Primary News - May 19 2021

Block 6 has been very colourful, with students getting involved in various environmental projects and reaching out to the community, as part of the Science theme and focus on global issues.

Students across the school have completed their PTE and PTM tests, while older students started their formal examinations. Well done to the students receiving the Stars of the Weekcertificates and to the Hessonite House as Block 6 winners, collecting 643 points!

As part of the International Days celebrations this week, students engaged in a number of activities throughout the week. Many parents visited classes to share information about their cultures and countries, and engage students.

On Tuesday’s opening parade over 40 different nationalities were represented by students waving their country flag, while on Friday, everyone enjoyed tasting delicacies from different countries, dressing up in traditional outfits and finding out more about various countries around the world. The wonderful student performances of the song 'Wavin' Flag' with African drumming and singing ignited the sparks to highlight this great occasion.

A huge thank you to the PTA and all the parents for organising this splendid event and for your continuous support.

I wish you all a relaxing break and look forward to seeing you back on Monday 24th May.

Best wishes,

Katarina Železinger

Head of Primary

Early Years

In Early Years, we have had a very international week! The children have been making their own Russian flags as well as having visits from parents to find out more about different counties.

We have sung songs, played sports and listened to stories!

Ms Rosa

Year 1

This week Year 1 had the important job of being live parade cheerers, as the country representatives strutted their stuff around the playground with handmade flags!

We had a lovely exploration walk in the woodland with Year 2.

Students enjoyed listening to Aurelie's Mummy read a comic book from Belgium!

Ms Blundell

Year 2

This week in Year 2, we have been enjoying all of the international day activities, from the parade to the parents joining us in school to teach us about their home countries. It has been a wonderful week sharing stories and traditions from the students' home countries. We have learnt so much!

A huge thank you to all of the Year 2 parents who have joined us this week. This block, Year 2 has been learning about water, we have learnt about the water cycle, seas and oceans. We have really enjoyed working together on this topic. We have also had so much fun in art, looking at and learning a range of techniques and putting these into practice in our own work.

Next block, we will be learning about transport and holidays, we will learn about different continents and destinations - we are looking forward to our ‘travels’.

Ms Harris & Ms Miller

Year 3

This week saw the conclusion of Year 3's study of forces in the world around them. Air resistance was the topic in focus this week. The students conducted various experiments, with one such test conducted to determine its relationship with surface area. The students examined this by dropping parachutes of various sizes from a given height. Their predictions were confirmed, as all of the larger parachutes fell slower and therefore proved the connection between the two phenomena.

The students also combined art and science this week by drawing some beautiful paintings using magnets and paper clips instead of a brush. Placing the magnet in the paint, they pulled and pushed the paper clip around the page to create some mesmeric designs as seen above.

Mr Mulcahy

Year 4

Year 4 premiered their films this week to the primary school. The votes are currently being tallied and will be announced in the next newsletter edition. The films were amazing and the students really enjoyed watching each others' productions.

To celebrate International week at the school, students participated in a flag hunt around the school and they also gave presentations about their home countries which were very informative and made us want to travel to many of the wonderful locations shared.

Mr Bishop

Year 5A

This week, I have been so proud of all the students' dedication and hard work when completing the PTM and PTE. In particular, during maths lessons, students have been completing quizzes and pinpointing which areas they need help with. It has been a great exchange and often Y5A all work together to help their classmates.

Mr Walker

Year 5B

This week centred around the students creating national identities for their islands. First, the students looked at the colours and symbols used on flags around the world and what they meant for those countries, they then turned to national anthems of the students' home countries.

The students finally reflected on their own island's: history, government, physical land features, legends and finally values. Using these collective ideas students created a flag and a national anthem (both the music and lyrics) for their islands.

We stood proudly, listening carefully to the words and inspirational music. As you can see they had a great time creating, and reviewing each others' work.

Mrs Charleswhorth

Year 6

This week was all about celebrating diversity and multiculturalism in our school. It was International week at BISL and this allowed our class to spend some quality time together learning about different cultures.

The Year 6 is a very diverse group - The students in our class come from a few different parts of the world and it has been a real treat discussing and learning about different customs and traditions.

Besides coming to school wearing traditional clothes, we enjoyed learning about traditional food and shared recipes.

The students also worked on creating a family tree and I hope this assignment sparked interesting conversations at children's homes about their ancestors and extended family members.

Mr Kokalj

PE News

In this week’s PE lessons, the student got to know the invasion activity, called CAPTURE THE FLAG. This activity put in place all skills students have learned throughout this block. Speed, agility and game tactics are crucial for this activity and all students did an amazing job and we have seen great efforts and some great tactics.

The PE department wishes all students great and active holidays!

PE Department

EAL News

This was an awesome week for EAL students. We've realized that just this year, our EAL students have already read 2000 books on the Get Epic platform and counting.

We've also played some interesting games, learned about homonyms (words with the same sound and different meaning) and talked about the PTEs.

Mr Siter

French News

This week in French lessons we talked about France, French symbols, the French language spoken around the world, and watched a movie about the construction of the Eiffel tower.

We were reading and listening to French books, and listened to French music too.

We also played a quiz to check our general knowledge about France and French culture.

Mrs Struna Berden

Slovene Foundation News

What do you want to become when you grow up? Zdravnica, podjetnik, plesalka, gasilec, podjetnik, risarka, biolog, veterinar, vojakinja … Our enthusiastic Year 1s and 2s have listed their dream jobs.

They even expressed their creativity by drawing and naming them on the huge posters as a part of group work. It was lovely to see their positive attitude towards the main task and willingness to help each other. As part of the plenary, students have presented their dream jobs as a group.

Zelo dobro!

Have a look at our beautiful posters.

Ms Košec

Slovene Advanced News

It has been two very creative weeks for Year 5 and 6 students at Slovene Advanced lessons! Students have worked in groups on their presentations. Each group has made a poster about a different Slovenian city. This is how we got to know the sights of Ljubljana, Piran, Ptuj, Kranjska Gora and Bled.

The students did a fantastic job and a wonderful piece of art was made. Look at the photos. Bravo!

Ms Drofenik

MEPI News

Sunday was a beautifully sunny day, and it started really well with good organisation and a well-planned route card. It was quite an adventure due to the many beautiful views which also left us with a wonderful feeling of relaxation. We found our pace to be perfect.

The actual time taken for our hike was the exact same timing that we had estimated. Even better was the opportunity to practice looking at bearings and how to properly orientate the map. The teamwork is starting to come together and we look forward to furthering our bonding as a team. Overall, it was a very good experience, with great weather!

Mr Irving

Enrichment Days

To register for our Enrichment Days, taking place on consecutive Saturdays, 12th and 19th June, please complete the sign-up form here.

These will include a range of supervised activities for our students to have further opportunities to enjoy learning and having fun together.

Summer School

With the summer holidays just around the corner, find out how your child can join this two-week summer adventure with the British International School of Ljubljana - details here.

To make up for some of the lost face-to-face interactions with friends due to the period of remote learning, we are happy to be able to offer 5 Days of Free Summer School for BISL students in the first week of the summer, starting Monday 5th July.

Teacher Feature Series

If you haven’t had a chance to read our recent Teacher Feature profiles, here’s what you may have missed:

• 29.04.2021 - Katherine Blundell
• 15.04.2021 - Mr Brad Eve
• 25.03.2021 - Mr Dominic Hulse
• 10.03.2021 - Ms Emina Begić
• 24.02.2021 - Mr Chris Bishop
• 27.01.2021 - Ms Mateja Košec
• 13.01.2021 - Mrs Tanya Charlesworth
• 16.12.2020 - Ms Sarah Fairchild
• 09.12.2020 -Ms Polly Tušar
• 25.11.2020 - Mr Tobija Siter
• 04.11.2020 - Mr Gary Bradley
• 28.10.2020 - Ms Laura Harris
• 21.10.2020 - Ms Katarina Miklavec
• 14.10.2020 - Mr Nino Kokalj
• 06.10.2020 - Mr Jason Batson

PTA Second Hand Uniform Sale

Due to the rainy weather, the PTA have rescheduled the second Uniform Sale to Tuesday May 25, from 2pm-3:30pm, to give you an opportunity to purchase gently used items of uniform. Don’t miss out! Look out for their tables by the Early Years entrance.

Dear Parents,

It has been an absolutely amazing week to finish another successful block, with our International Days starting with our colourful Opening Ceremony on Tuesday, and culminating in our fantastic International Fair today.

Please read my full Update from the Principal for details and thank-yous, an update on our summer examinations, and more information on what’s coming up in the next block.

I hope you have a restful and relaxing block break, and look forward to seeing you on Monday 24th May for our first day back for Block 7.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal