Secondary News - April 26 2021

Block 6 Week 3

This week the Science team continued to promote all things Science in their Secondary assembly. Students were challenged to recognise the cross-curricular links that all subjects have with the topics they are learning about in Science. Students also discussed famous scientists who have influenced the world with their discoveries. Scientists such as Newton, Mendel, Faraday and Einstein have all impacted the Science we learn today and many subjects beyond.

Additionally, this week, students in Years 11, 12 and 13 completed their final, fully timetabled lessons of the year, ready to have a revision and study week next week. Students will use this time to fully prepare for their final examinations in May. We wish all students all the best in their preparations.

Another highlight this week was the KS3 students participated in the Kangaroo Mathematics competition. This is completed on the same day and time by students all over the world. We look forward to seeing the results of this over the next few weeks. Well done to all.

A reminder that activities began this week after school. Students are encouraged to continue tosign up for the coming weeks. Please contact the teachers directly to be added to the list.

As the weather heats up, just a reminder to all families that we have the BISL summer polo available from theuniform shop for purchase. Students are also able to purchase the short sleeve, formal shirt that they can wear with their tie as an alternative to the long sleeve version. Should students opt for the more casual BISL polo, they are not required to wear the tie.

I wish everyone a lovely weekend, please read the latest Principal’s Update and hopefully enjoy some warm weather and sunshine.

Ms. Andronikos - Head of Secondary

As of this week study leave for the A Level , AS Level and IGCSE Level students has finally begun, meaning that this week has seen our last remaining days in school of the academic year 2020-2021. We would like to firstly congratulate every student for showing outstanding work throughout this year to the fullest extent. Every student has successfully managed and achieved excellence during this tough time for the past few months, and more importantly kept safe.

Secondly, we would like to acknowledge every teacher at BISL for their hard work during this year, providing help, guidance and efforts to each student successfully whether during quarantine (Online) or in school (On Site). We’d also like to extend a special thanks to SLT and Mr Batson, as we’re sure managing examinations and school events; with COVID, must have been difficult. Finally, we would like to wish everyone good luck for the remainder of the year as summer is right around the corner.

As this is the last year of secondary school for myself and my fellow classmates in Year 13, we would like to bid farewell and good luck to every person at school that has joined me on this year's journey. Which we can say was a tough one. Most importantly, we all made it through, and this year's summer holidays will definitely be well-earned!

Micky and Daniel, Head Girl and Head Boy

This week we say a temporary goodbye to our Year 11, 12 and 13 cohorts as they begin their study leave ahead of their final assessments. We wish them all the best in their preparations, revisions and of course the Year 11, 12 and 13 students are more than welcome to come into school and get those vital last minute revision sessions from their subject teachers during their study leave week.

Final assessments will then begin on May 3rd and will continue until May 14th. Teachers will use these final assessments, in combination with evidence gathered during the year to determine a grade which will be submitted to CAIE and AQA. So students should make the most of their study leave and do the very best they can in their final assessments.

A special mention must go to our Year 13 cohort who have had their very last lessons at BISL during this past week. Some of the students in this year group have been with us from the start of the school. Special recognition must go to the following students:

And to those students who only joined our sixth form recently, we very much hope you have enjoyed your time with us, learned some interesting things outside of your regular studies along the way, made friends for life and developed as a person.

Good luck to you all.

Mr Batson, Head of Sixth Form

Earlier this week our prefects had a final meeting with the Head Boy and Girl about a variety of ideas. We are excited to put in action some of the great suggestions the students came up with, especially the teachers vs. students sports events. We nominate Mr. Walton to be in goal for the teachers vs. football match.

In the Science department, we would like to celebrate your excellent engagement with this block's challenges. We have received many correct responses to the weekly riddle and cross-curricular activity from Monday's assembly. The response to the second-hand clothes collection was also fantastic - there was no more space for bags left at the reception so we had to move them! Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Some students also went the extra mile. Jerry from YEAR 10 created a rocket. For his launch, his perseverance, unfortunately, did not pay off.

Valentin from Year 7 was tracking how much waste his family produced in a week and he was then challenged to reduce it this week. Challenge accepted!

The Year 10s this week were thrilled to participate in an experiment with the famous Van der Graaf generator. We can see Felix and Jasmina here demonstrating the effects of it to the rest of the class, showing how their charged hairs repelled each other.

Year 7 looked at the famous story by H G Wells called the War of the Worlds and the countless variations of other stories involving Martians invading the Earth. We also completed a number of exercises based on the extract from the Novel as can be seen in Luka from 7A.

Year 8 examined adjectives of personality and physical characteristics. We learnt about body language and how we automatically assess people when we first see them. We wrote detailed descriptions of our classmates and the teacher read them anonymously and we had to guess who was being described.

Year 9: This week in year 9 both classes have been studying the Scottish King Macbeth. 9a are on the cusp of finishing the play, with students having enjoyed the play. With many students commenting on his ambition...hopefully not getting any ideas to kill any kings!

Whilst 9b are just starting act 2 and have reached the part where Macbeth kills the king. Students creatively analysed the power dynamics between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Finally this week 9b designed and started a halldisplay reflecting the murder of Duncan, which will be finished on Monday.

Keep an eye out on the top floor outside the English room for a student handmade display!

Year 10: Have continued exploring language paper 1, with magazine and article writing this week. Students wrote wonderful persuasive magazine articles about cycling. Students also wrote perspective articles, from the viewpoint of a jungle guide. Some students got creative and added tigers.

In their double lesson on Thursday, students go to unleash their creative side in small groups writing either a magazine article, speech or letter about something they are interested in. They could do a front cover, decorate it etc. The most important thing was for students to be passionate about what they were writing about.

Julia, Lara and Aidan worked independently on their group magazine, while Uma and Enja decided to work on a recipe magazine, focusing on turkey cakes and focusing on animal cruelty, an area they feel passionate about. They created some eye catching designs for their magazine article, and practised concise writing. Dominik and Stavr also embraced their creativity and made teamwork look so easy!

Year 11: Have continued to revise this week and consolidate their existing knowledge in both language and literature. This has been a mixture of independent revision and teacher led revision. A huge well done to all students for their effort this academic year so far, and especially the last week.

Year 12 Language: We have been working on composition writing. Students have been tackling a wide range of texts from narratives to descriptives. They have also been tackling texts which have been written for a specific audience such as review writing and discursive writing.

Year 13 Literature: A huge well done to our year 13 literature students who have finished their entire course and sat their final assessment. Well done Lana and Eva.

Book of the Week: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

A book that is not only well written, but one that managed to challenge the norm in its time. It retells history from the African perspective and has inspired so many writers around the world to date. It is a classic, with excellent storytelling that just sparks the imagination. It opens up the young mind to all the places that only a well-told story can.

Ms. O’Regan, Mr. Kirwan and Mr. Eve - English Department

Business Project News: The Business Studies students have completed a month long cross years market research project. Year 10 teams were led and guided by Sixth Formers (who study business AS or A2) who acted as their project managers, with a variety of different leadership styles i.e. laissez-faire management.

The teams were only given a subject area and were left to assign their own research question, decide how they would research it, do the research themselves, then write a research report and present their research findings to the class. Here we can see our Year 10 teams present those findings and their research topics.

Rosemarijn’s team (Julia, Lara and Stavr) did particularly well, getting 100% and thorough research on what students thought about school lunches and how to make them even better. They collected lots of photographic evidence throughout the last block and this block to aid their research.

Year 12 Economics: Chloe and Emma were revising PPCs and aggregate demand, and they presented this and taught this to Ms. O’Regan as a revision technique.

Year 12 Business: Well done to everyone who is working at target grade, currently students are revising hard for their final exams, and doing lots of past papers.

Year 13 Economics: Are revising hard for their upcoming final assessment. A special mention to Dmitry who has worked especially hard throughout this term.

Year 13 Business: We have been revising strategy, and practising past questions. Students have been fine tuning their examination skills including time management. Well done to Eva and Arseney for working so well this week.

Mr. Dalton - Business and Economics Teacher

KS3 students were challenged to demonstrate their logical thinking skills in the Mathematics Kangaroo competition. Well done to all! In preparations for their upcoming Block 6 quiz, the students worked in groups to complete various activities, the Escape room challenge being one of them. As a reminder, the quiz will cover Chapters 13 to 18.

Year 10 students learnt about vectors, translations, and rotations and tested their vocabulary in a Pictionary challenge.

Year 11, 12, and 13 students continue their preparations for exams at home. Do not hesitate to contact your Mathematics teacher if you need assistance and good luck on your exams!

The answers for the last Maths question of the week is: 96.

Thank you for all submitted answers and congratulations to Samuel from 7B who guessed correctly and received 5 house points. Well done!

Maths question of this week is:

Students who solve the questions send the answer to my email by Wednesday 28th April. Good luck!

Ms Zupanc, Mathematics Teacher

Year 8 have been revising typical sights and buildings across Ljubljana such as Tromostovje, Tivoli Park, Prešernov trg, Ljubljanski grad … We realised that our Ljubljana is a very pretty place to live in.

Students have been focusing on common Slovene words and phrases we use in a particular shop. Firstly, they were guessing in which shops they could buy random things. Secondly, they were reading dialogues which take place in different types of shops. They are now ready to use the most common Slovene words when buying things on the shopping streets of Ljubljana. Srečno!

Ms Košec, Slovene Teacher

If you read, you can become anything you want! Year 9s in Slovene Advanced lessons are improving their reading skills with one of the greatest books for teenagers called Gimnazijec written by Igor Karlovšek. Students are analysing the book in detail, as a book evaluation awaits them very soon.

Ms Drofenik - Slovene Teacher

This week in PE, secondary students experienced challenging ladder skill drill workouts and reviewed the volleyball dig technique. The PE department would like to remind students next week will include skill assessments. The PE department also would like to continue to invite students to sign up for after-school activities relating to health and well-being. This week in Multi-sport, the Norwegian game of Basse was introduced. Other secondary after-school PE-related clubs include the running club and basketball club.

Geography:

This block, Year 7 will be looking at Africa and learning more about this complex and diverse continent. We will be challenging our own preconceptions of what Africa is like and better situate its geography globally. This week, 7A and 7B completed a continent card sort activity, ranking the continents against different criteria, such as population, area size, number of countries and wealth as well as mapping out Africa’s biomes and levels of development.

Year 9 have been exploring the various regions of the world and understanding the factors that determine what defines a region. Currently 9A and 9B are working on posters for different regions that show the human, physical and environmental geography of these different places.

Year 11 have finished the IGCSE geography syllabus and are now refreshing their map skills, an important component of Paper 2.

Mr Bradley, Head of Humanities

Global Perspectives:

In Global Perspectives, Year 10 have finished their individual research reports. These were about the impact of water scarcity on different countries around the world and the effect of social media on human interaction.

Year 11 have finished up their last piece of coursework and attention now switches to revising for their IGCSE exam in May.

Mr Rogers, Humanities Department

This block Years 7 and 8 are currently working on beepbox to compose motifs for computer game characters

Year 9 are getting into forming their own bands, covering music from famous musicians. Some students are pushing themselves to learn new instruments and develop new skills on the instruments they can already play, as well as developing their teamwork skills.

Ms Kenealy, Head of Performing Arts

A HUGE amount of donations have already been received in response to our clothing drive - an equally HUGE thank you to everyone for your contributions.

If you haven’t had time to do so yet, you still have the weekend to sort through old clothes, shoes, toys and books and drop them off at school by Tuesday 27th April.

We welcome Daša Jakop to the BISL team. Daša is currently completing a Master's study course in Elementary Education. As part of her teacher internship, Daša has been actively involved in different curricular and extracurricular activities at primary schools in Norway and Slovenia. She will now support students across primary as Assistant Teacher and is excited to join our school.

Following on from the success of our Enrichment Saturdays at the beginning of the academic year, we are offering a further 2 Days of Free Saturday School (occurring on consecutive Saturdays, 12th and 19th June) for BISL students, which will include a range of supervised activities from a published calendar so that our students can have further opportunities to enjoy learning together.

To register for these Enrichment Days, please complete the sign-up form here.

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.

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

• 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

International Days Update

More information about our upcoming International Days can be found here.

BISL PTA Committee

Dear Parents,

It has been yet another busy week here at BISL, and I am delighted to share news of the installation of a public announcement system throughout our current and new building. This opens up many possibilities with safety and student learning, and will give us an excellent opportunity for the following:

• Various 'safety' tones to cover fire drills, lockdown etc.
• Safety announcements and requests.
• Student Radio.
• Student announcements and 'learning' purposes.
• Play various audio files across the buildings, e.g. during events etc.

Personally, I have been looking forward to this new addition, and I cannot wait for us to start using the system soon.

For the first time in the school’s history, a School Nurse will also be joining our staff team in August. They will be based in school every day, and are a welcome addition, as the safety and well-being of our students remains our top priority.

As we plan ahead for the 2021-22 academic year, you will have received an email from me earlier today regarding our Schedule of Fees for next year, and our school calendar is already available online. I hope to see our outstanding school grow further in the coming years and thank you for your continued collaboration and support, which is integral in making BISL the vibrant and inclusive place it is today.

There is still so much for us to look forward to before the summer, please read my full Update from the Principal here for details.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal