WelcomeLiving Bonfire Night. Excitement is hotting up for the event on Saturday when we will once again join together as a community to commemorate the events that took place when Guy Fawkes and his companions attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. At our event there will be lots of fun and games for the children (young and old!), food served by local restaurants and our own students as part of their CAS project, entertainment from students, staff and guests and of course the wonderful bonfire and fireworks that we all look forward to so much. Make sure you have saved the date, bring your money for the food and games and wrap up warm for later in the evening. Remembrance Earlier today a group of student representatives attended the commemoration event at Liceo La Condamine as part of the 100th anniversary activities marking the end of the First World War in 1914 but also reflecting on all the suffering that has taken place as part of violent conflict around the world. Mr Taylor, Ms. Molina and I were very proud of our students as they took part in music, readings and the ringing of a bell to mark the occasion. To join together with students from the French and German schools on such an important day was an extremely thought-provoking opportunity. My thanks to Mr Taylor for organising and Ms. Molina for preparing the choir and supporting. Learning At the end of last week our student Model United Nations (MUN) team attended a conference at Shakespeare School in Tumbaco. Trained and guided by John Ashfield, our students were representing Russia, Ivory Coast and Turkey, and their topics were General Assembly, ECOSOC, Human Rights and Security Council. For those of you who are not aware of the MUN it is an opportunity for students to research, debate, speak and discuss essential topics of the world following the organizational structures of the United Nations and representing different countries for whom the debate would have relevance. MUN is an excellent extra-curricular activity that provides opportunities to communicate and think critically whilst meeting other students and learning about both historical and contemporary political, social and human issues. I said last week that the term is very short and already we are down to five weeks. Let’s make the most of every opportunity to live and learn together. From the Staff and Students Last week we heard from Mr Samaniego and information about the maths curriculum and from Mr Newman and the Year 6 class about their studies of the Creek Indians and their Red Riding Hood homework tasks. This week we hear from Ms. Tufiño and Mr. Mercer: Ms. Tufiño - IB Spanish Teacher ¿Por qué es importante leer? Leer es muy importante para todos porque la lectura implica participación activa de la mente y contribuye al desarrollo de procesos mentales importantes. La lectura ayuda a incrementar la creatividad, la imaginación, enriquece el vocabulario y permite mejorar la ortografía en un buen porcentaje. Por esta razón, en la clase de español de secundaria estamos dando prioridad a esta actividad. Con los alumnos estamos haciendo lecturas literales, inferenciales y crítico-valorativas con el objetivo desarrollar el pensamiento crítico, procesos de análisis y síntesis, a la vez que reforzamos la ortografía y el vocabulario. Con todos los grupos estamos leyendo obras literarias que contribuyen a este proceso. Finalmente, ponemos en práctica la creatividad y la imaginación al escribir nuevas versiones en base a lo leído. Esperamos que esto contribuya al desarrollo del idioma español en todos los niveles. Mr. Mercer - Y1A Teacher Becoming a Year 1 student is not as easy as it sounds. There are several new challenges and routines to adapt to, a new style of learning and exciting new subjects like Science, Topic and Computing. We have been working hard since day one to become organised, independent learners. We now know our classroom routines and line up every morning, snack and lunchtime for threshold, when Mr Mercer welcomes us back into the learning environment. We have our daily home-reading folders, bright and colourful, which we proudly tuck under our arms at the beginning and end of each school day. With help from teachers and parents, we regularly change our home reading books and practice our strategies at home five nights a week! We start our Numeracy lessons by subitising, which is a fun way to switch our brains on and recognise objects in a group without the need to count them. In Literacy, we begin every lesson with our whiteboards, ready to solve a new challenge each day and practice writing CVC words. In Year 1A, we are proud to say that we are becoming more independent with our learning each and every day. By learning these vital skills early, we will be able to apply them during our time at school and beyond! Dates for your Diary November 17th - Bonfire Night at BSQ 4pm-8pm November 21st and 22nd - Year 11 Duke of Edinburgh trip to Cotopaxi November 22nd - Year 1 trip to Museo del Agua November 23rd - Secondary Rewards and Recognition assembly 2 November 26th - November 30th IB Mock exams for Year 13 November 27th - Nursery trip to Pet Hotel Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Last week your child brought home their new homework, to create a Curiosity Journal based on an independent research project of their choosing. This type of learning is often referred to as Inquiry-based Learning, focusing on the students’ interests and encouraging them to find their path when it comes to learning. This open-ended approach requires the students to investigate, question, research and be curious about anything and everything that interests them. The teachers here at BSQ use a wide variety of teaching styles to ensure our students learn new skills and develop their knowledge and understanding – so why did they choose this type of learning for this project? Below are five benefits of inquiry-based learning for your child:
Our role as adults is to facilitate this process, not lead it, allowing them the time to formulate their own ideas, questions and solutions. The outcomes will be many and varied, but, most importantly, they will be their own! All the students will get a chance to share their Curiosity Journals with their classmates at the end of term. Star of the week Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update Remembrance On the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, we have taken some time to reflect upon the impact of conflict, both past and present, and to consider those affected. Last Friday and this, the House activity has focused on Remembrance. We have looked at 'centenas' - 100 poems, written over 100 days, by 100 writers, in 100 words. These often deeply moving pieces of writing explore the sometimes forgotten effects of the war, from an unusually wide range of perspectives. In turn, our students have been asked to reflect on their own culture and heritage, to look for examples of conflict where they are from, to find out more about the unseen effects, and to write centenas of their own. This will be displayed in the school. Thanks The teaching team at BSQ always put in tremendous efforts to endure the success and happiness of our students, but this week there has been superb work happening all over Secondary. Rob Taylor, thank you for the fabulous work on Remembrance, the PASS surveys, and student information systems; Ruth Todd, thank you for the quite beautiful CAT4 summary pages, with all the analysis that involved, which will help us provide each student with exactly the support they need; John Ashfield, thank you for giving up your time and preparing the students so thoroughly for their MUN experience this weekend, from which they will have learned so much about themselves and the world; and Claire Ngwenya, thank you for the ridiculous amount of work that you are putting into developing the new tracking documents, which I know are going to make our data work harder and smarter for us all in pushing students further. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about helping children to cope with situational anxiety.
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May 2024
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