Brandon Learning Centre: British Education - process, preparation and practicalities

Tonight is the Brandon Learning Centre Annual Charity Show. We have more than ninety students performing in both English and French. Last minute advice: Make sure that you know where the venue is so you aren't rushing. It is the Duke of Windsor Social Services Building at 15 Hennessy Road. Doors open at 6.45 pm. Wear something which is comfortable for you! Warm up your voice. Take three deep breaths. On the fourth breath, say "ah" as you exhale. Repeat for "ee" and "oh" Look over your words again. Have fun! This is a wonderful opportunity for you to speak in public in front of a crowd of admiring parents and to raise money for Helping Hand's elderly. See you at the show!

I enjoy limericks enormously; the potential for lunacy within a tightly defined format is a challenge and a delight. I was looking at a poem suitable for Thanksgiving but found the following instead. To make a tenuous link, I am thankful because it reminds me of a fabulous trip to Martha's Vineyard when I was 17, my Grandfather who had a weakness for dreadful puns and, most importantly, that I am neither Nan or her father! Without further ado... There Once was a Man from Nantucket - Anonymous There once was a man from Nantucket, Who kept all his cash in a bucket, But his daughter, named Nan, Ran away with a man, And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

The Kapuso Foundation does incredible on the ground work in the Philippines and have been highly praised by people we have met in Hong Kong who are from Leyte. They are embarking on a massive fundraising appeal in the wake of Super Hurricane Yolanda. Kapuso Foundation's Operation Bayanihan | GMANetwork.com - Foundation - Multimedia

Aston Martin Owners Club Hong Kong Centenary Celebrations - LifestyleAsia Hong Kong

The closer we get to Remembrance Day, the more I reflect on the sacrifice made by so many people to guard our freedoms. The following is a glorious poem describing the exhilaration of flying. Unmentioned is the incredible danger these young pilots placed them in. Their bravery is summed up in Churchill's epigram following the Battle of Britain: "never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" High Flight  Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth  And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;  Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth  of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things  You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung  High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,  I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung  My eager craft through footless halls of air....  Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue  I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.  Where never lark, or even eagle flew —  An

Brandon Learning Centre specialises in speech and the HKSMSA speech festival is one of the high points of our year. When preparing a poem for a speech festival, it is tempting to skip the first step which is to understanding the meaning of every word. Poets choose their words carefully and it is impossible to convey the real meaning of your verses without understanding them! For some of our students, this might mean sitting down with a dictionary and then discussing possible meanings with others. One idea is to ask your child to retell the story of the poem to you. If they can't do this, you might want to discuss the piece together. Once you have understanding, you can add expression and convey the meaning of the poet's words to your appreciative audience!  

This time of year is bittersweet as our students leave us for their new UK schools. This year, we have students going to Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Westminster, Downe House, Wycombe Abbey, Oundle, King's Canterbury, Dragon, Tonbridge, St Mary's Calne, Charterhouse, Rugby and many other schools. A few things for our students to think about: 1: New school, new start. You may not have played as big a role as you could in your previous school. Now is the time to join in. 2: Ask questions. It is by asking questions that you can extend your knowledge of a subject or clear up areas of confusion. The more you ask, the more you learn. 3: Don't be afraid to ask for help. There are multiple sources of assistance in your new schools: senior students (mentors/"big sisters") prefects, teachers, your house tutor and your house mistress/master. Don't suffer in silence. 4: Have fun, try everything (even the cabbage!) Good luck, everyone at Brandon is very proud of y

We are all safe at home as the typhoon batters Hong Kong. Instead of spending the day square-eyed in front on the television or immersed in computer games, how about creating some family memories? Ideas... Bake! Scones, biscuits, nothing too complicated. The scent of baking filling the house easily compensates for the greyness outside. Create a scrap book of family pictures, memories and in-jokes. Something to look back on or use as black-mail when boy/girl friends meet the parents. Create a family magazine for Grandparents. Write up news, add holiday pictures, recipes or plans for the new term. Play a board game (avoid Monopoly, the source of explosive arguments in houses across the nation!) Give younger children magazines and blunt scissors. Ask them to cut out animal pictures and stick them all together to make a zoo, fashion pictures to create a show or just anything that catches their eye. Create a family quiz. Everyone makes up 20 questions which can be general kno

School interviews? At any age, the idea of being grilled by a stranger can be daunting. And therein lies the problem; we need to adjust the way that we perceive interviews. An interview is a two way process. Your interviewer wants to find out more about you to see if you are suitable for their school or company. You want to present your skills in a way which is attractive and also want to find out whether the school or company is an environment in which you can thrive. Interviews are conversations: both sides need to take part! Planning ideas. Speak to friends who are currently studying at the school. They are the experts! 1: Think about what you really want to get out of the interview. Why do you want to join this school? 2: Think about what skills and talents the school is looking for 3: Think about what you have to offer 4: Ask yourself: what don't I know about this school? Some questions you will be able to research online or find answers through asking friends.

I found the most heavenly poem today. Short and poignant, it captures the physical effects of loss and the despair of loss. Nothing comes close to the inertia and despair one experiences on losing someone close. In Kenneth Rexroth's translation, this anonymous Six Dynasties poet descibes the destructive effects wrought on the body by the mind I can no longer untangle my hair. I feed on my own flesh in secret. Do you want to measure how much I long for you? Look at my belt, how loose it hands. - Anonymous From One Hunded More Poems from the Chinese Love and the Turning Year - Kenneth Rexroth

Wrong play but my favourite epilogue. The world of the Globe is a very special one; detached from reality allowing you to luxuriate in the glories of Shakespeare. Bliss. Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. William Shakespeare From The Tempest , Act 4 Scene 1 To find out more about A Midsummer Night's Dream: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/theatre/whats-on/globe-theatre/a-midsummer-nights-dream-2013?utm_source=hp&utm_medium=customBlock&utm_campaign=Midsummer_hp

Latin mass at Farm Street followed by the most glorious of London spring days reminded me of Gerard Manley Hopkin's luminous poem "Pied Beauty." The poet's sparkling reflections on the visible evidence of God's work is a reminder to glory in imperfections ending in a heartfelt cry of exultation which lingers in the mind after long reading. Heavenly. Pied Beauty Glory be to God for dappled things - For skies of couple-colour as a brindled cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings; Landscape plotted and pieced - fold, fallow, and plough; And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim. All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him.

Should you have the general good fortune to find yourself in the vicinity of the heavenly Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, dash with all speed towards the Xu Bing exhibition. If there is no possibilty of getting anywhere close, the miracle of the internet will bring art to you: http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/xu_bing Xu Bing explores the interaction between language and the objects it represents. As we know, a word has specific, personal and cultural dimensions. Xu Bing plays with adapting pictograms so they represent both the shape of and the character for natural objects. The exhibition left me questioning the ways in which language is both sufficient and unsatisfactory when we try to describe our environments. Worth more than one visit!

Your Brandon teachers will have prepared you well so don't panic! Use the following as your last minute check list: Presentation Make sure that your poster is designed to be read by an audience (large titles, clear organisation, minimal writing) If you are using cue-cards, number them and clip them together. Be careful not to read! Use your poster to guide you though your speech Poem Memorise...memorise...memorise! Make sure you have learned your introduction: do you have to give background on the poet, analyse the language or say why you chose the poem? Book Ensure that your selection has a mixture of dialogue and narrative Be prepared to introduce your selection, putting it in context Remember not to hold your book in front of your face! Discussion Listen attentively and try to think of questions which will engage the rest of the group Offer your support and encourage other speakers  I took my first ESB assessment at the age of seven and I still remember t

I have just finished teaching two more groups at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and (as usual) have been awed and humbled by their determination. If you ever become cynical about the potential of the next generation, I recommend spending a couple of hours at PolyU observing how the students care about each other, their school and community. It is inspiring. The following comments are directed towards my students: You are all talented and driven individuals with the potential to make a real difference to your worlds. Watching you grown in confidence has been a privilege. Remember: everyone speaks with an accent, there is no one "right way" of speaking. Use your unique speaking voice rather than trying to emulate someone else. Plan. Be prepared to change your plans. Adapt, don't panic. Read your audience and try to understand what will engage them. Run through the skills we have learned and apply the ones you feel are most effective. Good luck and be confiden

We are familiar with Western poetry about the Spring but English speakers may be less familar with the following poem which has been sensitively translated by TC Lai: Spring - Chun Kwan (1049 - 1100) Spring has sprayed the paths with flowers As scores of thrushes Rishing from the bushes Burst out like fireworks to announce their joy. I lie in the shade of an old oak, drunk. The clouds overhead race; Tigers, dragons and bears Changelings each other chase Till the evening sun steals in and bathes In the quick-gold of the lake unawares. I love the contrast between the poetic flights of fancy which are punctured by the prosaic description of him being"drunk." He goes from this simple statement of condition to musing even more complex imaginings. The juxtaposition of the literary and mundane reminds me of Oscar Wilde's "we are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars" This poem is a glorious snapshot in time which will come back to

One of my all time favourites. A thoughtful, reflective poem about the terrible power of isolation, destructive emotion and absence of love. Understated elegance and a quiet, powerful voice amidst the shrieking and drama of our times. Red this quietly and let the words speak for themselves. Fire and Ice by Robert Frost : The Poetry Foundation

We had a wonderful morning speaking to parents at our Aberdeen Marina Club Seminar. The audience had a multitude of excellent questions which underlined the commitment they have to finding the right school for their children. Key points to take away were: 1: You know your child best. Listen to advice from friends and family but be prepared to make your own decision. 2: Don't be afraid of asking questions. In my experience, the best schools are ready and willing to work with parents and actively encourage your questions in the knowledge that this is a path to a close, co-operative relationship. 3: Engage your child in the preparation process. 4: Don't just focus on academic skills, cultural and communication skills are equally important. Brandon classes offer all three! 5: Understand the needs of your child. Children develop at different rates and an appropriate school will encourage and support a student so he can develop his full potential.  Thank you for being such

One of the major barriers to confidence in public speaking is the uncertainty of how an audience perceives you as a speaker. Here is a five minute public speaking exercise for you that we often use at Brandon Learning Centre to develop self awareness. Arm yourself with a book or newspaper. Find a quiet spot with a full length mirror. Take a deep breath and read the text as though, behind the mirror, lies an invisible audience. Watch your face and body language as you progress through the reading. Try to match your gestures and facial expressions to the content of your literature. Throughout the exercise, identify moments when you are relaxed and engaged and remember how this feels. With practice, the objective is to be able to extend these moments and to become aware of how you can adapt your behaviour to connect with an audience When you first try this exercise, your initial reaction will be to laugh and/or be bashful. Persist and, as you drive away the demons of doubt, you will f