Primary Newsletter - 6th January

Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome to the New Year 2023! It was lovely to see students returning from their holidays and new families joining the BISL community in term two.

The online Primary Parent-Teacher Interviews have started this week and run until Friday 13th January. Bookings are now closed on the school cloud, but should parents need to book, amend, or make further appointments, they should contact the Class Teacher directly.

In Block 4 we celebrate the theme of Languages across the school, with students engaging in various projects and activities. Different classes will also be exploring new Topics such as learning about dinosaurs in (Early Years), investigating and comparing different cultures (Year 1) and researching continents and famous geographical features from around the world (Year 4).

Following previous visits to the waterpark Atlantis, students in Years 1-6 will again be able to enjoy a day of water activities in April this term. As part of the P.E. curriculum, students will be developing various swimming techniques and skills through water sports and team games. Dates for the trips and further information will be emailed out to parents in due course, so please continue to check the school emails.

Please see the sections below for further exciting news on individual classes and subjects. For the latest Update from the Principal and other upcoming events, see the News section on our website.

Have a lovely weekend.

With best wishes,

Katarina Železinger, Head of Primary

Early Years

The Early Years would first wish everyone a Happy New Year and all the best in 2023. It was an enjoyable first week back for Early Years after the winter break, with many students eager to tell all their stories from their holidays. In the Early Years, we started our "Dinosaurs" topic and learned about dinosaurs' natural habitats. The Nursery students explored the kinetic sand while creating homes for the dinosaurs. To practice their fine motor skills, the Nursery students made lines in the Dinosaur world maze.

In maths, the Reception students were practising their counting skills and recognising the number and number formation while counting different amounts of dinosaurs.

Ms Kukovica

Year 1

We started exploring our new topic "sources of light", which the students were immediately thrilled about. We spoke about different natural and manmade sources of light and made our classroom completely dark to be able to use a torch light to find specific hidden shapes. We then had a discussion about which shapes were easier to find and why.

In English, we spoke about our holidays and wrote independent recounts using our phonics knowledge. This week in Math, we have been practising our counting skills and sorting numbers in the correct order before moving to the next topic..

Ms Miklavec

Year 2

Welcome back Year 2!

We started this week by writing a recount of our holidays. The children enjoyed sharing their stories with their classmates.

In Maths, we explored different number games. We played and created our own. The children’s favourite was creating our own Snakes & Ladders game. The results look wonderful and the children cannot wait to bring their games home so they could play with their families.

Ms Blundell

Year 3

This week in year 3B, children have actively engaged in peer assessment practice for their holiday recount.

After finishing their writing, pupils read their report to their peers and provided constructive feedback. Then, they peer-checked their spellings and reviewed their own recount once more. All of the students loved being the teacher.

Ms Spangl and Ms Blundell

Year 4

Year 4 had a lovely start back into the new term. They were very happy to share with each other what they had been doing over the holiday. The class has begun learning about playscripts in English and they are very excited to share some of their work with their peers and parents over the coming weeks.

Ms Harris

Year 5

Year 5 kicked off their topic by dressing up as famous Greeks and Romans. The children read out 3 clues as to who they might be and the class made some educated guesses. The class had lots of fun and cannot wait to find out more during this block.

Mrs Thomas-Hayes

Year 6

Year 6 students have been learning about shapes in their mathematics lessons recently. The class has been particularly enjoying learning about circles, and how to construct them using a compass. They have also been learning about calculating the circumference of a circle using the constant value of π (Pi).

This has been a challenging but rewarding topic for the students, as they have been able to apply their knowledge of geometry to solve real-life problems. The students have found their Geometry lessons to be engaging and informative, and they are looking forward to continuing to learn about it in the coming weeks.

Mr Kokalj

PE

Across primary PE this week we introduced our new unit, focusing on gymnastics and fitness. All students focused on the basic movement patterns required when taking part in gymnastics, developing their understanding of how the body moves and the importance of balance and flexibility.

Using flashcards, students were then tasked with creating a small, gymnastics routine in groups - before performing it for the rest of the class.

PE Department

Slovene

Foundation

This week Year 5 and 6 students at Slovene Foundation received Christmas cards and letters from our new friends from public school OŠ Šmarje pri Jelšah. Students were very excited and happy with the cards! Please look at the photos.

Ms Drofenik

Intermediate

In the first week of 2023, students in Y1-6 in Slovene Intermediate groups were passionate about sharing their Christmas holiday stories and adventures. Y5

and Y6 have also written short holiday recounts. It is very encouraging and rewarding to see that many students have progressed in their spoken and written skills. What a great start to the new year!

Ms Jakop

Staff announcement

We are delighted to have appointed Tom de Boer as an Assistant Teacher in Primary from January. Tom recently completed his teaching practice at BISL as part of the NHL Stenden University educational course and is thrilled for the opportunity to start his teaching career at our school. He will be supporting classes across the primary.