Impact Magazine Issue 7 November 2011

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Steffen Berbalk

IGCSE Student EDITOR

Hi, welcome to our first issue of

IMPACT for 2011/2012, the magazine

for EF International Academy Torquay.

Each issue IMAPCT Magazine

designates space for creative and

expressive coverage of the College,

students, events and more, therefore

if you would like to contribute to the

magazine please contact one of our

team.

First of all I would like to welcome all

new students from around the world

and also the the start of a new

academic year. This year also sees the

introduction of the IGCSE course which

adds to the cultural and academic

diversity of our college. We kick off the

year with the highest ever number of

students studying in Torquay and also

the incredible helloween party held in

prehistoric caves.

ImpAct Team

Thi Hong Hanh

Nguyen IB Student Journalist

Olzhas Utebaliyev

IB Student Journalist

Daulet Dauysbekov

IB Student Journalist

Thi Thu Thuy

Nguyen A Level Student

Journalist

Bing Yuk Tang

A Level Student Journalist

Wang Yuanjun A Level Student Photographer

Steffen Berbalk IGCSE Student

Journalist

Lok Yee Chan IGCSE Student

Journalist

Anton Girda

IGCSE Student Photographer

Adrian

IT Teacher Editorial Support

& Design

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Halloween Party Page 04

London Olympics 2012 Page 07

Eden Project Page 10

The Poppy Appeal Page 12

IGCSE Murder Mystery Hunt Page 15

Art Class Page 17

UK Mathematics Team Challenge Page 20

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Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh (Victoria)

Unforgettable rainy scary and amusing Halloween on the 26th October 2011. Halloween 2011

was organized at Kent’s Cavern in Torquay for the first time. It was an ideal place to enjoy

the real scary atmosphere of Halloween night and all of us were expecting to have lots of fun

and surprises there.

We met our teachers at the bus stop opposite the library at 6:30pm.We were divided in

many groups and took taxis to go to Kent Cavern. After arriving at the cave, we gathered in

the main Hall and enjoyed the music there. More students and teachers turned up with very

festive costumes. They made the party more like Halloween. I wondered if it was a party in a

tale from the 19th century where we saw princes, princesses, kings, queens, dukes, pirates,

sailors, captains, vampires, the Reaper, ghosts and even fairies, clowns and strangers. This

year, students dressed up into many different characters which were both evil and angelic.

Many of them chose red, black and white for the main colours of their costumes or masks.

They looked scary but smart in black suits with a pale white face with very black eyes and

bleeding blood. Students were very creative with a very good sense of Art because they had

taken a lot of

Photography: Fiona

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time to put make up on their face to

create face masks with many different

patterns and characters face. Some

chose to hide their face and put on a

plain mask and everyone had to guess

who they were.

Teachers also joined us as they always

did. Bob was the Vampire that night,

scary but still very humorous as he

always is. Jonathan the new Art

teacher was a scary but cute ghost

and Liz the English teacher as a

friendly witch with her purple curly

hair. Wendy the media and film

teacher looked amazing in her maxi

long black dress and many others

teachers had their face painted.

Many students decided to show up

the most evil as they could, however,

some of them preferred to look lovely

in their costumes. There were lovely

Cats such as June and Carmen from

IB2 and a very smart British Navy

sailor Andrea from IB2 and a very

gentle and pretty fairy Vicki from IB2.

Nick 1st year A level imitated an

image from a character in a very

famous sitcom movie in Vietnam with

large glasses, high waist jumpsuit and

his hair was divided into 2 sides. It

looked very hilarious. The rest of

students were in casual clothes and

nice dresses.

The group of Nigerians were the most

out-standing group that night. Their

costumes were totally amazing. They

must have prepared for this long ago.

They were Caribbean pirates, dukes

and even soldiers. When all of us

came to this party and dressed up or

did a bit of make-up, it gave us the

real feeling of the Halloween party.

The second part of the night was a lot Photography: Fiona

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of fun. We were divided into many groups again to go into the cave with the talented

woman who played many roles in her stories. We had a chance to see the structure of the

cave which has existed since prehistoric times with many limestone cliffs and stalactites. The

woman told many ghost stories to us and she acted as many characters in that story as well.

When we finished visiting each part of the cave, there was a new story. The animation from

the light blinking all the time made the atmosphere very chilling and cold. There were some

men who dressed in black costumes and jumped suddenly in front of us to scare us. Some

students yelled, screamed because they were scared, however, it was fun to say the least.

We had some food in the Hall as well. There were varied of pizza, rice, fried chicken to help

feed the assortment of our scary students and teachers. After adding more energy, we then

began with the dancing part. The disco was held in the caves and we danced freely and

enjoyed the music so much. Before the party ended, the school gave the prize for the best

costumes, which went to the well-deserved Nigerian Pirates and also a special prize for

Taylor from IB1 to reward his efforts for helping organizing this Halloween party.

The party ended with joys and we kept lots of memories with friends and teachers by taking

and sharing lots of photos. Although it was raining heavily when we left Kent’s Cavern, we

were eager to walk under the rain, singing and dancing because we had a great time with

each other.

Photography: Fiona

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London Olympics 2012 Ronny Tang

We are now nearly at the end of year 2011, then what can we actually look forward to in the

coming year? Watching the Summer Olympic Games 2012, which is going to take place in

London from 27th July to 12th August, a significant event for the United Kingdom and a rare

opportunity for you to attend and observe within the hoist nation.

What is so special about the Olympic Games?, They are a major international event featuring

summer and winter sports, in which hundreds of athletes participate in a variety of

competitions. The Olympic Games has come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports

competition. The Games are currently held every two years, with Summer and Winter

Olympic Games alternating, although they occur every four years within their respective

seasonal games.

London was elected as the host city on 6th July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in

Singapore, defeating Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris after four rounds of voting.

Source: www.london2012.com

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In fact, London has become the first city

to officially host the modern Olympic

Games three times having previously

done so in 1908 and in 1948. The

Olympics prompted a redevelopment of

many of the areas of London in which

the games are to be held, particularly

themed towards sustainability. As the

budgetary considerations have been

hugely criticised by the public, so many

places which were already in place before the bid, are going to be rebuilt into a new game

venue, in order to save as much money as possible. The places include: Wembley Stadium,

Wembley Arena, Wimbledon All England Club, Lord's Cricket Ground, The O2 Arena, Earls

Court Exhibition Centre, Weymouth and

Portland National Sailing Academy, and

the Excel Centre.

If you want to “participate” in the

Olympic Games, buying tickets is

obviously the fastest way to do so. The

tickets of the London Olympics 2012

have been reportedly set as the most

expensive tickets ever in the Olympic

Games history. However, there is still having a huge demand for the tickets, where 200

million people are now in the queue for it.

The logo of the London Olympics 2012 is another thing to pay attention on. There have been

two London 2012 logos (as there are Paralympics and Olympics): one for the bidding process

created by Kino Design and a second as the brand for the Games themselves. The former is a

ribbon with blue, yellow, black, green, and red stripes winding through the text “LONDON

2012”, making the shape of the River Thames in East London. The latter, designed by Wolff

Olins, was unveiled on 4 June 2007 and cost £400,000. This new logo is a representation of

the number 2012, with the Olympic Rings embedded within the zero.

The Paralympics logo (far left) and the different official colour combinations for the Wolff Olins main logo design.

Source: www.london2012.com

Source: www.london2012.com

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Finally, there are

mascots of the London

Olympics 2012. The

official mascots for the

2012 Summer Olympic

and Paralympic Games

were unveiled on 19

May 2010. This marks

the second time (after

Vancouver) that both

Olympic and Paralympic

mascots were unveiled

at the same time. Wenlock and Mandeville are animations depicting two drops of steel from

a steelworks in Bolton. They are named Wenlock, after the Shropshire town of Much

Wenlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic Games, and Mandeville, after

Stoke Mandeville, a village in Buckinghamshire where a forerunner to the Paralympic Games

were first held.

There is just only a year to the start of the Olympic Games. There have been lots of

promotions held across the country, especially in London, such as in Trafalgar Square, where

the first glimpse of the medals was presented. Next year you could “participate” in the

games, not as a competitor, but as a spectator and witness to this stunning international

event through different media with your family and friends.

Source: www.london2012.com

Source: www.london2012.com

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Cultural Education Visit To Eden Project

Steffen Berbalk

Eden Project, what is that? That was what I was thinking when I heard it for the first time!

A few days later on a Sunday morning I arrived at Torquay Town Hall with my friends to wait

for the coaches for Eden. When the coaches arrived and I stepped in I just thought- OMG,

what is that? The bus looked very, very uncomfortable and so it was. I think I was not the

only one that had these thoughts. After a long trip on the coach we finally arrived after two

and a half hours at Eden.

When I saw the buildings first through the windows of the coach it was just like- awesome.

They look so cool and a master of architecture must have built and designed these. I was

just thinking about how long it would take someone to build something like this. Then we

walked towards the entrance and I was a bit disappointed, because on the way there were

not so many flowers or something special or exciting, but next we came into the project and

it was just amazing. The buildings looked like golf balls that have been cut in half and the

gardens looked just beautiful with all the pretty flowers and bushes.

Then we went to the first building and into the tropical zone. It was incredibly hot in there,

but the flowers, palm and banana trees were just mind-blowing. I really enjoyed it and all

the people that walked with me, too. Then we went to the cafeteria and had a delicious

lunch. It was so tasty and everybody was just overwhelmed with the food. After this we

went into the next building which was a warm European climate. It was not so spectacular or

Photography: Christina

Photography: Christina

Photography: Steffen

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anything special, but it was good just for sitting and

relaxing. After a short while I went outside to visit the

beautiful gardens. What impressed me the most was

this figure made up out of rubbish and metal.

Finally I just relaxed for half an hour in the gardens

and enjoyed the beautiful sun. Then I just walked

around and took a lot of photographs from the

flowers amazing flowers and bushes.

Afterwards, at approximately 3 pm we went back to

Torquay by bus. It was as uncomfortable as at the way

to Eden and by the time we arrived back in Torquay

everybody was exhausted by the long day with the long traveling. But all in all I enjoyed Eden

a lot I would advise it to everybody who likes nature and to be outside.

Photography: Steffen

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When I sent my scarf to the dry cleaning

shop, I saw a box near the cashier filled with

lots of paper poppies and there was a money

box next to it. I was quite curious to know

why so I decided to ask the shopkeeper.

However, I hesitated as I thought “Why do I

need a red paper flower?”

The day after, when I was watching The X-

Factor, all the competitors, judges and

audiences were wearing the paper poppies

which I had seen at the dry cleaners the day

before. I asked my host mother “Why are all

the people wearing those paper flowers?” I

pointed at the television. “Oh! They are

poppies. People wear them for

remembrance.” She answered. “

Ronny Tang

Source: http://i.telegraph.co.uk & http://www.poppy.org.uk

“Oh! They are poppies. People wear them

for remembrance.” She answered. “

“Remember what?” I asked further.

“Remember all the soldiers died in the First,

Second World War and conflicts among

countries.” Afterwards, I started to be

interested in this “event” as all the people in

the UK seemed to be involved in it.

I searched the internet about the Poppy

Appeal for the whole and found information

about the Poppy Appeal and the culture that

I am now living in.

The yearly Poppy Appeal is actually held by

The Royal British Legion, which was founded

in 1921 and merged with four important

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organisations: the Comrades of the Great

War, the National Association of Discharged

Sailors and Soldiers, the National Federation

of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and

Soldiers and the Officers’ Association. It was

granted a Royal Charter on 29 May 1971 to

mark its fiftieth anniversary which gives the

Legion the privilege of the prefix “Royal”.

Besides, The Royal British Legion is the UK’s

leading charity providing financial, social and

emotional support to those who have served

or who are currently serving in the British

Armed Forces and their dependants.

Moreover, besides the Poppy Appeal and

Remembrance services, the Legion is a

campaigning organisation that promotes the

welfare and interests of current and former

members of the British Armed Forces.

By the way, The Royal British Legion

organises a fund-raising drive each year in

the weeks before Remembrance Sunday,

which is the Festival of Remembrance on the

Saturday before Remembrance Sunday. The

Festival, held in the Royal Albert Hall,

London, has acquired a status approaching

that of a state event. And the artificial

poppies are meant to be worn on clothing,

are offered to the public in return for a

charitable donation. Over the course of the

preceding year a team of around fifty

people, the majority of them disabled

former British military personnel work all

year round producing millions of poppies at

the factory in Richmond. The idea of wearing

such poppies came from the poem In

Flanders Fields about the First World War.

Poppies are worn until Remembrance

Sunday to remember British military

personnel who have died since the First

World War.

Sunday to remember British military

personnel who have died since the First

World War. The Poppy Appeal normally

starts late October until mid-November

every year and worn by the general public,

politicians, the Royal Family, and others in

public life. In the early years after the First

World War, poppies were worn only on

Armistice Day itself. It has also become

increasingly common to see poppies on

cars, lorries and other forms of public

transport such as planes, buses and trams.

However, some have criticised the level of

compulsion associated with the custom.

Source: www.britishlegion.org

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During this time, I have bought six paper

poppies. The reasons for why I bought these

paper poppies are that I was extremely

impressed by the British’s conviction on

collaboration besides helping to raise funds

for the charity. I reckoned “Why do people

in UK can have such a strong conviction…

instinct on collaboration?” Frankly speaking,

if somebody held a similar charity for a same

purpose in Hong Kong, he would get less

support than here. For instance, the charity

just wants to make money from us rather

than helping the needy people. Nonetheless,

the British really are dedicated to charity

work. They do not know what will happen

after donating the money or where the

money is really going to, but they still TRUST.

They trust each other, they trust the honesty

among people and they believe their

intuition. Just because of the reasons above,

I wanted to get involved in the “event” as

well. This “event” has reminded me how to

trust, how to believe and how to be

dedicated.

Finally came to the Remembrance Sunday. I

was in the Magistrates’ Court for the Law

field trip while the gathering was held at

the town hall. I fell silent for the two

minutes silence. At that moment, I could

figure out nothing. What I could see was

just tons and tons of people wearing paper

poppies walking in front of me. I can still

remember that “red” scene which

represented “Lots of people with tons of

love”. All the communities are just striving

to be like that, aren’t they?

Now (nearly the end of November), the

Poppy Appeal has totally finished, but I do

not know why I still want to hitch my paper

poppy on my jacket… Although there was

just a paper poppy, there was just little

money, there was just one country, but the

whole remembrance of the horrors of war

are powerful and symbolic, so becoming a

part of Poppy Day reminds us to be proud

of our past and the sacrifices made, which

in itself is a humbling thought.

Source: http://i.dailymail.co.uk

Source: www.raf.mod.uk

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Lok Yee Chan (Tammy)

xeter is home to an appealing variety of historic buildings, museums and interesting

sightseeing opportunities along with many national retail chain stores, independent shops

and local boutiques for the more unique purchases.

On the 13th October 2011 our IGCSE group went on our first visit together. It was quite

sunny, but incredibly cold as we set off by coach. We divided in to our 3 Tutor groups,

because we were going on a Murder Mystery Hunt around the city. We had a map, and

some clues to follow which would hopefully lead us to the murderer. This was good because

we had to walk around Exeter to find our way. My Tutor group set off last as were the

fastest, but this meant we could watch the others! Before we started we decided to try and

guess who the murder was and which weapon they used to commit the crime.

By the time we had finished we were exhausted after 2 hours of walking. My Tutor group

had guessed the murderer and weapon correctly from the start…luck or good deduction?

Photography: Anton

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Then the next thing we did was what all girls

were waiting for, we went shopping and for

lunch outside the cathedral. On the way to the

cathedral we noted the shops and shopping

centres, but unfortunately we did not have

enough time. Before we started our way back

home some of us went inside the cathedral to

how magnificent it was. The enormous

exquisite building was built over 500 years

ago, it is very remarkable and I think if you

have not seen it you should go and visit.

Overall, it was a good experience and a time

to be with all the IGCSE group. Aside from

travelling to such a great place, we could also

build a friendship with others. I am looking

forward to the next trip and I hope that

everybody enjoyed this trip.

Last but not least, many thanks for all the teachers who planned the trip and were with us.

We are looking forward to the next adventure.

Photography: Anton

Photography: Anton

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Art Class

Jonathan

This term has focused on observational drawing, which involved hands and hands

holding objects. A Cubism project based around bottles and the work of Picasso

and 2 and 3 point perspective, based on the simple drawing of buildings.

Lok Yee Chan (Tammy IGCSE)

Khanh Ly Can (Krystal IGCSE)

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Jae-Cheol Shin (Bill IGCSE)

Qiya Gao (Cuecci IGCSE)

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Rodrigo Garcia Berezo (IGSCE)

Elena Viladevall De Lecea (IGCSE)

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UK Mathematics

Team Challenge - Senior Regional Final

On Thursday 10th November 2011 four EFIA Torbay students won the regional competition

of the UK Senior Mathematics Team Challenge. This means they were judged to be the best

school mathematicians in the south west of England. They beat Torquay Boys Grammar

School which is the most competitive government school in this area.

The next step is that these students go to London for the national final in February 2012.

Many other students within our school attended practice sessions for this competition but

the four students in the photograph were selected as our Mathematics Team.

Their Mathematics teacher, Hazel Linacre, has worked hard to prepare the students,

yesterday she took them to Plymouth where they won the prize of regional winners. Many

congratulations to these students Michael Gunadi, Xin Tong, Yongxin Gao and Jing Cheng

Huang, they have had a great result!

Photography: Hazel

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If you would like to contribute to ImpAct, please contact

a member of the team.