Secondary News - February 25th 2022

This week students were welcomed into the wonderful world of literature during their English lessons. To celebrate the English block, the English department rallied the staff to record an excerpt from a favourite book for the students to be able to listen to via QR codes on display around the building. Students have been seen discussing books, smiling, and listening intently to the recordings form teachers across the school. It is a wonderful initiative by the English department, and I do hope that all students were able to listen to these lovely literature passages.

Next week, PUST is celebrated on Tuesday 1^st March and students are invited to dress up as any character they wish; however, a book character to keep with the English theme would be fantastic. World Book Day is on Thursday next week also, so it is a great way to tie it all together.

As examinations are looming, Mr Batson has been working tirelessly with examination students to release the timetable for the second round of mock examinations to be held at the end of this block in their double lessons. This is yet another opportunity for students to ensure that they receive another practise of the examinations prior to the Cambridge ones in May. I do hope that students are studying hard for these to do their very best and attend the booster sessions that will be held during the next block break. These will target any areas missed in the examinations, so students are encouraged to take advantage of this process.

The new uniform shop is up and running via the BISL website. Families are invited to put their orders through now for the summer uniform that will come into effect in Term 3. Please check the website for more details.

I wish all families a lovely weekend.

Stephanie Andronikos

Head of Secondary

We are delighted to share with you the results of our most recent annual Parent Survey.

Take a look at the results, highlights, analysis, comments and action plan here.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in either the Onboarding Parent Survey (for those families that have been with us for less than one year) or the Parent Survey (for those who have been with us for over one year) - your feedback is very valuable to us as a school, and is much appreciated.

English Block

English News:

The English block got off to a solid start this week. Students have had the chance to hear many of their teachers reading a range of interesting books. They did this during English lessons by scanning QR codes on posters displayed around the school. The next step will be for secondary students to get involved themselves by recording some readings for primary students.

The BISL Flash Fiction competition also got underway. Some creative writing prompts were used in lessons to get the stream of creativity flowing. All students are encouraged to enter and there will be prizes for both primary and secondary students.

Next week will see more Wordle, some tongue twisters and the start of Tannoy Tales.Stay tuned for more news from the English team!

BISL Flash Fiction Competition

What lies on this page is freedom, it is freefall from a mountain, and landing on warm marshmallows, it is a biological, neurological investigation: let your words tumble from your brain. It is your chance to be published. It is your chance to stand tall. It is your chance to write. Take only 100 words, select them carefully; they are precious grains of rice that together can form gold. Take only 100 words and give us a story, create a world, a universe, give us love and joy, sadness and despair, give us truth surrounded by illusion. May the best story win.

We are delighted to announce that in celebration of world book day BISL is running a flash fiction competition. The rules are simple: You have 100 words exactly (no more, no less) to write the best story you possibly can. You must use one of the words from the BISL values (Excellence · Respect · Responsibility · Integrity · Compassion) somewhere in your story, however, it is up to you how you use the word.

Entry closes: March 3rd 2022 at 3:40PM

Enter via the following google form:BISL Flash Fiction Competition

The 15 best will be published in the BISL flash fiction anthology that will be placed up in the library. And the best story from secondary and primary will receive a book token.

Year 7: Year 7 classes wrote speeches using a number of techniques stating their arguments about forced labour through the eyes of the characters from the book “Holes” by Louis Sachar.

Year 8: Year 8 enjoyed doing some creative writing from a number of interesting and unusual perspectives.

Year 9: Year 9 explored some World War I poetry this week and looked at concepts such as patriotism and jingoism.

Year 10: Year 10 worked on some creative writing techniques as well as practicing editing and improving their English Language iGSCE paper skills.

Year 11: Year 11 prepared and performed scenes from The Crucible, using a number of inventive and enjoyable methods to replay key moments from the play.

Mr Fordham, Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Staines, Mr Siter and Mr. Eve - English Department

Art News

COBIS art competition

A huge congratulations to the following students who have been selected for entry to the COBIS art competition.

Lucia 7B, Liza 7A, Elise Y9, Ema and Maria 10A.

The theme this year was “Looking ahead” and students interpreted this creatively using a wide range of mediums including digital pieces. Well done to all students who produced a piece.

Winners will be announced in April, so good luck to our students!

Ms Hawkins, Head of Art

MFL News

Slovene Foundation

Year 9 has been reporting the weather these days. As a starter they revised all weather signs they have been learning in the past. Students have seen an example of the weather forecast on-line, before they have started to work on their own. With lots of ideas to use as a part of the presentation they have almost completed the mission. So, are you ready to become weather forecast reporters for a day? Sure you are. Have a look at the photos below.

Zelo dobro 9. Razred.

MFL team

Maths News

Key Stage 3 students prepared for the upcoming Term 2 assessment this week. They solved a practise paper, solved questions in teams and created engaging and imaginative activities to aid their group learning, such as murder mysteries and Who wants to be a millionaire.

Year 10 students mastered similar shapes and demonstrated good knowledge of Term 2 concepts in their preparations for the assessment.

Year 11 students applied trigonometric ratios and Pythagoras' theorem into 3 dimensional problems. They had to look for right angle triangles in solids and decide on a strategy that would deliver unknown angles and sides.

Year 12 students utilised mini and big white boards to aid their learning. Their excellent group work skills ensured a dynamic approach to solving problems.

Maths mistake of the week:

The students challenged their peers to reflect upon their personal computational mistakes and created a common mistakes log. Well done!

Make sure to check out new mistakes next Monday, in front of room 316.

Ms Zupanc, Mathematics Teacher

PE News:

During PE lessons this week, students began new practical sporting units, working on some of the fundamental skills required when playing striking and fielding games. Years 7 & 8 began their kickball units, focusing on the key components of kicking the ball into space and running efficiently around the bases. Year 9 began their Danish longball unit, looking at the techniques involved when batting and fielding, whilst Year 10 focused on their rounders unit, gaining an understanding of the rules of the game in a competitive context, with Year 11 continuing their tactical games unit.

Mr Hayes, PE Teacher

Science News:

Y8 students investigated properties of magnets. They looked at what materials are magnetic, how we can determine the poles of the magnet and where the magnet is the strongest. They also observed how magnets repel and attract each other and learned how we magnetise and demagnetise objects.

This week Y9 students met a new method of preparing salts. They used a burette for the first time to add titrant (sodium hydroxide) to hydrochloric acid until they got a neutral solution. These types of reactions between an alkali and an acid are called neuralisation reactions. The reaction between acid and alkali results in the formation of salt and water.

During this week’s science club Valentin got a chance to explore the concept of concentration gradient with the help of milk and Skittles. In this experiment the chemicals move from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration in an attempt to equalise the concentration. As the Skittles start to dissolve in the water, they send the coloured sugar outwards in an attempt to equalise the concentration of sugar in the water. The colours do not mix however as the same amount of sugar has dissolved from each Skittle – the concentration of sugar is already equal.

Science Department

MEPI News:

This week our MEPI participants split themselves into two groups, in which they will plan and complete their adventurous journey. They displayed excellent teamwork when starting to plan the expedition. They decided on the team name, selected their goal, and started making their menu. They logged it all on a shared Padlet which will help them plan the whole adventurous journey.

Ms Tušar

D&D Club - Campaign 1, Session 3

This week, our brave and extremely impulsive group of adventurers travelled south of Phandalin to convince the local apothecary, Adabra Gwynn, to return to the town from her windmill home after increased sightings of the white dragon. Upon arriving, the group found a manticore, a hybrid beast from the Sword Mountains, forcing itself into Adabra’s home. Engaging in combat, the group fought valiantly and killed the manticore, though both Ander the Paladin and Bothis the Rogue were knocked unconscious. After the group ransacked the windmill(!) Ander was unable to convince Adabra to return to Phandalin (despite his high persuasion roll), but she did provide a letter to the group to give to Townmaster Harbin Wester, stating her desire to remain at her home. Next week, our adventurers return to Phandalin, but where will they choose to go next? The Dwarven Excavation site, or the caves of Gnomengarde?

Mr Bradley, Head of Humanities 

Teacher Feature:

As we celebrate English during this block, we focus on Mr Wilkins in our next Teacher Feature. - read it here!

Pust Celebration

On Tuesday March 1 we’ll be celebrating Pust, where we do our part to help chase winter away with a colourful carnival of masks, fancy dress, and of course KROFI (doughnuts)!

It is a dress down day - everyone is encouraged to come in a fancy dress costume or wear Spring colours.

Coffee with the New Principal

During next month's online Coffee Morning, on Friday March 4 at 9am via Zoom, our parents will have the wonderful opportunity to hear from our incoming Principal, Mr Matthew Cox, who will be joining us on Zoom for a chat over coffee.

Join Coffee Morning

Save the above link in your calendars to join us!

Mrs Fordham has joined the Year 2 team this week to take over the role of the Year 2B Class Teacher. She has a range of experience working in education settings and supporting students both in the UK and abroad. In the first term at BISL, Mrs Fordham supported students in Year 1 and across the Primary. She is looking forward to expanding her role as a teacher and working with the Year 2B class.

Having supported students at BISL in all areas of Primary, including Early Years, KS1 and KS2, Ms Jakop will be joining the Year 1 class as Assistant Teacher. She has recently completed her Master Studies of Primary Education, focusing on Mathematics, but is passionate about other subjects as well. She is excited about the opportunity to support our Year 1 students with their learning, together with Ms Miklavec.

Dear Parents,

We started our week delighted with the relaxation of Covid guidance that students no longer needed to self-test in school. This was great news and we hope for a further reduction of measures in the near future!

It's been a very busy week with our whole-school English team creating many activities, projects and exciting opportunities for our students. We are extremely excited to listen to the 'BISL Tannoy Tales' which will be the first time we will use the sound system across both buildings to play stories for our students to enjoy! This is a momentous occasion for us and one that we are very much looking forward to as a school. Thank you to our English team for a brilliant start to the English block!

As mentioned last week, we invite you all to join us online to welcome the New Principal, Mr Matthew Cox, who will join us live to introduce himself during the next Coffee with the Principal next Friday, March 4, on Zoom. You will find details in my full Update.

Thank you to parents who have already used the new uniform shop, we are delighted that our new provider offers the following:

• Free delivery to school every 15 days

• Free standard delivery to your home address on orders above €125

• €12.50 standard delivery to your home address on orders below €125

There is also a FREE Returns service through school, so you don’t have to worry about any costs associated with that anymore either!

During this term we are planning ahead for trips, as all classes can now be taken out on some exciting visits and experiences during Term 2 and 3. We look forward to seeing our students get out and about in Ljubljana.

And lastly, please take a look at the fantastic Parent Survey results that were shared earlier today. I would like to say thank you once again for all of you for taking the time to complete our surveys, your feedback continues to be very much appreciated.

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

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website.