Primary News - June 14 2021

Dear Parents and Students,

We would first of all like to thank all of our students for their heartwarming messages to teachers and staff, which were displayed in the assembly hall this morning. Also, a huge thank you to the parents involved in organising a delicious breakfast for teachers and staff. Both of these were a part of the Teacher Appreciation Day and made this day extra special.

In preparations for the next school year, welcome letters have been sent out to introduce some of our Primary Class Teachers. With many new students enrolling across the school, further classes and teachers will be allocated before the start of the year. Should parents have any questions about their child’s upcoming class, they can contact the teacher directly on their email.

Information about all of our Class and Specialist Teachers can be found on our school website. All of our teachers are fully qualified, have international experience, and are fluent speakers of English. We also have specialised EAL and SEN teachers and assistants to support students on their educational journey. We are extremely proud of our excellent academic results, which reflect the high-quality provision of education at BISL.

Primary Parent-Teacher Interviews stay open for booking until 15th June for the core subjects and Slovene Advanced classes. If you are unable to book an interview with a teacher through the system, please email them directly.

School Uniform is an important part of school life and we urge parents to order items early, so that students are fully prepared for the start of their new school year. All uniform information and guidance is on our website, along with details on placing orders.

We are looking forward to the end of this school year, with excitement for the year ahead. Please continue to read the Update from the Principal for the latest guidance and news.

Have a lovely weekend,

Katarina Železinger

Head of Primary

Early Years

In Early Years, we have been busy using technology. The children have explored different types of technology in their homes. They have been using Chromebooks to explore basic features in small groups. Here are the students using the Chromebooks to play phonic games!

Year 1

This week in maths was all about data data data! Year 1s are getting good at recognising the House points collected in tallies, but can they collect their own data to make tables and bar charts? Yes!

In Topic we have been practicing note taking and researching travel destinations. Where do you think we will decide to go?

Ms Blundell

Year 2

This week, to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day, Year 2s have been creating a range of pictures, writings and notes for their teachers. We particularly loved creating oil pastel portraits and kennings about our wonderful teachers. Come and see our display, see if you can match the portraits with the kennings!

In Maths, we finished our unit on Money and next week we will recap areas from this year. In Topic we have continued our studies on holidays and explored countries around the world.

Ms Harris & Ms Miller

Year 3

This week in Year 3, the students continued with their fashion topic by exploring some embroidery techniques. The students first mastered some basic stitches before making their very own embroidery motif. Next week, the students will continue building their embroidery stitch repertoire before learning some applique techniques to add to their outfits for the upcoming fashion show.

Pictured above is a flower motif hand-stitched by Hanna in our class.

Mr Mulcahy

Year 4

Year 4 students have been conducting a lot of scientific experiments this week. They designed their own tests to check the absorbance of different types of paper, did chromatography tests, and tested pH values of different liquids. In maths, our inal unit is measurement, and students have been tasked with designing an investigation related to measurement, then presenting their results on a bar chart.

Next week, students will start presenting their own science experiments to the class and continue their forensic investigations.

Mr Bishop

Year 5

Year 5 have had an excellent week researching how renewable energy resources work and most importantly how they can improve the way we live. Students weighed up the advantages and disadvantages of these types of energy and debated the usefulness in class.

Mr Walker

Year 6

This was an exciting week for the Year 6 students, as they were working on an interesting task to do with the human body.

This time the students investigated the skeletal system and researched how bones work and why they are so important for our bodies.

The students learnt what bones are made of, where bone marrow is stored as well as proper names for the 20 most important bones in the human body. Their final task was to showcase one of the joints in our body and explain how it works in simple terms.

The picture is showing a group of students testing each other about their knowledge of the skeletal system.

Mr Kokalj

PE News

This week in primary PE, students focused on perfecting skills learnt throughout the year. Students were challenged with different activities, working on their speed, agility, spatial awareness and reaction time through Capture the Flag and Foursquare activities.

In the PE department we are really proud of our students, demonstrating all the skills they have learnt this year.

This week the PE department organised a Four Square tournament, involving Year 5 and Year 6, competing against Secondary school students. Big congratulations to our primary students who participated in the BISL Foursquare finals.

We would like to continue to invite students and their family members to participate in our Walk Around The World challenge. All you need to do is count your daily steps, add them up, and enter them HERE, into our Walk Around The World Google form. We are now working our way through Costa Rica!

PE Department

Slovene News

Years 3 and 4 have been learning about summer in three groups. Firstly, their mission was to translate a few words of summer things shown in the picture. Secondly, students were enthusiastically creating their own slide show based on summer. Thirdly, we have created our mind map with all student ideas on the board. Finally, we are ready to present our slides and we are looking forward to welcoming summer!

