Secondary News - March 4th 2022

This has been another wonderful week at BISL with the English block continuing to be celebrated across the school. Each morning the English team have continued to play poetry and music over the loudspeaker system as part of BISL Tannoy Tales, which welcomed students as they arrived at school. It has been a fantastic addition this week with students arriving in high spirits, smiling as they enjoyed the morning’s offerings. The team have been excited to also celebrate World Book Day this week, encouraging students to submit their pieces of writing for the writing competition. Thank you to all students who entered this competition, and we look forward to the announcement of the results.

Additionally, this week, students across the school were so excited to celebrate PUST to scare the winter away. It was fantastic to see every student dressing up as characters or in Spring colours for this celebration. With dinosaurs, Cleopatra and a plethora of colours across the school, students also very much enjoyed their doughnuts as supplied by the PTA. Thank you to the PTA for supporting the event and for all of the students for getting involved. Please check thewebsite for all the fantastic photos.

As emailed earlier this week, the second and final round of parent interviews is now open for booking. Please ensure that you log into the systemhere in order to get your preferred times with teachers. These interviews will take place across the final two weeks of this block, so I encourage all parents and students to get involved.

Please read the latest Principal’s Update this weekend, for welcome changes in mask guidance for students and teachers in school starting Monday. I wish everyone an enjoyable weekend.

Stephanie Andronikos

Head of Secondary

Every year we recognise those who have achieved the highest calibre of academic success in the form of the Founder's Award for Academic Achievement.

Students are recognised and given a fund to purchase items that will support their education. This year's award went to our own Head Girl and Mathematical prodigy, Chloe in Year 13. In addition to the outstanding IGCSE and AS Level grade she has already obtained, amongst her achievements are taking IGCSE Mathematics early and being awarded an A* grade, passing IGCSE Additional Mathematics and scoring in the top 1 percentile, completing the two-year A Level Mathematics course in 1 year and completing the 1 year AS Further Mathematics course in a matter of months having taken the examination in November 2021 and obtaining the highest grade achievable, grade A. Chloe opted to use the fund to purchase a Kindle which was presented to her by her Form Tutor, Mr MacNeill.

Congratulations to our Year 10 and 11 students who competed in the recent International Mathematics Challenge which took place on the 2nd of February. We were very proud of the participation of our students and I would like to recognise all the students who achieved bronze, silver and gold.

• Year 10 - Petr, Ema, Tjaša, Georgi
• Year 11 - Lara, Nastja

I would particularly like to highlight the achievements of Petr and Lara, who both obtained a gold award, and Georgi, who not only achieved a gold award but also achieved the best in the school award. The certificates were presented by our Head Girl and Boy. Congratulations to everyone who participated.

Next up is the Junior Mathematics Challenge for students in years 7 - 9, which will take place on the 27th of April. Preparation classes have already begun on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

Mr Batson, Head of Mathematics

English News:

We are halfway through the English block.

Students continued to puzzle through Wordle in the morning and now have some tongue twisters to tackle as well. The Flash Fiction has come to an end and teachers will soon begin the process of determining a winner. The QR code reading posters managed to inspire our students. We now have almost 30 recordings of secondary students reading books for those in primary. These books, complete with links to the readings, will be delivered to primary soon.

Next week will introduce the first stages of our school Spelling Bee. It's time to crack out those dictionaries to see how well you can do.

All entries have now been received for the Flash fiction competition and the winners are being selected. Keep an eye out for the announcement of the winners.

Year 7: Year 7B worked on various aspects of creative writing as well as revisiting DAFORREST and Figurative writing techniques as they began to write a story highlighting the injustices of animal cruelty.

Year 8: Year 8 have been continuing work with 'A Monster Calls' and considering different ways to expand their textual analysis.

Year 9: Year 9 made more progress with the poetry of the First World War. They are now examining the gritty realism and dark humour of Siegfried Sassoon.

Year 10: Year 10 continue to explore creative writing.They are currently working on improving their descriptive and narrative writing for their English Language assessment. They looked at the element of creating atmosphere in their writing.

Year 11: Year 11 finished some in depth revision on The Crucible.

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

MFL News:

Slovene

This week Y7 explored poetry. We were reading poems by Slovene and American poets. The students analyze the poems and show off their understanding and apply it to a comic, essay question or continuation of the poem. Excellent work!

What will the weather be this week? Just ask Year 9 and they will tell you in Slovene. They have reported the weather forecast all week as reporters of our national tv. We got different weather forecasts and now it is difficult to decide which is the correct one. Let's see what the end of the week will bring. Students have been spending their time on making four season leaflets as well. They are still working on it, so have a look at our photos below.

Zanimivo 9. razred.

MFL Team

Maths News:

KS3 students reflected upon their term 2 assessment results and set targets to move forward .

Year 7 students transformed shapes using tracing paper and generated sequences and patterns with match sticks.

Year 8 students revisited sequences and developed an amazing game show idea to aid their learning.

Year 10 students recalled angle facts and properties and worked collaboratively to solve geometrical problems involving polygons and angles.

Year 11 students worked with vectors and learnt the techniques to use position vectors to solve problems.

Year 12 students continued with integration of simple composite functions.

Maths mistake of the week:

Well done to several Y8 and Y7 students who answered correctly and earned between 2 and 6 HP. Well done! Check out new mistakes next week.

Ms Zupanc, Mathematics Teacher

PE News:

Students across secondary PE classes were assessed on both their overall fitness level and their sports knowledge this week. All students completed the beep test, fitness assessment, focusing on their overall endurance level when playing invasion games. Students were also assessed through answering a range of sport knowledge questions, focusing on the physiological, psychological and theoretical aspects of Physical Education..

Mr Hayes, PE Teacher

Science News:

We had a number of experiments and practical lessons this week in Science. Y7 students looked at plant cells under the microscope. They prepared their own slide using a red onion epidermis layer to look at the cells. They prepared great slides where the cells are seen very clearly, in some we can even see the nucleus. Well done!

Y8 students learned about magnetic fields. They used a magnet and mini compasses to show the invisible forces around a magnet.

This week’s practicals started with Year 9 students investigating the rate of the reaction between metals and acids as an introduction to the unit. They learned that a gas is produced in a reaction between hydrochloric acid and magnesium – can you guess which?

Year 12 continued preparing extensively for their practical exam this year. Yesterday they were practicing titration technique and testing for ions present in different solutions. We even managed to catch Mr. MacNeill in the photo:

Year 12 carried out tests to see which biomolecules were present in unknown samples as part of their preparation for paper 3.

Science Department

MEPI News:

Below is an account of the Red Cross first aid course by Zoja, MEPI participant.

On Saturday all the MEPI and some extra joined our first aid training. We learned about how and when to give CPR, as well as what to do in the event of a stroke, heart attack and other injuries such as burns and broken bones.

At the end of the course we all had a practice of CPR on the training dummy. I think it was a really important day, and the early start on Saturday was worth it!

Ms Tušar and the MEPI team

Year 8A trip

Year 8A had a fantastic trip to WOOP Arena on Friday which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Ms Tušar, Mr Eve and Year 8A

Due to recent events, I and a couple of other Year 12 students have made a decision to use our facilities to support those people who have been displaced as much as possible. With BISL having a wide international community, we see it as a critical necessity to be empathetic and provide any help we are able to in order to minimise the consequences the conflict has created for the citizens who are forced to seek shelter from the hostilities.

Previously, we organised a charity event around the school which includes providing assistance to victims of the war by collecting humanitarian aid such as food, medical supplies, hygiene products and etc. that we will ship to Poland. Apart from that, we also set up a donation box which you could use to give out monetary donations at the moment. It is located on the table to the right of the reception on the ground floor - easily accessible. The finances you provide can be of any amount you wish to select as even small donations matter and might help save lives.

All of the money from the box will be donated equally to UNICEF and Red Cross next Friday (11.03.22). It is promised that not a single cent will be used for any other cause.

These 2 organisations mentioned were chosen and agreed on because of their credibility across the whole world and verified working status in Ukraine. UNICEF is a worldwide organisation that works in over 190 countries and territories. It provides children with basic humanitarian help such as emergency water, sanitation and hygiene kits. Moreover, it gives them access to education and school supplies. The Red Cross Organisation has been working in Ukraine since 2014. Working closely with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, they can easily respond to the humanitarian needs in Ukraine. Their support to citizens includes the provision of emergency assistance such as food, water, and other essential items. Also, they support hospitals and primary healthcare facilities with medical equipment and emergency preparedness. Repairing water stations and helping families separated by the conflict reconnect are also included in RC roles.

We would be very thankful for any assistance!

Thank you for all your support so far.

Ekaterina, Year 12

For a colourful collection of photos from this week’s fantastic Pust celebrations - take a look at our Pust Gallery on the school website!

A huge thank you once again to the PTA and parent volunteers for providing the Pust staple, KROFI for all of our students and staff to enjoy!

Our wonderful PTA volunteers are organising a second hand uniform sale on Friday March 11 - look out for their tables set up outside the front entrance during pick-up between 14:30 - 15:30.

Donations also welcome

You are welcome to donate any outgrown uniform garments to the PTA sale, simply drop them off at school before Thursday 10th.

If you have any specific questions, please email our PTA directly.

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.

For details, please click here.

Dear Parents,

We finish the week with great news ahead for next week with the removal of the obligatory wearing of face masks by students and staff in schools and other educational institutions from Monday 7th March.

This is wonderful news for everyone in the BISL and the wider community in Slovenia. We look forward to this on Monday but also thank you for your continued patience, support and positivity during this time with the masks, far from ideal, and I have been overwhelmed by the constant support of our community towards us keeping a safe environment for our students and staff to work in.

This week we have enjoyed PUST and celebrated on Tuesday with our students and staff wearing a range of wonderfully creative costumes. Thank you to parents and our PTA volunteers for organising doughnuts for all students, this was a real treat to add to the festivities and we are very grateful. I have included a link below to the gallery of images, so many amazing pictures and thank you to parents for supporting this day by helping out with dressing up students and preparing fantastic costumes. A perfect day at school with everyone involved, having fun and being together!

As our English block continues, we have been thrilled with the events so far, especially with the stories, BISL Tannoy Tales, using the sound system across the school each day, and now with further articles linked below from some of our Primary students. Yesterday, we celebrated World Book Day and students also enjoyed a fantastic Spelling Bee, and there's much more to come!

Also, a huge thank you to all parents for filling in the Parent Survey 2021-22. The results were absolutely incredible and I would like to thank every parent who took the time to fill in the survey. Your feedback is very welcome and I am extremely happy to share positives to staff, the wider team and also areas in which we can develop and improve further. All information is included in the article linked below, analysis, headlines and an action plan we share out after the survey. We embrace the challenge of improving our 'Outstanding' school each year and this is a very important aspect of enabling us to do just that!

On a final note, we are aiming towards our big event of the year with our International Days and have confirmed that these will go ahead on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th of May. More information will be sent out regarding the opening ceremony, dress down day, educational activities and the food fair. It promises to be a real highlight of our final term of the year!

Please read my full Update from the Principal for details.

Have a great weekend!

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal