Humanities Block Round Up

The Humanities are a broad range of subjects that are interested in understanding human behaviour, culture and society. Students of the Humanities think critically and speculatively within a historical context about the world around them and consider the relationships between people and their natural and social environments.

This has been a very fun block, with students have been taking part in a range of fun Humanities-related activities in Primary school. Each topic began with an exciting entry point varying from chocolate tasting with different ingredients, to playing coding games, or debating about world issues. There was a range of activities that happened in every classroom throughout the block.

Each class shared where they were from and looked at their country on a map and each class learnt about flags from around the world. Key Stage 2 students took part in a highly competitive and very exhilarating flag quiz. The flags were not easy... would you know what the flag of Nepal or Togo looks like? Well, most of our children DID and our quiz finalists named them in the fastest time - Well done!

In Secondary, a wide range of different activities took place to get students engaged and excited about the different Humanities subjects. Over 20 students took part in the Geoguessr Knockout Competition, a browser-based game that puts you somewhere randomly on Google Maps with a Street View and you need to guess where you are using visual clues in a limited amount of time. Congratulations again to Tikhon from Year 8A who won the competition and who displayed some truly outstanding geographical knowledge of the world!

Key Stage 3 students took part in the annual Humanities House Quiz where students in each Form group banded together in their Houses and answered a series of questions on Geography, History, Computer Science and Economics for House Points.

Once again, a huge congratulations to House Hessonite whose collective scores across all the Year 7, 8 and 9 Tutor groups were the highest! Year 8A emerged as the top Tutor group and Year 8A Hessonite had the highest score of all the groups with 25/32.

The final competition involved Seterra, another browser-based game where you need to guess the location of the countries of a specific continent in random order. Over 20 students participated and after three intense rounds looking firstly at European countries, then Asia and finally Africa, Naomi from Year 8B emerged victorious! Congratulations on your fantastic achievement.

It is worth noting that both Naomi and Ewa from Year 12 were able to achieve 100% for all three continents in under two minutes each, a feat we imagine very few teachers or parents could achieve! Additionally, Tjaša (Year 10B), Jon (Year 10B), Valentin (Year 8B), Iori (Year 11), Ema (Year 10A) and Georgi (Year 10A) also got 100% on at least one continent.

A big thank you to Mr Malden, our resident History teacher, who provided our Tutor groups with a “This Day in History” slide so we could all learn about important events that took place in the past on different calendar days throughout the block in Secondary School.

Our inquisitive students in Computer Science have thoroughly enjoyed using our LEGO Robots to develop their problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills. You can read more about this brilliant new initiative here.

As part of Year 7s study of Castles, they had the opportunity to travel back in time with a visit to Ljubljana Castle where actors (time travellers?) recounted the famous tales and stories surrounding the castle and the people who have lived there for over 2000 years.

They took the bus to the city centre and then walked to the bottom of the funicular - the students were happy they did not need to walk up the hill! Once at the top they were met by their tour guide who took them outside the castle walls to the first known point of use - the Roman well which is 2000 years old.

They then met a Roman Priestess and a Centurion! After this, they had a trip through time meeting various characters who were pivotal in the development of the castle, including Saint George and King Frederick III. After a climb up the tower for a photo opportunity they had lunch and went back to school. The students had a great time and were exemplary throughout the trip; a real credit to the school!

Our MEPI students also added to the Humanities theme through the BISL Triglaving and Everesting Challenge. It's a project where you have to hike, bike, or run a total distance based on the altitudes of either Triglav or Everest; a great opportunity to condition the body in preparation for when our intrepid student go on their Adventurous Journey in May.

To end the block, our whole school commemorated Remembrance Day. The children made their very own poppies to wear to symbolise their remembrance of people who fought and died in wars past and present and reflect on the sacrifices people have made that have shaped the world as we know it.

On the last day of the block, students learnt more about what Remembrance is and wore their poppies with pride during a minute’s silence at 11am. This was a very moving moment at BISL and a poignant way to end the Humanities block. As a community, we are very proud of how well the students engaged with this important event and look forward to commemorating together in the Woodland area next year.

You can read more about our Remembrance Day Commemoration here.