Secondary News - 28. febr 2020-2

This week began with a wonderful assembly from Ms Kotnik, highlighting the importance of language and its positive influence in our lives. It is a window to peek into different cultures which feeds the mind and soul. We celebrate the many cultures that we have here at BISL, and it is lovely to see hard work from the languages staff to promote that this block.

This week was a significant week for the senior students to sit their Mock exams, where they practised the entire examination process. Students will receive feedback on these exams from teachers, and I hope that the experience has put them in good stead from their exams at the end of the year.

Also, this week was the IGCSE subject information evening predominantly for the Year 9 students, to aid them in making the best and most informed decisions for the next two years of their academic lives. Please ensure that the preference form is filled out and passed back to me by the end of this block. I will endeavour to create a schedule so that students receive their first few preferences, however, it is not always possible in every case. I will notify students in Block 5 of their confirmed selections and I thank all families for their flexibility.

Next week, Year 11 students will have the opportunity to attend an A-Level subject information evening to consider all of their options. I look forward to seeing these families there.

Have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

Stephanie Andronikos

Head of Secondary

Mr Davies is leaving BISL, with his last day being Friday 17th January. He has already contacted all parents explaining the situation. We thank him for his contribution to the school. A new teacher has been hired and will join us shorty.

Mr Calder has joined our school as our new Primary and Yr7 music teacher. He spent his student years in Edinburgh and fell in love with the city. During his PGCE year he was selected out of the cohort of 18 as Musical Director for the College - Moray House, Edinburgh University - pantomime. This led to his involvement in Music Theatre at school and professional level for over three decades. He was a visiting examiner for the Scottish Qualifications Authority for many years which he found interesting as he visited dozens of schools all over the country. He has been Head of Music, Head of Whole School Music and Head of Visual and Performing Arts including Drama and is now thoroughly enjoying his role as Primary Specialist.

A warm welcome to Mr Calder!

Mr Walton

Principal

This week we asked 2 of our newest staff members for their first impressions of BISL and life here in Slovenia.

Mr Collop who has joined us as a Maths teacher said that people had been helpful and friendly so far. He has been pleasantly surprised just how widely English is spoken and also how well. He has enjoyed exploring different places and restaurants in Ljubljana and is looking forward to trying the ski-slopes here. Over all his impression of the school and students has been highly favourable so far.

Mr Greening-Jackson who has joined us as our new Business and Economics teacher also said that so far he was very happy and teaching the 6th Form has been great. He added that after having previously taught in lands with temperatures as high as 52 degrees and as low as -48 degrees that he wasn’t having any problems adjusting to our weather so far.

IGCSE and A Level Mock examinations

The mock examination week has finished! Well done to all the students who went through one gruelling week of mock examinations, completing multiple examinations for each subject they study. It has been a tiring week but we are sure all your hard work will have paid off. Thank you to all the students who observed the signs asking for quiet while the examinations were taking place and thank you to all the teachers who invigilated. The real external examinations begin April 29th so this week has been good practise for both students and staff.

IGCSE and A Level November Examination Results

All of the examination results for students who sat their examinations in November have now arrived and in many cases, the results have been better than expected. Congratulations to those students who have managed to improve upon the grade they received in the June examination series. However a huge congratulations must go to Chloe in year 11, who achieved not only a grade A* in her IGCSE Mathematics examination but also scored in the top 1% in the world. Well done to her and all the other students who enjoyed success in this examination series!

Mr Batson

Examinations Officer

This week our MEPI participants faced-down the rather detailed and extensive (some might say ‘comprehensive’) KIT LIST! A compilation of all the clothing and equipment that will, or may, be needed on their MEPI expedition. Fortunately, participants will already be in possession of many items on the list (and some just really aren’t necessary). Important pieces of kit include: Strong walking shoes/boots; Rucksack (comfortable and of sufficient capacity); waterproof clothing. Often sleeping bags, tents, and camping stoves can be borrowed, and MEPI staff were able to demonstrate various examples of everything that might be required.

Mr Irving

MEPI Coordinator

Congratulations to Leeloo of Year 7 for her outstanding work in Science recently.

For Language Block, Tin of Yr8 read a poem to the assembly about learning a language.

BE A HERO - LIVE OUR VALUES

Just a reminder to sign up to join our BISL Blood Donation Drive on Friday the 7th of February. We will leave school at 12 and return by 3:30. If this is something you've always wanted to do but needed a bit of moral support, come along with BISL students, parents and staff.

To join, please contact Mrs Charlesworth via email.

Download a copy of our new Academic Calendar for 2020/21 here.

Hello Everyone, and welcome back to the first edition of ‘Max’s Moment’ in the new block! I hope everyone has had a restful break, and is prepared to determine their successes of the previous break in retrospect, and anticipating implementing new and exciting challenges in order to perpetuate our journey to both excellence and happiness. Without further ado, here are some great tips in order to hit the ground running! Of course, setting up any sort of routine is imperative to the fruition of one’s productivity. Never underestimate the value of a routine, especially when it comes to school work and study time. A good way to do it is to spend the first 30 minutes to an hour after you arrive home from school doing something you enjoy – which might be playing music, sport, video games, the gym or TV. Then spend an hour or two on homework before dinner. Practicing and engaging in your routine daily ensures a great productive day, and allows you to manage both your social and personal life, but also your mental health; An essential part in properly exercising your routine for productivity. Furthermore, setting up a realistic, but optimistic goals are integral to comprehending what you want to achieve, especially with assessments coming up, and new, daunting units having to be covered. Having a good study space makes this so much easier though! I hope everyone has a great block, and I’ll see you all again next week.