Impact Magazine Issue 4 October 2010

ImpAct - November 2010

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Mariska Dahm

IB Student

EDITOR

�

Sergey Erentsenov

IB Student Journalist

Quizzes & Puzzles

Elfleise Ngan A Level Student

Journalist

Wing Yee Cheung

IAP Student Journalist

Adrian

IT Teacher Editorial Support

& Design

�

Thi Hong Hanh Nguyen


Thi Thu Thuy Nguyen A Level Student

Journalist

Wan Jui Cheng


Nien Yun Hsu IAP Student

Journalist

ImpAct�

Team �

Hong Ngoc Nguyen


Ronny Tang A Level Student

Journalist

Andrea Zanaria


Joao Lee


Hi, welcome to our first issue of

IMPACT for Academic Year 2010 -

2011, 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.

The IB group are currently focusing

their attention on CAS activities and

one of their main projects is

recycling. Please help us to save the

planet and use the recycling areas

set up around the college.


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In This Issue

EFIA Sports Day Page 04

Devotion At A Birthday Party Page 07

Eden Project Page 10

University Choices Page 13

Our Blog Page 21

Despicable Me Film Review Page 24

Home Sweet Home Page 26

CAS Recycling Project Page 28

Field Trip To Bristol Page 30

Puzzles Page 32


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EFIA EFIA EFIA EFIA

Sports Sports Sports Sports

DayDayDayDay Hong Ngoc Nguyen

Every year, at the beginning of the Autumn term,

an event is held to encourage the sporting spirit of

the whole college: EFIA Sports Day. Afternoon lessons are closed and all of the students and

teachers gather at a local sports field to participate in a ‘House’ competition between Dorset,

Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.

This year, Dorset beat all of their rivals to take home the winners’ cup and be crowned House

Champions. But I have to mention that the 2010 event was significant as it was completely

organized by the International Baccalaureate (IB) students and this mighty force also proved to

be beneficial for Dorset as they belonged to this house. Daria and her team did a great job

Photography: Claire


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throughout the organization, especially during the actual competition.

Some of the IB students explained the rules for each event and

ensured each round was played fairly and penalized any breaking of

rules. Others made sure that there was the correct sports equipment

and Semyon recorded the competition on video. Daria encouraged the

students’ spirits by her participation and really promoted excellent

team working skills.

Cornwall, Devon and Somerset tried so hard to defeat Dorset and were

almost successful! They atmosphere for the whole event was tense as

all teams had the same chances of winning and the competition

started very equally.

The final event was the tug of war. Firstly, 2 teams fought against each

other and the winners went to the next round. Once a winner of the

whole tug of war event had been declared, it was time for them to

take on the teacher’s team and be crowned tug of war champion. At

the start, the teacher’s team took advantage of a quick start and the

student team was surprised by the sudden acceleration of the rope,

but with the help of Semyon, who was recording with one hand, the student team began to pull

the rope back and it was suddenly all over. The students were the tug of war champions.

Although Dorset were the final champions, all the teams were winners. This is why the event

was so interesting and unpredictable. Many thanks to the IB students who organized this event

and maybe next year, the cup could belong to Cornwall, Somerset or Devon.

Will Dorset be able to retain the cup for another year, we will see in 2011.

Photography: Claire


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International Day 2010International Day 2010International Day 2010International Day 2010

December 2nd

2010 will be

International day again and this

year we want it to be even

better than last year.

To make international day a success we need

you to think of some way you can represent your

countries culture, or show how your talents to

the college. We want music, dance, poetry,

exhibitions of art or photography or anything you

can think of to make this day a celebration of the

wonderful diverse nature of our world and our

college.

The day will begin with different events around

college and end in the Baptist hall near the town

hall where we will have music and

presentations.

Please Please help us make this day a

celebration of all the wonderful things this

college does in bringing different cultures

together. This is also your chance to show your

talents or become involved with new things.

If you are interested the event is being

organized by the 1ST year IB student with help

from Chris Nicholls, Debbie, Bryan and Wynn.

If you would like to get involved or

if you are interested in being

involved in some way please come

and see any of the first year IB

students or Chris.

Photography: International Day 2009


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DEVOTION AT A BIRTHDAY PARTYDEVOTION AT A BIRTHDAY PARTYDEVOTION AT A BIRTHDAY PARTYDEVOTION AT A BIRTHDAY PARTY

Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy

Devotion and respect has been a crucial lesson for every child since they are at school;

especially, in my country Vietnam, we study patriotism through war literature and history by

understanding the willingness of Vietnamese soldiers in the past to fight for their country’s

independence. However, nowadays, most of the youth are asking themselves a question: “How

can we show our patriotism or devotion to our countrymen or women when there is no war to

voluntarily attend without hesitance?” This article will show you the answer to this question in

which we care for each other as we share the same nationalities when we are away from our

country, an aspect of united solidarity.

At EF International Academy Torquay, we spend our time living in a different country,

experiencing a culture different from what we have been raised up in. Lots of things here

confuse us, make us feel that “There is something deeply missing”. Moreover, can you imagine

that you will celebrate your “Sweet Sixteenth Birthday” alone without your family and friends in

a completely strange country? Your only sweet sixteen seems to be not sweet at all. The more

you think about it and the closer your birthday comes sadness soon falls upon you. That is what I

had been going through before my birthday. In fact, I never showed people around me that I

was totally not willing to celebrate my birthday since there is no mother or father or little sister

here to say : “ Happy Birthday, darling”, there is no friend here to say: “ Hey dude, best wishes

Photography: Christina


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for you ! Happy sweet sixteen!” In addition to this there are none of my lovely teachers here to

say: “Great jobs last year, Try your best this year!! Sixteen is your greatest year”.

However, things never seem to be exactly what you had thought. On the contrary to all of my

thoughts, my sweet sixteenth birthday in fact proved to be my sweetest birthday ever. Saturday

for me was the most memorable night that I will never forget for the whole of my life. To begin

the story, before Saturday, when my Vietnamese friends suggested having a Vietnamese dinner

all I had in mind is “Great, I’m going to eat what my mom used to cook for me when I were in

Vietnam”. Therefore, we spent time together Saturday afternoon going shopping, buying all the

stuff in order to have a Vietnamese dinner that evening.

Everything started to feel better, spending time with my Vietnamese friends shopping fior

Vietnamese food, cooking together, telling jokes really got me over all the stress I had had the

previous week. Not only did we share jokes, but also we shared arguments. Little fights about

thoughts because our different views turned out to be the bond connecting Vietnamese people,

since we understood each other better. Then, dinner was ready, with only four simple dishes;

but we were so proud of what we had done. Thanks to the cooking talent of ‘sis’ Jenny, Victoria,

and ‘bro’ Nicky, the dinner looked so amazing and tasted much better than we had expected.

Each of us took part to create a wonderful dinner; how amazing to see Vietnamese boys trying

to wash dishes which seems to be not something they are really good at. That was just a part of

the wonderful surprise for me that night. Victoria and Akito had prepared for me some

wonderful cards and then, I realized that dinner was not just simply a Vietnamese dinner; it was

a birthday party for me, the thing I did not expect to celebrate before. Furthermore, I realized

that my family were there with me, all Vietnamese friends, twelve of them are my big family

here. All of sudden, I recognized that in the UK, I am not alone, all of my friends are here with

me, Victoria, Akito, Thu, Giang along with all of my big sisters and brothers, Jenny, Jolie, Tim,

Lam, Nicky, John, Khang. The atmosphere of this Vietnamese birthday party with all the love of

my Vietnamese country folk really helped

to turn sadness in to happiness. A

birthday party with “Happy birthday song”

along with the warmth of Vietnamese

friends really meant a lot to me here in

another country trying to chase for a

dream without knowing it will come true

or not.

My birthday party was not only a party to

celebrate sixteen, to me it was also a


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boost for my courage to believe in myself, and to believe that besides me, there will be

someone caring for me.

Reading through this article, you will maybe come across a question: “How is patriotism or

devotion shown in this story or is it just a nonsense personal story?” Take a minute to think

about yourself, have you ever been lonely somewhere far away from your country and then

your friends from your country comfort you? Personally, I find that all of my Vietnamese friends

really gave me courage to live and to study and continue to chase my dreams since I know they

care for me. Patriotism is not only shown in some huge things like attending wars to fight for

your country, it can be easily seen as a willingness to care for your country people, particularly

when they need help. In a strange country when everything is different, the most appreciated

thing is we are from same country; we have to take care of each other to become better, to be

proud of the fact that we are Vietnamese.

Thanks Victoria, Akito, Thu, Jenny, Jolie, Nicky, Lam, Tim, Khang, John, Giang for giving me an

inspiration to write this article.

Photography: Christina


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“Most people may have heard about giant

green houses, thousands of plants, world

famous architecture and art, but there is

even more to Eden than all of that...” I think.

That day was a very exhausting day. I

needed to get up early that morning, get

dressed and rush down the stairs quickly and

run to the library rapidly in order to be on

time.

When I arrived at the library, I was surprised

to see there were groups of students

hanging around. I was standing waiting for

the coach and freezing, but finally I saw my

“rescuer”. Thank you coach, you have saved

my life!” I said before I stepped on it.

Getting on the coach, which was warm and

nice protected from the freezing air and

frost

frost. I found a seat and sat down gradually,

figuring out what to do next. “At this

moment, sleeping and listening to music

must be the greatest choice for me.” I

thought.

Besides sleeping and listening to music, I

managed to take some photos taking when I

woke up occasionally on the coach

throughout the 2 hour journey. However, I

felt a little travel sick as I swayed along with

the curve of the roads. I could see other

people felt the same. In conclusion: “a

horrible ride” for me.

After 2 hours we eventually arrived at our

destination, Eden. What I could see at that

moment was just green, green and more

Cornwall’s Eden Project Ronny Tang Photography: Alia Aldebs


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green plants, plants and plants, which was

quite disappointing for me. If you asked me

what I thought at that moment, I don’t think

I could have replied.

However, we then followed the tutors and

walked along a narrow path to start our

adventures. I could see a lot more, flowers

and plants with gorgeous colours than a

minute before, like: red on rose, yellow on

orchid, light purple on lilac… which made me

feel much more excited and interested in

this place.

We strolled along the paths and finally

arrived in front of the entrance, which was a

very, very, very special entrance. At the top

left of the entrance, all kinds of flora were

planted along the wall, moving softly with

the wind. Twisted to the opposite side, was

a ginormous wooden horse sculpture with

lots of people taking photos. I thought the

sculpture was exquisite, but too big to

appreciate. We then crossed through the gift

shop behind the horse sculpture and

entered a fabulous and extensive garden. In

my own point of view, I think there was

thousands types of plants in the garden and

you must be able to find your own favorite

color, your favorite type, but the most

spectacular object in the garden was the

biome.

The shape of the biome seemed like a half-

side egg shell, but there were honeycomb

shapes (hexagons) patterned on it. It

sounds complicated? Actually, you can say

it likes a semi-honeycomb.

Looking at the outside of the biome, I was

impressed by the power of architecture. I

really wanted to get in as fast as possible

and I spent nearly an hour taking photos of

outside of the biome, and around the

garden.

After taking lots of photos I decided to go in

to the “honeycomb”, but I had not

imagined that the biome was divided in to

“Rainforest Biome” “Mediterranean Biome.

This was a surprise.

Photography: Ronny Tang


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Ultimately, I chose getting to the Rainforest

Biome first. Actually, there were a few

steamy, humid tropical regions captured

from some famous tropical islands in the

world, such as: South East Asia, West Africa

and tropical South America. Trekking

through the Rainforest Biome, I could see

the massive forests, luscious tropical plants,

a huge crashing waterfall, homesteads, birds

and insects. In addition, there were a wide

array of smallholdings, plantations and

exhibits growing sugar cane, bananas, coffee

and shows presenting how we were locally

connected to these far off places.

Afterwards, I went to the opposite door,

which was the Mediterranean Biome. As I

explored the biome it seemed to be like

taking me on a relaxed camper-van road trip

of a tour through the Mediterranean-type

climates (also known as warm temperate

regions) of the world. That colorful, sensory

journey began in the Mediterranean Basin,

taking me across the equator to South Africa

and on to experience the grandeur of the

Californian landscape. It had native plants

thriving on drought and poor thin soils.

Some had small, grey and hairy leaves, some

made protective oils and some were spiny,

evergreen or waxy. In summary it was a

place with the most unique collection of

plants from Mediterranean, South Africa and

California.

On the way to the cafeteria, I was thinking

about “What is life?” Life should be happy,

should be meaningful and should not be

rushed. Spending a day in there had given

me a rest,

me a rest, letting me knew what slowness

was and what it felt like. It was a not a

painful torture anymore since I had seen

the plants, the animals around and the

attitude of people there. Like what I said

before, I felt bored and silly on the way

there, but those feelings disappeared

miraculously as soon as I entered the Eden

environment and atmosphere.

If somebody asks me “What is biome?” I

can now answer him “A biome is a

climatically and geographically defined area

of ecologically similar communities of

plants, animals, and soil organisms, often

referred to as ecosystems.”

If somebody asks me “Is it worth visiting?” I

can tell him “It was an unforgettable

experience for me to be in a breath-taking

location, a place of beauty and wonder. So

in my own opinion “yes, it is worthwhile

visiting this place.”

Photography: Ronny Tang


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University Choices Elfleise Ngan

Higher Education marks the peak of our life, but choosing the one which suits you is not a piece

of cake - there are more than a hundred universities all over the country. This article is a guide

for the first year students who will deal with their application during this time next year, and

also the second year students who have not sent off their application. (Some advice for first year

students: Try to do more research and learn more about the university application in your first

year. The very last thing you want to do is to rush everything in your second year; it is not

something you can do without prior thought.)

Please note that this article is for guidance only and some of the information changes every

year, such as cost, IELTS requirements and the application process. You must research the

requirements for University entrance and liaise with your UCAS tutors to ensure correct

information.

League Table

You can find a lot of different league tables on the Internet, e.g. the Times and the Guardian.

They might show different rankings for the same university. Take Law in 2010 as an example. I

remembered I checked the University of Warwick ranked 6th on the Guardian, but 22nd on the

Times. Therefore, you would always need to keep a good balance among reputation, position on

various league tables, the competitiveness of the subject itself to give yourself a more objective

and general picture. We tend to use the Times more among all of them, but you must bear in

mind that they are just a reference after all.

Source: www. ucas.ac.uk

Source: www. ox.ac.uk


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Are the AS grades important?

Assuming that you have made up your mind about the subject you intend to study and that you

have checked the league table and found a prospective university, you now want to know their

entry requirements (apart from how the university looks like, the social life there, etc.). They will

normally tell you their typical offer (for example, LSE ask for ‘AAB’ for their BSc Management

course for entry 2011). It varies from course to course, and from university to university. As all

should know, you can re-sit exams and you will send off your UCAS application before you finish

the whole course. Therefore, what the universities receive with your application is what are

called ‘predicted grades’, which your subject teachers will give you (second year students should

have known them already). However, these predicted grades are strongly based on your overall

performance in your AS year. Thus, both of your AS and A2 year are essential and you should

never try to achieve poor AS grades.

Source: www. guardian.co.uk


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Combination of A-level subjects

Some universities are concerned with your

combination of A-level subjects. Some of

them even state on the website and

prospectus that they have a list of

preferable and non-preferable subjects, for

example LSE and Cambridge. For example,

most of the courses at LSE are social science

subjects, therefore they ask you to have a

BROAD RANGE of subjects, from arts to

(social) science. It also differs amongst

subjects. For medic applicants, most

medicine schools require you to have taken

AL Biology and Chemistry. However, for

economics applicants nearly all the schools

say that they do not ask for AL Economics.

One final note worth being mentioned is

that AL Maths and AL Further Maths can be

counted as one or two distinct subjects. Warwick is a typical example. For most of their courses,

they count AL Maths and AL Further Maths as one subject unless you are doing 4 A-levels or you

are applying for a Maths degree, in which case they welcome AL Further Maths as a second A-

level subject. Therefore, again, you need to check. If you are taking Further Maths, you should

continue with 4 subjects in the second year.

IELTS

I am really sorry to tell you the cruel fact that IELTS theoretically makes up half of your result,

and universities (especially the top ones) are putting their bars higher nearly every year. What

you normally hear from the teachers is very true that quite a number of universities carry some

flexibility on your grades, but it never happens for your IELTS. You will have to check it yourself.

Different universities ask for different levels for different courses. Examples are as follow:

1) Psychology at Warwick: Overall grade of 6.5

2) Law at Warwick: Overall grade of 7.0

3) Law at UCL: Overall grade of 7.5 with a minimum of 6.5 in each of the subtests

You may be slightly relieved to know that when you fill in your UCAS application, you can choose

not to write your IELTS score. However, at the end of the application you will still need to be

able to prove that you have the required grade.

Source: www. guardian.co.uk Novastock_Rex Features



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Admission Tests

Some particular subjects require you to

take (an) admission test(s). You will have to

check it yourself whether your prospective

universities ask for the test result and

whether they have a required result for the

test. If you have not taken the test before

the deadline, you will probably be rejected.

For example, law applicants may need to

take the LNAT while medicine applicants

may need to take the UKCAT or BMAT (for details see more on the UCAS website). However,

universities may require medic applicants to achieve a certain level in the UKCAT (I have heard

of 600 points at least) while universities simply require law applicants to take the LNAT and they

will just use the result as a reference. Also, the date for the test is important as well. I know that

UKCAT can be done during the Summer in your first year. However, some tests like the LNAT can

only be done in the beginning of your second year.

5 ‘life’ choices

In your UCAS application, the maximum number of choices you can make is 5. There are some

restrictions among these: 1) you can only choose either the University of Oxford or the

University of Cambridge; 2) medic applicants can only choose up to 4 options in any one of

medicine/dentistry/veterinary medicine/veterinary science. You can choose different courses

among your five ‘life’ options, however you could put yourself in serious trouble (see next

section).

Personal Statement

I will not get into the personal statement too deeply, otherwise I would be explaining it to you

all day long for this single thing. Apart from your academic data, the universities you have

chosen will also receive your personal statement in which you basically ‘sell’ yourself to them

and make them think that it is worth giving you an offer and teaching you. How to write a good

personal statement will be the question you should ask your UCAS tutor. However, as discussed

above, if you choose different courses for your 5 choices, you may need to include a lot of

different aspects in your personal statement, which will no longer be concise. Please bear in

mind that you will have 4000 characters (with spaces) and 47 lines as the limits. It is not as easy

as you can imagine now. Different universities will say what they expect from a personal

statement of their applicants; however you would probably be choosing 5 institutions. Thus,

keep a balance!



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Region, Facilities and Environment

You can find universities all over the

country. What comes to mind as a

first concern must be reputation,

but I have to say the location and

how the universities are like are

equally (or slightly less than that)

important. You may finally end up

going to a university and you find it

unpleasant to stay there for your

next three years. Debbie always says that (more than a thousand times I reckon), but it is not

wrong. You need to seriously consider yourself (e.g. personality, body, etc.). For example, if you

are more of a studious person, you would probably like to study in a school with a strong

academic atmosphere, such as LSE. If you do not want somewhere which is usually very cold,

you may need to avoid schools like Edinburgh which is in the North. In addition, city and campus

schools can make a difference. Someone would simply strike off LSE from their list because they

think that LSE is located in the city and it is not big and nice at all. Hence, people normally

suggest you to go to pay a visit to some universities (especially when you are in your first year).

Facilities may also be important to you, if you are sporty. To give you some ideas about the best

sporting facilities at university, I will list out the top three in 2010: Loughborough, Bath and

Birmingham. Yet, you would perhaps like to consider about the area there. I have heard from

some people that cities like Birmingham and Manchester are not the places you would want to

stay. It really does come down to your feeling of a place. Some teachers agree that Birmingham

and Nottingham are good, both from an academic point of view and also the environment,

including student life. It is very important for you to visit the university and the city, research

them on the internet or discuss with other students.

Tuition Fees

These vary across the different courses and schools. For example, as medic students, you will

have to pay £26,250 - £39,150 a year at Imperial College London – depending on whether you

are studying at a preclinical or clinical year, while at King’s College London £15,850 - £29,400.

And for maths students, you will have to pay £19,800 a year at Imperial, but 12,500 at King’s and

£13,680 at LSE. Therefore, you will have to check it yourself whether your family’s financial

conditions allow. A little note would be that it seems that tuition fees for international students

are going up every year, as the UK government has not put a cap on the limit of tuition fees for

international students.

Source: www. guardian.co.uk Adrian Sherratt


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Accommodation

Accommodation is an

important part of your

university life. You will need

to know what kind of rooms

are available and whether you

will like it or not. Of course,

different sizes and types of

rooms have different prices –

you usually pay the rent

weekly. I have heard that the

hall of residence at Bath is excellent, like a hotel room. At the same time, one of my friends

studied at Swansea and is now studying in Sussex. He described the halls of residence at

Swansea were more like a student village which is close to the main campus – some halls are

inside the campus. Relationships among students are very close and students always hang out

together and have big celebrations during festive times in the student village. There is also a car

park for students at Swansea. On the other hand, the halls of residence at Sussex are more

modern and he said that the rooms are slightly bigger. However, he commented that the

students usually work on their own, rather than hang around together. Furthermore, he told me

that the academic atmosphere at Sussex is stronger inside the hall. In addition to this you also

need to find out whether they provide you accommodation for only the first year only.

Otherwise, you might need to consider the cost of living in that area.

Academic or Vocational?

Courses can basically be classified into academic ones and vocational ones. For instance,

Tourism (in which Plymouth is quite good) is more of a vocational subject which leads you to a

more practical approach. However, you need to be careful of subjects like Law. People can easily

link law with lawyer, be it solicitor or barrister. However, Law at universities like Oxbridge and

LSE is in fact more academic. A vocational course (LPC or BVC) would be pursued after your

undergraduate degree. Therefore, you need to check the career path of the particular discipline

of your course.


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Oxbridge?

Oxbridge (a short form for Oxford and Cambridge) can be such a minefield. Applying to Oxbridge

is never easy. They have very stringent requirements to applicants, no matter which subject you

are applying for, but you may end up going into a prestigious school in return. Some students

may not know how they rank. Let me give you some idea. In 2011, the Times claims that Oxford

ranks the first and is followed by Cambridge. On the QS World University Rankings 2010,

Cambridge ranked the first over the world and Oxford ranked the sixth.

Application

Assuming that you have made a big decision to apply to either Oxford or Cambridge, you need

to bear in mind that they have an early deadline which is 15th October of your second year. You

will need to get everything done and sent off your UCAS application by this date, your

application will otherwise be ignored. Apart from the choice between Oxford and Cambridge

and also the course, you will have to choose a college. Both of the schools operate under a

college system, where you will apply to a college, but not the university itself. However, you can

choose what they call an ‘Open Application’, with which your application is sent to the central

system and you will be allocated into a college randomly. You might have heard someone saying

that choosing ‘Open Application’ may increase your chance. However, it says on their website

that your chance with the others are equal, or someone has even said that you might have a

lower chance as you could not show enough enthusiasm in applying to the particular college.

Admissions Process

The admissions system is not the same as most of the other institutions. For example do not

require a further form to be filled in, but you will have to check whether you have completed

some required tests by the end of October – it is the same for Cambridge. As soon as they have

received all the applications, they will complete a first selection based upon the information on

the application. Then they will invite the remaining applicants to have an interview which is

normally conducted in early December. Their interviews are quite different. It normally takes

from 2 to 5 days, so they will provide you with accommodation. After the interviews, they will

normally send you their decision before Christmas. The process in Cambridge is similar, but

slight different. After you have sent off your UCAS application, they will automatically send you a

Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ) for you to fill in, things like additional personal

statement, AS modular scores will be included in the SAQ. You normally have the deadline for it

– 22nd October which is just few days after the deadline for sending off the UCAS application.

Therefore, the earlier you send it off, the more days you can have to think about how to fill in

Source: www. ucas.ac.uk


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the SAQ. Cambridge usually invite at least 90% of all the applicants to an interview in early

December. They will send you a notification in mid-November regarding the interviews and

details. Their interviews are normally conducted in 1 or 2 days, so they may provide you

accommodation for one night if you can provide sufficient evidence that you need one. After the

interviews, they will normally send you their decision after Christmas.

The pooling system

The pooling systems at Oxford and Cambridge are different. If you get ‘pooled’, it means that

they have made a good impression, but they do not have enough places for you, so they send

your application to another college and let them consider your application. At Oxford, there will

be a pooling list which is put up on the noticeboard if you are being pooled during your visit to

Oxford for the interviews. Therefore, if you are immediately pooled by the College, you will

know from the notice where and when you are going to have your next interview(s). Therefore,

you will have all your interviews in one single trip. The system at Cambridge is different. After

your 1/2-day interview, you can get a conditional offer, a rejection or be pooled. If you are being

pooled, Cambridge might invite you for another interview(s) in early January, or you will know

your second decision without further interviews.

Courses

One last little thing, you can find some courses available at Cambridge, but not Oxford, or vice

versa. It can also be that some courses are available in both schools, like Law and Classics. For

example, you can do PPE (i.e. Philosophy, Politics and Economics) at Oxford, but not Cambridge,

while you can do Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge, but not Oxford.

