WelcomeIt was great to see so many exciting learning sessions taking place again last week with teachers and students alike catching up and enjoying exploring topics as diverse as the Incas, dinosaur dances, learning about words with the letter ‘y’, balancing chemical equations, intersubjectivity and musical intervals. Despite the challenges all our staff and families are facing at the start of this year, there remains a passion for teaching and learning that sets BSQ apart from other schools. As I look back at previous newsletters, I am always reminded and amazed again by how much has happened at BSQ in the last few years. So many of our exciting projects, family days, trips out, work in the community and adventures on the campus have been placed on hold. Behind the scenes of course much is still being planned and prepared and I am reminded of the original motto of the Scout movement around the world – Be Prepared. Nowadays the organisation has a vision ‘As a global movement, to make a real contribution to create a better world.’ Here at BSQ we embrace both of those ideals as we aim to support our students to be prepared to enter the world and be part of making it better in whichever way their talents and strengths support them. And, when the time comes, we will be prepared to re-engage, hands-on with so many of the opportunities that make being a part of BSQ so exhilarating. These are just a few examples:
In the meantime, our focus remains firmly on the quality of our online learning and the support of all our families to continue to live and learn as part of our BSQ community. e-Learning at BSQ Your Views! At BSQ the views of our parents are critical in terms of our decision making and support and we value your thoughts and opinions. Each year we share a survey with you that parents in all Orbital schools take part in and from that survey over the years we have seen high levels of satisfaction with the school, our staff and our education. Each year we listen carefully to the responses from our parents and make key changes as part of our continued drive to provide an environment where we can all live and learn together. Our 2021 survey will be released later today and I encourage all parents to participate, to share your thoughts and to support us to move forward with a shared determination. The survey link will be sent through our Canvas Parent Portal. From the Staff and the Students Continuing with our teachers and their stories about e-learning this new period. This week we have Mr. Rodrigo Samaniego and Ms. Sara Avent, from Secondary and Ms. Hayley Dean, Ms. Heather Stollery and Ms. Antonella Coronel from Primary. Mr. Rodrigo Samaniego, Ms. Sara Avent – Year 13B tutors With exams week fast approaching, year 13s have been working diligently to be able to get the most out of them. With all the challenges that come with taking an exam online, y13s have managed to prepare for them as best as they could. Some advice to help them improve their performance in the exams would be as follows:
Those recommendations, with the usual ones they are given for any test, should help them achieve their best possible scores. Thank you and update on our Christmas Sponsored Challenges. Before Christmas, the whole community got involved in raising money for Hogar Para Sus Niños, whether you completed an exercise, reading, writing or home help challenge, you all set about donating money to help some of Quito’s most vulnerable children get the food, clothing and education they deserve and WOW what a job you did. So this is a personal thank you from all the staff at BSQ to you the students and parents for all your hard work and donations that are now making such a difference to these children’s lives. We are so proud of how our community can make such a positive impact on another. We are still collating all of the donations to tell you an official amount. So if you have not filled in the Primary Google form or the SecondaryGoogle Form, please do so, then we can celebrate the incredible achievement of our whole community. But for now here are some fantastic photos of the children completing some of their challenges! Many thanks, Miss Dean Ms. Heather Stollery – Year 5A Teacher We have had a brilliant start to 2021 in 5A; the children started their year by reflecting back on 2020 and thinking forward to a brighter future! We all made our New Year’s Resolutions and here is a selection:
In literacy this week we began our new Unit: Narrative Thrillers. The writing has been so good it’s frightening to read! We wrote a class paragraph together using show not tell to enhance our writing. For Topic this term we are learning about the Incas and in ICT we’ve been planning our own Inca inspired movie which the children will be creating and filming over the next month. In art, the children have been learning about Inti the sun god and have designed their own version of him using symmetry, pattern and golden colours. Finally, in PSHE we started our topic about Mental Health. We had a very interesting discussion about what mental health is and then we each came up with 3 different ways that we are going to try and look after mental health this term. These included: being outside in nature, exercising, reading more and speaking to people about how we feel. Ms. Antonella Coronel – Head of EYFS Dear parents, We have just finished the first week of learning of 2021 and the children are excited to be back with their teachers and classmates. Week 1 of term 3 was dedicated to reviewing what we have worked on during term 2. This term however, the children will be working on achieving new numeracy and literacy skills as well as building upon their previous knowledge whilst learning about Ecuador. We look forward to working with your support throughout term 3. Thank you, Kind regards. Dates for your Diary
Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Although I have the privileged position of being able to see all of our Primary classes in action, I am still both amazed and proud of what I see and share every day. I see motivated young learners, engaged by their teachers to participate in a variety of ways through the online system, willing to share their ideas and join in with discussions and go the extra mile by taking risks to improve their learning. This process is all supported by yourselves at home and the teachers online, with this partnership more important than ever as we continue to face the challenges together and make sure our children have the best opportunities available to them. We have already put a great deal of thought and planning into our return to school, but in the meantime will continue to provide high-quality learning opportunities for all of our students, with an emphasis on well-being and happiness. Our teachers are always happy to answer questions and give feedback about your child’s progress, with the Quimestre 1/Partial 2 written reports being prepared now, ready for early February. For students in Years 2 to 6, you will soon have received details about the upcoming Progress Tests in Maths and English (PTM and PTE). These are just a small part of the different ways that we support students in their development – they will give us invaluable information about the skills and knowledge each student has acquired this year and allow us to further tailor our individual provision. These assessments will take place in normal online sessions next week, with your child’s class teacher sharing the times and details with you. There is no need to prepare anything for these assessments – each student just needs their unique code to access the assessment website and follow the instructions, with their teachers available to answer any specific questions. Please do ensure that your child treats these as an important part of their learning – they should try to independently do as many of the questions as possible, without support, so that we get a clear idea of their skills and understanding in each different area of learning. Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update Welcome to 2021 - A New Year, new beginnings and the opportunity to embrace new challenges It is lovely to be back and welcoming students into lessons after everyone has enjoyed a decent rest along with the festivities enjoyed with your families. This week the staff have been preparing for and setting in motion plan B (it may be C) which sees all exams moving online. It was hoped that some of this activity would have been in school but our patience is still required. We are very fortunate here that our online systems are designed and rehearsed to the point that the most complex of exam requirements can be fulfilled. This ensures that our students are not inconvenienced in any way. The most critical exams are those being held in year 11 and 13. We have created a virtual exam hall online where students will enter and will then be guided and supervised on the Exams.net platform. This is designed to allow a level of security which ensures the integrity of the papers and the student responses. At the time of writing and at the end of the first day of exams I am pleased to report that this has been hugely successful. Well done to the staff and to our wonderful students who have navigated this seamlessly. This process is important to us and the students as the mock papers are key evidence for attainment levels and they also act as a catalyst which drives intervention over the coming months. Year 11 and 13 have had their timetable collapsed for the fortnight to allow the exams to take place. This means that when not sitting their exams they should be revising independently or taking the opportunity to catch up on a few things. Their teachers of course are delivering the invigilation at this time. Once exams are finished and we have the data outcomes for each subject, parents of students in year 11 and 13 will be invited in to meet teachers in a conference to discuss exam performance in each subject and also look at what we need to do to improve progress towards the main event in May. I will write to you all next week to inform you about this process and when it will be taking place. Again, we will have a plan A and a plan B to account for every possibility. Every week our students make us very proud indeed. Some of the best schools in the World are led in much of what they do through student voice and our impressive young leaders on the student council have been particularly busy recently. They have developed a new reward policy that focuses on the performance of the whole class opposed to individuals as is the norm. It is hoped that this has a really positive impact on the collective efficacy of the class community and also in the process, develop some teamwork. In the planning I enjoyed a ‘grilling’ by the students involved who throughout the consultation process showed maturity and determination to roll with our decisions and advice to produce something really professional to brief the staff with. Well done indeed! I am looking forward to the finance committee next week who are looking at fundraising. These individuals have every possibility in front of them to grasp hold of and they make us all extremely proud. If only we as adults could have those choices again! We have always been fortunate at BSQ to attract promising students to join our fold. In the very near future I will be leading a webinar from a marketing perspective on some of the work that the Secondary school does and how we are operating fully to maintain all aspects of our curriculum. I will be speaking to prospective parents about the diversity of the curriculum, the impact that students have on our development though student voice, how our students strive towards our values and how we ensure that they leave here after 7 years ready for the rigors that are presented in adult life. My preparation for this has really underlined how outstanding our children are and how seriously they take their education and their futures. They have some wonderful aspirations. My involvement in the futures process and how students apply for and select their destination university has really underlined again how talented our young adults are. Later in the year I will happily share with you the news of all the successes in those being selected to universities for September. There are some really prestigious universities on the list from around the World which underlines the caliber of or students. How exciting indeed! Finally, I would like to thank you again for the support, flexibility and understanding with all that we are trying to achieve under the current circumstances. Have a wonderful week. Lee Moors Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about parenting during COVID-19.
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May 2024
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