Primary News - Nov 8 2021

Dear Parents and Students,

Last Friday’s Halloween celebrations were fantastic, with all students and staff dressing up in different costumes. The Primary Student Council organised fun activities for students to enjoy on the day. Thank you to all the parents involved in classroom activities and decorations around the school, which created the magical atmosphere.

This week, there have been lots of different events, from Story Time in the Library, to student performances and displays of work, which celebrate their learning at the end of this Block. Students reviewed and reflected back on their learning and achievements so far. On Wednesday, 3rd November, we commemorated our Founder Jeremy Hibbins. As part of this, annual Founder’s Awards are given out to selected students for their outstanding contributions and achievements.

In PSHE this week, students talked about what makes them feel safe (or not safe) and what they can do to keep safe. Hygiene and keeping healthy have continued to be important topics of this week, especially as we head into a season of colds and flues. House points have been collected and congratulations go to Hessonite as the Block 2 House Winners.

Throughout the Block, students have been involved in various projects and activities related to Humanities subjects. A Poppy display has been created using artwork from all students to honour Remembrance Day on 11th November.

We will continue to monitor the COVID situation in the coming week and we hope to be back in school as normal. Please continue to check the News section and read the latest Update from the Principal. Also, check that you and your child have access to the online learning platform - Canvas (Y1-Y6) and Tapestry (Early Years). If you have any questions about this, please contact your child’s class teacher.

We wish you a relaxing and safe break.

Kind regards,

Katarina Železinger

Head of Primary

Early Years

This week the EY students were learning about emergency vehicles and which people help us in case of emergency. The children had fun creating stories in which they role-played as firemen, police, and ambulance services in our emergency services role-playing game. They were expanding their vocabulary by building descriptive words while learning who to call and what to say in case of a real-life emergency.

Our mathematical focus was on 2D and 3D shapes, where children experimented with the position of 2D shapes to create their favourite transportation methods.

Ms Kukovica

Year 1

To finish off our Topic about Toys, we are having a Teddy Bear picnic! We have written invitations for our teddy bears and are very excited to have such a special day with our toys.

We wrote poems using rhyming words and have learned how to describe 3D shapes using vocabulary such as edges, faces and vertices.

Ms Miklavec

Year 2

It has been another great week in Year 2 and a fantastic end to the block. We have been enjoying writing our stories in English this week, where students have been using a range of adjectives to describe their characters and settings in detail. In Topic this week we have been learning about growth mindset and the students have been creating some growth mindset statements about themselves. Block 2 has been a fantastic block in Year 2, where we have been learning and exploring together. Next block we have celebrations for the next topic. Get ready for Year 2's exciting celebrations.

Ms Harris & Mrs Bradley

Year 3A

Year 3A enjoyed hearing 'Winnie the Witch' and 'The World Worst Children' tales in the Library this week, read by three budding storytellers from year 9.

Thank you Leeloo, Monica and Izzie for reading this week.

Ms Blundell

Year 3B

The Year 3B class enjoyed a presentation made by a senior student. Her mission was to educate the younger students about the danger sugar represents in our daily lives. The students were also given a task to write a detailed healthy meal plan for an entire day.

We are very excited about these multigenerational collaborations in BISL as they offer tremendous complementary potential within our school.

Mr Kokalj

Year 4

WHAT'S THE TIME MR WOLF?

Year 4 have spent the past week practising telling the time, am and pm, to the nearest minute on both analogue and digital clocks; converting between analogue and digital clocks.

As you can see from the photos, they have had a blast doing it.

Mrs Charlesworth

Year 5

This week the children learnt about remembrance day and commemorated this in class by making poppies and having a minute silence. This is very special and everyone was very respectful. All week the children focused on performance poetry in preparation for their assembly - I am sure you will agree they did a fantastic job at sharing their poems.

In topic, we finished our theme by taking part in a quiz for our exit point, all the children enjoyed this very much. I hope everyone has a very relaxing block break.

Ms Thomas

Year 6

Year 6 students are concluding the unit on ancient cultures, and we learnt about the ancient Kingdom of Benin this week. Did you know that the ancient city of Benin, also known as Edo, once contained over 16,000 km of walls and covered an area of over 6,500 square kilometres!

Despite this, there is only a single building which is left standing today! Students also completed their poetry unit, and I have included one for your reading pleasure. This one was written to celebrate Halloween.

Mr Bishop

PE

This week during primary PE, we concluded our volleyball unit. Students were tasked with being able to ‘serve, rally & score’ when playing volleyball, using the three key fundamental skills of ‘dig, set & spike’.

Students also looked at the key movement patterns when working as a team on the court and the importance of communication and spatial awareness when playing volleyball.

PE Department

Slovene

Years 1 and 2 have been learning about rooms of the house and furniture during the last week of Block 2. Students enjoyed a range of activities to gain new vocabulary. They especially enjoyed a moving game: Res je, ni res and showed their enthusiasm for learning a foreign language. Consequently, they gained lots of house points on their own and as a part of the group.

Keep up the motivation and optimism as always!

Slovene Department

Slovene Advanced

As we mentioned in one of the previous newsletters, Year 5 and 6 students at Slovene Advanced lessons have been reading a book called Kosovirja na leteči žlici.

Reading is a great way to expand vocabulary and express their own opinion about a book. Their final task this week was to draw a piece of art related to the story. Look at these amazing masterpieces!

Ms Drofenik

Founder’s Day

Every year on November 3, as a school we celebrate Founder's Day, in honour of our late founder, Mr Jeremy P. Hibbins - an inspiration to colleagues, students and families, with unwavering energy and passion for education.

The recipients of this year’s Founder's Awards are as follows:

• Academic Award - Chloe Z. Year 13

• Community Award - Irmak T. Year 12

• Music Award - Maria N. Year 10A

Sixth Form News

At the end of October, our Sixth Formers had a celebratory morning as they were presented with their IGCSE and AS Level results certificates from their June 2021 examination series.

Take a look here.

MEPI News

Do you happen to have any books at home, which you don't read anymore, enjoy or are taking up a lot of space in your home?

This is your chance to not only replace some of those old books with new ones from your classmates, but also expand the collection of books within our school library by giving back to the community.

On December 3rd, Book and Barter - A book exchange and donation event initiated by the MEPI programme and led by Taja and Chloe from Sixth Form - will be taking place and open for students to pick up new books and enrich their knowledge on new topics, by exchanging and/or donating books

You’ll find more information and details here.

Taja & Chloe, Sixth Form

Dear Parents,

We had an amazing Halloween celebration last Friday at school and it was great to see staff, students and parents dressed up together and making this a day of fun, enjoyment and activities. Many of the pictures have been shared out on social media and I've also included some in my update. Thank you to all parents who must have spent a long time preparing costumes and helping your children get ready for the day, I must say it was well worth it and this event gets better and better each year!

This has been a block packed with events, trips and student projects across the entire school. Thank you to all staff for their efforts and extra time in creating such wonderful opportunities for our students.

Earlier this week we have celebrated Founder's Day and shared it with all students in the school. It is an important annual event at BISL and one that we hold dear to us and cherish. In the past few years we have had class presentations, assemblies, created a memorial garden, planted a tree dedicated to Jeremy and continue the tradition of the Founder's Awards in lasting memory of him.

We also have held our Remembrance Day commemoration today, which has seen some incredible art work, poetry and presentations produced by our students. This is another opportunity for students to learn about, remember, respect and celebrate the lives of those impacted by conflict and families who serve in the armed forces.

I have included the COVID guidance in my update as we continue to monitor the number of daily cases and the situation in Slovenia. If any decisions are made, we will communicate out to all parents together and we are ready for any possible transition to online learning if this occurs. Thank you to all teachers in advance for the work they have put in preparing resources, activities and online pages for students ahead of time. We continue to plan, but hope for the best.

Please read my full Update from the Principal here.

I wish everyone a safe and relaxing block break ahead and look forward to another successful Block 3!

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton, Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website.