Secondary News - Oct 18 2021

Block 2 Week 2

It is starting to feel very spooky in the building currently with the PTA doing a fantastic job of hanging Halloween decorations around the building. We are preparing to celebrate Halloween at the end of the month, and the mood has been set with a lot of pumpkin, ghost and spider decorations. Thank you to the PTA volunteers for setting this up for students.

Another event we are also preparing for is Remembrance Day. There are poppies available from reception each morning and families can send a small donation to the Royal British Legion via their website if they wish. The Royal British Legion has been supporting service men and women, veterans, and their families since 1921.

As the year progresses, we are very fortunate to have so much of our provision set up via the Canvas platform. Students should ensure they have all subjects there and accessible for revision purposes. Assessments are fast approaching and having a study routine is key. Teachers post homework for students via the digital diary and parents can access this at any time. Form tutors have sent out the links to these at the start of the year and should parents have any questions regarding this, they are encouraged to contact the Form tutors directly. Further support for revision and examination strategies can be foundhere.

This week students in Secondary were excited to begin trialling the use of the new canteen. We are very excited to be able to use this again, and especially see the end to the plastic packaging. From next week, students will be able to enjoy lunches as normal again. I know that the students have been very excited for this, and we hope that they enjoy the new canteen. I would like to thank the Sixth Form students particularly for their support, as they have assisted in guiding students to the canteen this week sensibly. They have also been volunteering their time all over the school with many different projects, supporting and assisting teachers most valuably. A big thank you to the Sixth Form students for their contributions so far.

Lastly, the Secondary held a wonderful event for parents to ‘Meet the Form Tutors’. After seven school weeks, it was a lovely event halfway through the term to share feedback regarding how all students are settling into the year generally. Subject interviews with all teachers will be hosted at the end of the term as normal, however, it was a great opportunity for Form Tutors to meet and share pastoral information with parents. Thank you to all the parents who attended this event, and to the Form Tutors for hosting it.

Please be sure to read the latest Update from the Principal and I wish all families a lovely weekend.

Stephanie Andronikos

Head of Secondary

I would like to give you an update on the activities of our Sixth Form since the start of this academic year.

Examination results

First and foremost, I should mention the excellent results for 2021. The current Year 12 and 13s achieved some of the highest results we have ever seen at BISL with their respective IGCSE and AS Level grades - we are looking forward to excellent results again next year.

Academics

As well as Chloe in Year 13 taking the AS level Further Mathematics examination in November and the TMUA Mathematics admissions test which is required for her entrance to the London School of Economics, our Year 13 Mathematics students, Taja, Emma and Rosemarijn, will also be entering the Senior Mathematics Challenge alongside Chloe as organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. We aim to increase the amount of competitions the students are entering following Chloe's success last year when she achieved a distinction in the Euclid International Mathematics Competition.

Duties

You may have already seen our Sixth Form students on the stairs at the end of break and lunch time. They are there to make sure that their younger peers are walking in an orderly and safe manner up and down the stairs. With the canteen reopened, the Sixth Form will be expanding their duties into that area as well.

Volunteering

Our Sixth Form students have been very active around the school in terms of volunteering - whether this be cutting out shapes and words for use in primary classes, being an extra pair of hands in Early Years or laminating in secondary, our Sixth Form students have been keeping busy in their non-contact periods. Here are a few highlights since the start of term:

• Supporting literacy in Year 2 - Rosemarijn, Imrak, Wiktoria and Hebe

• Reading with Year 1 - Nikolay

• Helping out in lessons with Year 3A - Katya and Julia

• Making phonics resources for Year 2s - Ewa and Hebe

• Organising books in the library - Imrak, Wiktoria, Lars and Charlotte

• Assisting with primary duties/supervising children - Nikolay

• Organising workbooks, reading with students and helping students keep their topic books tidy in Year 3 - Hebe, Ewa and Tennyson

BLOCK 2: HUMANITIES BLOCK

Humanities News:

This week, Year 7 went on a great trip to Ljubljana Castle to learn about its history and how it developed into the castle we see today.

They took the bus to the centre and then walked to the bottom of the funicular - the students were happy they did not need to walk up the hill! Once at the top they were met by their tour guide who took the students outside the castle walls to the first known point of use - the Roman well which is 2000 years old.

They then met a Roman Priestess and a Centurion!

After this, they travelled through time, meeting various characters who were pivotal in the development of the castle, including Saint George and King Frederick III. After a climb up the tower for a photo opportunity, they had lunch and returned to school.

The students had a fantastic time and were exemplary throughout the trip, a real credit to the school.

To continue celebrating the Humanities this block, the department held our first ever Geoguessr knockout tournament! Geoguessr is a fantastic browser game that puts you somewhere randomly in Google maps with a street view and you need to “guess” where you are in the world in one minute! Over 20 students signed up and the ties were intense and emotional to say the least.

At the end, Tikhon of 8A emerged victorious in the final against Naomi of 8B. A huge congratulations to Tikhon for his outstanding geography knowledge and well done to all those who got involved! Look out for the Seterra competition starting next week!

1st - Tikhon (8A)

2nd - Naomi (8B)

3rd - Connor (8B)

4th - Ema (10A)

Mr Bradley and the Humanities Department

Maths News:

This week, Secondary mathematics students have been preparing for their upcoming Block 2 quiz collaboratively through solving puzzles, jigsaws and examination style questions on the topics they had covered.

KS3 students demonstrated excellent knowledge of the four operations with fractions. Ratio and proportion problem solving questions were no match for Year 10, and Year 11 absolutely mastered simplifying algebraic expressions including quadratics and algebraic fractions. Year 12 revisited straight line graphs and perfected their knowledge of coordinate geometry.

Maths mistake of the week:

Thank you for your enthusiasm and eagerness to find the mistakes including Naomi, Peter and Valentin from 8B, Peter and Rem from 8A, Milena and Lucia from 7B, who got at least 2 House points each. Well done!

Keep an eye open for 'Find the mistake' lesson starter activities this Block as well!

And as always, do not forget to check out next week's math mistake, displayed opposite room 316.

Ms Zupanc

Mathematics Teacher

PE News:

This week we introduced a competitive element to lessons, as well as some new sporting themes. Year 7 continued to develop their technical and tactical understanding of tennis, whilst Year 8 took part in some badminton doubles game play. Year 9 explored some of the more tactical elements of singles and doubles when playing tennis, with Year 10 developing their beach volleyball match play skills and year 11 were introduced to the rules and techniques used when playing cricket.

Mr Hayes

PE Department

English News:

Year 7: Year 7 continued reading “Stone Cold” and worked on expanding their thoughts on some of the issues the character has to face and also looked at the famous “I have a dream” speech by Dr Martin Luther King Jr

Year 9: Year 9 had a chance to show off their creativity and presentation skills in English. They spent a lesson introducing themselves to their new teacher by presenting a 'Little Book of Me' that they had completed for homework.

Year 10: Year 10a looked at intersectionality, racism in America and compared the daily lives of a 1950s housewife to our current lives, while 10b looked at the unusual story of the life of Father Divine, both in preparation for reading “Crumbs from the table of joy”

Mr Fordham, Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Staines, Mr Siter and Mr. Eve

English Department

MFL News

Slovene beginners

KS3 started on their speaking assessment this week. They put a great deal of effort into presenting diverse topics. Year 7 presented themselves and their families, Year 8 presented their own future restaurant, and Year 9 presented the relationship they have with Slovenia. It was delightful to hear the diverse stories students carry with them. Of course, all of them were told in the Slovene language.

Zelo dobro!

Slovene advanced

Year 8 students at Slovene Advanced lessons have learned how to write a letter of apology this week. It is important that they consider both the external structure of the official letter and the content, which must be appropriate. They were also revising for an upcoming quiz about "umetnostno in neumetnostno besedilo". I believe they will do a fantastic job.

French news

This week, Year 9 students worked very hard in French. They managed to understand the past tense rules very easily, which was impressive! Some of them also took the lead to explain some French grammar rules the way they saw it, and the result was... that everyone understood even better!

Congratulations to all the French language learners, you are all doing great and progressing well!

Ms Drofenik, Ms Tatil, Ms Kosec , MFL Department

MEPI News:

On Sunday, we enjoyed our first off-site expedition training. We used all of the theory which we had learned in the previous session. For example, plotting coordinates on the map, recognising some of the symbols on the map, and basic compass use.

We met in Tivoli Park, where we practised using our new skills in a practical situation. I have to say, some parts were quite challenging, but it was fun for sure, and a great learning experience. The following Monday session was mostly used as an evaluation of our performance on the Sunday, but there was also time to decide which activities we would choose to undertake for some of the other sections of the Award. A new project called the BISL Triglaving and Everesting Challenge was also introduced. It's a project where you have to hike, bike, or run a total distance based on the altitudes of either Triglav or Everest. I think it's a great opportunity to condition the body in preparation for when we go on the expedition in May, as well as just encouraging you to spend more time taking care of your body, and spending time in nature.

Report written by Zoja Cotar (MEPI Participant)

Community News:

Dear Parents,

Our new School Canteen is open from Monday 18th October!

Food will be served to students following the NIJZ and safety guidelines which were confirmed yesterday in writing. This is excellent news for everyone.

Having the canteen will:

• Reduce packaging/help the environment.

• Provide higher quality meals.

• Give more choice (Soups/Salads etc.).

• Avoid using the classrooms as a place to eat.

I am very excited and the staff have worked incredibly hard to set up this new area for our students. Thank you to everyone involved.

Also, thank you to all the parents who supported the Teacher Appreciation Day last Friday 8th October. A special thanks to Siu-May, Nicole and Urša for working with parents that provided a fantastic breakfast for our staff. This was amazing! We had over 40 parents attend this wonderful event to celebrate our teachers, read the thoughtful and caring cards written by our students and to spend a moment to thank the great job they do each and every single day. Following this, we had a Coffee with the Principal, updates about the school and a tour of the new building. A great idea has been raised to ask our students to name the new building! - this was a great suggestion, thank you.

Our Poppies have arrived at reception for Remembrance Day and we will celebrate this as a community at the end of the block, for those that would like to make a donation, please go to the British Legion website, link in my full update.

As winter feels like it is now here, I hope everyone wraps up warm for the months ahead as I had a shock the other morning walking outside to the car as it was -1! the summer feels a long time ago now..

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

Have a lovely weekend!

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website.