Secondary News - Feb 10 2021

We have come to the end of another successful block of distance learning in Secondary. Looking at the Assessment Calendar, all year levels are preparing for and completing assessments with Years 11 to 13 completing further assessments to provide additional evidence of their progress throughout their respective courses. The routines that students have currently developed in their preparation is key and to assist, please refer to the BISL Exam Revision guidance on our website.

This week, Mr Damjan and the House Captains organised a fantastic House Competition for all year levels throughout the school. It is certainly different to be competing online, but still, throughout this time, it continues to be crucial to unite the school through these events. The entries students are sending through are fantastic and may the best house win!

Over the last two weeks Year 9 students and Year 11 students have been presented with their subject options moving into Years 10 and 12 respectively next year. It can be a difficult decision when having to make subject choices, so students are encouraged to consider their options wisely and discuss their options with their teachers should they have any questions. It is important to be confident in their choices because once preferences are submitted, subject groupings need to be finalised. Please ensure that Preference Forms are returned to me by the following due dates:

• Year 9 : 19^th February
• Year 11: 26^th February

For the block break, I wish everyone a safe and restful week and I look forward to the start of Block 5 on the 15^th February. Please continue to follow the latest updates that are released weekly in the Principal’s Update.

Kind regards,

Stephanie Andronikos

Head of Secondary

Check out BISL’s student magazine - a massive 55 pages. A huge well done to all students involved in the creation of this masterpiece!

Read the Block 4 edition of the Student Magazine here.

A note from the Editors of the Student Magazine

Dear students,

It is my great pleasure to present to you the new issue of the BISL magazine surrounding the theme of "New Beginnings" and a welcome to the future! This issue has plenty more articles, images, and activities for you to enjoy with categories ranging from Science to History, Gaming, and even a Fun Corner. I hope to see even more contributions in the future to make this magazine fun and diverse for you to read throughout the block break.

Enjoy reading and please do not hesitate to contact me for any information or recommendations regarding the magazine.

A special thanks to all who have contributed and those who may in the future!

Have a great break,

Julia K, Year 10

Teachers and students across the whole school have been learning about the diversity of languages we speak in our daily lives. The activities we have completed during this month have awakened our cultural awareness and brought us closer together as an international community. Many activities have taken place in this block to celebrate our diversity, you can see a range of them in the article below, and of course featured in this newsletter.

Click here to read the full article.

As part of our celebration of languages, we challenged students to make recipes from their native country and send us the photos/videos in their native language. I certainly feel hungry after seeing some of these foods. Check them out below!

Dolma - Türkiye Cumhuriyeti

Dolma, geleneksel bir Türk yemeğidir. Üzüm asması yaprağından yapılır ve içi pilav ile doldurulur. Dolmanın tadı çok lezzetlidir. Onlara nane gibi tatlar da ekleyebilirsiniz. Ülkenizde dolmanın bir versiyonu var mı?

Click here for the step by step recipe with photos, Begum made this recipe look even more delicious, and I didn’t think that was possible.

年糕 - 中国 (Rice Cake - China)

和细腻又劲道韩国年糕不同，我家这次做的年糕使用了更简单的方法，把红枣，豆沙和糯米一层一层压在饭盒里，煮过的糯米把豆沙和红枣粘合在一起，吃起来时口感非常有层次感，甜度也恰到好处

唯一的缺点可能是吃多了不好消化

Jogurtov kolač - Slovenija

Kdo ima rad tradicionalne slovenske sladice? Mi vsi! Slovenske sladice so običajno manj sladke kot druge evropske sladice, kar pomeni, da so polne izvirnega okusa. Zato je treba preizkusiti tradicionalne recepte, nato pa seveda še sladico. Uživajte v spodnjem videju in receptu.

Click here for the video of Masa making the delicious jogurtov kolac, and the recipe!

Pierogi Ruskie - Polska

Nie daj się zwieść nazwie, to tradycyjne polskie danie. Jem je co tydzień w każdym domu w całej Polsce, a babcie zawsze robią to najlepiej. W pierogi można umieścić wiele różnych nadzień, ale oczywiście wtedy zmieni się jego nazwa. Ruskie jest tylko wtedy, gdy jest twarogiem i ziemniakami. W Polsce mamy piekarnie pierogowe zwane pierogarnią.

Click here for the full recipe in Polish

яблочный пирог - Россия

Классическое блюдо в любой стране. Это русский вариант классического яблочного пирога. Сделано вручную Катей, это определенно заставило всех нас проголодаться.

