Secondary News - 25 januar 2021

This week began with an Assembly discussing Culture and Cultural Diversity. At BISL we are so truly fortunate to be represented by over 40 nationalities at our school. Learning about each other and relishing in each other’s cultural differences widens our understanding of the world. Being respectful of one-another is something that we hold dear at BISL and is one of the reasons that it forms one of our four values.

The Year 9 students enjoyed a presentation this week regarding their IGCSE options for the next two years of their schooling, to enable them to begin considering their choices. Students are encouraged to think wisely about the preferences that they would like to submit, understanding that their choices are not yet final until subject groupings have been formed. Should students require any further information or have any questions, they are encouraged to contact teachers directly.

With the government releasing further guidance this week regarding schools reopening, parents are encouraged to continue checking the weekly Principal’s Update, for the latest information for BISL. Next week we are preparing for additional Year levels in Primary to transition back into the building as per the guidance.

I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Stephanie Andronikos
Head of Secondary

Here are some snaps from across the Secondary and Sixth Form of our students’ online learning journey. We are incredibly proud of how our students have adapted and continue to do so.

Message from our Head Girl

Congratulations to the IGCSE and A level students for completing their mock examinations in the last two weeks! I hope everyone has been able to get some rest during the past weekend, as I know it has been a stressful couple of weeks. I am sure everyone did their best and will get the grades they deserve.

For everyone else, I am aware that this lockdown has been going on for a longer time than expected. You have been doing great so far, so please continue this attitude towards school for a little while longer.

I hope you have all had some time to rest over the winter break, and are feeling refreshed during this new block. For now, enjoy your weekend, and make sure to take a break from your screen once in a while.

Micky, Year 13

A word from our Head Boy

The mock weeks are finally over and I congratulate everyone who has done such a great job in maintaining their study rhythms as well as quality output so far. I suggest you take some time off to relax and cool off in order to prepare yourself for the next set of assessments in February. The lockdown is still in effect, therefore it is crucial to maintain a healthy lifestyle and exercise regularly. Once again, I congratulate the exam takers and hope to see you soon in school. Be safe and stay healthy.

Daniel, Year 13

This week in P.E., students are continuing to learn about sports education relating to floorball. Secondary students were introduced to skills and potential mock exam questions we will be assessing in week five.

Students were additionally given detailed rubrics and a video explanation of each skill they will be videoing for individual P.E. portfolios they are creating and will be assessed on by week five.

Students have continued to learn about sports education through researched and designed student-led lessons. This week featured the green team as our second guest professors of the block. Students have been preparing and running a class involving knowledge for diet and energy sources, attacking tactics in floorball, and fitness components related to muscular endurance in floorball.

House Competition

We would like to congratulate house Emerald for collecting the most points in the first 2 weeks of Block 4. Well done for your collective efforts.

• Keep up with the student

ADVENTURE DAYS POSTPONED

We would like to inform you that the upcoming Winter Adventure days are postponed. In today's very uncertain times, we cannot predict when they will go ahead, however, the school will endeavor to reschedule them at a later date.

We will keep you updated when more information is available.

WEEKLY CHALLENGE:

This week’s challenge comes from Ms Fairchild-Gojkowic, with her core muscles challenge!

Click here to see the challenge!

HEALTHY DIET RECIPE:

Click here to find this yummy recipe

KEEP UP WITH THE HOUSE CAPTAIN:

Can you keep up with the sapphire house captain? This week we have a short 26 minute challenge.

Don’t forget to send in your videos of your completed challenges to be featured in our next video compilation.

Click here to view the video

PE Department

Slovene Advanced

Year 8 in Slovene Advanced lesson wrote a short quiz. They have tested their knowledge on the topic of "domače in prevzete besede, sleng, poved in stavek". I believe they have done a fantastic job!

Ms Drofenik - Slovene Teacher

Slovene as a Second Language

Years 10 and 11 have been starting on diverse dialogues based on dealing with our daily situations. They were full of ideas on how to prepare and have a proper Slovene dialogue in different shops such as supermarkets, clothes stores and so on.

As soon as the shops open their doors, they will be ready to have a Slovene conversation with the shop assistants.

Well done students!

Ms Kosec - Slovene Teacher

Year 7: Both classes have been exploring persuasive devices and have started to create their own persuasive speeches and letters. Students have looked at a variety of famous speeches such as Greta Thunbergs' ‘How dare you’ speech and others.

7b produced short speeches aimed at Mr. Walton to encourage him to change school policy on allowing mobile phones at break time and at lunch time. Do you think he will be convinced? Take a read at two below.

“I believe that all secondary students should have the right to use their phone during break if wanted. Why ? Well first of all I understand your concern about young children being on the phone all day and not getting fresh air or texting during class, but don’t worry because i have the solution. First of all to prevent not focusing during classes you can make a rule that we’re only allowed to use them during break or if you prefer even only one of the 2 breaks.

Next is the concern about fresh air, who said we can’t sit on one of the lovely benches outside and look at our phones there. And why primary ? Who said anything about them should just be secondary to the older and more mature part of BISL. I’m sure students sneak their phones in as it is, why not make your job easier and have them not sneaking, that way there is nobody you need to catch or look out for. But now let’s talk about your role in all of this. Don’t you want to be that great principle that everyone remembers ?

After you there will probably be many more principles at BISL, don’t you want to be the one that everyone remembers and worships. You could be our hero, but more importantly you could be BISL’s. When a student walks by the hallway and sees your name do you want them to say “ who is this guy “ or rather “ I sure wish Mr. Walton was still here, he’s the BISL hero, the one who saved us from our misery and boredom. “ Have a think about what kind of reputation you want here." - Emma, 7b

“You need to let us use phones at break and at lunch because if you give that to us, 99% of people in the class will appreciate it and they will be more concentrated as they will not day dream about their phone! Do you want your students complaining?! No! No! No! So let us have our phones!” - Artur, 7b

Year 8: In English literature this week year 8 are continuing reading Private Peaceful with Mr. Kerwan. Whilst in Language with Mr. Siter (and a special guest of Ms O’Regan this week), continued with descriptive writing and continued their character development. We are looking forward to hearing their stories!

Year 9b: Are currently reading Animal Farm and have just finished chapter 5. Students have been analysing the Animal’s Behaviour and exploring the allegory. Students are highly engaged in the links to the Russian revolution. This is fantastic for cross curricular learning, which is something we embrace fully at BISL.

At the beginning of most lessons we do a reflection on the previous lessons learning in the form of a starter - sometimes we have special guests join us too! Can you spot the special guest below?

Year 10: This week have explored the poem Stealing by Carol Ann Duffy. They enjoyed it so much, when it came time to write their analytical essay, several students said they had too much to say, and were already on 800 words just 30 minutes into the writing!

Year 10 have also explored the poem Valentine. If you’ve read these poems can you notice a common theme?

At the end of the week students started to explore the complex poem Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy, students explored it in small groups trying to find their own meanings in it - remember your own analysis is as good as anyones.

In fact in the exam you get lots of marks for personal and unique responses. At BISL we encourage all students to interpret poetry and prose creatively, which will help push their essays into the A and A* category.

At BISL we value giving students choice of activity, as all students learn differently, and especially in lockdown some students are experiencing fatigue. In the English department we try to give our students choice as much as possible giving them the choice from writing tasks, to creative writing and artistic tasks. As it was the last lesson Friday, for some reason the majority of students chose to make a poster analysing the poem Valentine’s symbolism.

Valentine by Posters

Year 10 were allowed to get creative this Friday - and here is a selection of their posters for you to enjoy. What do you think the main symbol is about?

Year 11b: Students have had a chance to reflect on their exam results, and have jumped into revising 1984. This week students have had seminar like discussions on 1984, as well as independent quotation investigation tasks. We encourage all students to develop their personal response for the exam, as that is how they can push their answers into the A* category.

Year 13: In English Literature students are exploring King Lear and we’ve just finished half of act one this week. Students are highly engaged and can’t wait to find what happens next.

With Shakespeare being a heavy topic, we finished off the week with memes and a kahoot quiz to see how much students remembered from scene 1. It is important to consolidate learning, especially after studying such a heavy topic.

Other English News:

Students this week have been looking at Robert Burns poetry in preparation for Burns Night on 25th January. Make sure you check BISL’s Facebook page over the weekend, as sneak peaks of the recordings are being released every day leading up to Burns night. Poems include To a Mouse, Auld Lang Syne and of course Address to a Haggis.

We have some Scottish accent enthusiasts who could understand the poem read in a traditional scottish dialect, which was very impressive, as most people from England struggle with this.

Check BISL’s website and facebook page for the videos of students from both primary, secondary and sixth form reciting a variety of poems by Burns.

English riddle of the week:

A prisoner has to choose which cell he’s going to serve his sentence inside.The first cell is filled with fire and lava. The second cell is filled with angry lions, bears, and scorpions. The third cell is filled with lions that haven’t eaten in years. Which cell should he choose?

Remember to email Ms O’Regan the answer, all correct answers will receive a house point!

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

The Year 9 students were busy completing their Maths Quiz this week as they are at the halfway point for their content for Term 2. It is a good time to be able to gauge how students are progressing and to implement any intervention strategies if required.

Students need to reflect: Is what I have been doing getting me the desired outcome? If not, what will I adapt to get there? Routines are key, and students are encouraged to refine their systems of study at home for the retention of concepts. Happy studying!

The Key stage 3 and Year 10 students were busy completing their Maths Quiz this week as they are at the halfway point for their content for Term 2. It is a good time to be able to gauge how students are progressing and to implement any intervention strategies if required.

Students need to reflect: Is what I have been doing getting me the desired outcome? If not, what will I adapt to get there? Routines are key, and students are encouraged to refine their systems of study at home for the retention of concepts. Happy studying!

The answers for the last Math question of the week is: 24.

Thank you for all submitted answers and congratulations to Mei from 7A and Aleksander from 9B, who guessed correctly and received 5 house points. Well done!

Maths question of this week is:

Lily is a lilypad in a small pond. Lilly doubles her size each day, and on the 20th day she covers the whole pond. On what day was Lily half the size of the pond?

Students who solve the question send their answer to my email by Wednesday 27th January.

Year 10 continued working on recruitment this week, they shortlisted CV’s from the job descriptions and person specifications they wrote last week (not real ones of course!).

Year 12 in business are doing inventory management this week, they are looking specifically at just time. In economics they are learning about fiscal policies and macro-economics. They are currently learning about demand management policies, and learnt about tax loop-holes too… not that we found any for Slovenia.

Year 13 are also doing operations in business, specifically project management.

Mr. Dalton - Business and Economics Teacher

Physics

Here are the snapshots from a virtual lab practical that the Y12 physics students have completed (Luka and Chloe). They were exploring the effect of interference with different types of waves and in different configurations.

The main benefit from this method is that we were able to carry out a practical that normally is not possible to set up for equipment/complexity issues, but they were able to set it up, analyse it, and evaluate the results in less than 20 minutes, which is fantastic! Also, it makes up slightly for the fact that we can't carry out physical practicals in the process of obtaining very valuable practical, experimental, and observational skills.

Science Sixth Form Mock Success

I would also like to congratulate all our Chemistry and Physics Year 13 students on their mock exam results. 100% of students got an A or above, with 86% getting an A*. This is phenomenal - they all deserve a rest and a pat on the back.

Mr. Herrera - Science Teacher

Well, as they say, 'every cloud has a silver lining'! It was unfortunate that the water shortage meant that we had to all work from home on Monday, but it gave our MEPI participants a chance to 'wrap-up' one part of the expedition training. It was possible to actually show and demonstrate some of the essential equipment (stored off-site) that is needed for a safe and successful 'Adventurous Journey'.

Over Zoom, we were able to examine the good and bad points of various items of kit. Strong boots, with ankle support had already been discussed, but we looked at a range of rucksacks with differing capacities and features. Something approaching 65 litres should be large enough, and padded, adjustable shoulder straps and hip belt are essential. (70% of the weight of your pack should be carried on your hips!)

We covered everything from 'gaiters' to 'gas burners (The safe use of which, will be fully demonstrated next week.) The full Expedition Kit List is here. It's always satisfying to log onto the Online Record Book and enter a completion date next to an activity!

Mr Irving, MEPI Coordinator

If you haven’t had a chance to read our recent Teacher Feature profiles, here’s what you may have missed:

• 13.01.2021 - Mrs Tanya Charlesworth
• 16.12.2020 - Ms Sarah Fairchild
• 09.12.2020 -Ms Polly Tušar
• 25.11.2020 - Mr Tobija Siter
• 04.11.2020 - Mr Gary Bradley
• 28.10.2020 - Ms Laura Harris
• 21.10.2020 - Ms Katarina Miklavec
• 6.10.2020 - Mr Jason Batson

Thank you to those who have already taken the time to complete our 2020/21 Parent Survey, it is very much appreciated, as it will provide us with important feedback for us to continue to improve your child’s experience at our school. If you haven’t completed the survey yet, the deadline to do so is Friday 29th January.

Dear Parents,

We are delighted with the news this week as the schools reopen for younger students, we now plan to safely bring back our students from selected Primary classes in a 'staggered' return to the building. We look forward to seeing the students again soon and are excited that they can return to the classrooms and see their teachers and friends face to face. As previously followed, we will continue to review the Health and Safety and provision at school on a daily basis. A deep clean was completed again this week and we have completed another inspection of the school site prior to this reopening. Daily cleaning has been ongoing and our hygiene checks and standards have been maintained.

With the work continuing on the new building and amazing progress visible now with the completion of the facade, lift and bridge, this promises to be a very important few months for our community. Students now beginning to return to the building is another welcome boost at this time.

We look forward to further classes returning when guidance suggests.

Our plan below includes:

• Communication of the classes to return
• Health and Safety
• Pre-opening procedures
• Mask guidance
• Timetable of classes
• FAQs

For detailed information, please see the BISL January 2021 Reopening Procedure Guidance.

Class teachers will email out further specific instructions to parents for individual classes returning to the building.

Please read my full Update from the Principal here for further information.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal