Primary News - 22- maj 2020 | British International School of Ljubljana

The first week of this block has opened the doors to our youngest students. Early Years, Y1, Y2 and Y3 students arrived back and it was lovely to see all the smiley faces again.

Dear Parents and Students,

The first week of this block has opened the doors to our youngest students. Early Years, Y1, Y2 and Y3 students arrived back and it was lovely to see all the smiley faces again. There have been many necessary adjustments, with some students moving to a different classroom and others joining groups and making new friends. The focus has been on keeping everyone safe and students have certainly enjoyed being able to see each other and their teachers again after such a long time. Next week we welcome the rest of our Primary students in Y4-Y6, along with some additional Secondary classes.

Starting from week 2, we will be organising standardised assessments in English and Maths called Progress Test in English (PTE) and Progress Test in Maths (PTM), from Y2 through to Y6. Information with the schedules will be sent out to parents so that all students can attend, even if they have opted to stay at home. Parents should inform the Class Teacher if for any reason their child cannot attend the assessments, as these are crucial for teachers to track students progress and for the end of the year school reports.

PE and Outdoor Play: This is a reminder that all PE lessons will be taking place in the school playground area and students will be going outside at least once a day. Students should, therefore, come to school wearing comfortable outdoor shoes. Students will not be changing into PE clothes, however, a change/layers of clothing is advisable. With the hot weather approaching and the woodland area for outdoor play, sun-cream and tick-spray should be applied before coming to school and a hat/cap worn for protection.

We would like to thank all the students, teachers and parents for a positive first week back and we look forward to seeing the rest of our primary on Monday 25th May. Please continue to read our Reopening Procedures and Principal's updates.

I wish everyone a lovely weekend and to continue to keep safe and healthy,

Mrs Železinger

Head of Primary

Early Years students were back with a bang this week! The students were so excited for school to start. It was a pleasure to see such happy faces coming into the classrooms each morning. The students were thrilled to see, learn with and play with their friends. This week we spent lots of time outside, making use of all the space we had. The children have been exploring the woodland area, finding "pets" (bugs) and building things with sticks, stones, sand and mud.

Due to the safety restrictions on some of the playground equipment, the children were able to really dig deep and use their imagination during outdoor play. It's been amazing to see and hear the role-playing and games they have invented throughout the week. Although lots of things have changed both inside and outside the classroom, the children have adapted so well and I am very proud of them.

Ms O'Hara

Welcome back Y1! What a busy week, it's fantastic to be back in the classroom.

I'm really proud of your patience and how sensible you have all been coming back to school with distancing measures.

This week we have of course been catching up and capturing special moments through recounts, looking at fractions, how to manage coronavirus, yoga and the water cycle.

Y1 also had an art lesson with Miss Clayton, looking at drawing water-based pictures. This was a fantastic way to complement our work this week in Topic, where we have been looking at the water cycle.

Mr Hughes

Year 2 have made a fantastic transition back into school, learning new routines that are in place to keep us safe. We have all been enjoying playing games outside during the day. This week we have started our new topic, H20, where we have started looking at seas and oceans on Planet Earth. We are excited to continue learning about our water topic as we have lots of fun activities planned ahead. Well done Year 2 for all of your hard work this week with the new routines in school, you are superstars!

Ms Harris

It was the first week back in school for Year 3 after an extended period of learning from home. It was great to see everyone again and well done also for making it a seamless transition back into the classroom. As it was the beginning of a new block, the students began with their study of a new topic 'saving the rainforest'. They mapped the major rainforests of the world, examined the region they are located and completed research on some of the animals that live there. In English, the students discovered what makes a mystery story and will begin to write a mystery of their own over the coming weeks. Thanks for a successful first week back and looking forward to a successful block ahead.

Mr Mulcahy

Year 4 have been spending the week prior to their long-awaited return to school brushing up on their grammar and spelling rules on some hotly contested online quizzes. Live maths lessons also returned, and it was good to see that nothing had been forgotten over the virtual learning period; quite the opposite in fact! Next week we are all eagerly awaiting the start of the new Topics unit, where students will be learning to code games using Swift Playgrounds on their iPad!

Mr Bishop

This week Year 5 have been "zooming" straight to the top of the school by discovering different ways of simplifying fractions. Confidently, children have been performing and labelling different genres of play scripts. While in Topic, they have created some wonderful videos and investigated energy. I appreciate the time and effort all children have put into Zoom lessons over the last few months and I am very excited for the return of Year 5 to the classroom.

Mr Walker

The Year 6 students are now focusing their studies on the revision of all the different Maths units that they have covered this year. We have been using a clever website which gives real-time feedback on what the students know and what they need more practice on.

The students need to justify their answers which provides a great insight into students’ misconceptions and a great opportunity for peer teaching.

BAKE OFF!

Year 6 had a blast this week working with yeast, exploring the new topic 'Bake Off! (Changing & Separating Materials). They have been exploring the best conditions for yeast production, by changing one variable at a time. Each variable they worked with, they looked at at least two conditions e.g. water temperature at 25C and 35C.

The students were careful to keep their tests fair by only changing one variable at a time. The variables they changed include water temperature, amount of sugar, type of sugar, type of yeast, the temperature of placement of mixed yeast, amount of mixing. In doing all of this the students have been practising the skills of conducting scientific investigations posing scientific questions, and making systematic and accurate measurements from their observations. Of course, we didn't want the 'hard work' of the yeast to go to waste, so after successful yeast production conditions, the yeast mixture was used to make bread! Thank you to all the parents and grandparents that joined in.

Mr Kokalj and Mrs Charlesworth

Year 4 has been focusing on holidays. After playing Pictionary and hangman they had to produce sentences in order to prepare their presentation project. Can't wait for next week to see their amazing work!

Mrs Poulet

This week our EAL students are playing around with words and we'd like you to give it a go as well!

Gun, shoe, spree, door, hive, kicks, heaven, gate, line, den. What’s the pattern behind this list of words?

Hint: How do these words sound?

Mrs Majzelj Kralj

What are soft skills and why is it important to develop them?

Soft skills, also sometimes called social skills, are often overlooked. These skills help students know how to deal with both everyday situations and long-term decisions. Student success depends on many factors, and research shows that soft skills are not only critical to academic success, but there is also evidence that many future employers will make employment decisions based on soft skills. These skills are malleable into early adulthood. Educators and parents can foster and instil these skills in students in the same way that they do with traditional academic skills.

Critical soft skills include skills in collaboration, decision-making, problem-solving, time management and critical thinking. Below are some ideas on how you can support the development of your child's soft skills at home:

Social Cue Development - If you allow your child time to interact with others, he or she may become familiar with social cues and useful forms of communication.

Emotional regulation - Let your child spend some "quiet time" playing by themselves. This will help them to develop better emotional self-confidence.

Play Make-Believe - Stimulate your child's imagination by participating in make-believe play. You can help create an imaginary world and experience an adventure together.

Listen to your child - Listening to your child when they tell a story, talk about their ideas or try to express a feeling helps them develop excellent soft skills through practice and affirmative action. Start by simply listening to them and encouraging them to express themselves through open questions.

SEN Department

Y1 focused on spring and garden activities, reading words, short sentences and names of flowers. Students in the basic group started naming food and drinks.

Year 2 enjoyed guided and group reading of a very famous Slovene book Moj prijatelj Piki Jakob. The students were amazed when they found out that it was first published in 1972, which means that their parents and grandparents were able to read it when they were young too.

Students in Y3 started with their new topic: Holiday and Travel. As we've spent many weeks being at home, we reminisced about our last holidays and plan to learn new Slovene words to be able to spend our next holidays in Slovenia.

Y4, Y5 and Y6 continued working from home on their grammar and poetry.

We look forward to seeing everyone next week!

Slovene Department Team

Dear Students and Parents,

Due to COVID-19 safety restrictions, PE lessons for this block are happening at the school playground, therefore changing into PE clothing will not be possible.

We advise all students to bring comfortable footwear to change into and have an extra t-shirt on the day of their PE lessons.

In case of bad weather, the lessons will of course be happening in classrooms where students will be learning PE theory content.

