WelcomeLiving Bonfire Night. Wow. What a brilliant night we all enjoyed on Saturday and thank you to all the parents, friends and families who helped to ensure that the food, the music and the games kept us all entertained and warm. Thank you to the administration team for organising the bonfire itself and the fireworks. Even with the torrential rain, everything ran smoothly thanks to the hard work of everyone involved. We know how important our relationships with our families are and the fact that there is now a new commission as part of the PA demonstrates how we are growing in this area. The Ayuda Social commission is committed to developing opportunities for parents, students and staff to live and learn together by taking part in a wide range of activities and our first venture will be an evening of nutritional information in January from the wonderful Michelle Fried. Michelle is an ecological public health nutritionist, cook, food writer, and she is passionate about the flavors and aromas of Ecuador. Learning During the last two House sessions in the secondary school the students have been exploring the theme of remembrance and peace through a study of a series of centenas. A centena is a collection of 100 words based on a single idea and repeating the first three words again at the end. It is a new poetry form designed especially for the centenary collection of words reflecting elements of the First World War and this year 100 centenas were created over 100 days by different writers. You can read them here http://www.1914.org/armistice-100-days/centenas/ You can also read two of the equally excellent centenas written by our own secondary students as they explored a wider concept of peace and remembrance through their own cultures and understanding. See the secondary section below. Opportunities One of the benefits of being an Orbital school is the chance to work with the other schools in the group. As you know those school are located in exciting destinations such as Budapest, Ljubljana, Moscow, Mallorca and Doha. This year we are offering four opportunities to take part in trips to meet students from Orbital schools and experience activities based in those places. The ski trip to Ljubljana in February is now closed and sadly no BSQ families expressed an interest in that. However, there are still the opportunities to go sailing in Mallorca or on a cultural visit to Budapest. For more information contact [email protected] or see our Facebook postings. From the Staff and Students Last week we heard from Ms Tufiño and Mr Mercer and the Year 1 class about the exciting work they have been completing in the classrooms. This week it is the turn of Mr Dobson and the IB Geographers, Ms. Dávila and class 3B and the Primary Student Council. Mr. Dobson – Geography As we end Partial 2 of this academic year it feels as if it is a good idea to reflect on how we’ve started the year and how we plan to move forwards as the year unfolds. Within the Humanities faculty area, we have recently introduced weekly ‘Religion, Philosophy and Ethics’ lessons to Year 9, something that was previously not taught to this year group – I know that 9a have greatly enjoyed these new lessons where they have an opportunity to learn, discuss and debate prominent issues in an open and supportive environment. At the moment students are investigating different religious and non-religious beliefs about “life after death”, where students got involved in a very philosophical discussion about whether we could prove the existence of a person’s soul. I’ve been very impressed with the maturity and level of thought that students have put into these lessons and look forward to more debates and discussion as the year proceeds. In the older year groups, those studying IB Geography in Years 12 and 13 are being heavily encouraged to take a more active role in their independent study. All students have been issued with Independent Study Logs in which they are required to note down the work that they complete outside of lessons – a vast array of extra reading has been added to ManageBac (the online portal for IB students) and they are encouraged to access these resources to top up their independent study time. It has been great to see a good number of students take on board this system of independent learning which I have no doubt will help to support their wider learning of Geography. Mrs. Dávila – Y3B teacher This week year 3B were trying to answer the question, "What causes natural phenomena?" In our case this meant looking at how tectonic plates move, rub and push one another to create earthquakes. The children carried out a tectonic plate puzzle and then took a break to see how we can understand plate tectonics using an oreo cookie. They figured out how mountain ranges were formed, just from a broken oreo. Yummy work! School Council: Just One Pot: A joint initiative from Gardening Club and School Council. Some of the Primary School Council have added a few words this week to explain what’s being going on with them and to write about a new initiative that’s just been launched…
Elsa, Year 3A, writes: Being in Student Council can sometimes be difficult. Sometimes students ask us to do things that are impossible. For example, someone asked us about putting swimming pools in every classroom! We have also had many suggestions for charity days and it will be hard to decide what we should choose and which charity we should work with. Amanda, Year 4, writes: On Thursday the 8th November we had a meeting with the Head of Primary, Mr Madden. We discussed the idea of more plants around the school and realised we would need the help of teachers, students and parents if it was going to work. So, we would like each of you to bring in a medium-sized flower pot, with soil in it, to help us plant flowers in the playground. The students have spoken and now we’re working to make this happen! Oliver, Year 6, writes: After we get the pots and soil from all the students, the Student Council and Mrs Davila’s Gardening Club will work together to do the following:
This will paint a clear picture of what the best placement for our plants will look like. But none of it will work without your help! Please contact Helen Davila: [email protected] and Oliver Kyle: [email protected] with any questions you may have. Thanks for your support! Dates for your Diary November 21st-22nd – Year 11 Duke of Edinburgh trip to Cotopaxi November 22nd – Year 1 trip to Museo del Agua November 22nd – Primary parents workshop about Rewards, Sanctions and Reporting Procedures. November 23rd – Secondary Rewards and Recognition assembly 2 November 26th – November 30th IB Mock exams for Year 13 November 27th – Nursery trip to the Pet Store December 1st – Christmas Bazaar and Secondary parent-teacher-student conferences Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary UpdateAs an international educator who has taught in four continents, I am often asked by parents if they should speak with their child in English at home, even if this is not their first language. Educational research indicates that having a strong mother tongue foundation leads to a much better understanding of the curriculum as well as a more positive attitude towards school, so it is vital that children maintain their first language when they begin schooling in a different language. Therefore, it is important for parents to continue developing their child’s first language because:
That said, it is also important to make links between the child’s home language and other languages they are exposed to, particularly English in our case. Children are naturally inquisitive and will ask lots of questions about their surroundings and how we describe them, so take the opportunity to make links between languages and develop their language versatility and knowledge. I hope you and your family all enjoyed the BSQ Bonfire Night celebrations on Saturday – what a wonderful way to bring the community together! Our next Primary event is the Christmas Bazaar on Saturday 1st December between 9am and 12pm – start collecting your coins to buy some Christmas gifts for family and friends. Star of the week Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Having spent much of last year working hard on completing extra-curricular activities learning new skills, doing physical exercise and taking part in service projects, the Year 11 students are now preparing for their final Bronze Award expedition. This Wednesday and Thursday a group of 12 students and 3 teachers, Mr Alan Taylor, Mrs Sally Madden, and Ms Sofia Molina will be hiking and camping for two days and one night in the wilds and the cold of Cotopaxi National Park. Experiences like these build friendships, resilience, confidence, a love of nature. And these are the kinds of experiences that students will remember for the rest of their lives. We wish them all the best of luck. Remembrance Centenas The quality of the centenas (see last week's newsletter) produced by our students as part of our Remembrance event exceeded all expectation. Here are just two: Giving too much - Samantha Baugh, Dámaris Ortega They came, We gave, Our symbols, Our religion, Our traditions, We gave. They came, They ordered, We gave, Our land, Our resources, Our happiness, We gave. They came, They ordered, They punished, We gave, Our culture, Our family, Our freedom, We gave. They took and took as we started to resist, But there was nothing left to fight for, We had given it all. And all that is left, are the ruins of what once was our own. The world gifted us everything we could ask for, Mountains for protection and gods for hope, But the Spanish took it all. Off to War - Thomas Hill, Matias Rosero Soldier by soldier, boarding the ships Not knowing that for some it would be their last journey, waves and thunder playing with their lives, wild winds whispering among the waves. With a shortage of resources, balancing our lives on a thin line, hoping to succeed in our journey and to be led to victory on arrival. Desperate families awaiting at home for their loved ones. Nonetheless their lives were painted in blood, by what only them experienced and suffered through, our beloved Australian soldiers were scared. Come home, come home, To where you belong, Your family is waiting for you Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, share with us some tips for supporting children between ages 7 - 11 years old.
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May 2024
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