Secondary News - January 28th 2022

Block 4 Week 4

This week students in Year 9 had various teachers in every morning Form this week to discuss their subject options. It has been an excellent opportunity for students to discover more about their choices ahead and to ask teachers any questions regarding their specialist subjects. I hope students found this time valuable and were able to narrow their preferences down. Students are requested to subject these preferences to me by Friday, 4th February. Year 11 have also begun their subject option talks, which will continue into next week. The Sixth Form area will also be open after school on Monday and Thursday afternoon next week for any examination students who would like to stay for their own personal study. Further booster sessions are being scheduled for these students also on Monday 7th February, and teachers are communicating these currently with students. We hope that as many students as possible take advantage of these further opportunities.

It was also wonderful to welcome back all cohorts to the building this week, with all classes in Secondary once again below 30% for positive Cases. It was great to see students back and we do hope that everyone in the community is staying as healthy as possible during this time.

Additionally, this week the Year 9 and 10 students attended their Adventure Trip on Friday, having a brilliant time at the beautiful Vogel. Thank you to Ms Fairchild, Mr Cerni and Mr Stanic for escorting the students for this day, ensuring that they returned safe and well. It is wonderful to see the students enjoying these trips as much as possible with the current measures. Next week, Year 11 to 13 will attend their trip on Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to thoroughly read the latest Update from the Principal.

Kind regards,

Stephanie Andronikos

Head of Secondary

I am pleased to announce that the January mocks have passed, successfully. Just like every previous year, students from IGCSE and A-levels (Y11–13) were participating in the mock period.

This year was a special occasion, for the first time the location of the examinations changed slightly, since the exams were conducted in the new school building. That was a very convenient way for us, as students, to take our exams, because this way we can have peace and silence without the disturbance of the regular hustle and bustle of school life. Along with this, each year group had their own study room to revise in between exams, which was of great benefit to us, because the last hours before an exam can be vital.

I would have to say that the exam weeks were overall very successful in terms of the overall conditions but for a lot of us the results as well.

Mock examinations are of such great importance, because they provide students with an accurate feeling as to where they are in the syllabus and what areas they need to focus on. This is all the more important as the real examination period in May/June is fast approaching, therefore preparing students mentally, helping them to reduce exam stress and getting everyone familiar with the procedure and structure of the upcoming exams is vital.

This past week has been all about reflections and feedback from the mock examinations. All parents have received feedback emails, regarding the results and overall performance of their children, but also what next steps should be taken for even higher academic achievements. Along with this all students have gone through their papers with their teachers to specifically point out what should be improved in the future, which gives the students a better understanding of exam structure.

We now look forward to finishing the content of our subjects and preparing for the external examinations.

Have a nice weekend.

Nikolay, Y12

Head Boy

We are excited to announce that our new uniform webshop with Trutex is expected to go live next week!

Once live, we will share our School Code, which you will need to browse the new uniform shop and place your orders going forward, as well as further ordering tips and instructions.

The webshop will also include useful sizing guides, and there will be sample sizes for you to try on at school soon as well.

Languages Block

We spent a blissful week in Secondary. First we continued with our Chocolate milk activity where students prepared some really funny dialogues.

We also worked on a new display with the title "Po svetu". Students were exploring languages on each continent and add them to the world map.

Last but not least was the "Where am I" competition. We placed some photos with teachers in front of a well known monument or simply in nature with a well known background. The students had to guess which country they were in and then write a language they speak in that country. We had quite a few winners who received some sweets to share with their friends.

Slovene department

Maths News:

Key stage 3 students refined their knowledge of linear equations, statistical diagrams and geometrical constructions through a variety of differentiated tasks and activities in preparations for the block 4 quiz.

Year 10 students learnt how to determine and calculate an equation for a straight line graph. Through Quizziz, they demonstrated knowledge of identifying gradients and y-intercepts successfully.

Year 11 students' week involved learning about similarity, congruence and symmetry, study group activities and peer on peer support.

Year 12 students applied differentiation to solve geometrical problems such as identifying increasing and decreasing functions, as well as locating and determining the nature of stationary points of curves.

Math mistake of the week:

The students successfully identified this week's calculation errors and received between 2 - 4 points. Well done!

Check out new mistakes on display on Monday, in front of room 316.

Ms Zupanc

Mathematics Teacher

PE News:

Throughout PE this week, we continued to develop our practical understanding of international games, focusing on the importance of teamwork, communication and spatial awareness. Year 7 continued their basketball block, focusing on playing some 3 vs 3 practices, whilst Year 8 were introduced to the tactical aspects of handball. Year 9 focused on the importance of teamwork when playing floor hockey, with Year 10 improving their ultimate frisbee game play and tactics, whilst Year 11 continued working on designing and playing their own tactical games.

On Friday Year 9s & 10s enjoyed their Winter Adventure Day!

Mr Hayes

PE Teacher

English News:

Year 7: Year 7A worked on creating dynamic Chapter titles in their ongoing study of “Holes” by Louis Sachar and came up with some terrific ideas. 7B worked on the emotive poem “My mother saw a dancing bear”

Year 8: Year 8 continued their exploration of the main characters in the heartbreaking book “A Monster Calls”

Year 9: Year 9 continued their evaluation of characterisation in story telling.

Year 10: Year 10 worked on the key skills of writing a summary and using effective connectives.

Year 11: Year 11 continued their revision of the English Language paper. They learned how to effectively tackle various questions by finding the relevant arguments in a text.

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

English Department

MEPI News:

This week in MEPI the participants worked on their teamwork and imagination skills - they had to cross a raging river (the secondary corridor) using only 1 liferaft (a4 paper) per teammate. After a few unsuccessful tries and after putting their heads together, they managed to find a solution! With two students sharing a liferaft they could pass the extra one along the line to enable the leading teammate to move further across the river.

We then practised a key skill for the adventurous journey - weather forecasting. Using the service at arso.si we looked at what the weather should be this week and why it is important for us to know this in relation to the expedition. Also the participants practised their own forecasting skills by using the current weather conditions to think about what that means for the next few days.

In other news, we will unfortunately need to postpone the first aid course on the 29th due to illness. We will try to get a replacement date in the calendar ASAP and this will be advertised once it has been arranged.

Mr Irving

MEPI Coordinator

Student Voice: Driving Safely

Continuing our Road Safety Series, this week we have a written speech from one of our brilliant EAL students, encouraging everyone to think about their driving habits and its consequences.

Read it here.

Principal’s Update

Dear Parents,

As we end the week, we have beautiful sunshine and our students are playing outside! It is fantastic to see them enjoy themselves with one another and to be active on the playground and in the woodland area.

It has been a very challenging week for our families and I very much appreciate the flexibility, support and encouragement from everyone over the past few weeks. Again, my thoughts are with those affected by covid - I wish you a speedy recovery and hope to see you soon!

We had a great first Winter Adventure Day last week and some of the photos are included below to show you the amazing conditions that our students enjoyed. Today's trip is off to a great start and we look forward to the next ski trip next Friday 4th February, and then to the summer Adventure Trips for all Secondary students starting Wednesday 1st June.

Thank you to all parents who have filled in the Parent Survey already, we really appreciate all of your feedback and as always I will pass on your positive comments to staff. Your kind words of appreciation for our wonderful teachers make a huge difference and I am very lucky to have such an amazing group of staff.

Coming up on Friday 18th February, we have Parent Appreciation Day. This is a brilliant annual event for us to celebrate our parents in the community! We hope the covid guidance enables us to host our usual morning of cards of appreciation to parents and an opportunity to meet, mix and show our gratitude to all of the parents at BISL.

Please read the full Update from the Principal here.

Have a nice weekend.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website.