Kind Regards,

PE Department

A few students from Year 6, think they have what it takes to go for the CHALLENGEof making it into the Guinness Book of Records: with 'The highest score achieved on Times Tables Rock Stars in one minute'! Some think that it will be too difficult for them to accomplish, but they are going to 'give it a go' anyway, the absolute best spirit of striving for EXCELLENCE.

The standard is 150+ in a Studio game in one minute. Do you have what it takes? Why don't you give it a try to find out?

Work doesn't stop at 15:40 for the heroic staff of BISL! At the end of the school day on Tuesday, Mrs Charlesworth was to be found on the grass divide in the middle of the school car park, standing guard over a tiny bird. The little fellow looked distinctly shaky after an incident, the nature of which we shall not know. More concerned staff gathered around our pocket-size pal, and an impromptu emergency staff meeting ensued. Should we pick the little mite up? Put him (or her) into a shoebox? Could (s)he be kept in class, or taken home to nurse? Our feathered friend didn't look overly comfortable in Mr Hughes' shoulder bag, and so eventually (after it had left a little message in the bag) it was decided that Mr Hughes would don Mr Walkers hoodie, and our new passerine partner would travel in the said hood, by bicycle! The plucky percher tucked-in behind Mr Hughes' well-coiffed cranium and the journey home began. But how does this adventure end for our miniature intrepid explorer? Well, it seems as though some TLC (Tender Loving Care) and the sensation of the wind beneath the wings was enough to revive our ornithological wonder, who launched himself from the hoodie mid-transfer, and flew happily away into the blue.

Mr Irving

Early Years 1

Gabriel... for always being ready to help with everything from tidying to translating!

Early Years 2

Eliza for being so kind and including everyone in all your fun, imaginative free play games all week!

Early Years 3

Marta l...for coming to school every day with such a positive attitude and for being polite, kind and attentive.

Year 2

Dariya... for her focus and enthusiasm in her return to school. Her hard work has been across all subjects this week. Well done Dariya.

Year 3

Eva...for completing your rainforest map with great care and enthusiastically completing your reading, writing and maths assessments this week. Well done and keep up the good work.

Year 4

Gašper...For your outstanding progress in maths this last term. I can see that you have really been putting a lot of effort into developing your mathematical understanding, with great results.

Year 5

Liza...For her continued attention throughout lessons, her amazing answers and prompt posting.

Year 6A

Aleksander... For persevering with your work at home during Quarantine. We know it wasn’t easy but you did a great job. Your bread looks awesome!

Year 6B

Connor...For your enthusiasm and dedication when completing your science experiment with yeast. You have shown you can conduct the experiment correctly using at least 2 variables, report about it in a slideshow presentation using photographs and written description and answer all the questions in the task. Well done!

This week the winner is…

Zircon with 52 Points!

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!

In second place was...Sapphire with 47points,

In third place was... Hessonite with 34 points

In Fourth place was..Emerald with 30 points

At the British International School of Ljubljana, our uniform plays an important part in supporting our values, common purpose and uniting our community.

We are often asked about footwear. A comfortable, elegant and good quality black shoe is required for the school day as part of the uniform all year round and also important as students frequently represent the school at events, presentations and ceremonies. We have included photographs below of examples of our students to help you.

Please find a link to our school uniform page here to guide you with the expectations at our school.

Dear Parents,

We are very pleased to report that we have had a successful reopening this week, following our BISL Reopening Procedures and ‘staggered start’ plan.

Each day we have had a safety check of the school, reviewed our protocols and made sure that we have followed our published guidance to enable everyone to return safely on site. With safety as our priority, we have welcomed back our students and have been delighted with how they have transitioned back into the school building. Our students have been incredible in the way they have arrived back, interacted with each other and enjoyed being reunited with their friends and teachers.

Please check the FAQs on the link above as much of the information is located on this page and other relevant updates may be useful. We also recommend following us on Facebook and reading our weekly newsletters for regular updates.

Thank you to all parents and members of the community for your support, patience and help through this time.

As restrictions continue to be relaxed, we will update you on any changes so that you are aware of any safety measures and routines that are altered. If your child is returning next week for the first time, please remember to complete a parent declaration form in advance.

Previous updates:

I wish all families an enjoyable weekend and look forward to seeing everyone soon.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal