Primary News - 2. sept 2021

Dear Parents and Students,

A warm welcome back to all students and families, both returning and those joining BISL for the first time. It has been a very active first week of school, with students settling into their classroom routines, getting to know their teachers and peers, and engaging in many different activities (see the class and departments section below).

On Wednesday 25th August, parents were able to join the Curriculum Evening sessions online with the Class Teachers. Recordings have been shared with parents for further reference. Should parents have any specific concerns or questions about their child, please contact the class or specialist teacher directly on their email. All of the general information can be found in the 2021-22 Primary Student Handbook.

A reminder that Declaration forms are compulsory for students to be able to attend school. Without the declaration, students will have to be sent home. These should be handed in at reception or emailed to reception@britishschool.si.

Extended supervision from 14:55-16:30 opens for Early Years and Y1 on Monday 30th August. Other after school activities are aimed to start from 6th September. Please see the After school Provision section below for more information. Students can choose from a variety of activities, catering for all ages and interests, to expand on or learn new skills. We are also very excited about the new building - see another sneak-peak of the fantastic facilities that students will be able to enjoy in the coming weeks.

For any important updates, please continue to check the News section and the latest Update from the Principal.

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Katarina Železinger

Head of Primary

Early Years

What a fantastic start to the academic year in Early Years! There was lots of excitement this week as the youngest members of the BISL community began their journeys of learning through exploration.

The children have been learning all about their daily routines, how to self-select activities and most importantly making connections with their peers during play. Well done, Early Years!

Ms Gillespie

Year 1

We have had a brilliant start to the school year in Y1! We’ve played many games to get to know each other and made plenty of decorations for our classroom, including self-portraits, About Me banners and birthday crowns.

It has been a busy week during which many new friendships have been formed. I look forward to spending a fabulous year with all the students!

Ms Miklavec

Year 2

We have had a fantastic start to Year 2! We have been making new friends and enjoyed being together again. We have participated in many

activities to get to know each other this week. As part of this, we created some 'getting to know me' sculptures - they were so much fun and looked fantastic!

We enjoyed sharing stories this week and reading new books. We have started all of our new units for English, Maths and Topic where we have been learning about instructions, place value and 'Treasures'.

We are looking forward to a fantastic year ahead.

Ms Harris & Mrs Bradley

Year 3A

As part of our first week Maths activities, Year 3a designed, constructed and measured their paper towers to see who came up with the best designs!

Ms Blundell

Year 3B

The Year 3B students have been invited to share their knowledge of using tablets with their peers. They were able to teach each other how to use Canvas - our virtual learning tool - to upload photographs and participate in a shared online discussion.The students did a brilliant job by showing BISL values of Respect and Excellence whilst staying positive and motivating throughout the learning session.

What a great start to the year!

Mr Kokalj

Year 4

Fit Together

Year 4 had a fun week getting to know each other. One of the activities we did was answering questions from each other by sitting down or standing up. For example, stand up if you play a musical instrument.

We then took some of the ideas we had generated and created a jigsaw piece to sum us up as individuals. Finally, we came together with our pieces to see how Year 4 fit together.

Mrs Charlesworth

Year 5

This week the children settled very well into their new year group. At the beginning of the week, we spent time getting to know each other, the routines of the class and having fun. The class began their new topic 'Extreme Survivors' and researched and explored different habitats and discovered which animals can survive in extreme conditions. I know the class are excited to learn more about this interesting topic.

Next week we will be learning about plants that live in extreme conditions. Please can all children bring a small cactus into school on Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you,

Ms Thomas

Year 6

It has been great to see the Year 6's back in my classroom after having taught most of them in Year 4. It is also a pleasure to meet the new students who came this and last year.

In this block, we will be studying the legend of Robin Hood and our topic unit is Brainy backpackers, where students will pack their travel bags and jet set around the globe to prepare a travel guide for fellow intrepid travellers.

Mr Bishop

PE

This week during primary PE we introduced the different topics and sports for the year ahead and developed a range of fundamental movement skills. We also competed in team races, working on our speed, balance and communication skills and the importance of fair play.

All of the students displayed excellent enthusiasm and energy during primary PE this week and the whole PE department is looking forward to an active and successful year ahead.

PE Department

Performing Arts

This week in performing arts, primary classes have been enjoying playing some drama and get to know each other games.

Here are some pictures of their hilarious poses and fantastic acting skills.

Performing Arts Department

Slovene

In šola se je začela. Dobrodošli nazaj!

Our students in Primary were very engaged in Slovene during this week. They are looking forward to learning Slovene through various activities!

It is nice to be back, so we can't wait to start the 2nd week.

Slovene Department

EAL

The EAL Department would like to invite you to a presentation about EAL provision at BISL:

• EAL in Primary - Monday, 28th August at 16:00
• EAL in Secondary - Thursday, 2nd September at 16:00

Mr Siter, Head of EAL

After School Provision

Thank you to everyone who attended the after school activities presentation on Tuesday evening. For anyone who was not able to attend here is a link to the webinar:

BISL Sports, MEPI and BISL Music presentation

We have a very exciting and extensive programme on offer this year with lots of varied and interesting clubs.

All current after school activities are listed on our website. If you would like to sign your child up for an activity, you can directly email the lead teacher. All information can be found on our After School Provision page here.

Ms Kenealy

MEPI News

It’s been a wonderfully busy week for everyone as we all settle into the new academic year, and put our well-laid plans into action. MEPI is no exception to this, as we welcome some new members to our intrepid team. I would like to thank Mr Astbury (Humanities teacher and Year 10 Form tutor) for giving his time, expertise, and energy to the cause, and likewise, Ms Zupanc (Mathematics teacher and Year 8B Form tutor). Of course, a very warm welcome back to Ms Tušar (Science teacher and Year 8A Form tutor). The team is stronger than ever, and we have a great programme to deliver this year. Already MEPI has featured in the After School Activities webinar for parents, and MEPI presentations have been taking place in various Secondary form rooms (and will also feature in the next Secondary Assembly). A webinar solely for MEPI and ‘Junior Duke’ (A similar programme for our younger students) is also happening at 16:00 hrs on Tuesday 31st August. Our first official After School MEPI meeting will be on Monday 6th September at 15:00 hrs (Room 301), but I would like to invite my participants from last year to meet this coming Monday (30th August) for a quick catch up meeting.

Mr Irving, MEPI Coordinator

Staff Information

We are delighted to welcome Ms Teja Rismondo to the BISL team. Ms Rismondo is a qualified nurse and has already started her role as the School Nurse this week. Her assistance during outdoor breaks and within primary classrooms will further secure the health and safety of our students. If parents have any questions or concerns, please contact Ms Rismondo at: teja.rismondo@britishschool.si

Dear Parents,

An incredible week! - I think we all have felt a range of emotions over the past 5 days from excitement and eagerness to be starting the school year back in classes, to a sense of fulfilment and tiredness at the end of such a busy week.

Thank you to everyone for making this such a positive start back to the year! I really appreciate it.

We've started back very well but we have to be honest about areas which we can do better with as a school, our pick up procedures at the end of the day will improve and I thank you in advance for your patience with this. We are also planning to move all lunches back into a new canteen area and this will undoubtedly help with the quality of food our students have each day. This is something we can do very quickly.

Also, other areas such as helping students settle into the academic year will take time as they make new friends, get to know new teachers, and for students to learn new subjects. All of this comes with being in an international school. It is both a challenge and also an exciting part of students moving up from one school grade to another. We are here to support all students as everyone will have to experience change at some point.

To finish the week safely, students smiling and lots of great photos of them learning in class through our social media is a wonderful way to share with you their experiences so far.

With the after-school activities to start on Monday 6th September, we are looking forward to more opportunities for our students.

Please note as mentioned in my full Update here, we are opening up events on site next week. This will be reviewed weekly.

Please read my full Update from the Principal for further details.

Wishing you a fantastic weekend.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website here.