Update from the Principal - June 4 2021

Dear Parents,

This has been another busy week finishing with our wonderful Student Appreciation Day. This will be an event today to celebrate the fantastic students we have in our community, to show our gratitude for how they interact, behave and learn each day. It is a moment to pause, reflect and value all of our incredible learners at BISL and appreciate how they make this a very special place to work for all of us. Thank you to the PTA and parents for your support with this event, it is wonderful to see the amount of heartfelt comments from staff shared with students and this is a very important event for us. Happy Student Appreciation Day!

Following on from the changes in guidance from the government regarding Covid, we have been monitoring our community and have made further announcements below. These are a another staggered step back to normality and we hope it keeps heading this direction. We look forward to a number of events over the next 3 weeks and have already started to plan activities and had our first external trips of the year. Teachers can now plan and organise local trips with year groups and we hope this opportunity continues throughout this block and into the next academic year. We have had successful trips completed, risk assessments and safety guidance followed and are now ready to take the next step. We place safety as a priority, continue to respect the guidelines and our thoughts are always with the families who are affected by Covid in our community.

At the end of next week, the class teachers of the year groups for the next academic year will write to all parents to introduce themselves, share key dates and information with the classes that are confirmed for next year. Immediately after this, we will send out the staff profiles of the new teachers joining BISL for the upcoming academic year 2021/2022. These profiles give an insight into the new teachers, a photo, bio and basic information to introduce you to them before they arrive in Ljubljana, these have been sent out for the last 2 years and we will continue to follow this format. A very exciting time!

Also at the end of next week (Friday 11th June) is our Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. A fantastic opportunity for us all to say a huge thank you to all teachers at school. Our Parent Appreciation Day is the following Friday (18th June) and this completes our celebration days for the community and gives us an opportunity to recognise as many individuals as possible.

I also want to thank parents for encouraging your children to sign up for our BISL Enrichment Days and the Summer School, these have both surpassed the numbers from previous years and we look forward to these excellent opportunities for students to have fun, learn and interact with one another.

At school, we have made further improvements to the Early Years side entrance, adding five new flower planters, trellis and areas to plant flowers. This will create a wonderful 'green' entrance into the school for our Early Years families and should be finished in the next week.

Finally, a reminder that our last day of term is Thursday 24th June and as always this will be a 12.00pm pick up for all students. Further information will be provided in the newsletters and emails from the Heads of School. As an international school, this is a time to say thank you, celebrate and share fond memories of students learning together and wishing the families departing to pastures new all the very best, and to remind everyone that they are always a part of our community, to stay in touch and welcome back to our school in the future at any time. The friendships our students have made and will keep via social media etc. give them a huge supportive, caring and exciting network of friends across the world.

Have a great weekend!

As a school, we have been monitoring the COVID-19 situation daily and have now decided, following the guidance from the Ministry, to implement the following changes regarding the use of masks at school:

• Students in Early Years – Year 2 will no longer be required to wear a mask on site.
• For Primary students in Year 3 – Year 6, there is no change to the guidance, masks are not required in the classroom but should continue to be worn in the common areas.
• Secondary students in Year 7 - Year 13, are no longer required to wear a mask in the classroom but should continue to wear them in the common areas.
• Outside and during PE lessons, students are not required to wear masks.
• Early Years and Primary Classroom Teachers may now remove their mask in the classroom but will continue to wear them in the common areas.
• There is no change in the use of masks for Secondary and Specialist Teachers, masks will continue to be worn in the classroom and in the common areas.
• Teachers may remove their masks during PE lessons and when outside on duties, provided that the appropriate distance must be maintained.

Parents continue to be required to wear a mask whilst on the school premises.

These measures will continue to be monitored daily. Safety is our number one priority, and any further changes will be communicated as appropriate.

In the last week, as part of their IGCSE English Language curriculum, our Year 10 students have been debating the freedom of speech and individual liberty, and have produced some fantastic speeches, passionately supporting the freedom of speech. Take a look at some examples in our recent Student Voice article.

For the first Teacher Feature of our final Block this year, we bring you a splendid interview with Ms Karla, our wonderful Assistant Teacher in Early Years.

All of our upcoming events are listed on the school website here.

I know that many of you have already registered your children to take part in our upcoming Enrichment Days on Saturday June 12th and Saturday June 19th. The themes will be based around 'Team Games' and 'New Challenges'. These two Enrichment Days are a great opportunity for students to enjoy being together with their friends, interact with one another, learn something new and have fun.

If you haven't already done so, you have until June 2nd to register, and you can do so by simply completing this form here.

This year’s BISL Summer School will run for two weeks between 5th - 16th July.

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.

To register for one or both weeks of Summer School, please complete the form by clicking on the button below. Week 1 will be free for all BISL students who wish to attend.

Our school calendar for the 2021-22 academic year is available here.

All urgent updates continue to be sent via email.

Please monitor your emails for future updates as this continues to be the best way to send out clear and consistent communication to all parents. Check that you are receiving emails, have enough space in your email folder, that they do not go to your 'junk' folder and if you are unsure, please contact reception@britishschool.si to check your contact email and phone number on record. If you change any contact details, please inform the school immediately.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal