It’s on again tonight at school the annual BBELS Halloween party. There will be prizes for the best dressed, so get your costumes on, paint your face and get ready to have some fun.
Monthly Archives: October 2011
English Only Competition
To encourage students to speak English at school we have 6 tickets to SOLID GOLD HALLOWEEN to giveaway. It is at the Great Northern and a lot of fun as everybody is dressed up and dancing. A great place to go to after the school party has finished.
I asked the teachers and Max to nominate students that are good at speaking English Only. Funnily enough most of the students came from the lower classes.
Elementary Cooking Class
In the Elementary class we have students from Spain, Italy, Korea, Switzerland, Japan and Taiwan. What better way to learn about other countries than through their cuisine (style of cooking). The Elementary class got their hands dirty and made some fantastic dishes especially the gyoza that Debby from Taiwan made. The students all spoke English, making it a great day.
Kogaru Art Boomerang “burrung” with Scott.
On Tuesday after class, a group of students joined Scott Rotamah from Kogaru Art for a Boomerang Workshop. Scott, an Aboriginal artist from the Bunjalung community of Northern New South Wales, showed the students how to paint traditional symbols onto their own boomerang. He also explained that the word “boomerang” is English; the Aboringinal word is “burrung”.
The students learned how Aboriginal hunters used boomerangs to scare birds from crocodile swamps in Northern Queensland, making it easier and safer to hunt them.
On Wednesday, after the paint had dried, the students took their “burrungs” to the park to learn how to throw them. Most students were successful in getting them to return and Violeta from Spain was clearly the best!
Everyone had to duck for cover as her boomerang whizzed back over their heads!
BBELS RETURNEES
This week we saw the return of Thomas Schenker
.
How many times have you been to Byron Bay? Three times so far, the first was in 2009 to study the Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) course, then 2010 when I went to the outback, now 2011, I am studying in the advanced class for 1 week.
Why did you come to Byron Bay the first time? My friend’s girlfriend studied at BBELS in Frank’s Cambridge class the year before, she said “if you get Frank as a teacher you will be lucky”.
Why did you come back to Byron Bay? To visit Frank, Max the school and to surf.
What did you most enjoy about studying CAE in BBELS? Frank is a fantastic teacher; the style of his teaching is personal. You feel that he is eager to improve students’ English; his lessons are engaging and interesting. He always knows when students need to have a break and get some fresh air.
Tell me about your homestay? I stayed with Max he was my homestay father and I got to know him well, I played at the BBELS balcony 14 times for BBQs and buddy nights!
It was great because in homestay you can only speak English, you get to meet the locals and do what the locals do.
Who would you recommend BBELS to? I would recommend it to everyone, especially if you like music, surfing and outdoor sports.
Will we see you back here again? Hopefully in two years to study Cambridge Proficiency in English.
*Outback (n) = the remote and usually uninhabited inland regions of Australia.
Friday Night at BBELS
Friday night there was a special drinks and jam* night at the school. The music was great with some help from two Swiss students, a Spanish student singing some songs, lead singer Max of course, Dave on Bass and his son Lewis on drums, the family rhythm section!
150 students, ex-students and friends made up the night.
*To jam (verb) – musical collaboration/ an informal meeting of musicians.
Byron Bay English Language School 