WelcomeThis is our last newsletter of the current term and, as always, I am amazed at everything that has happened since January 6th. BSQ is such a busy and vibrant school and that is due to the commitment of our staff, the positivity of our families and the brilliance of our students. Thank you for your support and see you on March 2nd after a well-deserved break with family and friends. Remember that school ends at 12:00 on Friday so that you can make the most of the Carnival weekend. Please ensure that you have made arrangements for the collection of your children if they are not travelling on the school bus Being BSQ at home and in the classroom. Those of you following us on Facebook will have seen our new #BSQ/Parents as we shared images of our Positive Framing workshops. What a great turnout and – as always – great to see parents so interested in what happens at school and keen to be a part of that. As we explored in the workshop, the research around parents and schools working together is strong and conclusive in terms of its impact on student well-being and success. ‘Parent engagement in the educational development of their children improves attainment.’ Bill Lucas at the Centre for Real World Learning. The three top rules for positive framing are that we:
We worked together to frame some examples of how we could address children to support them to understand how to move forward with clear actions and no conflict. If you would like to know more than you can explore the slides we prepared for the workshop and practise some positive framing for yourself. The Sun – I am repeating this advice this week so that everyone has read it We are very fortunate to live in an environment where the weather enables us to spend much of our time outside being active. However, there are also the days when the UV index is extremely high and potentially very dangerous if we do not take enough precautions. Whilst we are looking at how we can provide extra cover for our sports facilities, there is also much we can all do to protect ourselves.
If you need any additional advice and guidance, please contact our doctor Sara Luengo on [email protected] Meet the team – Year 3. In the middle of the primary school we have a brilliantly creative team of staff – always working on a project! After School Clubs. Many thanks to those who have signed up to start our brand new music club after school and to join the BSQ String Band. I am delighted to announce that we will be starting the BSQ music club after the break. Many schools in the UK and around the world have gradually decreased their music provision for students due to a lack of good music teachers, other budget priorities or no interest from the students. As a (semi!) musician I am so pleased that we have the staff, the time and the student interest in music to enable us to really focus on developing the joy and skill at BSQ of learning and loving music. Dear students and parents, Last week we had a demonstration of what will be the extracurricular classes of Strings in BSQ. Now we are very happy to announce that these classes will start on Tuesday, March 3 at 3:20 p.m. Classes will last two hours, from 3pm to 5pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the A13 classroom. Payment information will be sent during this week to interested families. If your children are interested and have not yet contacted us, we will be happy to send you information and invite them to be part of what we wish in the future to become the String Ensemble of the BSQ. Please write to [email protected] Best regards, Nicole Camacho TEDx Event 5… 4… 3… 2… 1.. Our TEDxYouth@BSQ is finally coming soon! This February 20th BSQ will be hosting a ground breaking event filled with interesting and motivating talks from key expert speakers and three of our own BSQ students. The theme is Education: Innovation, Diversity, Wellbeing. Stay tuned! Driving Change 2020 – Save the Date and volunteer Our website is up and running and thank you to those of you who have committed to join us at the conference. You can sign up to join us and connect here. After the break we will start releasing details of our wonderful speakers and exhibitors but here is a sneak peek! Michelle O’Fried Michelle holds a Masters in Nutrition in Public Health from Columbia University, NYC. She is an ecological public health nutritionist, cook, food writer and advocate for nutritional value of traditional foods. She is the nutritionist for a healthy consumer´s movement in Ecuador “Que Rico es” and some of you may have heard her voice in nutritional messages produced by EDUCA, the 8 minute programmes aired on all Ecuadorian radio stations. From the Staff and the Students Continuing with our teachers and their stories about learning in the classroom this period. This week we have Ms. Danielle Parker from Secondary and Ms. Heather Stollery, Mr. Matt Kidd and Ms. Coronel from Primary. Ms. Danielle Parker – Secondary English Teacher The BSQ Festival of Ecuadorian Culture was a huge success thanks largely to the hard work of the Equality & Diversity Committee, Nicole Camacho in Primary, a bunch of amazing Secondary teachers, and our wonderful Parents Association. The day kicked off with a lively bomba dance from the talented Maitress dance group whose balancing of bottles on their heads while they performed their routines was certainly an impressive spectacle. More so perhaps was seeing Ms Madden and a few students doing the moves on stage. Thanks to the year 12 English A students who led an excellent slam poetry workshop in which students like Felipe and Alejandra in year 10 produced some fantastic poems. Many of our students enjoyed the traditional games and were really committed to trying to win. The most popular were the Trompos and the Rayuela. The kids, Ms Maggie and Ms Espinosa had lots of fun. The Mujeres de La Luna delivered lively workshops in ancestral music which both primary and secondary students seemed to love. A number of year 10s, 11s and IB students were an attentive and engaged audience for our expert on the difficult topic of racism in football, Paulo Ayala. Students in the mask workshop enjoyed playing with clay and made some, well, interesting pieces of art. Everyone trying out some Ecuadorian sports was enthusiastic and energetic, despite the fierce sun. Perhaps the highlight of the day though was Masterchef which saw delicious and extravagent entries from Gael and Melany in year 10, Katherine and Kailani in year 7, Lucas in year 9 and Ary in year 12. After an exciting round of tasting and deliberations from the judges, Ms Newman, Mr Madden, Mr Wild and Mr Mercer, third place went to Juan Esteban of year 7, second place to Katherine and the ENORMOUS trophy went to Gianella of year 7 whose original and delicious mango ceviche impressed the most. To finish, Ms Cano and Esteban serenaded us