Secondary News - 5. maj 2021

Block 6 Week 4

It is the end of another week, and the Science team has continued to celebrate their subjects during the assembly, lessons and throughout the other areas of the school. Specifically, the assembly explored Science in History, and how its discoveries have impacted upon the world throughout time. It was a very thought-provoking assembly.

This week the Year 11 to 13 students were attending some very key revision sessions with their teachers in preparation for examinations continuing next week. Good luck to all students for the upcoming assessments.

Subject selections have been finalised for Year 9 and 11 students moving into next year. It is not always easy to narrow the options down, however, it is important to remember that if unsure, selecting a variety of subjects can lead to almost any pathway at university level. Students are encouraged to discuss their options with their teachers, or Mr Batson, who is well versed with seeingstudents get into their preferred University.

Next week also sees theProgress Test in English (PTE) and Progress Test in Maths (PTM) for all students in KS3. These provide vital data for the progress of students over the year and will inform teachers moving forward also. Students are to ensure that they have their laptops charged and their headphones for these. The Form Tutors of KS3 have informed students of the days and times of these examinations, please contact Form Tutors if they are unsure.

Have a lovely, and restful weekend.

Ms. Andronikos

Head of Secondary

As part of their English Language IGCSE, students explore a range of different writing styles and writing formats. Our students have recently been looking at how to write a persuasive magazine article, about a variety of issues. Take a read of these two contradictory pieces on cycling to help form your own opinion. Do you like to cycle? Or do you get angry at cyclists in the road?

Well done to Julia and Julie in Year 10 on both articles, both receiving top grades.

Click here to read both articles.

I have been around for millions of years but am only a month old. What am I?

Mr Yates, Science Department

Physics News:

The Y10s managed to use multimeters in order to take readings from various electrical components to find out their resistance and the voltages of batteries. In a spurt of creativity, Semyon and Felix even tried to find the value for their own resistance, for which Semyon beat Felix by a couple kiloohms (kΩ)! Here's an example of a multimeter acting as an ohmmeter:

Mr Juan Malo de molina Herrera, Physics teacher

Year 7 looked further into the history of the H.G.Wells classic “The War of the Worlds” and the story of the hysteria that surrounded the broadcast of the Orson Wells 1938 radio play version of the story.

Year 8 continued looking at some of the controversies involving treatment of Native American tribes and the example of the Mescalero Apaches living in New Mexico, USA having Nuclear Waste being stored underneath their tribal lands.

Year 9: “Is this a dagger I see before me…?”

Both 9a and 9b have continued with Macbeth this week, with 9a having finished the play and being shocked by the tragic ending.

9b have just finished act 2 scene 3. They’ve witnessed the murder of King Duncan in cold blood. 9b unleashed their creative sides on Monday by adding a cauldron, dagger and more blood to their Macbeth display. Whilst working on this display students spoke about the key quotations which they were copying out to the display.

This week students also looked at the range of emotions in the play using, analysing the language used by using emojis. 9b are keen to find out what happens next in Macbeth and are riveted by this dark play.

Year 10: Year 10 have continued to explore their IGCSE Language paper 1 this week and the different formats of writing which could come up. This week students have explored the rather mundane skill of report writing. Students read through a model example of report writing before being let loose on one themselves. Students wrote sensitive reports on forest fires using two sources. Well done to all students who worked hard on this activity, with many A and B marks achieved.

Year 11: This week has been a success regarding year 11 revision. On Wednesday the English department held a revision session for each of the exam papers. A special well done to Hebe who came in for both sets of English revision on Wednesday and Thursday.

Year 13: We hope our two English Literature students are revising hard for their other subjects, and want to congratulate them again for finishing the course and sitting their final assessment last week.

Book/s of the Week: The Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials is an epic trilogy of fantasy novels consisting of Northern Lights (1995, published as The Golden Compass in North America), The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). It follows the coming of age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes. This is a must read for any fantasy book lovers.

Ms. O’Regan, Mr. Kirwan and Mr. Eve - English Department

Year 10 are currently doing the product life cycle, when a new product is introduced goes through fazes, where revenue, marketing costs and profit can all be predicted. Next week we are moving onto the market mix.

Mr. Dalton - Business and Economics Teacher

Year 8 have been working on an interactive timeline project during block 6, the timelines will display information about key people and technological inventions throughout history.

The readers will be able to click on the time period or person/invention they want to know more about and be transported to the relevant page.

Mr Johnstone, Computer Science teacher

KS3 and Year 10 students prepared for their Block 6 Mathematics quiz through various activities such as Jeopardy, Escape room and other group challenges. They sat in the quiz that covered numerous topics. Students are encouraged to reflect on the given feedback and complete the next steps.

Year 11, 12, and 13 students continue their preparations for exams at home and in school through revision lessons.

The answers for the last Math question of the week is: 6.

Thank you for all submitted answers and congratulations to Mei from 7A who guessed correctly and received 5 house points. Well done!

Maths question of this week is the maths question that broke the internet:

Which is correct?

Ms Zupanc, Mathematics Teacher

Year 10 have been starting on their speaking assessment this week. They have put in so much effort to present the relationship they have with Slovenia. They have told us the reasons they moved to Slovenia, places they have visited in Slovenia, the first Slovene word they learnt, their first experiences in Slovenia, their likes … It was delightful to hear such diverse stories from the students.

Well done! Keep using Slovene in your daily conversations.

Ms Košec, Slovene Teacher

Our KS3 students did speaking presentations in French. They used the vocabulary they had learned in school:

Year 7 talked about what they can do in the city (going to a restaurant, visiting museums, talking to friends, doing sports,...).

Year 8 talked about their home (describing rooms in the house/ apartment) and their eating habits.

Year 9 presented different sports, cities, countries, travel programme to Belgium, etc

They put a lot of effort into preparation and their presentation! Bravo!

Mrs Struna Berden, French Teacher

This week in PE, secondary students were skill assessed. Students in key stage three were tested on the five circuit training skills: lateral jumps, mountain climbers, high knees, jump rope, and skater cross backs, and five ladder drill skills. Students in key stage four were tested on the seven circuit training skills lateral jumps, mountain climbers, high knees, jump rope, skater cross backs, split jumps, burpees, and five ladder drill skills. The PE department would like to continue to invite students to sign up for after-school activities relating to health and well-being. This week in Multi-sport, tennis practice was introduced. Other secondary after-school PE-related clubs include the running club and basketball club.

Ms. Fairchild-Gojkovic, Mr. Černi, and Mr. Damjan

Recently, our participants tested their abilities in map reading and execution of route planning in Škofja Loka. We weren't quite a full team, but it was encouraging to see that all who were able to make it, did so. The team found their bearings, and started off well. Once or twice they erred from the planned route, but mostly recognised their deviation. The route taken was actually more pleasant than that planned! The weather was ideal, and the team displayed some real skills, and we also indulged in a little campanology and encountered some 'wildlife' along the way. Our MEPI participants have a great attitude, and we had a fun and informative experience.

Mr Irving, MEPI Coordinator

SAVE A LIFE - GIVE BLOOD TODAY

All it takes for you to save a life, is less than an hour of your time. Every day the blood stocks fluctuate, below you can see today's need. The Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia, Zavod Republike Slovenije za transfuzijsko medicino, is still desperately calling out for blood donors:

For more information please see:

http://www.ztm.si/en/blood-donation/blood-stocks/

Their mobile phone numbers for blood donors are 051 389 270, 051 671 147 or 030 716 796.

To show others how easy it is to donate, please send in a photo of yourself donating blood with a smile on your face (underneath that mask), and hopefully you will encourage someone else to give it a go too.

What a wonderful way to teach each other the values of Empathy and Challenge.

Mrs Charlesworth, C4C Coordinator

We have two appreciation days coming up in June. Student Appreciation Day will take place on Friday June 4, while Parent Appreciation Day has been set for Friday June 18. More details to follow.

Following on from the success of our Enrichment Saturdays at the beginning of the academic year, we are offering a further 2 Days of Free Saturday School (occurring on consecutive Saturdays, 12th and 19th June) for BISL students, which will include a range of supervised activities from a published calendar so that our students can have further opportunities to enjoy learning together.

To register for these Enrichment Days, please complete the sign-up form here.

With the summer holidays just around the corner, find out how your child can join this two-week summer adventure with the British International School of Ljubljana - details here.

To make up for some of the lost face-to-face interactions with friends due to the period of remote learning, we are happy to be able to offer 5 Days of Free Summer School for BISL students in the first week of the summer, starting Monday 5th July.

We head into Primary School for our next Teacher Feature, bringing you a delightful interview with Ms Katherine Blundell, our Year 1 Class Teacher and Primary Art Coordinator.

Read Ms Blundell’s Teacher Feature here.

Dear Parents,

A very exciting time this week with our after-school activities continuing, examination support sessions running daily and a wonderful finish to the week seeing our MEPI Second-hand clothes drive project wrap up. Thank you to everyone involved in the clubs, activities and exam revision sessions, I really appreciate this and the students have been wonderful.

A special mention to the overwhelming response to our Second-hand clothes drive, the amount of donations from our families has been incredible. This is such a worthwhile project and working with MEPI, teachers and parents, this has been a huge success. Thank you for your generosity, time and care in participating in this project, at one point last week I thought we would run out of space as the bags of clothes just kept arriving!

A really good feeling around the school as the national Covid restrictions took another step towards 'normality' and many of our staff, parents and students can start to enjoy additional services, retailers, hospitality etc. I hope everyone can find the time to relax, recharge and unwind with families this weekend. It has been very well deserved.

This week our school grew further with additional families, and I would like to extend my warm welcome to all new parents into our community. We hope to see everyone soon at our International Days and finish our Term 3 with some fantastic events, details of which are included in my full Update from the Principal here.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal