Secondary News - 25. april 2022

Block 6 Week 3

It is getting to that time of the year when the sun is starting to shine, the weather is heating up and the students are enjoying getting out into the fresh air more and more. We are delighted to be seeing students of all ages catching some sun and taking some time off from being inside the classroom. Ahead of an intense time of examinations, this is particularly important for our older students. Class photos, the return of locker keys, and a final look at examination routines for Years 11-13 this week, certainly has the students astutely aware of their examinations beginning from next week. We wish these students the very best of luck as they finish full time lessons for the year and begin study sessions and examinations. Especially to the Year 13 cohort who finished their last lessons ever at BISL, you have been an integral part of our Sixth Form and we wish these students all the best for their examinations and futures ahead.

Next week, KS3 and Year 10 look forward to continuing celebrating the Science block with some Amazing Animal presentations. A whole range of animals have been organised to be on display for the entire school to view, pet and learn some wonderful facts about. Thank you to the Science department for organising these animals to come to the school.

Another event we are looking forward to at the end of the block is International Day! With over 40 nationalities at BISL, this is such a wonderful event to celebrate each year. This year it will be across the 12^th and 13^th May and students will be dressing down in their country’s colours or traditional dress on Friday 13^th, there will be a flag bearing ceremony, performances, and the PTA are finishing the 2 days with a Fair! Further details will be shared with families shortly and everyone is invited to attend the International Fair from 12pm on Friday 13^th May. We look forward to this upcoming event!

I wish all families a wonderful weekend.

Stephanie Andronikos, Head of Secondary

Study leave

Study leave has now begun, which means that CAIE external examinations for Years 11, 12 and 13 will begin shortly with AS English Language and AS Psychology first up on April 26th. The examinations will continue until June 10th, after which students from Year 11 and 12 will be invited back into school for transition week where they can get a head start on the courses for the next academic year.

We will be making use of the new building, not only for examination rooms but also for study rooms for the students to use before and after their examinations. Students have been reminded to come into school for their examinations in school uniform for Year 11 and the year 12 and 13 students will be following their dress code.

Teachers will of course be available to the students during the examination period for additional study sessions and lessons have already been arranged. We wish the students all the best in their upcoming revision and examinations.

BISL Exam Revision article

Mr Batson, Head of Sixth Form

Science Block

Science Block Challenges:

We are halfway through the Science block and with so many things going on we wanted to summarise them for you, all in one place.

Here is a list of projects and competitions students can get involved with:

1. Art in Science - Submit a piece of art (drawing, painting, photograph, sculpture..) for the art exhibition titled ‘Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?’ Hand it to any Science staff member by Monday 25th April.
2. Rocket competition - Design a rocket that can be propelled by compressed air. Try to use your imagination to create a rocket that not only reaches a high altitude but also looks fantastic. Hand your signed rocket to any Science staff member by Thursday 12th May. The competition will happen during the morning break on the last day of this block - Friday 13th May.
3. Earth week essay competition - write a two A4 page long essay titled 'The role of technology in reducing climate change'. Present a balanced view. Submit it to and Science staff member by Friday 6th of May.
4. Second-hand clothes collection - This week we are celebrating Earth week and therefore we are inviting you to get involved in the second-hand clothes collection. If you have any clothes/shoes/jewelry at home that you don't wear anymore and are still in a good shape, bring them to school any day before Friday 6th May. Leave them in the box next to the school entrance. We will then donate all collected items to Društvo verjamem vate(you can read more about them here).

Fun for the whole family:

You can find a number of fun science and engineering practical challenges here. New ones are published every week so we invite you to try them at home and send us pictures or videos.

Events:

We have some very exciting events coming up:

1. Amazing animals are coming to our school on Tuesday 26th April when all students will be able to meet some more exotic animals in person.
2. We will have a Solve the Puzzle challenge for all classes happening in Week 5.
3. Come watch a Science demonstration by Mr. Ogrin every Friday at 10.15.

Please get involved and celebrate Science with us. Well done to those who already have! Also, don't forget to share the photos of exciting moments with us - we would love to see them.

Here are our emails for any questions or for sharing the exciting moments caught on camera with us:

• polona.tusar@britishschool.si,
• dan.macneill@britishschool.si,
• nusa.prohart-strmcnik@britishschool.si,
• matej.stanic@britishschool.si,
• ziga.ogrin@britishschool.si

Science Department

English News:

Year 7: Year 7 A reached the end of the Novel “Holes,” while 7B began working on writing a review of a musical performance.

Year 8: Year 8 continued to examine some of the key themes explored in 'Blood Brothers' They thought about the way characters of different social class may interact with each other using drama based activities. They also designed two sets, one for the Johnstone household and one for the Lyons, to consider what each family has (and doesn't have) access to.

Year 9: Year 9 finished the first chapter of 'Of Mice and Men' and started to consider the relationship between George and Lennie. They also discovered a little about events which took place before the novel begins and used these to make predictions about what might happen next.

Year 10: Year 10 continued their study of poetry with a detailed exploration of power and time while reading Percy Shelley's 'Ozymandias'. They used their time efficiently in researching poems independently before sharing their findings with the rest of the class. Visual representations (both hand drawn illustrations and graphics sourced from the internet) were used to further cement their understanding of the ideas and issues tackled by Shelley. These graphics were then used to aid them in delivering a reading of the poem to their peers.

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

MFL News

Year 9 have been working on their speaking presentations about a comparison of two cities they have lived in. We collectively decided to work on their presentations in pairs and present as a team. As you can see in the photos below, they have really remained focused and put lots of effort in. I can't wait to hear their presentations next week. I bet it will be interesting to hear about different cities where students have lived and Ljubljana as well.

Zelo dobro Y9.

Y10 Slovene Advanced students worked hard this week. They finished analysing the book “Figa” by Goran Vojnović. “Figa” is a story about Jadran who tries to piece together the story of his family to better understand his own story.

During the reading, students showed great maturity and had some interesting thoughts about the importance of family.

MFL team - Ms Kotnik, Ms Košec, Ms Tatil

Maths News:

Year 7 and 8 students engaged into a hypothetical real life activity and worked with ratios to share quantities. They also started preparing for the upcoming Block 6 quiz.

Year 10 students rounded the geometry topic and have been preparing for the upcoming quiz.

Year 11 and 12 students finished their revision project and are fully equipt for study leave and independent exam preparations. The maths team wishes them good luck and to be open to attend revision sessions in the weeks before the exam. The revision timetable has been shared with students in lessons and via email.

Maths mistake of the week

Well done to Year 7 and Year 8 students who correctly identified 1 or 2 mistakes and received 2 or 4 House points!

Make sure to check out new mistakes in front of 316 next week.

Ms Zupanc, Mathematics Teacher

PE News:

During PE this week, students undertook the fitness formative assessment for term 3 - completing a fitness circuit including base runs, squats and the plank. We then continued to work on our different sporting units, with Year 7 working on fielding efficiently when playing kickball and Year 8 and 9 developing their striking skills when playing rounders/baseball. Year 10 began playing some competitive cricket, whilst Year 11 concluded their PE studies for the academic year with some fun, team, tactical games.

Mr Hayes, PE Teacher

MEPI News

MEPI participants further reflected on their practise journey as well as reviewed their plans and preparations for the upcoming Adventure journey. We set three longer sessions including camping next block for team building activities and practicing tent, meal planning and cooking skills. The participants will also refine their journey's goal and other preparations.

The team wishes our IGCSE participants good luck with their approaching examinations. We are proud of their dedication and hard work as they are close to completing all three of the individual challenge sections!

All participants demonstrated determination throughout their individual challenges so far and we are excited to see their future achievements.

MEPI Team

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.

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.

BISL Summer School 2022

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

Click here for details.

Dear Parents,

We are at the end of week 3 already! - the summer term is in full swing.

As our Primary students have finished their Spring concerts, we have a lot to look forward to with our Summer Performance, Sports Day, International Days, Graduations, Adventure Days and much more planned for the final two blocks of the academic year! - lots to get excited about and to get involved in.

At the other end of the school, we wish our Year 11, 12 and 13 students all the best as they depart on study leave today to sit their IGCSE, AS and A Level examinations. This is the start of a six week period that mixes subject revision, preparation and sitting external exams at BISL. We wish everyone involved good luck and take a moment to pause and say how proud we are of each and every single student before they even take the first paper!

Thank you to all staff and parents for going above and beyond with your help and support with the students during this time, it is very much appreciated.

We have our first on site Open Day on Wednesday 4th May for the first time in a long time, please feel free to come along and pop into lessons. It is a great opportunity to see our students and teachers in the classroom and experience what they do so well on a daily basis.

Following the international recognition of our English provision, please have a look at an interesting article on how we assess and support our students at BISL. We received the highest rating for EAL (English as Additional Language) provision with an 'Exemplary' outcome.

From the start of May, we welcome new families joining BISL as our school continues to grow. I was very proud when we passed the 260 mark and we continue to increase. This directly creates more for our students to enjoy with team sports, competitions, group activities and much more. It's the strongest our community has been and I am very grateful for this. Thank you for welcoming new students and families into our caring and positive community.

Hopefully the rain holds and we can all have a nice weekend ahead, I look forward to finishing my gardening and relaxing with a coffee. With summer approaching and lots of beautiful changes outside with the trees, flowers and wildlife, it is a wonderful time to enjoy what Slovenia has to offer. We are very lucky to live in such an amazing country with these opportunities and surroundings.

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

Have a lovely weekend!

Kind regards,

Paul Walton

Principal

All upcoming events and details are available on our website.