We hope that all our BISL families have had a good break and that everyone is well. With the start of Block 3, our Year 2 classes have transitioned to online learning, joining the other Primary year groups already working successfully from home. The Virtual Timetable for Y2 has incorporated live sessions on Zoom with their Class Teachers and Specialists Teachers, as well as videos that students can tap into throughout the week to support their learning, to keep healthy, and maintain contact with their peers, which is extremely important during the current difficult times. The same approach has been applied across the school with all classes currently online. Our youngest cohorts, Early Years and Year 1, have remained in school and we are delighted with the fact that there is still a high level of attendance of students on-site.

This week, BISL took part in Anti-Bullying Week. The PSHE lessons focused on talking about various types of bullying behaviour, how to recognise it and what to do if you witness or experience bullying. Students also discussed how to feel physically and emotionally safe at school, online and off-school grounds. We urge parents to talk to their children about this topic and support the school in tackling a common challenge. At BISL, we celebrate diversity and differences and are proud of our international community. On Monday 16th November students and staff took part in Odd Socks Day, to promote and express their uniqueness.

In the coming winter months, we have many school events coming up in Primary and across the school. This year, these will be a little different, as we continue learning from home. However, there are lots of fun and exciting things to look forward to. Keep an eye on the events section below and the school events calendar online. The BISL Community will once again take part in the Trije Zimski Botri (Three Winter Godfathers) project, with the help of the PTA and the C4C (Caring for the Community) Team. We hope as many as possible come forward to support this worthwhile cause.

Please check the latest Update from the Principal, the news and the upcoming events in the sections below and on the school website.

With best wishes for the weekend ahead,

Katarina Železinger

Head of Primary

Early Years

This week in Early Years we have been thinking about superheroes. We read Superworm and explored wormy textures!

We have been making superhero masks and experimented with different ways to attach a string to fit our heads.

Ms Rosa

Year 1

It's been a busy but fun start to Block 3 for Year 1!

In English, we continue to explore phonics and our reading is really starting to improve! We have also started to look at poetry, next week we will be writing a kenning poem to add to the newsletter - see if you can solve this riddle based poem!

Taking maths to new heights, Y1 have been learning about measurement and maps, measuring the school grounds with our body parts. Next week we will start to look at standardised measurement.

And in Topic, we have focused on Geography, looking at the 7 continents, again exploring maps skills. As the focus of this unit is celebrations, we will look at different festivals around the world next week building on our continent knowledge and gearing up towards planning and throwing our own international in class PARTY!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Y1 as our excitement can no longer be contained, Christmas songs and activities have now become part of our family routine.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mr Hughes

Year 2

This week in Year 2 we have transitioned to online learning. We have made a fantastic start and the whole of year 2 have been working hard to follow the new online rules, ensuring everyone has an opportunity to share. We will continue this week online and we are looking forward to the fantastic work that will be produced by Year 2. In Literacy this week we have started our new unit on Poetry, focusing on key features such as rhyme. Have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Ms Harris and Ms Miller

Year 3

This week in Topic, the students began studying the habitat theme and have been researching the different elements of the forest, from different types of trees and their uses to the animals that depend on them for their homes.

In English, the students wrote a recount of their block break holiday and are continuing with their science fiction theme by reading the story of Franny K. Stein, the mad scientist inventor, who puts all her scientific knowledge to the test by inventing a whole new persona to fit in in her new school.

And finally, in Maths, the students have finished the addition and subtraction units and will now continue on with multiplication and division.

Well done also to our student of the week Adrian for being a shining star in year 3, since distance learning began, by showing dedication to improving all subject areas and consistently producing a high standard of work! Well done Adrian!

Mr Mulcahy

Year 4

The Year 4 students have started studying a new topic this block, Explorers and Adventurers. We started by looking around the house to discover where products originated from, then located the countries on a map. We were amazed to see how much globalisation has impacted our daily living and enabled us to obtain global goods so readily. We also played international detectives and chased Carmen Santiago around the globe using Google Earth as our platform.

In English, students are preparing to give lessons about how to look like a pop or rock star. I look forward to the crazy ideas they have in store for us, though I warned them against tearing holes in their new designer clothes (I think I just heard a few sighs of relief from the parents).

Later we have many other adventures to participate in, so I look forward to sharing these with you as the block progresses.

Mr Bishop

Year 5A

This week Y5A used their writing skills to create a recount of what they had been doing during their week off, using a rubric of all writing skills to include. This recount was then marked by their peers and myself. Using their Targets Y5A created a new and improved piece of writing. I was very impressed with the imagination and description of pupils' week off. In addition to this, we discussed the importance of treating everyone with respect. To show this, some children wore odd socks to celebrate our differences.

Mr Walker

Year 5B

CIVILIZATIONS

Year 5 have begun their new unit in Topic on Civilizations. The entry point involved the students thinking about the definition of a Civilization and then listing as many different Civilizations as they could think of. Students researched old buildings, the older the better. Their task was to then either draw their buildings or make a model of them. It has been wonderful to see how creative the students have been; utilising many basic materials at home, from skewers to toilet rolls.

They drew Venn diagrams to compare Ancient Greece with their choice of Civilization; some choices were Native American Indian, Mesopotamia, Slavs, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome. We look forward to seeing all the finished models and drawings on Monday.

Mrs Charlesworth

Year 6

The Year 6 students have started a new topic this block entitled 'The Science Fair'. After watching an inspirational video, they learned that a good experiment is repeatable.

My sincere thanks to the parents for supporting us in all our endeavours to do some distance Science learning - I hope the students are not making too much of a mess in your kitchen.

Mr Kokalj

Slovene News

Even though the students are learning online, their submitted works look amazing!

They are still keen and working hard on diverse tasks. Well done Year 5 and Year 6!

Miss Košec

PE News

After a well-deserved break, this week students started Block 3, where they began learning all about football. They went through the rules, how the game is played, and who is involved in the training and matches.

Lessons were so much fun and it is amazing to see all students happy, healthy and so excited for their PE lessons. Great work everyone!

PE Challenge

Your inboxes this week filled up with many exciting new challenges launched by the PE department to keep everyone fit, healthy and united from a distance! Please check these challenges out and we encourage everyone to get involved. These initiatives include:

• "Keep up with the teacher" the first videos will be shared on Monday 23rd November and will continue throughout Block 3.
• "Pillow passing compilation" which is giving an opportunity for everyone to participate (students, parents, and staff)! You have time to film yourself until the 30th of November.
• "Fun with the PE teacher (part 1)" challenge is THROWING the EGG in the air, CLAP as many times you can in meantime and CATCH it. (without breaking it). You can also try to pass the egg to each other and see how many passes you can get in 60 seconds.
• "Deskercise" as per these instructions:

For more information on challenges, please don't hesitate to contact the PE Department.

PE Department

C4C CHRISTMAS ACTION

OUR GOAL IS TO BRING JOY TO over 100 CHILDREN

Over the last few years that we have been involved in this wonderful project, we have seen our enthusiasm grow. Each year, we have made more and more children happy, last year with an incredible 120 gifts. This year, we are aiming for the same enthusiasm, kindness and empathy from our BISL community. Due to the current unusual circumstances, there are some slight changes to the process.

Steps:

1. Choose a letter or more from:

• PRIMARY - your class parent representative

• SECONDARY - your (child’s) form tutor

• STAFF - see Mrs Charlesworth

This letter package will contain 3 things, 1 is the letter written by an under-privileged child, the next has the instructions on how to go about the process (in Slovene and English, where necessary), the third gives a few details about the child's home situation as well as some necessary details for the child e.g. shoe number size, jacket size etc.

2. Buy the gift, wrap it very well. Then stick the bar code (which is on top of one of the papers you will receive) onto the present, so that it stays on well.

3. Please deliver this present directly to Zveza Prijateljev Mladine Ljubljana Moste-Polje, Proletarska Cesta 1, 1000 Ljubljana .

The due date is the 15th of December 2020.

Read more about the C4C & PTA Christmas Action on our website.

Mrs Charlesworth

Messages from our Student Leaders

Student Leadership is an important part of school life at BISL, giving our students from Early Years through to Sixth Form additional roles and responsibilities, enabling them to develop their abilities to make a difference within our school and in our wider community. Our Student Leaders are keen to share their enthusiasm and words of encouragement for their peers: click here to find out what they've said.

MEPI News

It's fantastic to see MEPI truly in action this week. During our Monday meeting, as well as catching up on individual progress, we tested our navigation knowledge with a live Kahoot quiz! (Please feel free to challenge yourself by clicking here ) With 16 'true or false' and 'multiple choice' questions against the clock, it was a really fun way to check the amount of information gleaned from the various short video clips dealing with map features, compass use, and general information pertinent to the 'Adventurous Journey' section of the Award. The quiz report has definitely helped identify our strong points, and where we need to do a bit more work! It has also been a pleasure to log into the Online Record Book (ORB) this week in order to authorise activity requests from both of the MEPI teams here at BISL. We look forward to seeing how the singing, running and helping others to develop their skills in the English language progress over the coming months. (Other activity goals are being set-up for the near future). One section of the Award is 'Service / Volunteering', and this is proving (as often does) to be a bit of a challenge. We would like to ask YOU, dear reader, if you might have any knowledge of volunteering opportunities, please? Our participants need to provide some sort of service to the community over a period of perhaps 3 - 6 months and be actively involved for a minimum of 1 hour each week. This could involve community action, working with the environment or animals, helping a charity or community organisation, helping the young, helping the elderly, teaching (numerous possibilities), translating, etc. Any suggestions at all would be welcome, so please email Mr Irving ( simon.irving@britishschool.si ).

Reflecting on Humanities Block

Block 2's theme has focused on the Humanities subjects and students and teachers throughout the school have been learning about the importance of our subjects in different ways - continue reading for details.

Humanities Department

A warm welcome to our new PTA Committee members:

Chair

Siu-May Gruber

Treasurer

Maliha Walker

Communications

Petra Satler

Contact

The PTA can be contacted at any time via email at pta@britishschool.si.

Facebook Community

Please join the BISL Parent Community Facebook Group page - this closed group provides another means of engagement and interaction for BISL parents to communicate with each other about BISL related topics, events or any other advice, recommendations, and fun things to do around Ljubljana, or simply to say hello.

Class Representatives

If you haven't already done so, reach out to the PTA if you would like to become a Class Rep to support the Committee's work within your child's class.

Volunteers

The PTA are always looking for volunteers for various projects throughout the year - be it an event or a reading session or subject-specific presentation with students. If you have any ideas or are open to volunteering, contact the PTA and join their Facebook group for regular updates.

Uniform Sale

Our PTA are collecting gently used uniform items, so if you have uniform items that your child is not wearing anymore, this is your chance to donate them to the PTA! They will then arrange a second-hand uniform sale and use the funds for various PTA initiatives to benefit our students. Just pack your donations in a bag and leave them in the designated box outside the Early Years entrance under the bike stall. The collection ends December 1.

They have already received a number of fantastic second hand and never worn items - details of these can be found here. Head over to the link so you don't miss out!

Dear Parents,

Welcome to a new block and lots of events and projects happening across the school. First of all, thank you for your ongoing support. I hope you have had a chance to enjoy at least some of the block break with your families. We have returned to school to see further improvements with the new building, the impressive new Ludus Sports Park dome which now features our school logo, and a display of some wonderful student artwork around the building.

Please click here to continue reading my full update this week.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

Please note that Class Photo day will be rescheduled for a time when all of our students are back in the building.