with their romantic pasillos on the deck. We love you too, Ms Cano! And at the end of the day, it was Samantha Baugh's beautifully detailed piece illustrating indigenous people and fabric designs that took the number one spot for the Diversity of Ecuador Art Contest. Thank you to all staff, parents and students for such a wonderful day! Ms. Heather Stollery – Year 2A Teacher In 2A this term, we have been having a very varied learning experience. This week, in particular, has been filled with excitement. In science we have been exploring different materials and we were thinking about objects that ´float´ and ´sink´. We made predictions and then set about experimenting with various objects. In English we have been learning and writing riddles and to start the week off the children took part in a riddle race, where they had to read and answer riddles in groups of 4 and then run to get the next riddle. It was a fantastic learning experience because not only did they have to work together in their teams but it also tested their mental and physical strengths. A real highlight of our week was our class marble party where we got to design and create our own pizzas. The children chose this as their reward so they could learn how to make pizza and of course it was a delicious treat! Mr. Matt Kidd – Year 2B Teacher The Scottish Dance Enrichment Club was very lucky to have a professional Hip Hop dancer visit BSQ this week. Sebastian is a professional dancer from Quito who has featured in many films and videos. The children learned a hip hop routine, participated in a dance off, and showed real 'attitude' throughout the lesson. Thank you to Sebastian for coming in and inspiring the children. Ms. Antonella Coronel – Head of Early Years Happy Valentine’s day! Last week in nursery we celebrated Valentine’s day with a wonderful picnic in the EYFS playground. During the week we worked on making valentine’s day cards for friends and classmates which came out wonderful. They had a blast coloring, painting and sticking. Before the picnic started we gave the children time to hand out the cards they had elaborated to the person they wanted to give it to. They felt so happy giving one to a friend and even more receiving one. They learnt about how to take care of the people we love not only on special occasions like this one but make sure this is a regular occurrence. The children understood that it does not have to be with presents or bought things but with hugs and kisses or even cards made from themselves show a lot to the person we care about. Dates for your Diary February 20th– TEDxYouth@BSQ February 21st– Carnival holiday starts at 12h00 March 20th – 21st– Driving Change 2020 March 25th– EYFS Open Day Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary UpdateThis being the last week of term before the Carnival break, it is a good time for us all to look back on the previous few weeks and reflect on our personal goals. In school, we discuss goals and targets regularly with the students, relating to both their academic progress and their personal development. Now we are half way through the school year, setting ourselves new goals that we would like to achieve is a great way to reinvigorate our learning and make sure we keep progressing. One area I feel we that most of us could improve upon is our diet, specifically at break time. Those students who have school snack are already eating a balanced and nutritious snack, with fruit, juice and some form of carbohydrate to give us energy. However, many students bring less nutritious snacks to school, including high-energy drinks, crisps and chocolate. While these all have a place in a balanced diet, they do not provide our students with the right balance of ‘brain food’ and can affect their learning and behaviour. If you send lunch and snack from home, please make sure that your child understands the benefits of eating a balanced and healthy diet, with reduced sugar, fat and salt and plenty of fruit and vegetables. We are also hoping to reduce both the use of cartons (sometimes referred to as tetrapaks) and single use plastics across the school, so please support us by using reusable containers for your child’s snack and lunch box and avoid items which are disposed of as soon as they are used. We have several trips out this week: Year 3 will visit the Science Museum on Tuesday, the dancing Enrichment Club will visit a Dance Studio on Wednesday and Year 2 will visit Parque de Armenia on Thursday. Year 5 and 6 are also involved in a Cacao Ceremony on Tuesday. On Friday 21st February school ends at 12pm for the Carnival mid-term break. Please ensure you all out this time in your diaries and enjoy the break, ready to return to school on Monday 2nd March. Star of the Week Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update Year 11 Introduction to IBDP While they are of course already very busy studying, learning and revising for their upcoming IGCSE examinations in May, on Tuesday 18th February the students of Year 11 will be introduced for the first time in any real detail to the IB Diploma Programme. While we try not to put them under any undue extra pressure at this point, it is vital that they understand where all their hard work is leading. In addition, we need to understand where they, as a group and as individuals, need it to lead. And so we use this opportunity to show them what lies ahead, but also to get a sense of what subjects they will want, or need, to study over the next two years in order to reach their goals, so that we can plan our provision accordingly. Year 12 University Guidance A year further on, the Year 12 students are now well into their IB Diploma Programme, and are reaching the stage where they will need to begin thinking about what comes next. Over the next few weeks, in my role as College Counselor, I will be meeting with each of the Year 12 students for a one-to-one discussion of their hopes, dreams, and goals, out of which they will each emerge with a better understanding of the specific actions needed to achieve success. Sunshine In my nine years in Ecuador, I have never known the sun to be as strong as it is now. It is absolutely essential that each and every student comes to school every day with a hat that protects their face and neck from the harsh UV radiation, not just during PE class but also at break, lunch, and when moving between classes. It is also essential that they wear high SPF sun cream whenever they are outside. And it is essential that they remain hydrated, for which they absolutely need to bring to school a water bottle. Please do help us with these things, and with reinforcing the importance of this message. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about what parents should know about the Tik Tok App.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
CategoriesArchives
May 2024
|