Welcome Now that our learners are back in the classroom there is – once again – a vibrancy and focus on the campus and staff and students are enjoying exploring the curriculum face to face and catching up after the extended time at home. We have all become used to the way in which we need to react to changing situations efficiently and quickly and since it is quite likely we will have to do so again in the future these qualities will come in handy. Fortunately, the BSQ community is made up of resilient, positive and supportive people (staff, students and parents) who know that the best way to achieve success is to work together. As always, my thanks go out to all community members for always being ready to listen and respond. Lots of groups, companies and organisations have mottos or slogans that suggest they are always ready. For example: Here at BSQ, our values drive our responses and the words ´active and determined approach´, sum that up. This month we have shared the Orbital Schools parent survey with you and, as always, we look forward to your responses and to maintaining our strong position in the group for parent satisfaction. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. SSD Article It is important that we teach children to use technology in a healthy way and develop the skills and habits that will make them successful digital citizens. The Student Support Department would like to walk you through how to make technology work for your family; from 3 year olds who seem to understand devices better than us to teenagers who need some (but not too much) freedom. Dates for your Diary As always please check this section carefully and ensure that you have all the details in your calendars.
Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update It was really great to see the campus come alive last week with the sounds of students learning and engaging with each other again. Although we still have to take a great many precautions to keep our community safe, it is worth it every time we see that ‘lightbulb’ moment when a student learns something new, experiences something new or succeeds after several attempts at an activity. Of course, research shows that learning is often not linear; that is, it does not happen incrementally in every case and we do often get those ‘lightbulb’ moments when we feel we understand a new concept. However, it is the links we make with prior learning that determines our ability to understand new concepts, which is why here at BSQ we follow a spiral curriculum that revisits key concepts over a series of weeks, months and even years. Each time we revisit a concept, the skill or concept is covered in greater depth, linked to the knowledge and understanding the students have already mastered. This is why it is important to learn some basic skills, for instance, in mathematics, as these serve as the building blocks for future knowledge and skill acquisition. This week, the students in Primary will focus on the value of kindness throughout the week, sharing messages for their friends and teachers and being encouraged to display acts of kindness around the campus. Thank you to all the parents who are continuing to use the name signs we provided for Drive Through - this makes it much easier to identify your cars and get you through more efficiently. If you would like a new sign, please do let us know, or even make your own (we have seen some great designs already!). Marcus Madden Head of Primary Y1B contribution This term, Year 1 B have been thinking about the regions of Ecuador and the plants and animals that live in them. We have learnt the words for different animal body parts in English and thought of adjectives to describe them (sharp teeth, colourful feathers, long beak). In Art, we used different techniques to create an Amazon jungle scene. We used forks to create the bark on the trees, cotton wool for clouds and leaves and splashed our paint brushes to show the light shining through the trees. Kind regards, Ms. Natalie and Ms. Gaby Being BSQ – Secondary Update Finally – excitement, smiles, and reunions We have all experienced quite a lot of frustration over the last couple of weeks but I imagine everyone appreciates the caution and careful considerations before we put everyone together again on site. It really was lovely to see the relief and excitement for the children when they were reunited with their friends and their teachers. We have had to be quite creative with staffing the timetable with a small number of colleagues enduring further time at home. We are happy that they are teaching online and students are on devices where possible in classrooms with another teacher supervising. Whilst this is not a perfect solution it does mean that children are together in school and learning is being managed and supervised. From my own experience supervising this week, this does seem to be working as a compromise. A reminder for those students who do find themselves at home still – we are not teaching classes online currently. All students are present with teachers. If a child is away they should be aware of where they can get access to the lesson resources that they have missed so they can work at home. If there is a need for questions or additional guidance I recommend contact with the teacher by email. Some teachers are likely to share resources in the lesson by email directly to all but this is not expected. Year 11 finally began their long-awaited mock exams last week. The start has been strong and all are embracing the level of expectation and challenge. I ask that parents support at home and encourage preparation through revision and other practice activities. These really are an important gauge for teachers to see what is required next and we want everyone to achieve at their potential. I am a little concerned by the appearance of some of our older students at school this week with regard to dress and appropriate uniform. I would like to remind everyone that a full school uniform including a shirt and tie is expected every day. School PE kit can be worn on days that PE is on the timetable. Streetwear and non-school garments with logos are not allowed. Finally, again our congratulations must go to Ignacio who is again playing internationally at Tennis. He has had some recent success in Venezuela where two weeks ago he played the G2 South American Tournament in Valencia, and he became singles champion and doubles runner up! He is currently in Guayaquil playing another south American tournament and next week he is off to Peru to play again there. A very busy young man indeed. Y10A: Visual Arts The visual Arts students of Year 10 have already started their first art portfolio for the component 1 of the IGCSE programme in visual Arts and Design. The topic of this project is Alive, and students have interpreted it as they want. Some of them focused on portraits, hybrid beings, plants, animals and environment and the art making forms are varied as well (graphite, acrylics, watercolors, color pencils, oil pastels and more. The results of their studies have been amazing so far, I hope you enjoy them! Ms. Belén Arellano, Visual Art Teacher | Y10A tutor Have a wonderful week everyone.
Lee Moors Head of Secondary
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May 2024
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