Primary News - March 18th

Dear Parents and Students,

With trips continuing this week, the Early Years and Year 2 students visited the ZOO on Friday as part of their Topic and Literacy lessons. Students will learn about different types of animals, reptiles, birds and insects too. They will be able to talk and write about their experience and what they most enjoyed in the follow-up lessons next week.

Alongside the ongoing Spelling Bee competition, all students from Years 1-9 also partook in the annual international Kangaroo Maths competition on Thursday, March 17th, held across 92 countries in the world. The competition aims to inspire passion and motivation for mathematics, as well as promote a positive perception of mathematics. Being accessible to all ages and levels, students have had the opportunity to use their skills of creativity and imagination alongside logical thinking and computational skills. Well done to all the students for their efforts as we await the results! Watch out for the upcoming COBIS Coding Challenge too!

The interviews for parents with our specialist teachers have started this week. If you would like to find out about the progress of your child in other areas, please contact the class teacher directly to arrange a separate meeting.

The Spring Concerts start next week, with the Year 2 and Year 3 student performances starting the show next Wednesday, 23rd March at 4 p.m., followed by other yeargroups after the break (please see the important dates below). These will take place on the brand new stage of the Performing Arts Theatre in the new building, and we look forward to this and many more wonderful musical and theatrical events. This is an additional avenue to areas of the building that the students are able to enjoy, including the library and technology suite for lessons, after-school activities and events.

Friday 25th March is the last day of Term and is a half-day, with the pick-up at 12 p.m. Please remember that students should come to school in their full uniform.

As always, please ensure that you keep up with the latest News and Events, including the weekly Update from the Principal for important weekly updates.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Kind Regards,

Katarina Železinger, Head of Primary

Early Years

In the Early Years, we have been looking at the animals that live in the Safari. As part of our “Animals” topic, we created a small Safari world where children took the roles of their favourite animals. There were a lot of debates between the students about which Safari animal is the fastest and which animal is the fiercest. But they all agreed that the giraffe is the tallest animal in Safari. Did you know that giraffes are the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth?

The children seemed to like giraffes a lot, as they made many junk model giraffes of all sorts of shapes and sizes. In Maths, the children were learning about the concept of counting backwards and having fun counting cheetah spots!

Ms Kukovica

Year 1

Year 1 has been very busy this week! We started exploring information texts about nocturnal animals and made posters to present our findings. We researched information in books and videos. In Maths lessons we continued to make amounts using money and even played shop to practice the use of coins.

We completed our Egyptian pharaoh portraits and started reading Australian Dreamtime stories. Our first one was about Tiddalik the frog. If you want to find out what happens in the story, I’m sure the students will be thrilled to retell it…

Ms Miklavec

Year 2

We have had another great week in Year 2! We have been very excited about our trip to the Zoo.

We also have been continuing our learning with the playscript 'Oh Gnome' and writing our own endings which have been taking us all over the world including to Australia! In Maths we have been learning to tell the time and thinking about o’clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past. The students have done a great job. In our Topic ‘Food Glorious Food’ we have created our own pop art designing unique soups.

Also in preparation for the Zoo we have been thinking about which foods animals eat and learning about omnivores, herbivores and carnivores.

Ms Harris and Mrs Fordham

Year 3

This week the Year 3 students explored the Golden Age of Islam, which, according to most historians, spanned the 8th to the 13th centuries - a time that happens to coincide with the heart of the Dark Ages in Europe. The students were introduced to inventors such as Ibn al-Haytham, Fatima Al-Fihri, and Al-Khwarizmi. They prepared short performances acting out a scene from the inventor's life.

Ms Blundell and Mr Kokalj

Year 4

Year 4 have been learning about autobiographies and biographies. As this class have a close bond with their animals, we decided to write a biography of each of our (or a close family member’s) pets. Students grouped the knowledge they would like to share under headings and for homework discussed their loved ones with their families.

They then shared this with the class. Cvetka (Stella's bearded dragon) visited us on Tuesday. We look forward to meeting more of the Year 4 infamous pets soon.

Mrs Charlesworth

Year 5

This week the children learnt about different natural disasters and wrote a newspaper about them. They designed the newspaper themselves and then created the report.

The class also learnt what a counterargument is and wrote their own counterarguments to a subject they are passionate about. In Maths the children reviewed addition, subtraction and word problems.

Mrs Thomas

Year 6

Year 6 students have conducted an experiment testing air pollution in different areas in the local community. We placed markers around the school, in the carpark, in fields, next to the river and beside the main road to see how air-polluting particles compare around the various locations. We viewed the particles under a microscope to get a better perspective. Students are also preparing their news programmes about climate change and have started filming their news broadcasts, getting ready to present them next week. We were all excited to be participating in the Kangaroo Maths competition this week also.

Mr Bishop

Slovene

This week was a special one for Years 5 and 6. They have been working on our Slovene - English project with students from one of the Slovene public schools. Firstly, they exchanged beautiful bookmarks which they created themselves.

Secondly, they recorded themselves while reading a chapter from a favourite book in their native language, Slovene or English, and exchanged them with each other. Then, they listened to the recordings of each other’s readings and wrote down a wide range of questions based on books they love.

Finally, they had a Zoom session with their new friends, allowing them to practice their Slovene and English language skills. They have enjoyed this exchange very much indeed. Lots of fun, laughter and excitement to get to know each other better. They can't wait to meet again and discuss new topics!

Well done Years 5 and 6. Pa kar pogumno naprej.

Slovene Department

PE

Across PE this week, we continued to explore the topic of invasion games and the importance of being able to work as a team when playing sport. Years 1 & 2 worked on their passing and possession skills when playing basketball and looked at the concept of attacking and defending.

Years 3 & 4 developed their handball spatial awareness skills, looking to adopt some basic formations on the court as a team. Years 5 and 6 progressed to competitive handball game play, working on being patient in possession and using the ball efficiently when building attacks.

PE Department

EAL

Every story needs a character, a setting and a plot. As a part of learning about character description, we first had to learn the vocabulary for appearance (clothes, built, facial features, body parts…) and

After learning the vocabulary and grammar for describing appearance, some of our EAL students used the game Guess Who to practice questions and answers on this topic.

Mr Siter

Spelling Bee

For those students that are yet to compete in their final round of the spelling bee, good luck and keep on practising! For those of you who have finished already, thank you for all the hard work you have put into learning your spellings and for encouraging yourselves and your classmates to achieve their best.

Mrs Charlesworth

MEPI News

This Saturday we attended a walk in Škofja Loka. We practised reading the map, using a compass, and just making sure we are in good enough shape for the Final and Practice expeditions in the Spring. We walked 8 km for 4 hours altogether with a break along the way. We were split into two group, there was one group of Year 9 and one of Years 11 and 12. There were some difficulties along the way, but we all found our way in the end. Some of us got a little lost and some of us weren't reading the map as well, but for sure we took a lot from this experience.

For next time, we are going to work on teamwork, including communication skills and reading the map in our MEPI planning meeting. This way we will be officially ready for the Final expedition (which is going to be much harder because of all the things we will have to carry, and how accurate we have to be). Over the next couple of weeks, we will be practising and planning for the overnight expedition which is happening in April. The preparation will consist of planning meals, who is bringing what, and the equipment which we will need for our overnight camp.

Zoja, MEPI participant

Spring Concerts

Our Spring Concert series is coming up as follows, taking place in the Performance Theatre:

• Wednesday March 23 | 4pm - Years 2 and 3.

• Wednesday April 6 | 4pm - Years 1 and 6.

• Wednesday April 13 | 4pm - Years 4 and 5.

We look forward to seeing many of you there!

Please remember to park in the public car park, not in front of school.

The View: Future, Present and Past

Learning environments inspire us in many different ways - here is an interesting perspective of the view to the future, present and past from the top floor from our Sixth Formers and Mr Batson!

Name the New Building!

There is so much going on in the new building, from Sixth Form lessons, music and performing arts, robotics, reading carousel, mock examinations, clubs and more, it is time for the new building to be given an appropriate name!

We have already named the bridge which connects our two buildings as the 'Skywalk', and would now like to collect your ideas on what we should name the new building itself - please use this short survey to submit your suggestions.

Once the suggestions are in, our Student Council will select the Top 10, and we will then put those suggestions up for a whole school vote.

We look forward to hearing your ideas!

New After School German Club for Year 1 & 2

If you haven’t already done so, there’s still time to sign up for the new German club, starting in Term 3 for Year 1 and 2 students! The club will take place on Wednesdays after school from 3:00 - 3:45 pm in the Library, and the first session will begin on Wednesday, April 6. Take a look at the brochure here for more information and details, and if you would like to register, please contact us here.

COBIS Coding Challenge

In partnership with Discovery Education, as part of this year's COBIS Coding Challenge, our students are given the opportunity to compete with their peers around the world to create their own app around the theme 'A difficult journey'.

Find out more here!

International Days - Mark Your Calendars

One of our biggest family events, organised in partnership with the PTA, this year’s International Days will take place between Thursday May 12 - Friday May 13.

There will be a variety of cultural and educational activities, stalls, traditional dress, flags, international cuisine, games and performances for our community to enjoy.

As many of you potentially head home for the block break, please keep this event in mind, and bring back any traditional items you’d like to display on your country stall.

If you would like to get involved in the event by having a stall at Friday’s fair to represent your country, please contact pta@britishschool.si.

For more details, please click here.

BISL Summer School 2022

With summer just around the corner, registration is now open for BISL Summer School 2022!

Click here for details.

Dear Parents,

Another week that has flown over so quickly, with lots going on and lots to celebrate in our community!

We are all very excited about our first performances in our new building, the eagerly anticipated 'Spring Concert' series on Wednesdays March 23rd, April 3rd and April 13th for Primary. This event series will be a great opportunity for you to enjoy the new facilities, see how they work, how our students enjoy learning in these new areas, and then for us to continue improving what we do ahead of a very busy summer schedule of events and projects!

Our students have been excited about their entry into the Kangaroo Maths international tournament, this is a wonderful competition to stretch and challenge our students throughout Primary and all the way up to Year 9 in Secondary. Thank you to Mr Bishop for organising this and for the support of all of our teachers helping students - we look forward to seeing how everyone has done. Congratulations to all students for entering, having a go and for doing your very best!

Thank you to parents for your ongoing support with the donations and raising awareness for our appeals and projects to support those impacted by the conflict. We really do appreciate this and are very proud of how our community has come together to help others during this time.

Next week is the final week of Term 2, please remember that on Friday, March 25, school ends at 12 noon.

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

Have a great weekend!

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website.