Ms Košec

This week was very creative for Year 2s at Slovene Advanced lessons! We have been reading stories about a lovely bear named Piki Jakob for some time now, and this week the students drew one part of a story and wrote a short description as well.

Look at these wonderful pieces of art! Odlično!

Ms Drofenik

Junior Duke News

Our Junior Duke Award participants have been working hard on completing their challenges before the end of the school year. They have led hikes, prepared first aid kits, made lovely notes for their friends, made paper creations using limited resources, planted flower seeds and many other challenges. Keep up the good work everybody!

Ms Miklavec, Junior Duke Award Coordinator

MEPI News

This weekend some of our MEPI participants will be undertaking activities linked to the Adventurous Journey section of the Award. Taja, our Silver level participant in Year 12, will be joining another Award center to complete her Adventurous Journey. We very much wish her luck, and look forward to hearing all about her experiences afterwards (It is truly a challenge!) Other Bronze level participants are taking on a full day's walk on Sunday. They will be carrying their rucksacks full of gear, and aim to complete a hike of around 14km. As they will also ascend and then descend 500m over the course of their journey, this will also make this their toughest MEPI challenge to date.

This week saw the International Award family come together online for A Global Celebration. Joined by our host Rhys Stephenson and HRH Prince Edward, we were proud to mark 100 years of the Duke of Edinburgh and to build on the extraordinary legacy he created through the Award for young people (MEPI) as they discover their infinite potential.

Mr Irving, MEPI Coordinator

Year 13 Graduation

This week saw our Class of 2021 graduate, and we would like to take this opportunity to wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Find out more about the Year 13 Graduation Ceremony and view photos here.

Mr Batson, Head of Sixth Form

C4C News

Ma Petite Planete Challenge

C4C are into completing their second week of challenges for Ma Petite Planete and going strong. Team Greta Thunberg is in the lead with a whopping 227 points. Our number one player has an incredible 108 points from completing 38 challenges. Challenges completed this week include:

• Do it Yourself +3 points

• MacGyver

Here is a great challenge that anyone can complete, all you need is a sock (or stockings), a block of wood, scissors, some nails and a hammer. Follow the steps in this video:

How to make your own eco-friendly dish sponge: Tawashi scrubber

And you're saving the world, one sponge at a time! Why not try it out this summer?

Veggie Day

Wednesday will see the BISL community go vegetarian for the day. Delicious Margarita Pizza and Vegan Bolognese will be served by Supercatering for those that order school lunch. But we need your help, please join us by preparing breakfasts and dinners that are vegetarian as well as home lunches. There are some wonderfully yummy vegetarian meals out there, here are a few ideas if you are stuck: BBC Good Food

Please help us Save the Planet and Animals by eating a little less meat.

C4C Team

Enrichment Days

Our first of two Enrichment Days is happening tomorrow (June 12th), if you’d like to register for next Saturday (June 19th), please contact Mr Damjan directly.

Parent Appreciation Day

Celebrating our parents on Friday June 18!

Join us for this outdoor event on the playground from 7:15 - 8:00, giving us an opportunity to say thank you to the wonderfully supportive group of parents we have here at BISL!

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.

You have until Monday 14th June to register, if you haven't already done so. Week 1 will be free for all BISL students who wish to attend.

Teacher Feature Series

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

• 02.06.2021 - Ms Kukovica
• 29.04.2021 - Ms 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

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

The PTA will then host 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.

Dear Parents,

Finishing last week with our Student Appreciation Day was a wonderful experience and now today having a Teacher Appreciation Breakfast is another fantastic way to show our gratitude to those in our school community. This time, to our committed, caring and hard-working staff that bring such magic and joy to our students in the classroom each day. Happy Teacher Appreciation Day! Photo galleries of these events are included in my full Update here.

Thank you to all parents and students for supporting this event, for the PTA providing the refreshments and food, and also to the students for producing such heartfelt and amazing comments for their incredible teachers to enjoy.

Next Friday we will be celebrating Parent Appreciation Day, which will be an outdoor event on the playground from 7:15 - 8:00, giving us an opportunity to say thank you to the wonderfully supportive group of parents we have here at BISL. I hope you can join us.

Today, you will have received a welcome letter from the teachers who will be leading the classes for next year. We will have further letters sent out as we split and create more classes over the coming weeks as more families join the school. An exciting time to find out about your teacher for next year and a quick write up to introduce themselves, to include key dates and contact information.

As mentioned last week, the last day of term is Thursday 24th June and this will, as always, be a 12.00pm pick up for all students. It will also be a dress down day (staff and students wearing House colours) as it is the last day of the year.

I look forward to playing sports, team building with the students and enjoying our first of two Saturday Enrichment Days tomorrow!

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

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal