Secondary News - 6. maj 2022

Block 6 Week 5

Despite the shorter week, BISL was fortunate enough to be able to host an Open Day on site for the first time since Covid began. It was wonderful to be able to open our doors to the public, and to invite in many prospective families to feel the welcoming atmosphere at BISL. Families were able to tour the building, witness the learning and discover what BISL has to offer. The community was very welcoming, and it was great to be able to open our doors fully once again.

Examinations with Mr Batson continued, with many students in to sit assessments and for additional study sessions offered by the teachers. It is vital that students can contact teachers over email and return for various study sessions to aid in their preparations. The new building has been an excellent venue to host these examinations to ensure that students can sit them uninterrupted.

With just one week to go, we are excited to count down to the International Days next week hosted on the 12th and 13th May. Students are invited to dress down on Friday in their country’s colours or traditional dress. On Thursday after the opening ceremony, there will be international dancers coming to share some different styles of dance, and on Friday, the PTA will set up an International Fair! It will be a lovely way to finish off the block, so we are very excited to host this event. Parents are invited to attend the International Fair from 12pm on Friday. Secondary students will get to experience the fair from 13:00.

Have a good weekend and we look forward to the final week of the block.

Stephanie Andronikos, Head of Secondary

I am 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 in the main building. We will go through lots of information for the trip, and how to sign up for your children to attend.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Mr Astbury, Humanities Teacher

Starting from Block 7, this new Literature Club will be open for Year 7 - 13 students, for an opportunity to come and have fun with English Literature. A club for you to have freedom to explore whichever literary interests take your fancy, from reading poetry to writing short stories to analysing theatre, the choice is yours. Be guided to follow your passion whatever it may be. The club will take place every Monday day in room 311.

Mr Wilkins, English Teacher

Science Block

The Paper 3 Practical Exams finally started this week. Irmak, Ewa and Anže were the first ones to take it, starting with the physics one.

We've had some excellent essay submissions for the Earth Week essay competition, the title being "How technology can reduce climate change", and we look forward to receiving all entries by 6/5/22. We've also had many second hand clothing donations for the second hand clothing drive for the charity Društvo verjamem vate, and we look forward to receiving all donations by 6/5/22. We're sure everyone's generous contribution will be welcomed by them and will be put to excellent use in the charitie's aim, helping people who have Down's syndrome integrate more into society.

We would also like to report that the first rocket already safely returned from space and landed in the science lab. Looking forward to further arrivals!

The art and science project is now done, and you can see the amazing results on the first floor corridor. There are some amazing pieces of art on display, so please feel free to have a look!

Science Department

English News:

Year 7: Year 7A started to work on creating their own character in the style of Chaucher, while 7B worked on persuasive writing from Stanley’s perspective in the final chapters of “Holes.”

Year 8: Year 8 have again been making great use of drama to engage with the key themes of 'Blood Brothers'. This week we focussed on the emotional moment early in the play where Mrs Johnstone returns home with just one baby instead of two. We considered her motivations for giving her child up and created a 'Conscience Alley' in which her thoughts and feelings were spoken aloud. Students were also challenged to grapple with the advanced concepts of idiolect, sociolect and dialect in considering the different response to particular characters in the play.

Year 9: Year 9 have now finished chapter 2 of 'Of Mice and Men' and are familiar with each of the central characters. They took the time to write in character from the perspective of either Curley or Candy and to express their response to the new arrivals. Many students were able to successfully capture the arrogance and confrontational attitude of Curley and the old-fashioned hospitality of Candy. Towards the end of the week we took some time to unpick Steinbeck's language with a particular focus on colloquial vocabulary. Do you know what a 'bindle' a 'bum steer' and a 'whing-ding' are? If not, Year 9 students should now be able to tell you.

Year 10: This week was used well by Year 10. We wrapped up our examination of a couple of poems and also started exploring a new one. In Tennyson Turner's 'On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book' we explored the idea of finding beauty in unexpected places. This poet was fixated on the legacy we leave behind and we linked this to our contextual knowledge of his strong religious faith (as well as much more well-known younger brother). Following this, we began learning about Thom Gunn and his way of using art to address the trauma of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in 1980s America.

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

MFL News

Year 7 has been learning about clothes we wear on different occasions. This week they have focused on new vocabulary and grammar such as the 4th case. They've especially enjoyed a memory game where they received house points on their own or as a group. Of course, they have done lots of exercises to practice the 4th case and to apply the right ending to each word.

Can you guess who was the winner?

Well done Year 7.

This week Y7 Slovene Adv. students were learning about idioms. The students looked for differences in some of the Slovene and English idioms as well as trying to explain them to others and draw them on the board. Next week they will work on their own art pieces. As a part of International day we will put them on the wall in the MFL classroom.

Ms Kotnik, MFL Coordinator

Maths News:

Key stage 3 students learnt about travel graphs through a memory task and matching card activity. They displayed an amazing level of cross-curriculum knowledge of physics by relating the gradient of a straight line to speed in travel graphs.

Year 10 students discussed the language of probability and worked out the odds of winning the lottery as an extension to their prior knowledge.

Math mistake of the week

Well done to Valentin from 8B who correctly identified all 4 mistakes, including a function question from year 10! Also, Naomi from 8B received 2 House points for her participation.

Do not miss new mistakes next week in front of room 316.

Check out new mistakes in front of room 316 next week.

Ms Zupanc, Mathematics Teacher

PE News:

During our PE lessons this week, we furthered our knowledge and understanding of striking and fielding skills, across a range of sports. Year 7 continued to work on their kickball skills, undertaking competitive gameplay scenarios, whilst Years 8 & 9 were exposed to competitive baseball and team play. Year 10 continued to develop their understanding of competitive cricket, understanding the scoring systems used and learning the many different ways in which a batter can be given out.

Mr Hayes, PE Teacher

MEPI News

Because we had a holiday on Monday, we have been set homework for MEPI, which is to collect data on our plants such as their Latin name, and local names and a description of them, draw the plants in detail and organise a slide.

We have also received feedback on our practise journey to see what we did well and what we must improve on.

We should be close to finishing next week and be able to reflect upon our goal for the journey.

After the block break we will start to meet up more often and plan our Adventure Journey.

One of our meetings will be an overnight stay close to school to make up for not being able to camp last time (hopefully it doesn't snow or hail again).

Abdulla, MEPI Participant

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.

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,

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.