Click here for the full recipe in Russian

Varza Calita - România

S-ar putea să nu arate frumos. Nu va câștiga în curând un concurs de frumusețe alimentară. Acest castron aduce o mare fericire tuturor celor care îl încearcă ... bineînțeles că trebuie să iubești varza. Acesta este felul de mâncare național al României, făcut cu varză, roșii și usturoi. Este destul de simplu de făcut și este plin de gustul casei.

Click here for the recipe and photo guide!

Victoria Sponge Cake - Britain

What could be more quintessentially British than a classic Victoria sponge cake? This is an essential for afternoon teas across Britain.

Click here for the recipe in Romanian

Sausage Roll - Britain/Ireland/Australia

This dish is loved and eaten regularly in all 3 countries - with all 3 claiming it to be theirs. To celebrate the love for this classic food, Ms O’Regan decided to make a giant one. Normally sausage rolls are small, but this one is x10 the size of a normal sausage roll.

Click here for the ‘adjusted’ recipe used.

We want to say a huge well done to Arthur in 7b for being one of five students selected to represent Slovenia as a junior ambassador to Unicef. This is an honour and a fantastic opportunity, congratulations.

Here are a few snaps of students enjoying a variety of activities on Zoom this week.

This Tuesday across the school we celebrated the winter olympics by doing our own olympics via zoom. A huge well done to everyone who took part, I personally loved watching the videos especially the ice skating using tea towels, and dancing ones, especially from my own house Zircon (not biased at all here...).

We would like to congratulate house Hessonite, for collecting the most House points in Week 3 & 4 collecting an amazing 109 points.

Emerald and Sapphire were joined in second place with 81 points, while Zircon was not far behind with 54 points.

Keep up the excellent work!

Enjoy some pictures of the winter olympics below. All years absolutely smashed it, but a huge shout out to Year 10 for taking part in every challenge!

To end a fantastic block we had a dress down day, where everyone was encouraged to dress in their house colours. Check out some of the students' colourful outfits below.

To wrap up the "Language block" our students from Y7, Y8, and Y9 benefited today from the program "La France voyage" organized by the French Institute of Slovenia. A young French teacher organized on-line workshops in French for our students. Those workshops are suited for students with or without knowledge of French.

The goal was to discover the French language differently, to promote its learning, to motivate the students through a direct encounter with a young Francophone, boost the teaching of French in our school and support the daily work of French learning.

Today's workshops were organized with the aim of working in a fun way on the vocabulary that students have learned during this year – it was an Interactive Pictionary!

Besides that, all the students will have the possibility to get access to the virtual library of the French Institute of Slovenia.

This week in PE, students were assessed on their knowledge of sports education and floorball. Our students have also been building personal PE portfolios with various skills testing targeted movements, balance, coordination, and strength students would require for floorball. This week additionally featured the red team as our last guest professors of the block.

Students designed and ran a lesson involving knowledge for VO2 Max (maximum oxygen uptake), power plays, and strategy in the game of floorball and components of fitness related to coordination and balance needs in floorball. Students also put forth an amazing effort taking on the House Competition and various challenges from Winter Olympics (see photos above).

The P.E. the team would like to wish everyone a happy and active block break.

Keep up with the student

Can you keep up with our Emerald House Captain, Jerry? Click here to see his challenge.

Remember to send us videos of you doing the challenge to be featured in our next video compilation.

PE Challenge

Can you keep up with Mr. Damjan? Click here to see his challenge in full.

Don’t forget to send us the videos of you completing the challenge for the chance to be featured in our next video compilation.

Healthy Recipe of the Week:

Click here for the full recipe.

PE Department

Key Stage 3 worked really hard on this week's topic, Formulae, having plenty of example questions to choose from. They used their knowledge of substitution into formulae to solve a crime mystery at BISL to end the week before the block break.

Year 10 investigated the properties of straight line graphs and how they relate to the general formula of the straight line. Year 11 took trigonometry from a right angle triangle and applied it to other shapes including 3D solids.

All year levels have either Mock exams or Term 2 Assessments in the first two weeks of Block 5; students are encouraged to reflect on their work and address their target areas based on the latest feedback.

The answers for the last Math question of the week is: 11.

Thank you for all submitted answers and congratulations to Mei from 7A, Aleksander from 9B, and Karlina from 10, who guessed correctly and received 5 house points. Well done!

Maths question for the block break is another crime mystery:

The police rounded up Jim, Bud and Sam yesterday, because one of them was suspected of having robbed the local bank. The three suspects made the following statements under intensive questioning.

• Jim: I’m innocent.
• Bud: I’m innocent.
• Sam: Bud is guilty.

If only one of these statements turns out to be true, who robbed the bank?

Students who solve the question send their answer to my email by Wednesday 17th February.

We are thrilled to have welcomed Mr. Brad Eve this week, he’s jumped straight back into teaching Year 7 and 8 this week. His students are thrilled to have him back, as are we.

Year 7a and Year 7b have been working on creating suspense and tension in their story writing though techniques like focusing on the senses of smell, sound, touch and taste, through leaving clues for the reader that something exciting is going to happen,through building tension slowly and constantly and through varying their sentence lengths and pace of their stories. We started writing and worked on improving our own stories by building suspense and tension with these methods.

Check out this engaging piece of narrative writing by Alex in 7a. We are proud of the progress students have made throughout the year.

I was in my backyard playing football until I accidentally kicked the ball over. I went around to check where the ball was and when I found out my blood was pumping faster than it has ever before. I knew that I'm not supposed to go there but it was my only ball. I slowly move towards the ball, the sun is shining in my eyes. Alright now I have the ball, I need to head back. As I'm walking back I hear a bush shaking and from behind there jumps out a huge Kodiak bear. I run as fast as I can, I feel like Usain Bolt. I can hear the bear’s footsteps behind me. Then I see a tunnel that I have never seen before. Without thinking I run inside it, the tunnel is very narrow so the bear can’t fit in it.

My heart is still beating as fast as the speed of light. I decide to walk further in the tunnel. Water is splattering everywhere when I walk forward. I really don't want to go forward but the bear is still waiting near the entrance. I need to hurry up cause if dad finds out about this he will be furious. I went faster and faster and faster. I looked behind and all I could see was darkness, all of a sudden I start hearing water splashing.

“ Oh No” I said. I sprinted forward but the footsteps were catching up to me ...

Year 8 worked on revising the creation of both simple and complex sentences through the use of Adjectival and Adverbial Clauses. We created a lot of examples of all of them and will be introducing them into the descriptive writing we have been studying.

9b this week have been focusing on Animal farm, they are almost ⅔ through the book now. This week has been more creative, students have created persuasive speeches from the perspective of Squealer (the propaganda) pig, and have made flags symbolising Animal Farm.

Here are some extracts from the speeches written, I certainly think students took on the characteristics of squealer, what do you think?

“Comrades! Gather ‘round! As you can all see, our windmill has been completely destroyed. All our hard work has been destroyed! And I know who did it. It was Snowball! The one who once called himself a member of our community has now selfishly betrayed us. You see, comrades, Snowball has intruded our farm, nay our home and demolished the very thing we worked so hard to build. I say no to those comrades. I say NO. We will rebuild the windmill. We will rebuild our home. We will show him how powerful we are, that we do not give up on our home. Comrade Napoleon would never do such a thing, why did Snowball? Because he is a hypocrite and a criminal, that’s why. And to that, comrades, I say NO. We will show him. WE WILL SHOW HIM!” - Maria N

“Comrades, I have an announcement to make. Yesterday, an unknown source has demolished the ye olde windmill from the farm, and we believe it's either Snowball or the massive pouring storm. Well comrades, the farm without this windmill now looks all sorrowful and ashen. That windmill was one of the farm's main symbols and seeing it destroyed is mournful. The entire farm is hushed. The entire farm is no longer deafening. The entire farm is destitute. Do you want the windmill to be recovered? Do you want it to be very exceptional? Do you want to see it function better than before? Well comrades, together we are powerful. Together we are hard-working. Together we are well trained. If we have a chance, we will build up a new windmill and will function better than the last one.” - Gabriel

Check out some of the flags Year 9B created!

On the last day of this block students had the chance to be creative, students were set the challenge to create a flag which either represented the farm as a whole or an individual character. We have some budding artists in this class for sure.

Year 10 have continued to explore a range of Carol Ann Duffy poetry for their IGCSE this week. Mainly focusing on the poem A Child’s sleep. Students complete a mock IGCSE question on the poem, of which several students got A/A* grades. We are very proud of the progress students are making.

Year 10s created their own powerpoints to remember all the new literature devices they have learnt from this block. They can continue to add to these next block as we continue our study of Carol Ann Duffy poetry - 6 poems down, 7 more to go! How many literary devices do you recognise below?

At the end of the week students reflect on the poetry they’ve learnt on this block and made kahoot quizzes in small groups, and challenged their classmates on how much they remember.

Year 11 have continued revision lessons for their IGCSE exams. 11b have worked on writing reports and interviews for language paper 1. Several students got A/A* in their written interviews. Well done to all our year 11s who have worked so hard this block.

Year 13 in Literature we have continued with King Lear, and pupils made their own family trees to help them remember each character's ties with each other. There is a misconception that Shakespeare is high brow literature - whilst actually Shakespeare was written for the masses. It was men dressed as women, crude jokes about adultery and much more. The opposite of high brow.

English Riddle Challenge:

A man was found murdered on Sunday morning. His wife immediately called the police. The police went to the crime scene and questioned the wife and staff and got these alibis: The wife said she was sleeping, the cook was eating breakfast, the gardener was picking vegetables, the maid was getting the mail, the butler was cleaning the closet. The police instantly arrested the murderer. Who did it and how did they know?

Correct answers to be emailed to Ms O’Regan by Thursday 18th to receive x2 house points. Well done on those who got last week's riddle correct. House points have been added accordingly.

Miss O’Regan, Mr Kirwan, and Mr Eve, English Department

For students in secondary who have studied or referenced the historical significance of Nazi Germany in history, why not enjoy a virtual trip to Berlin this half-term?

History in Year 12: Emma and Aleksander in Year 12 hit the ground running this term with two challenging mock exam papers on the French Revolution, Napoleonic period, and unification of Germany in the 19^th century. Well done to both on their results!

Since the mocks, we have started a new and final outline study on Russia, from 1894 to 1921, where Emma and Aleksander have demonstrated outstanding research and evaluation skills, taking the initiative to lead lessons on key political groups of the period.

Emma’s lesson and presentation focused on the significance of the Social Revolutionaries in the 19^th and early 20^thcentury, with a careful consideration of their differences in policies, outlook and methods.

Aleksander’s lesson and presentation went above and beyond the criteria required, and showed a profound conceptual understanding of the significance of both the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks in the short-term and long-term, touching on an evaluation of the Bolshevik victory in October 1917.

History in Year 11

Year 11 have worked exceptionally hard this block and should be proud of their achievements in history! They have demonstrated outstanding knowledge in their mock exams overall, with results in history currently standing at over 50% A*/A.

Many students are on the threshold of a higher grade, and hopefully their coursework due this 7^th February will be a golden ticket over that threshold!

While Year 11 have been writing their coursework this block, they showed unwavering commitment and quality work in lessons.

Year 11 have been looking closely at the methods the Nazi Party used to control Germany from 1933 to 1945; there was particular focus on the role of the propaganda, the methods and effectiveness of the use and repression of mass media and culture, and the significance of opposition groups.

Following the footsteps of real historians, Year 11 selected and analysed sources from the time, identifying and explaining the symbolism and meaning of their chosen sources. Using their sources, we put together a digital exhibit on the ‘Hitler Myth’, designed to help them with their IGCSE revision.

History in Year 10

Year 10 brought their study of the interwar period to a close by debating the role of Hitler in the breakdown of international peace, as either a planner or gambler.

Equipped with contextual knowledge about other causal factors in the breakdown of international peace, Year 10 were able to have a dynamic debate that helped prepare them for the outcome assessment, where all students met or exceeded their Term 1 grades.

Shout-out and congratulations to Felix and Jasmina, whose meticulously crafted arguments and use of persuasive language led them to victory in the debate, arguing that Hitler had been a planner.

Currently, Year 10 are looking at the breakdown of post-war relations between the USSR and the USA:

Who was to blame for the Cold War?

Ask Year 10 what their thoughts are on the subject, and they will have lots to tell you (hopefully balanced!).

History in Year 9

Year 9 started the block with presentations about the impact of WWII on their own families, or on individuals they researched as part of their holiday oral history assignment.

Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st-century digital technologies.

Well done to Mairi, Nanako, Charlotte and Tin, whose methodical and empathetic approach to oral history resulted in outstanding presentations that brought life to the stories they presented.

Since then, Year 9 carried forward their appreciation of the inherent value and significance of the individual experience in understanding history, to a study of the Holocaust. For their assessment this term, Year 9 have been asked to produce a history documentary, on a topic of their choice within the history of Germany 1918-1945. Many students have elected to make the Holocaust the focus of their documentaries, following on from class discussions on why learning about the Holocaust is important during our lessons on 27^th January, which was The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of The Holocaust.

