Secondary News - Sept 7 2020

It was another great week for students settling in, continuing to adapt to the changes this year and getting to know their newest teachers and peers. On Mondays students engage in a virtual assembly held by form tutors, who present the theme for the week and any other pertinent news. This week, students were reminded of the importance of possessing and living by the school values of Respect, Empathy, Excellence and Challenge. These underpin all that we do here at BISL and it is great to see students increasingly demonstrating these values every day. Being inclusive to everyone, and celebrating diversity is one of the most wonderful features of international schooling and relishing in the opportunity to get to know one another respectfully.

This is particularly important to remember as students head out to the much-loved Adventure Trips this block, with different cohorts being fortunate in these times to still attend over the next three weeks. Mr Damjan has been careful with his planning of these trips to ensure that students have the safest possible time. To begin with, the Year 7 and 8 students are heading to their Adventure Trip first and I know that Mr Damjan, Mr. Irving, Ms. Zupanc and Ms. Tušar are very excited for the trip. I look forward to hearing of their wonderful adventures upon their return.

This week the Assessment Calendar for the Secondary school has been finalised for Term 1 and has been shared with the community. This should be regularly referred to by parents and students to aid in their preparation for assessment items. Any questions should be directed to individual subject teachers.

Lastly, please be aware that as the weather slowly starts to change, students are encouraged to bring a change of shoes during break times outside. KS3 are asked to go out for the second half of their break, weather permitting, to continue getting some fresh air.

I wish all families an enjoyable weekend and Enrichment Day 3 tomorrow.

For any changes to the measures at school, please see the latest Update from the Principal to see the most up to date information.

Stephanie Andronikos

Head of Secondary

Here are some photos taken from the second of our three Enrichment days. The final event will take place on Saturday 5th of September.

Adventure Days for Year 7 and Year 8

Dear Parents,

Please do not forget to sign up your child for the Adventure days Year 7 & 8 by clicking the following link (CLICK HERE).

All the information regarding the trip can be seen in the presentation HERE.

The students will be accompanied by four members of staff:

• Mr Anže Damjan (Trip Leader)
• Mr Simon Irving
• Mrs Maja Zupanc
• Mrs Polona Tušar

Mr Damjan

Head of PE

In PE this week pupils have been focusing on one specific component of fitness: agility. Key Stage 3 pupils have tested their own agility using fitness testing and practised activities which are helping to improve their agility in team games. Pupils specifically enjoyed investigating how their agility could be used in a game of end zone to improve their success as a team. Next week, pupils shall be exploring how sports technology can be used within sports to improve athlete’s performance within specific sports.

Ms Sharpe - PE Teacher

This week our Year 7 students got to familiarise themselves with some of the science equipment by

• learning how to safely use Bunsen burners
• carrying out chemical reactions - various metals (iron, copper, etc.) in presence of heat reacting with oxygen to form metal oxides
• observing sparks and change of color of the flame when heating those metals with Bunsen burners

Year 12 did an investigation this week for biological molecules, the aim being able to determine which molecules are present in solutions of an unknown composition. They did very well in terms of planning the investigation and identified the correct solutions! A very good start to the year, well done!

Science Department

Year 8s got to take apart an old laptop, piece by piece until we had completely stripped the device of all of its parts in Computer Science this week.

Some great teamwork and problem-solving were used in taking it apart and also to begin naming and identifying each part of the computer

Now we move on to further researching and identifying each part of the laptop… and putting the laptop back together again.

Mr Johnstone - Computer Science Teacher

Slovene

This week we have been discussing the time in Year 8. It was extremely interesting for all of us to talk about the time around the globe in Slovene. Well done students! Stay curious.

Miss Košec, MFL Department

Years 8 and 9 have been raising the roof with their renditions of Run DMC 'It's Tricky, whilst learning about Hip Hop origins and vocal techniques. If you would like to see our Year 9B class having a lot of fun in music, go to this link.

Performing Arts Department

This week Year 7 did a unit of work and prepared to retell the very funny Oscar Wilde story of “The Canterville Ghost” with a recount in their own words.

Year 8 looked at Biographies - in particular the Biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

Year 9A have started reading Animal Farm, covering persuasive techniques found in the speeches of many of the novella's characters as they explore this historical allegory.

Year 11A have been honing their poetry skills as they become familiar with unseen poems in preparation for their IGCSE exams.

Year 12 are currently studying the features of several different text types and have been writing their own diary entries and reviews in lessons this week.

Year 13 continues to explore how the digital age has changed the English language with a particular focus being given to the role of the internet.

Miss O’Regan, Mr Eve & Mr Kirwan

English Department

Dear Parents,

As we approach the end of our two-week transition back to school, it gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect upon the return to lessons, the safety of the school and our wider community.

We have been overwhelmed by the amount of support, encouragement, and best wishes for this term ahead. I would like to thank all parents for this positive start to our Academic year. It has been a pleasure to speak to the students each morning at drop off and ask them about their teachers, lessons and how they have settled back into school. I am very proud of all staff who have hit the ground running with a huge amount of energy, enthusiasm and dedication to help our students focus on their learning and further experiences that all children should be able to embrace as much as possible.

Perhaps now more than ever, it is essential that children are allowed to enjoy their learning, to think and talk about school life, interact with their friends and teachers, and to have lessons in a 'normal' classroom environment as far as possible.

All safety measures are put in place to protect our whole community. Some are less obvious 'behind the scenes', some can be explained to students, while some may be trickier to talk through, especially for our younger students to understand. Nonetheless, they mean we do our best and encourage our students to focus on enjoying their learning, their face to face interactions with those around them and the incredible moments they share in class. Some conversations are for adult ears only, while some should be with students. To differentiate these is a challenge but paramount during this time as we protect, support and help our students. Safety measures discussed in a positive, calm and constructive manner will help in most situations and I thank parents for your steadfast support with this. For now, all around the world this is unfortunately the situation that students need to get used to.

The safety measures in place at BISL and further changes are includedin my update.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal