Secondary News - 10. dec 2021

Block 3 Week 4

Parent Interviews were in full swing this penultimate week of the block, with many families taking advantage of this opportunity to speak to their child’s teachers. Especially with mock exams just around the corner for Year 11 to 13, it was vital that all parents had the opportunity to discuss the progress of their child. Teachers will continue with these interviews into next week, and should any parents have missed out on booking, they are encouraged to contact the specific teacher directly. Thank you to all families for their support throughout these interviews.

Additionally, this week, Ms Hawkins has compiled and released aVirtual Art Exhibition of all the Year 7 to 10 work from Term 1. It was a wonderful celebration of the quality and effort put into these pieces. A big thank you to Ms Hawkins for this compilation and for inspiring the students every day. We look forward to seeing the older cohorts later in the year.

Another great event this week was the celebration of Houses with a house competition facilitated by Mr Hayes. Students had two house activities that they could get involved in. A window decorating competition following the theme Compassion at Christmas, and a Music quiz which all students participated in during the morning Form time. Overall, it was wonderful to see students get involved and we thank Mr Hayes and the House Captains for their efforts in celebrating the houses this term.

Next week on Friday 17^th Dec, students have a half day with pick up at 12pm, a dress down in Christmas colours day, and also, they take home their reports that day as well. It will be an important and wonderful last day of the block to spend together just before the Christmas break. I wish everyone a lovely and warm weekend ahead.

Kind regards,

Stephanie Andronikos

Head of Secondary

Our Year 7-10 Art Exhibition is now open for viewing!

If you haven't already done so, click on the link below to take a walk around our virtual exhibition to look at some of the excellent art work produced this term from Y7-Y10. Be sure to look outside in the garden too!

Take me to the exhibition

Laura Hawkins

Art Teacher

First of all, I feel very honoured to be the Head Girl of BISL this year. To me, the role of Head Girl is of great importance, as it means the ability to cooperate well with other student leadership teams, to facilitate the communication between teachers and students, and to motivate and support my peers with both their academic studies and other aspects of school life.

Since the start of this year, the Year 13 class has been regularly volunteering throughout the school, helping lower classes with school work and making plans for our future contribution to the school. Personally, I have been volunteering in primary, organising school events such as Book and Barter, and actively helping my peers in their studies. In the future, I would like to go beyond Sixth Form and provide more support for the rest of the school. This is a role that is both challenging and very rewarding to me, and I really hope to contribute to the BISL community in any way I can.

This year, school life has been very different compared to pre-covid time. According to the latest measures, all secondary students need to wear masks in both classrooms and common areas, and I would like to stress the importance of wearing masks properly, since it not only protects ourselves from catching the virus, but also shows our social responsibility. At the moment, getting fully vaccinated as soon as possible is the best way to protect ourselves and also prevent the spreading of covid in our school and the society. In the Y13 class, everyone has been fully vaccinated, this makes us feel so much more comfortable and safe together.

Last but not least, I wish that everybody could stay motivated and have a positive mindset for the rest of this academic year, and for us KS4& 5 students, we will maintain the same high working standard and try our best in the coming mock exams at the start of next block!

Chloe

Head Girl

Maths News:

Key Stage 3 students learnt how to use a protractor and a compass to construct various shapes including triangles given all three sides, circles and perpendicular bisectors of a line. They got creative and designed intriguing patterns, inscribed in circles.

Year 10 students recalled index laws and applied them to algebraic indices through a study session-style lesson.They demonstrated a mature approach towards their learning and they are commended for it.

Year 11 students were introduced to the concepts of the gradient function, the process of differentiation and their applications to geometric meaning of functions.

Year 12 students investigated the properties of Pascal's triangle and its connection to the binomial theorem.

Maths mistake of the week:

Well done to Valentin from 8B, he was determined to find 3 mistakes this week and got 6 House points.

All students are welcome to find the Maths mistakes, since they cover Secondary concepts, up to including Year 12.

Check out new mistakes next Monday in front of room 316!

Ms Zupanc

Mathematics Teacher

Science News:

In Chemistry, Year 9 students have been investigating reactivity of different metals in reactions with water and acid. While in Physics, they were learning about circuits and ammeters, and tried to create a full circuit by connecting lamps, ammeter, and power source.

Meanwhile, Year 8s thoroughly enjoyed dissolving rock salt (sand, salt and small rocks) into water and getting the salt back. It involves the bunsen burner, so that's always a guaranteed success for an exciting practical!

Ms Tušar & Mr MacNeill

Science Department

Computer Science News:

28 students from the Secondary school took part in the Bebras UK Computational Thinking Challenge 2021. Five of our students attained Merit, and three gained Distinction! Ryan, Y8A won best in school for his age category. Congratulations to all who took part!

Ms Burtrand

Computer Science Teacher

English News:

Year 7: Year 7A found ways of making poetry more fun, while 7B looked at imperative verbs in instructions through the form of the lyrics of the song “Everybody’s free (to wear sunscreen)”

Year 8: Year 8 looked at creating war poetry based on life in the trenches based on the experiences of some of the characters in the novel “Private Peaceful” by Michael Morpugo.

Year 9: Year 9 continued their exploration of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”

Year 10: Year 10 delved into some of the crucial climactic scenes of the Lynne Nottage play “Crumbs from the Table of Joy.” They looked at the tension between Godfrey and his “blood” family against his new wife Gerte.

Year 11: Year 11 looked at improving their essay writing skills by creating and redrafting an essay on how Arthur Miller created tension in a crucial courtroom scene in “The Crucible”

Mr Fordham, Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Staines, Mr Siter and Mr. Eve - English Department

MFL News

Slovene beginners

This week, Year 7 has been learning how to tell the time in Slovene. Students have enjoyed a wide range of activities connected with time. They were eager to set up the clock, pick one of their peers and ask the next question: Koliko je ura? Lots of hands went up during that activity. Students were in a dilemma to choose one of the students sometimes. They have even told time in two different ways and investigated what they were doing at the moment in Slovenia and their home countries.

Slovene Advanced

Year 7 at Slovene Advanced lessons are currently reading an amazing piece of art, a graphic novel Hugo Cabret written by Brian Selznick. Students have been discussing what are the characteristics of this kind of novel and why is this book so unique. Of course, in the upcoming weeks we will also watch a movie! Komaj čakamo!

Ms Drofenik, Ms Kosec , Ms Tatil

MFL Department

PE News:

Across secondary PE this week we developed our knowledge and understanding of international games. Year 7 students focused on the importance of passing and dribbling when playing football, whilst year 8 developed attacking and defensive strategies in basketball. Year 9 took part in some conditioned handball games, with Year 10 focusing on developing their floorball fundamentals and Year 11 looking at the importance of territory and effective movement when playing rugby.

Mr Hayes, PE Department

MEPI News:

On Monday this week we were developing new skills which we will need for our expedition, as we do every week. This time we were introduced more to the equipment we need for cooking, and also cooking itself! Mostly we were made aware of the hazards we have to look out for. We were talked through the equipment and what it does, as well as how to use it. Then we had a go ourselves to see how well we could do it. We were split into two groups. One of the groups made Carbonara (pasta) and the other group made soup out of mushrooms. It was more like prepared food because it only took a few minutes. (This was provided by the school.) I think everyone got the general idea of how to use it. (Of course we had some difficulties, but otherwise I think it went pretty smoothly.) At the end, we could try what we made, and the teachers joined in too. (To approve of our cooking skills.) Overall, just another great and useful experience!

Zoja, MEPI Participant

BISL Make a Wish Holiday Project

The due date for present delivery to BISL is Monday 13th of December 2021.

In partnership with Zveza prijateljev mladine Ljubljana Moste-Polje, this year we have distributed 150 letters among our community, and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your generosity and compassion towards this worthwhile cause.

For more information please click here.

Teacher Feature

This week's Teacher Feature takes us inside the Science team, for an interview with Mr MacNeill!

Read Mr MacNeill’s Teacher Feature here.

Fun in the Snow at BISL

Our students across the school have taken advantage of the wonderful weather this week - take a look at all the fun had in the snow here.

Dear Parents,

The snow has arrived!

We have had a wonderful time this week - the students have really enjoyed playing in the snow and we encourage everyone to get outside as much as possible to take advantage of the fresh air and beautiful conditions. I arrived at 5.40am yesterday morning and the snow looked amazing. Please check out the images below to see how wonderful the school grounds look and how much fun our students have been having these past 48 hours! Slovenia is truly a wonderful place to enjoy this winter season.

We are delighted to have been awarded the BELL Foundation Accreditation. This is an award for the provision of English and EAL (English as an Additional Language) across the school and we are delighted with being the first international school to achieve this. All schools in the Orbital Education group and many across the world are going for this award to gain recognition for their EAL provision, to follow a framework to improve what they offer and to have a worldwide benchmark. A special thank you to Mr. Siter who has organised this accreditation and also to all staff at school for their support towards developing the English level of all BISL students each and every day. We will receive the full report, award and certificate in the next 4-5 weeks. A great way to finish the year!

Thank you to all families who have donated to the BISL Make a Wish Holiday project. This has been a very worthwhile initiative and a great reminder to everyone to show how fortunate we are every single day. Reading the letters from the children has been very touching, and in some cases heartbreaking. It fills me with immense pride to see how our families rally together with a strong sense of kindness, to think of others first at this very important time of year for many children who have very little. The way in which our families have approached this has been incredible and we have a very thoughtful and caring community. Thank you.

I hope that everyone can enjoy a balance this weekend between being outside with friends and family enjoying the snow and also being inside, warm beside the fireplace!

A 'heads up', the BISL Christmas song with staff and students is coming soon...

Please read my full Update from the Principal here.

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website.