Secondary News - June 19 2020

This week I had the immense pleasure of speaking to the Year 6 students who were buzzing with excitement to learn more about the Secondary school. In only a mere 2 weeks, these students will have graduated from Year 6 and the Primary school and will proceed to their Secondary schooling at BISL. There was a lot of information shared which was then also sent in an email to Year 6 parents, so that it can form a basis of discussion in their household over the Summer. The Secondary teachers cannot wait to welcome these students after the summer!

Also this week, teachers have been finalising their reports and they will be ready and sent home with students on the 26^th June. It has been a busy term back receiving feedback from students and their progress, but also a valuable and productive time. This day next week also marks International Day at BISL, that we will be celebrating by dressing down in traditional dress or in the colours of a country. I look forward to seeing everyone’s outfits.

Despite also looking forward to the break, we cannot help but get excited for next year already! The incomingstaff profiles have been shared with the community and this week I too have been sharing introductory videos of some of the new staff to the English, Science and PE Departments. We are extremely excited to have them come to BISL in August.

I hope that everyone has a very enjoyable weekend and see you next week.

Stephanie Andronikos,

Head of Secondary

PE News

We had some great fun with Y8 class this week by using the rainy weather to actually do a proper introduction to a PE IGCSE lesson.

The anatomy challenge was for the students to name as many bones they know and post the correct names on volunteers body parts.

Here are some pictures from this fun lesson:

English News

This week Year 7 had a lot of fun trying to “translate” slang into formal English after we read a play about a group of kids hanging around in a “tenfoot” (a back alley in an English town. We also wrote our own scene and dialogue for our own plays,

Year 8B worked on a unit about Al Capone and the prohibition era in Chicago. We were also introduced to Cockney Rhyming Slang and how to use it and we created some of our own examples such as “a form tutor” (computer), The students really seemed to enjoy this exercise very much,

Year 9s have been reading a short story entitled Meteor by John Wyndham. This science fiction story tells the tale of tiny yet incredibly advanced aliens who come to Earth in the hopes of assimilating, only to encounter a myriad of enemies ranging from ants, to cats, to humans.

This week in English class, Year 10s have been exploring the differences between Shakespearean and Petrarchan Sonnets, studying a poem of each form as part of their continued iGCSE Poetry Anthology. Narrative Writing has also been a topic of discussion this week, as we looked at samples of work from previous year groups and discussed what needs to be done in order to achieve a high grade.

A-Level English: Language and Gender

Do women talk more than men? Do men interrupt more than women? Who tells better jokes: women or men?

These are controversial questions with complex answers. They play a central part in our A Level study of Language and Gender. We explore the different theories about how men and women use language, making links to the psychology and sociology of gender roles along the way.

Is English simply the language of imperialism and colonialism? Has English become a ‘global language’? Is English one language or many languages?

In A Level Language, our study of English in the World explores the development of English from an archaic Germanic language spoken on a rainy little island to the many ‘global Englishes’ which are used by billions of people around the globe today. We look at how English has gone from being simply the dominant language in England to the vast, complex, and ever-changing set of languages it is today. We explore how the language has been shaped and developed by cultures and peoples from Singapore to Australia to Nigeria to Jamaica to the USA.

Mr Eve . Mr Kirwan and Mr Newsham

English Department

French News

Year 9 students are wrapping up their last project of the year by realizing a flash news video. After allocating the different roles within their groups they wrote the script and filmed the different parts. The final step is to create a video montage. We are very impatient to see the results!

Mrs Poulet - French Teacher

Slovene news

Y8 students were learning about the first comedy and drama text in Slovene language - Županova Micka. After a text analysis the students tried themselves as actors. Even though the language in 1789 was different, all students did a great job.

Well done everybody!

We are very happy to announce that Y11 successfully completed their Slovene exam and received an internal certificate of British International School of Ljubljana.

Congratulations to Alex H., Aleks V., Emma, Taja and Luka!

Miss Kotnik, MFL Department

Geography

Year 8 have been studying cold environments, most recently Arctic and Antarctic food webs. They learnt the importance of plankton, not only to the food web, but also due to the production of oxygen through photosynthesis and their transformation into fossil fuel. Students produced posters educating people about the importance of these microscopic animals and appealing for donations to help protect them. Some fantastic posters were produced.

Mr Rogers, Geography teacher

MEPI News

Working West from Vižmarje, our 'early risers' were ready to start their journey to Polhov Gradec at 07:00 on Saturday morning. The wooded undulating route would take them to their campsite (field) in Hrastenice, where they pitched their tents, and organised a hot meal. The following day found our MEPI team taking in the view on Grmada, before descending to the finish in Polhov Gradec. A 'Very Well Done!' to our participants, after a massive effort.

Year 7 and Year 9 Art

This week years 7 and 9 had their final Art lessons, due to the public holiday next Thursday. It has been wonderful to see both groups of students develop their artistry and interest in the subject, producing some exceptional work throughout various projects this year.

Year 7 will continue to explore different artistic styles as they represent their 'Personal Surroundings', with work to be completed by the end of term to be put on display around school. They have been collaging imagery in effective compositions to express interesting perceptions of where they live and the places they have been. Here is an excellent example by Elise.

Year 9 are currently in the final stages of a design project, and will continue working to complete their Art Deco Travel Poster before the end of term (more photos to follow!). Each student selected a favourite city to base their project on and have explored various compositions in an extensive design process. Jasmina has already completed her final poster design for Dubai, which will shortly be framed and displayed in the school corridor and joined by her classmates' representations of different cities.

It has been an absolute pleasure to have taught Art to this class and they should all feel very proud of the progress they have made in the subject. Regardless of whether students continue to study Art at IGCSE level, the creative skills they have developed will surely help them to succeed in many other areas of school life and beyond.

This week, Mr Walton celebrates the successes of our students in their PTE and PTM tests and discusses the progress students have continued to make throughout the period of online learning in his weekly Update from the Principal.