Secondary Newsletter - 27th January

Block 4 Week 4

The MFL team have really pulled out all the stops this week, starting with a very successful Year 8 trip to the National and University Library of Ljubljana. On Thursday, students from Year 7 to Year 10 were treated to a private viewing of a new Slovene film Vesolje med nami (the universe between us), currently airing in cinemas across Slovenia. I don’t think the director of the film and lead actor were expecting such a flurry of questions from our students!

They were delighted with the feedback and we were very proud of the students. Earlier in the week, I managed to squeeze in a short assembly with the KS4 and KS5 students, during which we explored ways to use their mock examination results as a force for future progress. Marginal gains, 1% improvements everyday, just like the Olympians - hopefully they have taken all the good advice on board! There is no question that the next 3 months are going to be extremely important. Hard work, grit, determination and resilience are the order of the day. With parents' help I have no doubt that all students can achieve their potential.

In other news, the Year 9 and Year 10 students headed to Vogel on Friday for their Winter Adventure Day on the slopes (and the ice rink). Great weather and plenty of snow led to lots of smiling faces! This week we have also had a visit from Mr Karl Wilkinson, our Regional Head of Schools (Orbital) who seemed delighted with the overall progress and direction of the school in recent months. Finally, on Wednesday I led a whole school staff development session, all about ways in which we give feedback to students. Very informative, students should feel the benefit of this training soon!

Please be sure to read the latest Update from the Principal and I wish everyone an enjoyable weekend.

Mr Jonathan Travis, Head of Secondary

MFL - Slovene Foundation, Intermediate, Advanced

In light of Language block Year 8 students at Slovene Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced group had a trip to the National and University Library Ljubljana this week. They heard about the history of the library, its important details and its architect Jože Plečnik. Students also visited important spots in Ljubljana, where they had presentations about "Križanke, Slovenska filharmonija, Univerza v Ljubljani and Prešernov trg". It was a slightly different, but excellent way to deepen their knowledge of Slovene language. The students tried to speak Slovenian throughout the trip. Well done in se vidimo na naslednjem izletu!

On Thursday, we had the pleasure of hosting a special event for our students in Years 7 to 10: BISL Movie Morning. The students watched the Slovenian film "Vesolje med nami"(Space Between Us).

After the movie, the director and screenwriter of the film, Ms. Rahela Jagrič Pirc, joined the students in Performance Theatre and answered questions about the film. The students were particularly excited to hear about the creative process behind the film and the inspiration for the story.

Additionally, the main actor of the film, Kolja Chilima Budišin, joined the Zoom call and answered students' questions. He even showed the skateboard from the film which was very exciting for the students.

Overall, it was a great morning for our students, and we were delighted to have the opportunity to give them a deeper understanding of the film through the perspectives of the director and actors. This was an excellent opportunity for students to learn about the creative process of film making and gain insight into the Slovenian film industry.

Ms Kotnik, Ms Jakop and Ms Drofenik

English News:

Year 7 read more about Caliban, Prospero, Ariel and their adventures on the island of “The Tempest.”

Year 8 moved forward into Act 2 of Willy Russell’s play “Blood brothers.”

Year 9 began their study of War poetry by looking at life in the trenches of World War I.

Year 10 revised their knowledge of creative writing techniques

Year 11 established and revised good techniques for answering the different questions ofEnglsh Language Paper

PE news:

In our PE lessons this week, we continued t

o develop our understanding of invasion games in competitive, gameplay scenarios. Year 7 looked at the importance of dribbling skills when playing basketball, whilst Year 8 focused on the importance of moving the ball quickly and accurately when playing handball. Year 9 focused on the technical aspects of floor hockey, with Year 10 developing their tactical understanding of defending set pieces when playing football and Year 11 continued working on the importance of movement off the ball when playing ultimate frisbee.

Mr Hayes, PE Department

Maths news

UKMT

A reminder about the upcoming UKMT Mathematics Competition. Please register quickly as time is running out.

Calling all Mathematicians...from year 11 and below. The UKMT Mathematics Competition will be taking place on Wednesday 1st February. This online international competition is a great way to test your Mathematical ability, challenge yourself and also build up your portfolio of academic excellence, which will become a key component of your university application. If you wish to be entered, please see Mr Batson as soon as possible, as places are limited.

Mr Batson, Assistant Head

Year 7 students learnt how to calculate the volume and surface area of a cuboid. In groups, they calculated how much paint they would need to paint the maths classroom and how much it would cost. Then they investigated different solids and their properties (faces, edges and vertices) and collected their findings in a shared Jamboard.

Year 8 students successfully learnt all formulae to calculate the area of shapes including rhombus, parallelogram, trapezium, circle and triangle. Some students challenged themselves and solved complicated compound shapes involving these shapes and have shown how persistent and determined they are.

Year 9 students did wonderfully this week as they learnt how to rearrange formulae successfully in order to change the subject. They noticed that the method for this is actually very similar to solving equations and isolating x (or other variables).

Year 10 students learnt the properties of graphs of reciprocal, quadratic, exponential and cubic functions, as well as revisited straight line graphs.

Year 11 students learnt the angle properties in a circle. Those include angles in a semicircle, angles at the same segment and angles in polygons. They applied the properties to solve geometrical problems within circles.

Year 13 students learnt the integration technique by parts and solved past examination questions on integration. They also sat in the Block 4 quiz, which covered the worst solved topics from the recent mock exam. They gave peer feedback and we will finish analysing the quiz next week. Maths challenge wall: Do not miss the last challenges of this block next week, published on the wall in front of room 316.

Ms Zupanc, Maths Department

Science News

In Year 10, students were learning about different methods of heat transfer. In engaging group work, students were discovering convection & conduction. They produced innovative diagrams on their desks explaining how convection & conduction are applied in our daily life .

In Year 11, students investigated how universe is expanding and made a simple experiment in which they demonstrated the expansion of space-time by using a balloon on which they depicted celestial objects such as galaxies, planets and star.