This is just a short guide about a very important part of our life, therefore there is much more

for you to learn about during your time here and also this is a taste of the importance of getting

things done on time i.e. your UCAS application. I do hope it helps and good luck to everyone!

Please note that this article is for guidance only and some of the information changes every

year, such as cost, IELTS requirements and the application process. You must research the

requirements for University entrance and liaise with your UCAS tutors to ensure correct

information.


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My name is Rae I am studying in IAP now. I

come from Hong Kong and I am in Torquay

now because I felt lost when I was studying

in Hong Kong.

I didn’t know my dream in Hong Kong and I

also didn’t know which direction for my life,

that is why I’m happy to be here as it helps

me focus on now and my future.

I like listening to music in my free time,

especially pop and romantic music as this

helps me to relax and enjoy my peace and

quiet times.

Hi, we are Wendy and Rae from the

International Academy Preparation course.

My name is Wendy. My Chinese name is Wan

Jul Cheng and I am from Taiwan. I am studying

here in Torquay because I want to study

English, make more friends, enjoy my life and

experience living in different culture.

I love bowling, at first, I couldn’t do this very

well, but I am getting better and I love it!

What I like about Torquay is that it is a

beautiful place to walk around safely. At night

the sky is full of stars and a bright moon, very

romantic at night near the sea.

Our Blog Wan Jui Cheng (Wendy) & Wing Yee Cheung (Rae)


- 22 -

Sports Afternoon (Wendy & Rae) Wow! On Wednesday afternoons we have a

sports afternoon with the preparation course.

This was the first time we had PE lessons in EF.

We felt very excited about that. There were

different kinds of sporting activities

badminton, table tennis, basketball and

soccer. Playing sports together is really fun!!

But one of the most important things I learnt

in this time was to remember to wear

comfortable shoes and trousers when you

practice sport. Trust me if you don't wear

comfortable trousers you will regret it because

I was wore jeans and I felt very uncomfortable

and every time I ran they started to fall down

so I couldn't enjoy it completely.

At first we tried basketball, but some people

didn’t know how to play it so Rebecca taught

us that one person should defend and some

people attack, after this we got better and

better. Then we went to play table tennis. I

played with Candy, but she didn’t know how to

play, so Rebecca told her ’’Look at the ball!! .’’

and we took turns. Andrea played table tennis

with me; I thought he was better than me so

this was a challenge for myself. I played faster

and faster. It was quite fun.

The most amazing thing was we didn’t have all

the equipment to play baseball properly, but

some guys stared to play baseball with

whatever they could find and we created a

unique way of playing, eventually this proved

to be popular and we all played together, but

the boys beat us!!

It was really great to see both Adrian and

Rebecca join in with us because our teachers

in Hong Kong teacher always stand back and

watch us. This is the big difference here and

we felt very happy about that. At the end of

the afternoon, although everybody felt kind of

tired, we had enjoyed the sports time because

this helped us to become close to each other.

We really like it and looking forward to next

time.

Photography: Rae


- 23 -

MY WEEKEND (Wendy)

In the afternoon, I went to the beach in

Torquay with my friends. The blue sky and

beautiful sea are very beautiful. We took

pictures there and at the beach there are

many lovers, they kiss each other. Seeing

lovers with sunshine is so romantic; it warms

my heart.

After the beach friends and I went to a great

restaurant. I had a glass of wine. We chatted

about school and who has a girlfriend. We also

played an exciting game.

I held my friends hand and we sang songs

together. At the end of the day, we watched

‘The Hole’ which was a horrible movie.

Hoping for some answers about the house’s

past, Dane and Lucas bring Julie in on their

new discovery. When the hole is exposed, evil

comes out. With horror shadows around every

corner and past nightmares coming to life, the

three people will have to come face to face

their darkest fears to put an end to THE HOLE.

This story is not only a horror film but also it

shows me the darkest parts of the characters’

hearts. In this world most of the people have

something we usually don’t want to face. The

hole reminds me of the things I don’t want to

face ‘The people who love me will leave me

someday.’ What’s on your mind is all the

things you fear. If you want to calm down and

listen to your heart then go to see the hole!

This weekend, I made some new friends and

we are getting to know more about each

other. What a lovely weekend I had and I am

looking forward to more!

Source: www.collider.com

Photography: Wendy

Photography: Wendy


- 24 -

After watching Shrek and Toy Story and you still want to see some cheesy 3D animation then

Universal Picture presents Despicable Me, with a cast of some well-known actors Steve Carell

(The Office, The 40Year Old Virgin), Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music, Shrek 2) and directed by

Chris Renaud (Ice Age 3: Dawn of Dinosaur).

In this movie it is not the hero who we are looking forward to watching, instead the villains

steals the show. In fact Gru the protagonist himself was considered to be the greatest villains for

all time; he has stolen all kinds of things and stores them in

his underground base which is populated by a special

creature call “minion”, which are a massive community of

adorable potato shaped beings which dress up like

plumbers (Well sort of). They can do all kinds of things as

Gru commands from building a rocket to buying kids their

unicorn toy. These Minions have a strong connection to

Gru and treat him as their idol and these little buddies

almost steal the whole show.

Storyline: In a peaceful neighbourhood, surrounded by

pleasant scenery, is a serious looking big mansion where

the #1 villain in the world, Gru, lives. Gru commits all kinds

of sinister crimes; for example making an inflatable balloon

Despicable Me Review Joao Lee

Source: www.imdb.com / www.filmofilia.com


- 25 -

puppy to comfort a crying kid, and then pop it with a needle to shock him. Yes, he sure is a bad

boy. Even though he is a “professional” villain there are still things getting on his nerves like his

rival who is constantly completing for the throne of ranked #1 villain. While he’s working on his

plot he meets three little troubled orphans Margo, Edith, and Agnes and this encounter soon

changes his life.

A great film, full of adult humour, social observations and extremely well created animation. A

must see for the weekend to relax and unwind.

Source: www.imdb.com / www.filmofilia.com


- 26 -

Home Sweet Home Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh

For me everything is new, a fifteen girl on the IB course and my first time in the UK, as days go

by I try to get used to life here by studying, enjoying the culture and making daily routines.

Thankfully the teachers are very nice to me and they look after me carefully. They are my mom

and my dad, but I am still homesick. A part from the kind teachers here, I have made new

friends especially the Vietnamese. They are Jenny, Jolie, Nicky, Tim, John and Lam from the

second year, Khang and Christina are A level first years, Akito is on the same course as me and

Janny from the Preparation course. I have no relatives here so they are the most important

people to me now.

On Wednesday 22nd September we celebrated our Mid-Autumn Festival near the harbour and

that was the best day we have had so far. We had a lot of fun and I felt that this beautiful

country is becoming my home where I can find happiness, friends and teachers to take on the

role of my close relatives. We planned this party a week ago. Christina, Janny, Akito and I were

very interested in this party because It is our first year in EF, living in a foreign country, we are

far from our families and we really miss them and our country. Our traditional festival is an

important time of the year and you can image how happy I was when I could celebrate this

special day in the UK-thousand miles away from Vietnam. The most important thing was I could

celebrate it with my friends.

Photography: Victoria


- 27 -

Nicky brought some traditional moon cakes to the UK. There were 11 of us with only two moon

cakes to share, even though there was not enough for 11 people we had fun anyway and shared

the best we could. This was the first time I had eaten a piece of moon cake, back home I never

eat this cake at Mid-Autumn festival, in fact I hate it. I really don’t know why I could eat that

cake here, maybe a sign of new life?

We decided to buy a flying lantern but unfortunately none of us were 18 so we weren’t allowed

to buy one from the local shops. However, we saw other people lighting some of the flying

lanterns and the sky, with a round moon, tiny twinkling stars, and flying lanterns helped us to

feel like we were in Vietnam Everything was just the same especially the atmosphere when my

friends were around me. We sang some traditional songs, we told some funny tale, made some

wishes especially Jenny with her dream to be a graduate at LSE. Tim’s voice and his sense of

humour lifted the atmosphere; Tim, Lam, Nicky and John mean many things to us as we consider

them as our older brothers. They know how to make us laugh and feel relaxed and do many

things to ease our homesickness. Thanks to Nicky for bringing his great camera so we could

have wonderful pictures of the evening and also his lovely moon cakes!

We sat on the edge near Living Coasts and enjoyed the freshness of the sea air. The ocean gave

us a big hug like a sweet hug from my mom. We listened to the sounds from the waves and we

felt like the ocean was singing to celebrate our day too. Nature seemed to join us.

After 2 hours at the harbor we totally enjoyed our party, it wasn’t like a party at all but it was so

memorable because we had our festival here in the UK. The sea, beaches, air and people here

are so strange at first but now this is like our second home. Even though the temperature was

about 7 degrees but we did not feel at all cold because our hearts had been warmed by our

friendship and love for each other.

Many people will walk in and out your life but only true friends leave footprints in your heart.

Thanks a lot for joining us on this fabulous and memorable day.

Photography: Victoria


- 28 -

CAS Recycling ProjectCAS Recycling ProjectCAS Recycling ProjectCAS Recycling Project Mariska

Did you know that in 2009 30.5 million tons of waste were

produced by households in the UK? Not only this, furthermore

only 17% of these have been collected! This means 83% has basically

been left somewhere to rot.

Growing up in a country where recycling is something common, these numbers are quite

shocking. This was also Celine’s first impression when she came from Norway to Torquay last

year: “I was shocked to learn that private households don’t recycle, and seeing all the things that

could have been reused made me sad to know it was all wasted.” From that point on, an idea

grew in her mind which is now going to be realized: The Recycling Project.

The idea behind it is to change something by starting in our closest surroundings – the school.

The Recycling Project is set up to make our school more environmentally friendly and contribute

to the society by recycling paper and soda cans.

Celine was brought up in Norway where the recycling of plastic, paper, food waste, aluminium

and glass and tin bottles was a part of her daily life. Therefore throwing everything together

made her feel guilty which is one of the reasons for organising the project. She also looks at the

problem from a wider perspective: “Living in a world with scarce resources and an increasing

rate of population, we need to take care of our planet. Besides, if we’re honest, no one really

likes to live in messy, dirty and smelly places. So why should we do this to our planet?” A lot of

other students had the same thoughts before but none of them really started doing something

about the problem. Now that this is becoming a reality she is getting help from 2nd year IB

students including Kuba, Janet and Dina.

So what are they actually planning to do now? “We will set up clearly labelled bins in each

classroom. Also, we will go around, collect the waste and make sure it goes to the recycling

centres. Additionally we will advertise recycling to make people aware of it. If it goes well then,

we might even be able to expand the project further!”

There is an urgent need that all of us contribute to their project in order to make it successful.

Being successful would not only mean to go to classes in a clean, environmentally friendly, nice

place every day, even more we would be supporting a global change and reduce pollution. “70%

less energy is required to recycle paper compared to making it from raw materials. In addition,


- 29 -

14 million less dustbins would be required when all cans in the UK were recycled!”, explains

Celine.

Looking at these numbers it seems to be a necessity to encourage a change. What should we do

exactly? Celine knows: “You should recycle all paper in the separated paper bins which will be

provided to all classrooms. There is also going to be a separate bin made of aluminium for soda

cans in the common room.” Seeing how easily we thus can achieve a change, we should all

reconsider and contribute to this project.

Ultimately, Celine has only one wish regarding the future and further developments: “I hope

people will be more aware of what they throw away and what it does to the environment.”

Let me ask you a final question now: Do you care, too?

Image Sources:

http://www.kellysdistributors.net.au

http://www.joelapompe.net


- 30 -

Preparation Field Trip To Bristol Nien Yun Hsu

On Wednesday we went to a historic city

called Bristol. It was the first time we had

been on a trip together. Though it was

raining the whole morning, we all have a

great day.

First of all we visited a superb bridge with a

murmuring river far below. The bridge was

so beautiful and everyone took taking

pictures. After the bridge we went to visit

the ship, the SS Great Britain and we found

out what life had been like on this first class

and ship many years ago. On the way

Andrew taught us many words about the

ship and Rae and I really enjoyed walking

around the museum and the ship, but we

were scared by the models that are both

unusual and life-like. Every time we saw a

person we could not be sure if it were a

a model or a real person. One time, Rae saw

a man and screamed, because she thought

he was a moving model.

Lunch time!! Rebecca took us to a

restaurant called Pizza Express. I have been

there once. The Last time I ate a pizza called

LA REINE which was really delicious, but. I

decided to try a different one this time. At

first, everyone could not understand the

Italian menu except Andrea who helped to

translate it.

After lunch we walked to the Georgian

House. The house was built in 1790 for John

Pinney, a wealthy slave plantation owner

and sugar merchant; it was also where the

enslaved Africa, Pero lived. It shows the life

of 18th century Bristol which looked very

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- 31 -

graceful and elegant that it took our breath

away in astonishment.

Then we visited the University of Bristol and

museum. It is a pity that there was a

meeting in the University so we were not

allowed in to visit. In our free time Andrea,

Nick and John went to play pool; some girls

went shopping. Fran, Joe and I decided to

stay at the museum with Rebecca and

Andrew. The museum has many art displays,

history and animals. We saw Rebecca’s

favorite painting, but I cannot remember the

name of it but it was a very romantic picture

with a beautiful lady sitting on a gallant

horse and her open arms were welcoming a

handsome gentleman.

The museum has everything that one

expects to find. I know Fran and Joe really

enjoyed the museum, because I saw a

satisfied smile on their faces.

On the way back to Torquay, the colour of

the sky became dark. Suddenly Michael

pointed at the starry sky and yelled out

“look! The Dipper“ and then we were all

talking about it, except for Rae and Michael

and I were too excited to say anything.

Everyone raised their head and stared the

starry sky and waited to return home to our

host families.

Photography: Sharon


- 32 -

Sudoku

7 8

2 4

6 3

5 6

9 8 2 4

5 3 9

2 8 6

6 9 7 1

4 3

Coffee�Time�Teasers�


- 33 -

Puzzle Fielding College has a fine history of sporting

achievement and a number of its major trophies are

proudly displayed in the cabinet below. Can you match

the position of each trophy (1-9) with the sport it was

awarded for and the year it was won?

Years: 1982 1984 1986 1987 1992 1994 1995 1996 1999

1. The rowing trophy was won ten years

earlier than the football trophy and both

are in opposite diagonal corners.

2. The tennis trophy is right of and

immediately next to the trophy won in

1995 which is directly above the trophy

won for athletics in 1996.

3. The rugby trophy is immediately next to

and left of the cricket trophy which is in

the opposite diagonal corner to the trophy

won ten years later.

4. The hockey trophy was won four years later than the swimming trophy and both are on the

same shelf but not immediately next to each other.

5. The gymnastics trophy (won five years earlier than the one immediately above it) is

immediately next to the trophy won two years later.

Pos Sport Date



- 34 -

Solutions

2 7 9 3 1 6 8 5 4

3 8 5 2 7 4 6 1 9

1 4 6 8 5 9 2 3 7

7 2 4 5 9 1 3 8 6

9 3 8 7 6 2 1 4 5

6 5 1 4 3 8 9 7 2

5 9 2 1 8 7 4 6 3

8 6 3 9 4 5 7 2 1

4 1 7 6 2 3 5 9 8



- 35 -

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the team.

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Impact Magazine Issue 4 October 2010

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