History in Year 8

Year 8 have been busy this block writing their essays on the causes of the English Civil War, which are due for submission on 7^th February.

Additionally, Year 8 have been looking at some of the more positive consequences of the English Civil War by learning about how the restoration of the monarchy to England led to a scientific revolution and a period of ‘Enlightenment’ in Europe, with a focus on the growth and significance of the Enlightenment in France.

This week, students took part in a quiz, testing their knowledge of key thinkers and scientists. Congratulations to Lila who took first place in the quiz, followed by Ema and Leeloo with a joint second and Izzie in third place!

Can you do better than Year 8 on this ‘Guess who?’ Enlightenment quiz?

Year 8 will begin preparing their outcome task, which includes a debate on who from the ten thinkers and scientists studied belongs in the enlightenment hall of fame – but here’s the catch, there are only 3 spots available!

Students will therefore be defending the historical significance of their chosen scientist and/or thinker to the Enlightenment and subsequent events.

Ms. Dascalescu - History Teacher

Biology

Year 7B have spent this last week preparing presentations for the class based upon animals that are featured on the IUCN red list. Prior to this work, we have been discussing how human activity impacts on the environment and how we can change our actions to prevent further damage. The students took this idea further and now have researched ways in which some animal conservation scientists are using their knowledge of individual species to help decreasing populations.

I have been really lucky to witness some great presentations that are entertaining, informative and visually interesting delivered with very clear presentation skills. We have a few more presentations to go, but so far we have looked at; the Indian elephant, the chimpanzee, the tiger, African wild dogs and sea otters.

Mr. Yates - Interim Head of Science and Biology teacher

Year 10 have been focusing on communication within business…pretty basic but necessary for the GCSE. Since we have been online for so long, we are excellent at this.

Year 12 in economics have finished their course, and have been revising different types of economic systems. Our Business AS group finished off the finance module on Friday. A huge well done to them, that is the course finished, so the next block will be focused on revision.

Year 13 economics have been looking at the banking system and money supply systems. Business have also been looking at finance and looking at what is in legally published accounts.

Mr Dalton - Business and Economics teacher

As we work towards the Qualifying Adventurous Journey (AJ), our participants need to come together as a team (at each level) to ensure a successful expedition. So in order to find out a little bit more about each other, we endeavoured upon a 'Two Truths and a Lie' activity.

Each participant on the Zoom call took a moment to create three statements about themselves - two true, and one false! Another participant would then try to derive the truths from the lie. Much informed, and entertained by the sheer imagination of all, we were able to move on to tackle such issues as the mode of transport that our team might choose to utilise, the general location, and the aim of the AJ.

Depending on whether the group chooses to undertake an 'Exploration' or 'Expedition' will dictate the degree of purposeful effort directed towards travel, and that to the 'aim' of the AJ. Participants have been encouraged to collaborate on these aspects via school email and Zoom. We await the results of their deliberations!

Simon Irving, MEPI Coordinator

The Primary Student Council is organising a costume competition on February 16th in celebration of Pust. You are encouraged to come into school or join your online lessons wearing fancy dress costumes - homemade or otherwise! The Student Council will also be running some fun activities, including puppet making.

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

• 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
• 6.10.2020 - Mr Jason Batson

Dear Parents,

As we head to the block break, I look back on a very busy block where everyone in the community had to be flexible, patient and supportive due to ongoing updates and changes of guidance. I am so very proud of the way in which everyone has remained calm, positive and enabled the children to feel the least amount of disruption towards their learning as possible. Thank you.

During the block break, I will continue to check the guidance daily, meet with the leadership team and will send out an update to all families before we return back on Monday 15th February.

We hope the students can return safely back to the building soon and look forward to some good news asap. We continue to follow our hygiene, health and safety and COVID guidance.

Please check our BISL reopening procedures for any FAQs that you may have about the transition back into school. 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. Smaller classes have been arranged to make the lessons and learning as safe as possible.

Thank you to all parents who attended the virtual Coffee Morning today, I have included all of the areas and updates I discussed in my Update from the Principal for you, in case you weren't able to attend.

Finally, I really appreciate all of the positive comments, emails and feedback about our teachers, I continue to pass this on and thank them personally. It has been a tough few weeks and these simple messages make a huge difference. Thank you.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and a safe and restful block break.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal