money will go to the charity to help their work. Or you can join Oxfam. You can be a volunteer! There are many volunteers from Oxfam around the world.
Maybe we can’t do a lot to the poor people, but we can do what we can do, that’s enough. Just keep warmhearted.
-Narsha.

Suffolk Table Tennis Tournament

2011-02-28T12:24:00.001-08:00

On Sunday we took 16 students to Stowupland High School for the Suffolk County Table Tennis Tournament. There was some excellent competition and the school is pleased to say we have the Under 19 girls Suffolk Champion! Congratulations Charlotte. In the boys side Aryana got to the semi finals of the U19 boys tournament so congratulations there.

Well done for everyone who took part.

Tree Planting

2011-02-17T05:45:00.001-08:00

Today, F1 took part in The Big Tree Plant for their Environmental Studies class. Amane and Tao planted 6 new trees behind Fulmar House as part of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign. Well done Amane and Tao, you can feel proud that you are helping the environment!!

Alexanders Receive St John Ambulance Schools Mark

2011-02-06T01:31:00.000-08:00

Alexanders International School recently received the St John Ambulance Schools Mark. The Schools Mark shows that Alexanders meets the criteria that is awarded to schools that show a significant commitment to the safety and health of their pupils, workforce and visitors.

Chinese New Year Celebrations

2011-02-05T04:57:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we celebrated Chinese New Year, the year of the Rabbit. Our Chinese students spent the afternoon watching Chinese Central Television and on the phones to their families in China, at 16:00 it was Chinese New Year!

Later on during the day the Great Hall and Dining Room was transformed into a small piece of China, with traditional decorations, Chinese writing and photos of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The colour primarily used is red to warn away evil spirits!

The students then went to work in the kitchen, supervised by Head Chef Atti, they prepared some traditional dishes using tofu, prawns, pork, noodles, fish, fresh ginger and Chinese spices.

At 18:00 the rest of the school arrived, they had all been asked to wear something red, and were greeted by Narsher and Derek. Once seated there was a speech read by Angela in English and Gin in Chinese, the speech was about the history of Chinese New Year and ended with Kung Hei Fat Choy meaning Happy New Year. After a rapturous applause everyone sampled the food and thoroughly enjoyed it.

After dinner we headed back to the Clock Tower and as Prep was cancelled for the evening we all enjoyed the Chinese music in the disco.

Congratulations to all of the students who made Chinese New Year 2011 a great success.

Team Basketball Tournament

2011-02-05T02:02:00.000-08:00

On Friday night we held our Team Basketball Tournament. Orwell, Stour and Deben assembled their seven player squad and had been practicing all week. The tournament was a round robin one with the top two teams playing for the trophy in the final.

The first game was Stour vs Orwell, the game started at a high pace but it was soon clear that Orwell had some quality players and this showed with the final score being 18-5 which proved to be the highest scoring game of the tournament.

In game two Orwell played Deben and this was a very close game, the scores were level pegging until Deben took the lead in the final minutes before Orwell scored a last second basket to end the game 6-6.

In the third game Stour played Deben and they needed a victory to have any chance of making the final. Stour played very well but couldn't get through a very good Deben defence. The final score being 6-0 to Deben.

The Final - Orwell vs Deben
The final was a great game, both teams knowing that ten green points were up for grabs, plus the accolade of being the 2011 Basketball Team Champions. Deben went into a quick lead thanks to some great passing and shooting from Alfonso, Paul and Sasha. Orwell soon came back and the trio of Mark, Gin and Leo proved to have the skills to get their team back into the lead. Deben hit a huge three pointer to edge back into the lead but the final minutes saw Orwell hit 9 unanswered points securing the trophy.

Final score 13-5 to Orwell

Congratulations to all players who played the game in the right spirit and to the supporters who all cheered on their teams.

Jaime's Photos

2011-02-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Jaime from Mexico has spent the past few weeks walking around school taking some breath taking photos. The photos on this post are all from Jaime and show's his perspective of Alexanders.

Chile Group Photos

2011-02-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

In January the school welcomed a group of students from Santiago, Chile. The group spent just under three weeks at Alexanders and had a great time. The term students welcomed the Chilean group and learnt a great deal about Chile. The group spent their mornings with Miss Magda in their English lessons and in the afternoon took part in sports and activities. Their week was broken up with trips to London visiting Madame Tussauds, The London Eye and of course shopping both in London and Cambridge.
As you can see from the photos all of our International Students had a great time and we wish the Chilean group all the best in the future! We hope to see you soon!!

St John Ambulance Young First Aider Course

2011-02-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

The students are currently half way through their St John Ambulance Young First Aider Award. This course provides a basic introduction to first aid. The course gives students grounding in managing an incident and the most commonly needed first aid skills.
As you can see from the photos this week we have been looking at CPR training, the students taking part have all learnt this life saving skill.

Activities and Trips at Alexanders

2011-01-31T10:58:00.001-08:00

Throughout the term the students at Alexanders have the choice to visit major towns and cities within the UK. This school year we have visited London, Cambridge, Norwich, Colchester, Ipswich and Chelmsford. On all our visits we have the opportunity to see the local attractions, visit museums, sightsee or simply just shop! On Friday night the students have the opportunity to go to the cinema to watch a movie, play football in the local school league or relax at school. We also have the chance to go swimming on a Sunday to the local swimming pool.

Students' Work

2011-01-31T10:48:00.000-08:00

F1 and F2 produced some great work that is being displayed in the Clocktower. F1's work is about them writing about themselves. F2 have been studying collocations. Both classes used their ICT skills to produce this excellent work.

New ICT Room

2011-01-31T10:41:00.000-08:00

In ICT we are covering a range of practical skills in the brand new ICT room, from spreadsheet tasks to use of presentation software. The photos show students preparing for the controlled assessment part of the GCSE (short course) by practising using forms on Microsoft Excel and documenting each stage of the exercise on Microsoft Word.

Mr Chris, Mr Tom and Mr Theo raise money for charity.

2011-01-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

In November Mr Chris, Mr Tom and Mr Theo decided to grow their moustaches and raise money for charity. All of the students and staff were very generous and the moustache growing trio raised over £100 for charity. Well done!

AIS Football Team

2011-01-19T05:26:00.000-08:00

The Alexanders football team started their league season on Friday night playing at Suffolk College. It was the first game of the season and the rules of the 5 a side league meant us giving the opposition 3 goals! After playing some excellent football we eventually lost 10-5. Watch out for the next game where we will be looking for revenge!

Making some Sushi!

2011-01-18T06:28:00.001-08:00

On Sunday two of our students and Mr Paul went into the kitchen and with the aid of Mr Atti our Head Chef we made some sushi!
This was Mr Paul’s first time making Sushi and as you can see with some great help and expert teaching from our students the results were pretty good!

Christmas Lunch

2010-12-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we had our annual Christmas Lunch in the Great Hall. The lunch was kicked off with some great music from the school band. For many of the students this was their first traditional British Christmas meal consisting of Turkey, roast potatoes, gravy and those lovely Brussels sprouts! Once the three course meal had been enjoyed there was a surprise visit from Father Christmas all the way from Lapland! He handed out presents to everyone and there was great joy to all of those who gave and received their presents.
After the presents there were awards given out to students receiving merit awards for reaching 20 team points. The term trophy was also handed out to the Captain of Team Deben for winning the team competition for the term. Congratulations to all of those in Team Deben.
Overall the whole Christmas lunch was a huge success, thank you to all of those who made the day such a special one for students and staff alike.

Karaoke Competition Photos

2010-12-12T03:50:00.000-08:00

During the term we held a karaoke competition in an Xfactor style. The winner was Sophia, congratulations!

Photos of the School

2010-12-12T03:43:00.001-08:00

Photos from the First Term

2010-12-12T03:37:00.000-08:00

So the first term has come to an end and in Mr Alister's words it has been one of the most successful ones. Well done to all of the students who worked very hard, had a lot of fun and were a credit to their country.
I have been searching through my computer and have found some photos from the term - enjoy!

Mr Alister's Trip to China

2010-11-09T02:24:00.000-08:00

Mr Alister recently returned from his trip to China. Here, described in his own words is his exciting trip.

CHINA TRIP – 19th October to 1st November 2010

Tuesday 19th October

I left Bawdsey at 12:45 and arrived Heathrow at 15:15. Tried to get cash from hole in the wall without success. Changed £120 for HK$.
Flight left at 18:45. Virtually no sleep. Very uncomfortable.

Wednesday 20th October

Arrived HK. Met up with Martin Webber MW and took train and taxi to Excelsior Hotel. Didn’t hand over credit card as I was unsure if there was any money in the account. Tried to withdraw money from cashpoint – no success. Phoned Rose and Linda.
Dinner at HK Royal Yacht Club – very pleasant.

Thursday 21st October

Breakfast in McDonald’s, as I was worried about spending money I might not have had. Strolled around in the morning. In the afternoon went with MW to visit a superb aviary
Then took a tram journey together. Spent a lovely evening with Wendy Chiang (AIS student from 1990) and talked on the phone to her brother Jay who is in Shanghai.

Friday 22nd October

Paid the bill at 08:00. Is the money in my account?
With MW to airport for flight at 10:50 to Nanjing. Business Class – very comfortable. The meal was delicious. What a contrast with Cathay Pacific flight!
The drive to the hotel was a bit hairy – all horns, no indicators!
Met with Jane – Acad. Asia local organiser.
Out to dinner with some acquaintances of MW. Superb meal – so many wonderful flavours. Some of the best food I’ve ever had.
Hotel is comfortable. Left my charger in HK so dead mobile.
Had a stroll in the grounds with Chen, an Acad. Asia employee.

Saturday 23rd October

Gordon and Liz Kendall from Liverpool College arrived last night so were with us this morning.
Really scary drive to town for our first presentation at Academic Asia office.
Went ok.
After lunch we went for a walk to the Confucius Temple. Beautiful – raining – thousands of umbrellas.
Got separated from the others for three hours. OK at first but a bit worrying as it got colder and darker. Had my picture taken about twenty times. A little 13 year old girl with good English tried to help. I tried for 30 minutes to get a cab but couldn’t explain my hotel. A gorgeous looking woman with no English also tried to assist but in the end I walked into a hotel and got them to help. I don’t think MW believed me but Jane was very relieved.
Rained all day.

Sunday 24th October

Visited Nanjing No 1 Experimental School for a presentation. The children were great. Returned to the hotel after lunch. Others went to bed, I walked to a local aquarium – lovely. In bed for 21:30

Monday 25th October

After visiting a museum devoted to Chinese education we spent the day at Nanjing No 1 Experimental School. There was a mass gathering in the stadium at 08:30. We then had a tour of the school, lunch and visits to classes. The children were again great.
We had to change hotels because they’d let our rooms out to some government officials. Moved into the Grand Hotel in town. Even better.

Tuesday 26th October

Back to school in the morning for an awards presentation in the stadium followed by meetings with teachers and students. Afternoon at the Silk Museum.

Wednesday 27th October

We left the hotel at 11:50 for the flight to HK. Back to the Excelsior. Evening meal at the RHKYC with MW, Gordon and Liz and two from Bedales School. Beautiful meal in beautiful surroundings.

Thursday 28th October – SHENZHEN

After breakfast we left by bus for Shenzhen. The sun was shining! (didn’t see that in 2006).
The hotel is amazing!
Met with my interpreter, Rhyll. Very good English and really helpful. Set up our stand desk from 17:00.
Parents and children from 18:00 to 21:45

Friday 29th October – HUIZHOU

We left Shenzhen at 10:15 by bus to Huizhu. The journey of 2+ hours took us through countryside and built up areas with building sites everywhere.
Visit to Huizhou No 1 Middle School
The school was very smart and clean with 4000 students in the Senior School and another 4000 in the Junior section. A pleasant afternoon in the sun talking to students and staff.
Bus journey to Guangzhou was freezing.

Saturday 30th October – GUANGZHOU

Set up from 09:00
Students and staff interviews from 10:00 to 17:00

Sunday 31st October – Zhuhai

Students and staff interviews from 10:00 to 16:00

Finished around 16:00 then by bus, ferry, taxi and train to HK airport before a late flight home to UK.
This was probably the worst flight of my life in dreadfully cramped cattle class. Never again.
An interesting and, hopefully, successful trip.
I have made several, hopefully, useful contacts with other schools and also have a better understanding of the problems that face our Chinese students before they enter UK education

Alister Laidlaw

8th November 2010

Alexanders Goes Camping

2010-11-08T10:48:00.001-08:00

On Friday some of the students and staff went camping. We couldn't have picked a wetter evening but everyone had a great time.

James from Mexico writes about his experiences:

The camp was a good experience, I learned to assemble a tent under the rain. The walk at night was so tiring, but seeing the Chinese balloons fly was spectacular; later Miss Rosaleen told us a terrific story about an old house somewhere there, but unfortunately we couldn't find the house.....
Finally we arrived back to the camp all wet and cold, but a hot chocolate from Mr Paul and the sound of a guitar solves everything....Now is the time to sleep, well, 'sleep' because it was too uncomfortable to sleep as it was cold and wet.
Next day we picked up our tents, made some breakfast and returned to Alexanders.

Volleyball Tournament

2010-10-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

On Friday we held the end of term Volleyball Tournament. Six players from each team competed and the level of volleyball was very high. Stour, Deben and Orwell were all competing for ten points for their team and Stour were looking to add to their ten points they won in the Orienteering competition. After a very highly competitive tournament Deben beat Orwell in the final. The tournament was played with sportsmanship in mind and all the teams played very fairly. Well done to all who played and cheered on!

Orienteering Tournament

2010-10-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we held the end of term Orienteering tournament for Stour, Deben and Orwell Houses. Every student was involved and there were 10 controls hidden around the school grounds. The students had to run from the clocktower and negotiate the quickest route that included the quay, woods, cliffs and playing fields. The winning team was Stour who had the quickest average time, only 12 seconds faster than Orwell. Well done to everyone that took part!

Duke of Edinburgh Award

2010-10-16T01:28:00.001-07:00

Ten students have been accepted into the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award Scheme. Five different countries will be represented and Miss Rosaleen and Mr Paul look forward to a successful year. The Duke of Edinburgh Award is an International Award that will allow the students to learn a variety of new skills. There are four areas that the award covers; Volunteering, Physical, Skill and Expedition. Good Luck to all of the students who are taking their award. Updates from the DofE award will be added to the blog periodically.

Student Council

2010-10-16T01:21:00.001-07:00

The Student Council was elected at the start of term and they are the voice of the students. In each tutor group two students were chosen to represent their group. Eight students from five different countries are currently represented in the Student Council. The Student Council has already been hard at work changing things that make school life more productive for all of the students.

Beachwatch 2010

2010-09-24T01:24:00.001-07:00

On Sunday the 19th of September the students took part in the national Beachwatch 2010. Beachwatch 2010 happens all over the UK and involves thousands of volunteers who pick up litter from the coastline and record what they find. Our students managed to pick up over 15 bags of litter weighing over 100kg!

It was an enjoyable experience which taught everyone involved how much rubbish is actually on our coast and the damage it does to the environment!

New school year begins at Alexanders

2010-09-24T01:17:00.000-07:00

The new students and some returning students came back to Alexanders on Monday the 13th. There is a great mix of nationalities including Colombian, Iranian, Ukrainian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese students.

Good luck to all the students and we hope you have a great time at Alexanders

Track and Field AIS&ICS

2010-05-27T13:54:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we held a combined track and field event with both Alexanders and ICS students. All of the students took part in 100m, 200m, 400m, discus, shot put, long jump, javelin and the 4x100m relay. There were some excellent times and distances recorded but the most pleasing to see was the spirit all of the students showed throughout the event. All competitors were cheered all of the way and the whole day was a huge success.

Additional Sports Tournament Photos

2010-05-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

International Community School and Alexanders International School Mixed Sports Tournament

2010-05-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

On Monday the International Community School from London joined us in a mixed sports tournament. The weather was fantastic and it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves. Each team was a mixture created from both schools and it was very good to see all of the students working together. Each team played a game of Ultimate Frisbee, basketball, football, lacrosse and volleyball. Overall there were 50 games played over the afternoon and they were all played in great spirit. On Wednesday we continue the team theme but now focusing on Track and Field events. Congratulations to all of the students and staff who helped this event be a great success!

Charity Dodgeball Tournament

2010-05-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we held a Charity Dodgeball Tournament for the British Heart Foundation. All of the students took part and had created teams from their house teams of Orwell, Stour and Deben.
Over the past few weeks Mr Tom has been teaching the students all of the rules of dodgeball as well as the techniques. Each house team managed to field two boys and one girl team. There was some fantastic play and excellent support. Team Deben won both the boys and girls tournament earning ten points for their team. Unfortunately the winners couldn't beat the staff team, maybe next time!
Overall we raised £35 for the British Heart Foundation. Well done everyone who participated.

Karaoke Winner

2010-05-10T13:43:00.001-07:00

The karaoke winner himself! Yao singing Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton.

Sunday Evening Karaoke

2010-05-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

On Sunday evening Mr Theo held a karaoke competition and there was a great turnout from the students. Yao sang Tears in Heaven, Kamil blasted out a Backstreet Boys hit and Giovanni and Gabrielle sang the Italian National Anthem, much to the amusement of the rest of the students. There were also come great performances from Bohdan, Alena, Yana and Vika to name a few. Miss Lucia and Miss Kylie judged the contest and the winner was Yao! Well done!! Everyone who sang also gained a green point for their team.

Duke of Edinburgh Award - Practice Trek

2010-05-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the Duke of Edinburgh Award students went on a 12 mile trek along the coast. The day started off cold and wet and after some tough walking along the cliff the weather changed and it ended up warm with even a little bit of sun. Each student had their chance to lead the group using their map skills and I'm happy to report that we didn't get lost! The students are nearing the end of their bronze award and over the coming weeks they will be tested in their overnight expedition along with putting on a photography exhibition. Yana, Grace, Bohdan and Guillem should be very proud to have worked so hard, just a few more weeks and the bronze award will be yours!

The first student reaches 20 team points.

2010-04-25T10:16:00.001-07:00

We had our first student reach 20 team points and therefore won a ticket to watch Arsenal vs Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium in London. A team point is awarded for outstanding behaviour or handing in excellent work. The winning student from team Stour reached 20 team points a few weeks ago and has helped his team keep in contention for the overall competition between Team Orwell, Stour and Deben.

The winner attended an English Premier League game and he greatly enjoyed it. Even though the game ended 0-0 we had a great time!

Additional PE Photos

2010-04-25T10:03:00.001-07:00

Summer Term PE

2010-04-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

In PE this term the students are learning Football and Athletics. After two weeks all of the students have posted their times and distances for the 100m, 400m, Shot Put, Long Jump and Relay. Over the next few weeks we will focus on the Javelin, 200m and 800m. In Athletics Mr Paul has been very impressed with the times set in the 100m for both boys and girls, we may see some of them in London 2012!

Mr Istvan has been impressed with the Football training and within the next few weeks the boys team will play against other teams from around the area.

On Thursday Mr Theo came to the sports fields and took a lot of photos of the students. Please let Mr Paul know if you would like to see all of them.

Sport Relief One Mile Charity Run

2010-03-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the 20th of March we held the Sport Relief One Mile Run around the school playing fields. The run was a sponsored run where all participants helped raise money for the Sport Relief Charity. We held three seperate competitions of fastest mile, funniest run and funniest dressed. The winner of the fastest mile was Edouard, the winner of the funniest run was Tonya and the winner of the funniest dressed was Alena. At the time of writing this we have raised over £120 for charity which everyone can be very proud of. Well Done!!

Duke of Edinburgh Award - Volunteering

2010-03-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

On Friday the students who are taking their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award started their Volunteering section of the course. The volunteering will continue for three months and is in conjunction with the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The students have chosen to become Coastal Wardens and their job is to patrol a chosen area of coast close to the school and make observations of changes to the wildlife and coast as a whole. The results of these observations will help Suffolk Coast to plan future conservation programs along the coast.

Lacrosse In PE

2010-03-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday some of the students had their Lacrosse lesson. Lacrosse is a new sport to all of the students and they are all taking to it very well! During PE this half term the students will be focussing on Tennis and Lacrosse. As you can see by the photos even with the cold weather the students are still having fun while learning a new sport.

F3 Maths Class

2010-03-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday F3 had their maths class with Miss Gill.

Below Miss Gill explains about the lesson.

The lesson was all about statistics and data, where we had done mean, median and mode of different types of data before starting on cumulative frequency diagrams and interquartile ranges when the pictures were being taken. This isn't the most exciting aspect of maths, but it is very useful for those going on to study economics and business studies as it is all about collecting, processing and presenting data. One good discussion point was how we can use different types of 'average' to give different impressions from the same set of data, so it is true that there are 'lies, damned lies and statistics'.

Bawdsey Radar and Radio Exhibition

2010-03-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

Over the last weekend of February a Radar and Radio event was held at Bawdsey Manor. Some of the students went along to learn about the history of Radar and how it was researched on the school grounds.

Science teacher Dave Powis describes what was happening "The exhibition and radio event was to commemorate the demonstration of radar principles by Sir Robert Watson-Watt 75 years ago. Radar development in the UK moved to Bawdsey Manor in 1936, and the station was known as Bawdsey Research Station (BRS). So to recognise that we had the radio callsign GB 75 B R S.

With some helpers from local radio clubs, we managed to put up our aerials on Thursday afternoon, and on Friday we spoke to nearly 300 radio stations in 44 different countries around the world!

Bawdsey Manor is unique in the UK, in that it was not only the development centre for radar, but also remained an operational station too. The exhibition was there to explain some of the background to what we were doing and why it was so important".

The students found the exhibition fascinating and very informative, especially when they realized the history that surrounds the school and its buildings.

PET and KET Exam Certificates Awarded in Assembly.

2010-03-01T06:16:00.000-08:00

On Monday some of the students received their certificates for passing the Cambridge Key English Test and Cambridge Preliminary English Test. Congratulations to Yao, Bohdan, Alena, Guillem, Jack, Gor and Edison. Each student has worked very hard and should be very proud for passing these tests.

Team Basketball Tournament

2010-02-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

The Team Basketball Tournament was held and each School Team of Orwell, Deben and Stour entered a team. We also had a guest team combined of players from France and Russia who entered the tournament.
The tournament was a 4v4 tournament where the rules were a little changed with each team having to have one girl playing.

Here are the scores:

Orwell - Stour 18:9
Deben - Action Sejours 11:20
Orwell - Deben 21:2
Stour - Action Sejours 22:17
Deben - Stour 15:8
Action Sejours - Orwell 21:9

The eventual winners were Orwell who earn their team 20 points.

Congratulations to all of the players and supporters who made the tournament a great success!

English Language Class

2010-02-18T00:44:00.000-08:00

Our English classes here at Alexanders are divided up by skills and students' needs. My classes focus mainly on the Grammar aspect of the English Language. There are various stages to this; introducing the grammar point with explanations and rules, the students becoming aware of how it works in context and then the all important consolidation stage. The consolidation of the grammar is to get students using it confidently using a communicative approach and adapting it to their writing/exam skills.

The class that you see taking place in the photos is the introduction to Reported Speech.

Miss Rosaleen.

Boys Basketball Game vs St Jospeh's College.

2010-02-15T03:38:00.000-08:00

The Boys Basketball Team played their first fixture of the season and travelled to St Joseph's College. As this was the first game of the season it took the team a few minutes to get use to the court and get up to speed with the opposition. The team played really well and there was some excellent Basketball played by both teams. Even though the final score showed 64-43 for the home team, Alexanders should still be proud of the way they played, behaved and represented the school. Well done!

Duke of Edinburgh Award Comes to Alexanders.

2010-02-11T07:40:00.000-08:00

Five students have started the process of gaining their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. Guillem, Bohdan, Grace, Yana and Alena have all been hard at work taking part in their physical activity each week. They have been cross country running, swimming and working out in the Fitness Centre over the past weeks. This Monday will be the start of their volunteer section where we have decided to help Suffolk Coastal with their conservation projects along the coast. The students have already shown dedication to the award and Mr Paul looks forward to this continuing over the next few months.

Local Police Visit

2010-02-10T09:03:00.001-08:00

In Health Education we had two local Police Officers come to visit the school on Tuesday. They spoke to all of the different classes about personal safety and laws within the UK. The students had prepared a few questions for the Police Officers about their experiences which ranged from asking about their favourite part of the job to have they ever shot someone! The visit went very well and all the students had a great time meeting the police for the first time.

Hats For Haiti

2010-02-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

On the 1st of February the school held a Hats for Haiti day to help raise money for Charity to send relief to the people of Haiti. All students had to design and wear their hat on Monday and Mr Alister was very suprised in assembly when seeing all the wacky and weird hats on display.
The students raised £40 which has been sent to charity.

We also held a non school uniform day two weeks ago which was equally successful raising £19 for charity.

There will be a few more events coming up which will raise money for charity! Keep an eye out for these!

Alexanders Fitness Centre

2010-01-28T01:36:00.000-08:00

Hello!

This week the students went into the Fitness Centre and had their induction on how to use the equipment safely. The fitness centre is located next to Heron House and has equipment for fitness training as well as weight training.

Opening Times:
Mon-Thur 17:30-19:00
Fri 17:30-21:15
Sat – Sun 9:00-21:00

As you can see from the photos the students are already working out and having fun!

Look out for fitness classes coming up in the near future!

F2 Basketball

2010-01-19T10:13:00.000-08:00

Class F2 learning the skills of Basketball. We have a lot of very good players in the school.

F1 Gymnastics

2010-01-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

Look at these students learning the basics of gymnastics.

F3 Pics continued

2010-01-14T01:43:00.000-08:00

Gymnastics for Class F3

2010-01-14T01:35:00.000-08:00

F3 took part in their gymnastics on Tuesday afternoon and as this was their first lesson the students, well most of them, showed some great technique. Mr Istvan took them through the basics of rolls, headstands and how to land correctly (Yao take note).

Snow at Alexanders International School

2010-01-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

As you can see the first week of terms was very white! We managed to hold a few indoor tournaments of volleyball and squash but on Wednesday and Thursday we built a huge snowman and played in the snow.

Today is the start of our gymnastics and basketball programmes and both the students and staff are very excited about these sports. At least it will be warm inside!

Alexanders International School Term One Sports Report

2009-12-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

The first term has finished and as we all look forward to the start of the new term I wanted to recap the first term.

For the first half of the term we concentrated on Orienteering, Volleyball and Cross Country running. Everyone had a lot of fun learning orienteering and luckily nobody got lost, well not for that long! The Bawdsey estate allowed us to create numerous different maps utilising the sea, forest, field and river settings and this was a challenging start to PE for the students. In volleyball there was great improvement from the beginning to the end, personally I was very impressed with everyone willing to learn and play fairly.

For the second half of term we concentrated on Squash, Badminton and Fitness training. Miss Lucia focused on badminton and I know she was very impressed with the talent we have at the school. I taught squash and this was very well received with all players learning the sport for only the first time and really getting good at it. Mr Istvan concentrated on the fitness part and with the use of the Multi-stage fitness test, abdominal test and fartlek training there was a huge improvement in all of the students fitness levels.

Well done to all of the students for a good start to PE at the school and I look forward to having the school compete in some basketball games in the coming term as well as selected students playing in inter-school squash games.

Till next time.

Mr Paul.