Primary News - February 1 2021

To ensure a smooth transition for returning classes to the school building, teachers will be spending the first week talking to students about safe interaction, keeping healthy and reviewing the school routines. Should parents have any questions or concerns regarding their child’s adjustment, please contact the Class Teacher.

We will continue to follow the guidelines from the Ministry of Education. We ask parents to continue to read the weekly Updates from the Principal and the guidance article on the website BISL January 2021 Reopening Procedure Guidance.

All teachers teaching students onsite have been tested and will undergo continued testing as per national guidelines. If parents would also like to get tested for peace of mind and to help ensure the safety of our school community, there is an opportunity to get a quick test at Gospodarsko razstavišče, hall A - Dunajska cesta 18, 1000 Ljubljana, Tuesday to Friday, between 11.00 and 15.00, with reception until 13.30. Please follow this link below for updated information.

With kind wishes for the weekend,

Katarina Železinger

Head of Primary

Early Years

In Early Years we have continued to explore traditional tales. Reception have begun to write parts of the story after practising writing the tricky words on stickers which were found everywhere!

Nursery have been exploring textures and strange lands for fairytales and playing with unicorns with slime and spaghetti!

Ms Rosa

Year 1

This week in Maths Year One have been competing to build 3D shapes. Who can copy names and build the 3D shape without any help? We can!

In Topic this week we have continued filming 'A Dragon Tale' Story from Topic and got creative to illustrate the tale with collage paper. We love a bit of creative mess!

Ms Blundell

Year 2

Our Year 2s are having a fantastic time back in the building! In Maths they are creating arrays and using them to write multiplication and division problems.

In Topic they are looking at the 7 characteristics of living things and creating labeled pictures of different living things.

Ms Harris & Ms Miller

Year 3

Year 3 were back in school this week and it was really great to see everybody again after being on distance learning for such a long time. The students to their credit took up right where they left off and continued to shine as they had done online.

In Topic, this week the students put their research and presentation skills to the test by producing a PowerPoint presentation on The Great Pyramids of Giza. It was great to see the variety and innovation right across the class in their design and application of new IT tricks learned.

Also in English, the students delved further into their studies of play scripts, comparing the features such text to narratives of the same story. The students also wrote a review of a live performance of Aesop's fable 'The Lion and the Mouse' and next week will write a play of their very own.

While finally in Maths, the students continued their studies of Multiplication and Division by applying their skills to scaling problems and figuring out how many ways a group of objects can be arranged.

Thank you to all of those in the Year 3 community for helping make the transition back to school a smooth one and we look forward to another full week of live teaching in the building next week.

Mr Mulcahy

Year 4

Thursday saw the much-anticipated return of the year four students to live lessons in the classroom. The energy they came in with, accompanied by their glorious smiles, was proof that this day has been long-awaited. They all agreed that, despite the definite success of the zoom lessons, it was far better to be back in the classroom amongst friends and the teacher. Let’s hope that everybody else can return to school in the not too distant future.

The first project we will be doing back in school is to design an eco-friendly tourist resort. Children watched a documentary by the famous David Attenborough seeing how the human race and our ever-growing population has catastrophically impacted the environment and all the species on earth within a single lifetime. Our students realize how important it is that the world come together to change their mentality and actions before it is too late so that they have a future ahead of them similar in quality to what we did in our childhood.

They will be using their new-found knowledge to design a resort which has a minimum, or in the best-case scenario, even a positive impact on the natural environment around them.

I look forward to sharing some of the projects in the future newsletters.

Mr Bishop

Year 5A

This week Y5 have been researching their favourite author in preparation for writing a short Biography. All students used a class list of questions to research each author's life in and outside their career. It was really interesting to see such a wide variety of authors being chosen from all around the world. The class then used an in-depth rubric to check against their work to ensure high marks.

Mr Walker

Year 5B

ELECTION TIME

In the new country of 5B Beaver Land, we have discovered that we are without a ruling Government. Our voters of students, pensioners, young families and businessmen asked the potential candidates for what they want to be changed or improved in Beaver Land. Year 5 listened carefully to the voice recordings and took notes of the changes people want. Next week, we will see the political parties design their own policies thinking about goals, rules and rewards (extrinsic and intrinsic). To begin, the students were put into groups of 3 and designed/or chose their own political party names, logos, mascots, colours and one party - even a theme song. We look forward to the election campaigns of the following parties:

THE PEOPLE'S DECISION PARTY

This party is all about the people, their slogan says it all - "We are the people's decision, so we respect your opinion." They are all about trust and loyalty with a dog as their mascot (Man's best friend) and the colour blue (which also means wisdom) saying it all.

This party makes me think whatever they promise they will do so carefully and in my best interests.

NEL PARTY

This party is represented by the colour white, for discipline and concentration with a goat as a mascot, who eats 4 leaf clovers and stands for luck. Their party members have the letters NEL in the beginning of their names, but they have also decided that N stands for NATURE, E for ELECTION and L for LOYALTY. They have an extremely catchy theme song, which is still ringing in my ears and leaning me towards a vote.

PHR PARTY

People Have Rights Party is all about giving power to the people and strength. Their Logo shares this viewpoint; an elephant, an animal of strength holding up the world for all to see. They also use the Dolphin as their mascot, showing people that even through hard times when you are floating and you are trying not to sink, you are still floating, so times are better than they seem. Red represents wealth and they seem to be promising that to the voters. With wealth and strength, and power to the people, it seems a party just ready to take over.

Tune in next week, to see which party won the votes of Year 5 and whether or not they were able to follow through with their policies.

Mrs Charlesworth

Year 6

This week the Year 6 students completed their long-awaited project! In this assignment, they had the opportunity to get engaged in a creative, collaborative problem-solving challenge. It was designed to unite students to build a better world with Minecraft! Some students decided to design a public space for people of Ljubljana to use, keeping in mind the local culture and ecosystem as well as the needs of various people that will use the space.

Another favourite pick was to build a more sustainable version of our school. The students had to consider a holistic definition of sustainability, which involved rethinking energy system, recycling, transportation, and how nature plays a role.

One group decided to design a future medical facility capable of handling a viral outbreak. They focused on architecture, design, systems and procedures.

So much effort and time went into this project and we have thoroughly enjoyed the presentations. Here are some pictures of the final builds.

Mr Kokalj

PE News

The PE Department is delighted that the additional cohorts in Primary are back in school.

In Year 1, students have revised their gained skills of ball throwing and catching, and practised their accuracy skills. Students have had a task of bowling, trying to be as accurate and precise as possible while trying to hit pins with a tennis ball. They have also learned about spatial awareness and balance, doing various activities practising and focusing on these two skills.

Year 2 have started the week with distance learning but returned to school on Tuesday, so students were able to do PE in school. Students were practising skills learned whilst learning at home, underhand and overhand throwing and catching with a ball. They also practised the basic activity of handball, following the proper rules of the activity.

Years 3 and 4 have returned to school on Wednesday and Thursday. They have also started a week with distance learning, continuing focusing on well-being and fitness, following a different styles training and ball coordination skills. The PE Department is delighted to see Year 3 and 4 in school, having PE on the timetable on a Monday and Wednesday respectively.

Years 5 and 6 are continuing with distance learning, and also continuing working on their presentation of a favourite sport and handball / basketball rules while focusing on active workout and stretching at the start of their lesson. We can't wait for their presentation week, to see the students presenting their sport and handball / basketball rules.

Overall, a very successful and positive week for PE, seeing more students back in school.

The PE Department would also like to share other challenges we are currently doing

• Keep up with the student Click here
• PE Weekly challenge Click here
  

The PE Department's healthy recipe for this week is:

• Healthy Recipe

PE Department

Slovene News

Yupiiii, Year 2 is back in school! Our Slovene Foundation group and crocodile Sydney were extremely happy to see each other as you can see on the picture above.

Today we reviewed all we have been learning in the last few weeks. The lesson was very dynamic, from searching for particular colours in the classroom to picking the toys from the secret bag and naming them. Students were enjoying the activities a lot. They were especially highly motivated in the game Kje je medved? V, na, ob, za …

Odlično učenci!

Ms Košec

Year 5 and 6 at Slovene Advanced lessons are finishing their thoughts about the film and story named Sreča na vrvici. After a discussion about characters, students had to answer questions and write their own ending of the story. What an imagination!

Ms Drofenik

EAL News

The EAL department was thrilled to see the return of some of our younger students to school. We were finally able to do some real group work, playing battleships in order to practice the have got questions and answers.

Probably one of the most challenging and exciting lessons of this year, was the moment, when we already had a part of our group back in school, while one of the students joined us online. However, with the passion and commitment of our students, the obstacle was deemed almost irrelevant.

Our phonics sound of the week was ow and it was interesting to see how the brown cow in a gown with a crown could sing with an owl, a howl and a growl in the town.

Mr Siter

MEPI News

The Nutrition Room was witness to a rarely seen cooking session this week. MEPI Participants 'Zoomed-in' for a 'what's hot and what's not, do and don'ts' camping stove demonstration. We looked at solid-fuel stoves, methylated spirits burners, and a range of gas-powered offerings.

The recommendation to participants was to utilise the Trangia stove with gas burner option, as pots and pans are included in a very neat, quality package, that is lightweight and easy to pack in a rucksack. An additional compact gas burner, ensures that a decent hot dinner can be prepared in one session. (The dish that was demonstrated was fish in a vegetable and tomato sauce with pasta, accompanied by a proper mug of English tea.)

Certain safety considerations were also addressed, such as NEVER to cook inside your tent, whatever the weather. (Anyone who has ever seen a small tent catch fire will know just how frighteningly quickly it is consumed!) The general operation of each stove was covered.

It's important not only to know how to assemble the stove, but how to safely light, use, and pack it away without receiving any burns. Once again, it was a pleasure to 'tick-off' another aspect of the expedition training in the ORB.

Mr Irving, MEPI Coordinator

Junior Duke Awards

We are delighted to announce our participation in the Junior Duke Awards! These are very similar to the internationally renowned Duke of Edinburgh's International Award (known here in Slovenia as MEPI), but for primary school aged children.

The Mini and Junior Duke focus on life skills and are progressive, becoming more challenging each year. These awards are not part of our school curriculum but are meant to be completed independently by students out of school time to enhance their learning. Students from Year 1 to Year 6 will have the opportunity to participate in the programme. We have launched a pilot group of the programme this year and invite you to follow our adventures in the upcoming months - watch this space!

Parent Survey

We would like your support in completing our 2020/21 Parent Survey, which will provide us with important feedback for us to continue to improve your child’s experience at our school. You will have received the link to the survey via email.

The survey will be closing soon, thank you to those who have already taken the time to complete this survey, it is very much appreciated.

Uniform Update

With the changes due to Brexit in the UK, please see below how this affects your purchases through the uniform shop. Prices will be amended on the website accordingly to endeavour to offset further charges.

Teacher Feature

In celebration of our Languages block, this week’s Teacher Feature introduces Ms Košec, our Head of Modern Foreign Languages and Slovene Teacher.

Read Ms Košec’s Teacher Feature here.

Dear Parents,

Thank you to all parents who have filled in the annual Parent Survey. I really appreciate your feedback and as the survey will close soon, I look forward to us analysing the results and sharing them out to parents. You will have received the link to the survey in your inboxes already. This survey enables me to pass on your gratitude to the staff mentioned in your comments, your praise for teachers and also helps to give us areas we can continue to work on and develop as a school. All comments are warmly received and valued, thank you.

Please check our BISL reopening procedures for any FAQs that you may have about the transition back into school.

Further information of the plan for our returning classes will be emailed to parents individually and we will continue to review this provision daily. This will involve our usual high standards of hygiene, health and safety guidance, and the use of small class sizes.

All teachers will be required to wear masks in the classroom.

At BISL, we are following the guidance to test all teachers (showing a negative test) before they teach on site and will continue to do so on a regular weekly basis or until guidance changes.

On site learning will continue on Monday for those year groups that have safely transitioned back to the building this week. As a private school, our teachers working with children on site will be tested on Monday afternoon, after the school day is concluded, in line with guidance from the government. Many of our staff are at home, teaching their year groups through remote learning, and will continue to do so until those year groups can safely transition back on site.

Please read my full Update from the Principal here.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

February

March