Primary News - May 31 2021

Welcome back to our final Block, the theme of which is Physical Education. There will be various activities and competitions for students to participate in, starting with the Walk Around the World challenge. The challenge is dependent on the teamwork spirit of the BISL community, so we urge everyone to get involved. All of these activities aim to spread awareness about the benefits of keeping a fit and healthy lifestyle.

As a part of the PSHE this week and the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, marked on the 29th of May, students learned about the ways in which the UN collaboration with youth and youth groups helps to achieve sustainable development goals.

At the end of Term 3, we will be issuing the EYFS and Primary Summer Reports, which include the core subjects of English, Maths and Topic. Students attending the EAL programme and Slovene Advanced lessons will receive additional reports on their progress.

Parent-Teacher meetings for Primary students will be held from 16th June - 23rd June and will include the Class Teachers and Specialist Teachers. More Information will be emailed for parents to book their slots and be able to discuss their child’s progress in this academic year and targets for the future.

Please see the sections below for exciting developments in individual year groups and important dates, as well as, the Update from the Principal for the latest guidance and measures.

Best wishes for the weekend,

Katarina Železinger

Head of Primary

Early Years

After many days of continuous rain, we were finally able to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather again!

Before exploring the outdoors, we talked about weather changes and the essentials for warm sunny days and made sure we had our hats and suncream on before going out. We then went on a treasure hunt in the sandpit and enjoyed bringing other activities outside.

Ms Miklavec

Year 1

This week in Maths it has all been about addition, finding different ways to approach the same question, or questioning the same thing in a different way! EAL students played a counting game with Miss Tjaša.

Ms Blundell

Year 2

Year 2 had a fantastic and positive start to the final block of the year. We have started our new topic, 'Let's go', where we will look at holiday destinations, exploring cultures around the world. This week Year 2 have been learning about different modes of transport and had a go at designing their own. Next week we will begin to explore the world!

Ms Harris & Ms Miller

Year 3

A new block brought a new topic for Year 3 with the focus shifting to fashion and popular culture for the coming weeks. After researching the topic over the block break, the students were introduced to fashion history and how clothes have changed over the years, with the intention of later designing an outfit that fits with the style of a given decade.

The students then began to study how clothes are designed and even drew their own croquis, as is pictured above. Next week, the students will continue to work on their designs and sketches for the upcoming fashion show.

Mr Mulcahy

Year 4

This week, Year 4 students began their new unit of study focusing on science and art. They have already conducted several exciting experiments, including making a frothy elephant's toothpaste and a carbon snake that emerged from a shallow dish of sand.

They also sent paper boats scooting across the water and watched M&M's create rainbows in water. Next, students will present their own experiments and explore more artistic styles which they will reproduce as the block continues.

Mr Bishop

Year 5A

This week year 5 students were using their knowledge of area and perimeter to discover how much space we have in our new playground.

The students used this information to design a new playground from mainly recycled materials. They will present this to the school leadership team next week.

Mr Walker

Year 5B

BLOCK 7 BOOK REPORT: THE BOARD GAME

Year 5 enjoyed planning their latest book report in which they will be creating their own board game. During week 5, we plan on playing their games, so they need to follow the rubric on Canvas very carefully. In particular, their focuses are:

• The game board is related to the book
• Game pieces represent the main characters of the book
• Directions are written clearly and they are easy to follow
• Be creative and have fun

As you can see in the photos, the students loved sharing their ideas, questioning their partner's instructions for clarity and giving two stars and a wish as feedback.

Mrs Charlesworth

Year 6

This week the Year 6 students started their new Topic which will allow them to learn more about their bodies and how to stay healthy. Our first task was to explore the General Functions of the Circulatory System.

We learned that the heart plays a vital role as it keeps all the blood flowing in the circulatory system. The process of exercising results in the body requiring more oxygen, this means that the heart has to circulate more oxygenated blood through the circulatory system. That is why your heart beats faster when you exercise.

A detailed diagram of a human heart, designed by Muhamed, Year 6.

Mr Kokalj

PE News

In Primary PE, this new block will be dedicated to END ZONE activities. Students were introduced to a new activity which is called Plant the tree in which they will develop skills (speed, agility, spatial awareness and endurance) which they will apply in further activities in End zone games. They have also started to get familiar with an activity called Capture the flag, in which a big part next to speed and agility is also a strategy - how to outplay the opponent's team. It is a team-based activity in which every player is important.

The PE department has seen a lot of effort this week and skills learned in previous blocks applied in this week's activities.

In this block (block 7), the PE department is running a BISL community challenge, in which we as a community are trying to walk around the world. We are trying to achieve 62000 km, and every step towards this number counts. Click HERE to submit your daily steps, which can be recorded with a watch, phone etc. All parents, siblings and the rest of the family are welcomed to help us achieve this goal.

PE Department

EAL News

If someone had told me a few days ago that my EAL students will be excited to clean all the tables in the EAL classroom, I wouldn't have believed them.

However, with this week's unusual spelling practice, we accomplished the unimaginable. The students took a whiteboard marker and wrote all the spelling words for the next week on their tables. Afterwards, they cleaned after themselves and were delighted to do it.

Results:

• words practiced
• entertainment guaranteed
• tables squeaky-clean.

I call that a win-win.

Mr Siter

Slovene Foundation News

Our Years 1 and 2 have been very creative this week. They have got a special visit from Australia. Our beloved green crocodile was at the school again. The student mission was to figure out the crocodile's favourite profession.

They listed many professions which could possibly be crocodile favourites. Who knows what his favourite profession is …? Let your imagination run wild and have a look at our marvellous pieces of crocodiles placed in diverse job positions.

Odlično!

Ms Košec

Slovene Advanced News

Year 2 at Slovene Advanced language have had an amazing week with a lot of challenges regarding reading! In the past weeks, they were listeners to the teacher’s stories but this week we swapped the roles.

Students are making good progress in reading. They adore a book called Piki Jakob. And what is your favourite children’s book?

Ms Drofenik

C4C Initiative: Veggie Day

We are writing this message to inform you that there will be a Veggie Day at BISL on the 16th of June 2021.

Did you know that 72 billion land animals and over 1.2 trillion aquatic animals die for our food, around the world every year?

We want to encourage people to eat less meat to save our planet from harmful pollution from the farming of animals and the destruction of habitats.

So we are organising a Veggie Day at school for all of the BISL community and if you have a home meal please, please, don’t bring in meat! We are doing this to save animals and protect our planet! The school catering company will be providing a delicious pizza with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese OR a vegan bolognese.

Many animals sacrifice their lives for us. We are only doing this for ONE DAY, WE CAN DO IT!

Kristina Year 5B & Nathan Year 4, C4C Team

MEPI News

Our MEPI participants can now take advantage of physically meeting as a group, and it is a pleasure to see the team dynamic building.

With platforms such as Zoom, and useful online tools and apps such as Kahoot and Youtube, you can 'virtually' do anything. But a different connection is made when people can be in the same space and share and handle the same resources to complete a task. This week our students completed an individual 'Expedition Quiz' on paper!

It was so useful to be able to share ideas about the expectations of the Adventurous Journey in a natural and totally spontaneous manner. The team were also presented with the scenario of an expedition member with a badly injured ankle in a remote and exposed location.

They were given a selection of flashcards which each featured a possible course of action. The idea was to decide what action was relevant, and in which order to place the cards so that the situation was best resolved. 'Phoning home' was a 'red herring'!

Mr Irving, MEPI Coordinator

Uniform Delivery Update

As we continue to work with our uniform supplier to ensure a seamless and cost-effective delivery of your orders, we are delighted to share with you some updates on your delivery options at the checkout:

Courier £16.00

Your order will be delivered to the address of your choice – you will have to provide ID information to the courier/customs authorities to clear the goods, but no additional charges will need to be paid.

BISL Delivery £7.80 (for orders up to £100)

Your order of up to £100 will be dispatched to the school’s address and no further charges will need to be paid. We will contact you once your package has arrived, you can either pick it up from reception, or we can send it home with your child.

To place an order, click here.

BISL’s provision for students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding

We believe that learning goes beyond the classroom, further than academic successes, and we are excited to nurture and watch our students grow in a holistic learning environment.

Click here to read the full article about our spiritual, moral, social and cultural provision at BISL and how it benefits our students.

Student Appreciation Day

We will be celebrating our wonderful students on Friday June 4 and the PTA will be bringing ice cream for everyone to enjoy!

Teacher Appreciation Breakfast

We will be celebrating our fantastic teachers on Friday June 11 with the help of our students, parents and the PTA.

Parent Appreciation Day

We will be celebrating our amazing parents on Friday June 18 together with our students and teachers.

Enrichment Days

June 2nd is the deadline to register for our Enrichment Days, taking place on consecutive Saturdays, 12th and 19th June. If you haven’t already done so, 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

Uniform Donations Welcome

As we approach the end of the school year, we welcome any donations of gently used school uniform.

We will then hold a Second Hand Uniform Sale during Orientation Day on August 20.

You are welcome to drop off your donations in the designated box by reception between now and the last day of school.

PTA Committee

Dear Parents,

As we start the final block of the year, we move into our Physical Education theme! With the sun starting to shine and the warmer weather, we hope to have as many opportunities outside to finish in a happy, active and healthy fashion. The PE staff have started to share ideas, activities and challenges for the students to participate in during this week's assemblies and announcements in class. We look forward to getting involved in as many of these sporting activities as possible during the next month.

Thank you to all parents involved in the uniform sale, your donations to the school and for your support lately, it has been incredible. I also want to thank the staff for their ongoing work with the students and constant efforts to ensure that they continue to get the best education possible. I am very lucky to have such caring professionals who go above and beyond on a regular basis for the benefit of our students and their learning. Following on from our recent inspection, we have also just received our accreditation from the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) and I'll share further details of this in my next update.

We have a lot of events over the coming weeks for the students as the guidance relaxes and we can consider and plan for what is best for our community. This includes extending our clubs, appreciation days, enrichment days, summer camps and possible day trips before the end of the term.

Finally, a warm welcome to our new families who have joined BISL over the past month and have started to receive updates ahead of your new start in August. We are currently at the biggest we have ever been in our history with new enrolments and continue to grow. This is fantastic news and brings further opportunities for our students, parents and staff to all work together.

We have an exciting month ahead, lots of plans to implement in the summer (building grand opening, new building tours, new facilities, teaching resources, additional staff, coaches, clubs etc) and are already looking forward to the possibilities in the new Academic Year 2021/22!

Please read my full Update from the Principal for further details.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal