Primary News - May 29 2020

The Primary school opened its doors to students from Y4 up to Y6 this week. Some classes have needed to split to keep to smaller group ratios, as the majority of the students returned. We have continued to focus on health and safety, ensuring that students are familiar with the changes and can enjoy being with their peers in a safe environment. With the nice weather, students have been able to enjoy going outside for their P.E. time and relax in the shaded woodland area during breaks or take walks in the green surroundings.

Our Secondary Art teacher, Ms Clayton, has been visiting our Primary classes and prepared some creative projects for the students to engage in. All year groups will be able to benefit from Ms Clayton’s expertise, but especially the Y6 students for whom this is a valuable part of the transition from Primary into Secondary school in the next academic year, with Art as one of the KS3 curriculum subjects.

Please note that in week 3 (from Monday 1st June), the after school extended supervision until 15:40 will be open to Y2 students as well. To registeryour child for the after school provision, please click on this online form. For any further updates, please continue to check our website.

The hard work from the teachers and staff in ensuring a safe reopening of the school and welcoming back all students has really been worthwhile.

As Dolly Parton said:

‘The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.’

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Železinger

Head of Primary

This week the Early Years children began learning about their new Topic, Houses and Homes. They have been learning about different kinds of houses from around the world - apartments, caravans, igloos, huts, cottages and many more. They have been learning about rooms inside the house as well as the objects found in each room.

We also read the book Kipper, in which Kipper the Dog tries to find the most comfortable home on the farm! The students have been drawing their homes, making houses with building blocks and tyres and, of course, making a variety of homes in the sandpit! We are all looking forward to seeing what next week will bring!

Ms O'Hara

Our Topic this block is water! We have been learning about oceans, continents and the water cycle. To help remember we used rap songs and dancing!

Also, Ms Clayton from Secondary is helping Y1 with their art, with a water perspective, consolidating learning!

This block, our whole school theme is science and to celebrate this, Year 1 will be conducting weekly science experiments. This week we are making rockets out of recycled water bottles and applying chemistry to launch them in the air!

In addition, we are also creating characters for our rockets to fuel writing stories in English about a trip to space!

Mr Hughes

This week in Year 2 we have been learning about the water cycle. We have had so much fun learning the steps of the water cycle and have even learnt a song to help us remember our keywords. As we move into next week we will continue learning about Water on Earth and the importance of it. In PSHE this week we learnt about the importance of listening and taking turns to listen. We worked in small groups and had a go at some listening exercises. Year 2 have been fantastic again this week, following the new rules and routines in school. Well done Year 2!

Ms Harris

This week in Year 3, the students learned about the deforestation of rainforests around the globe. They examined the causes for it and also the effects which this has on our planet. The students then made posters to raise awareness about the plight of the rainforest and its inhabitants. Keep your eyes peeled around the school for the posters and, remember, we can all do our bit by saving paper.

Mr Mulcahy

Year 4 have seamlessly transitioned back to school this week. We are still getting used to the social distancing rule but the students are absolutely delighted to be back and there is much merriment in the classes. Year groups have been put back to their original forms and Mrs Albina is happy to be back in the teaching saddle again after a maternity leave hiatus.

Students are getting tech-savvy programming instructions and games using Apple programming software. We are also studying Victorian times in English which is an eye-opener to how lucky we are living in these times and at this school.

Mr Bishop

It feels like we have never been away in Year 5, I would like to thank all the children for their hard work this first week back. Listening intently to children's presentations involving our block 6 work was the highlight of my week. Elsewhere, we acted out and analysed our new class script. In Maths we reviewed some word problems and identified bisections and diagonals of shapes. Carefully, as a class, we drafted a letter to the whole school detailing our plans to install a wind turbine on school grounds. It's great to be back!!!

Mr Walker

Year 6 have been working on different skills during reading comprehension lessons; finding and retrieving information, summarising and making inferences. The last skill is often the most challenging for students. Today's lesson was no exception; please take a look at some of the riddles and see if you can work out the answers by using deduction.

If you really want to know the answer and you've tried for days, please come and ask a Year 6 student for the solution!

Mrs Charlesworth

The Year 6 children have been working on their Geometry unit this week. From calculating the circumference, studying congruent angles, to explaining the difference between a rhombus and parallelogram, the students have been working really hard to learn all the definitions and apply their knowledge to interesting practical exercises.

They were using the Quizlet App which helped them with their studies. Here is the link if you are up for a challenge.

Mr Kokalj

After reviewing holiday destinations, Year 6 students have been focusing on what to pack in their suitcases.

They have been developing their reading and writing skills. Well done!

Mrs Poulet

This week students were reviewing the knowledge from previous topics whilst acquiring new vocabulary and strategies for reading and writing. Some of the year groups started thinking about their end of the year projects in which they will be able to show off their skill sets in the Slovene language.

Year 1 and 2 might focus on more creative projects such as drama, whilst Years 3 to 6 might decide to work on presentations, concentrating more on their intonation, body language and pronunciation as a part of the success criteria.

Slovene Department Team

The SEN department was thrilled to welcome back the students from Years 4-6 and immediately continued to consolidate reading and writing strategies and other techniques learnt this term. We are positive that with the appropriate strategies student progress will be evident in the PTE assessments happening in the coming weeks.

Pre-, Mid- and Post-reading activities help students analyse texts, find information from the text to support their opinions and arguments, make conclusions and predict possible outcomes. Skills that are very important for their future schooling, study skills and learning.

For students to be able to analyse texts, their reading needs to be fluent and automatised. Energy spent on linking sounds and letters together should be minimal for students to be able to focus on comprehending texts in depth. Strategies of effective readers include inferring from the text, clarifying concepts and sentences, questioning, scanning and selecting specific words/phrases to work with. Effective readers have mastered skills such as understanding phonics, linking sounds together and memorising sight words. To master a skill, a person needs a minimum of a certain number of hours (some say 10.000), therefore it is easy to imagine how important reading at home and reading in one’s spare time is. Next to enjoying the book, developing imagination, concept knowledge, learning, experiencing joy and success, it is paramount to read books to improve our learning in general.

SEN Department

This week the Year 5 EAL students got a chance to present their persuasive letter that they were working on in Block 6. They did a magnificent job in trying to persuade their classmates of their point of view, using some very strong persuasive techniques.

They have certainly made their teachers proud with their amazing performances!

Mrs Majzelj Kralj

This week Primary classes have been participating in a variety of different sporting activities during their PE lessons. Activities including Team building exercises, Football, Handball and Dance are just a small number of activities students have been taking part in.

Early Years have been focusing on throwing and different ways to travel in PE this week. Early Years 1 have also been ‘going on a bear hunt’ in PE and thinking of ways to travel through different terrains and weather conditions such as Snow, Mud and Water.

A number of Year 4 students have also received their Playmaker Award after successfully completing the course booklet as well as developing and leading their own games to class friends at a high level.

PE Kit

A gentle reminder to please send your child with an additional T-shirt to change into for their PE lessons.

Kind Regards,

PE Department

As mentioned in our BISL Fees Letter for the 2020/21 academic year shared on 17th April, we are offering two weeks of free summer school to all students for the first two weeks of the summer. If you’re interested in joining, pleasecomplete this form. The deadline to sign up is Thursday 4th June.

For further questions, please email admissions@britishschool.si.

Split classes in Primary will resume to their normal class sizes, class teachers and classrooms, starting Monday 1st June, as per therecent ministry announcement. For more information about our current guidance, please refer to ourBISL Reopening Procedure Guidance article, updated regularly as new information becomes available.

Invitation to the 14th international festival

It has been a pleasure for BISL to join the Play with Me festival (Igraj se z Mano) over the past number of years and this year is no exception. Connecting through play is one of the guiding principles of the events, which through their activities promote social integration or inclusion among children, adolescents, adults with special needs and the majority population of all generations and so...

"We invite you to join us for the 14th year in a row at the International Festival "Play with me", organised by the Janez Levec Center Ljubljana and the Society for the Culture of Inclusion. The festival will take place from 27 May to 7 June 2020. This year promises to be a varied and entertaining programme content, this time in a slightly different form, as we will transfer our activities from the congress market to the Internet."

The programme of the "Play with me" festival can be found here.

The event will take place on online platforms:

- Facebook: www.facebook.com/igrajsezmano

- Youtube: www.youtube.com/igrajsezmano

- Instagram: www.instagram.com/igraj_se_z_mano

- Zoom.

Primary teachers will be taking a look at some of the workshops during the day with their students, but please feel free to join at home after the school day ends. You might even see some of our secondary students perform and Miss O'Hara read one of her favourite books online on the 2nd of June at 18:30.

Mrs Charlesworth

C4C

The draw for the Football Frenzy raffle has been concluded, thank you to all who have participated. The winners are as follows:

0159 - In The Attic Framed Album

0132 - Autographed Liverpool Van Dijk Home Shirt

0278 - Autographed Manchester City Kyle Walker Home Shirt

If you have one of these numbers please contact Mr Batson to receive your prize. Please be prepared to prove that you purchased the ticket by showing your half of the ticket to Mr Batson.

You will be unable to claim the prize without showing proof that you own the other half of the ticket.

Thank you again to all those who participated.

Mr Batson

Early Years 1

Daniel... for finding his voice within the group, and demonstrating some 'killer moves' on the dance floor.

Early Years 2

Eloise... for your happy, friendly and thoughtful behaviour in all lessons this week. It's lovely to have you with us.

Early Years 3

Lev... for being a good friend, a helpful student and for participating in all activities

Year 1

Tian and Aleksej... for your love for learning, excitement in science and positive attitude!

Year 2

Marina Hansen... for her positivity in class this week. In Literacy, she has been working independently using her phonics to plan her fantasy story. Well Done Marina.

Year 3

Nathan... for enthusiastically completing your poster on deforestation and for helping your classmates with the same task. Well done!

Year 4A

Artem... for making a smooth transition back to ‘work’.

Year 4B

Lev... for his valued technical assistance with the programming lessons.

Year 5

Denis... for consistent good behaviour throughout the first week back and leading by example with his high quality of work.

Year 6A

Samuel... For finding your voice and wanting to share it with the class and with the SLT as a student council representative. It is wonderful to hear!

Year 6B

Frances... For your patience and resilience during our geometry unit. You apply yourself in every lesson Frances and Mr Kokalj said he respects that immensely. Well done!

This week the winner is…

Emerald with 58 Points!

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!

In joint second place are Sapphire and Zircon

Fourth place is Hessonite.

Dear Parents,

Thank you to everyone for your support and kind words of encouragement during this first week back at school. It is valued and very much appreciated.

I would like to recognise the huge effort by families, teachers and students in helping us return back to 'normal' school conditions with the added health precautions in place.

As you have seen from our Facebook and website updates, the students have had a wonderful time back with their friends and teachers.

It is because of this hard work and commitment from all members of the community that we have had articles published on various platforms and the reopening of the school has gone very smoothly. This was a real team effort and we all should be proud and delighted that many of our students are now back in school, happy, comfortable and looking forward to the rest of the term.

The links to the articles are below:

• COBIS – Reopening After Lockdown
• Teacher Horizons – Re-opening international schools, a behind the scenes account
• TES – ‘Students must feel safe back at school – and have fun’

Our transition is not complete yet and we aim to maintain these high standards. We still have areas to monitor, review and check each day. I am fully dedicated to this and to making sure that safety remains a continued priority. We anticipate measures to be slowly relaxed over the coming weeks and will respond accordingly.

As mentioned in our BISL Fees Letter for the 2020/21 academic year shared on 17th April, we are offering two weeks of free summer school to all students for the first two weeks of the summer. If you’re interested in joining, please complete this form.

The deadline to sign up is Thursday 4th June. For further questions, please email admissions@britishschool.si.

As we receive further updates, we will add them to our BISL reopening procedures page and email out any changes to the guidance.

I wish all families an enjoyable weekend.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal