Primary News - 6. maj 2022

Dear Parents and Students,

This has been another extremely busy week for everyone at BISL, with various events, trips and projects. The Y2 class enjoyed a trip to Bohinj lake as part of their H2O Topic curriculum to learn more about how lakes are formed. Meanwhile, the Y1 students explored the types of plants and animals found in Arboretum Volčji Potok, as part of the Life on Our Planet Topic. Students have been able to make the most of the sunshine during breaks and outdoor learning activities.

Thank you to all parents who came to the Open Day on Wednesday, together with new families visiting the school. Together with the Early Years Story Time and Early Years Stay & Play events, these are wonderful opportunities for students and parents to engage with the local community and attract new families to join the school.

Do not miss the Rocket competition next week! All students can participate by designing a rocket that can fly into the air and not only reach a high altitude but also look fantastic. Hand your rocket with your name on to your class teacher on Monday. The competition will happen during the morning break on Tuesday. There is an amazing prize! As part of the Science Block, some classes have had a lot of fun learning about Robotics through various activities to develop new computational skills.

We look forward to the International Day celebrations in the upcoming week. Parents are welcome to join the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, May 12, 9:00 - 10:00 and get involved in the Country Stall Fair on Friday from 12 noon.

Please see the sections below for more exciting news from classes and subject departments. As always, you can keep up with the latest News and Events on the school website. We look forward to upcoming performances, graduations and other events for parents to celebrate the learning and achievements of their children.

More news can be found in the Update from the Principal, including the fantastic performance by our BISL choir from last Thursday in Hotel Slon, with the British Army Band Colchester for the Charity Concert for Ukrainian Refugees.

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Katarina Železinger, Head of Primary

Early Years

This week in the Early Years there has been a buzz all around the classroom as we were learning about bees. The children were very excited about these wonderful black and yellow striped creatures, which know how to produce the sweet yellow treat we call honey. In the Early Years, we have been learning how bees make honey and the children had the opportunity to enjoy the sweet taste of different sticky bee products.

Alongside the honey tasting, the children were using their senses to explore herbs that their teachers grow in their garden. The children had immense fun exploring herbs and flowers while creating natural perfumes. Our little busy bees often take time to rest their wings in the phonics corner, where they practice how to write their favourite sound: buzz.

Ms Kukovica

Year 1

Here is a sneak peek of what we have been working on this week for our performance on Wednesday. Everybody has been working together to make props and we have been hard at work, practising our lines and songs!

We have however also been very busy in our lessons! We wrote our own fantasy stories, which included wicked witches casting spells, princesses finding their princes, fairies finding treasure and pirate girls landing on a treasure island, to name just a few examples. In Maths lessons we worked on multiplication problems using arrays!

Ms Miklavec

Year 2

We have had a great week in Y2. The students loved our trip to Bohinj and we were very lucky to have nice weather. We did a quiz, paddled in the lake and took a short walk to see more of Bohinj.

In English, we have been carrying on with learning about different types of sentences and different tenses we can use. In Maths, we concluded our unit on the length and moved on to money. In Topic, we have discussed extreme weather patterns and thought about how to bring all our H2O knowledge together for our trip.

Ms Harris and Mrs Fordham

Year 3

This week, the Year 3 students spent some time learning about compound words. Some of the compound words we looked at made us think of very strange and amusing images. The students were tasked with creating their own funny phrases to describe a waterfall. As a challenge, they needed to try to include alliteration.

Here are some examples the students came up with:

The waterfall is a splashing cascade; it is a bubbling flooder; it is a crashing tumbler; it is a roaring rumble of rushing water.

Ms Blundell and Mr Kokalj

Year 4

Year 4 tested different materials to investigate which materials would be the most waterproof and at the same time hold the most weight as boats. The following materials were used: lego, mathematical blocks, plastic water bottles, cardboard box and aluminium foil.

Each student wrote down their hypothesis (prediction) before the experiment of which would work best, as well as voted for how much time and weight the boats could hold/work for before they sank. The results surprised us, with aluminium foil providing the sturdiest boat and holding an incredible 360 grams, compared to lego at 24g, cardboard at 50, and the water bottle at 150g. The students loved the investigation especially as it was held outside, and involved the cross-curricular connection with Mathematics.

Mrs Charlesworth

Year 5

The children continued the Science Block by taking part in a range of investigations. The class investigated air resistance by creating different paper aeroplanes and used scientific language to evaluate their designs.

They also created electrical circuits and managed to make a complete circuit with a lightbulb. Next week, the class will prepare for International Day and they are already very excited.

Mrs Thomas

Year 6

Year 6 students have been going to 'media school' this week, learning about how to shoot a professional film using a variety of frame sizes, camera angles, focus shots and skills such as over the shoulder, extreme close-ups and insert shots.

These will all be put to use in their own films, which will be shot starting next week. In Topic, we are studying earth science; about the connections between our Earth, the Sun and the Moon.

Mr Bishop

Slovene

Years 3 and 4 love spending Slovene lessons outside. Outdoor learning brings so much fun and engagement every time we decide to do it. Last time students worked in groups on their dialogues. They chose one of the shops and wrote a dialogue between a shop clerk and a customer. They had many options to choose from, such as bakeries, grocery shops, sports shops, sweet shops, flower shops and so on.

They have done lots of practice this week, so they can't wait to present it. Now they can test their language skills in real-life situations.

Zelo dobro 3. in 4. razred. Pa le tako naprej.

Ms Košec

EAL

In EAL, one of our groups learned about landforms and how to describe them. We've also built our own island from cards, which the students drew in their notebooks.

After naming the individual imaginary islands, we will populate them with various plants, animals and features. Once all that is done, we will write our very own stories on the island itself.

Mr Siter

PE

Throughout our PE lessons this week, we continued to explore our different sporting units, focusing on adding a competitive aspect to play. Years 1 and 2 undertook some competitive lobster ball, focusing on being able to work cooperatively in teams and keep count of the score. Years 3 and 4 developed their understanding of width on a football pitch and how making the playing area as big as possible can create goal-scoring opportunities. Years 5 and 6 continued to work on their floor hockey skills, developing their understanding of competitive gameplay and tactical awareness.

PE Department

BISL Choir Accompanies British Army Band Colchester

We are very proud of the BISL Choir for their wonderful performance at the Charity Concert for Ukrainian Refugees with the British Army Band Colchester. Details and photos here.

International Days - Mark Your Calendars

One of our biggest family events, organised in partnership with the PTA, this year’s International Days will take place between Thursday May 12 - Friday May 13.

On Friday May 13, from 12 noon, there will be a variety of cultural and educational activities, stalls, traditional dress, flags, international cuisine, games and performances for our community to enjoy.

For details, please click here.

Year 1 Production

Our Year 1s are excited to invite you to their upcoming production of The Goblin Next Door on May 11 from 15:30 in the Performance Theatre. Mark your calendars!

2023 Ski Trip Presentation

We are excited to invite you to the launch presentation for the BISL ski & snowboard trip for February 2023.

The trip will go to Bardonecchia, Italy from 5th – 12th February 2023.

The presentation will take place on Tuesday 10th May at 4pm in the assembly hall, giving you lots of information about the trip, and how to sign up for your children to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

BISL Summer School 2022

With summer just around the corner, registration is now open for BISL Summer School 2022!

Click here for details.

Library Book Donations

In partnership with the PTA, we are accepting donations of books to our library throughout block 6 and encourage everyone to bring in their used books - in any language - and drop it off at Reception.

Dear Parents,

I arrived this morning full of pride and happiness after watching our BISL choir perform last night in Hotel Slon, with the British Army Band Colchester for the Charity Concert for Ukrainian Refugees. Our students were amazing and sounded fantastic! Thank you to Mr. Hulse, all of the staff, students involved and parents for supporting and attending the event last night. This event was another collaboration between the British Council, British Embassy, MEPI, the British-Slovene Chamber of Commerce and the British International School of Ljubljana.

Next Thursday (12th May), we have our opening ceremony of our International Days at BISL. We are very excited and do hope you can join us for the flag parade at 9.00am.

Our trips and events have been in full swing over the past few weeks with lots to get involved in for parents and students. We have had our BISL Choir performance, Open Day, Amazing Animals for all students, Early Years Story Time and Stay & Play afternoons, Trips to the Arboretum, Bohinj, MEPI, Polhov Gradec hills, Botanical gardens and much more all since Easter! Please click on the events page to see what is upcoming over the next month.

It is a busy time and also a time for everyone to get outside and to get active as part of a healthy lifestyle. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this great week of weather we have had. Some families have the opportunity to walk or cycle into school and this is something that we enjoy seeing. It has also been wonderful to see so many people donate to our charity events, the latest 2 appeals have now finished and we are immensely proud of our community and the kindness you have shown.

Well done to all students for the way in which they have conducted themselves throughout the start of the exams. It has been very impressive and we look forward to seeing you maintain your focus and efforts during this time. We are very proud of each and every single one of you. During yesterday, we also hosted colleagues from Trieste International School and helped to support their examination preparations for this summer.

Each day, I thoroughly enjoy my duty at drop off. I check the site as I enter, followed by a few health and safety areas and then walk around the school floors, making my way to drop off some days (not always!) as early as 7.15am through to 8.00am. It is a pleasure to walk around the school and to finish at the drop off area seeing the students arrive. They are filled with excitement for the day ahead and this starts when they see their friends and enter the playground. It's fantastic to see.

Yesterday, I spent some time reflecting on the physical changes to the campus, the new building, and the new opportunities that our students have with the Performance Theatre, Robotics room, library and other spaces. It has been amazing and I am very proud each day to stand in front of the school. Thank you to parents in the morning for your positivity and support, it means a lot and I would also like to highlight my appreciation to the staff on duty, rain or shine every day in the morning, lunch and after school ensuring the students are warmly greeted and welcomed to school. It sets an excellent tone.

I hope to see many parents over the coming weeks at our International Days, Transition and EAL presentations, Graduations and coffee events as we end a very successful year at BISL.

Please read my full Update from the Principal here for more details and links.

Have a great weekend!

Kind regards,

Paul Walton, Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website.