WelcomeA warm welcome back to all our families from the Carnival break. I hope you were able to spend precious time with family and friends and recharge your batteries ready for the next five weeks. It is a short term until Easter but, as always, we have much to pack in. It is a worrying time for many around the world as Coronavirus continues to spread. You will have read about the precautions we are taking to keep our community safe and this may change of course as events develop. Please continue to monitor the health of your family and remember that you can always contact our own doctor Sara Luengo if you need advice. TED-X WOW! After many weeks of preparation and hard work, the TED-X Youth@BSQ event finally came to fruition at BSQ on Thursday before the break. What a wonderful evening and what amazing talks from our very own students Martinna, Martín and Pablo. With my thanks to everyone involved in this event and especially to Sofy León and Andrea Carrera who had the vision to bring this to BSQ. TED-TEDx is an annual event where some of the most important thinkers and entrepreneurs in the world are invited to share what they are most passionate about. "TED" means Technology, Entertainment and Design, three major areas that together are shaping our future because it presents "ideas worth explaining." Over time, speakers from TED and TEDx, including Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Philippe Starck and Bono, have shared this space of personal and professional growth. The TEDxYouth@BSQ is a milestone for the world of education in Ecuador because it opened conversations and experiences of both students and experts towards guests. The theme of TEDxYouth@BSQ was Education: Innovation, Diversity and Wellbeing by adding live translation to sign language to your proposal so that more people can access the content. We received two speakers from the Ecuadorian Amazon. One of them is an English teacher and talked about educational work with diverse classrooms that face high psychosocial risks. The other speaker of the Amazon spoke from her vision as a student to the importance of adults who support her proposals. We also have the expertise of a speaker talking about the role of self-motivation and the scope of the objectives against all odds. We also had a Rugby expert talking about this sport as a tool to improve the quality of life. Three of our students won their opportunity to become TEDx speakers talking about various topics such as communication, study habits and sports - student life. They made it amazing after almost 5 months of hard preparation. Behind the realization of TEDx were several BSQ staff all united with the emotion of having obtained the TEDx license and being hosts of this world-renowned event. Likewise, we thank the support and professionalism of the USFQ and COCOA for the audio-visual realization of the event, mandatory action so that the talks can be uploaded to the TEDx platform. It was all a collective, passionate and passionate work of BSQ staff. This experience has definitely enriched us as a BSQ community and gave us the opportunity to share this space with other people and organizations outside the BSQ, contributing again to collective growth. There is a saying that mentions: "Walking the extra mile is complicated and requires effort. The advantage is that there is hardly anyone on that route." Thanks to all who supported this proposal and continue the dream of continuing to change the world from the classrooms walking the extra mile. Ms. León and Ms. Carrera Meet the team – Our Counsellors. We are lucky that Ecuadorian policy is so respectful and caring in terms of the support that is required in schools linked to student well-being. However, we are doubly lucky that our counselling team is so committed and dedicated to our student, parent and staff community. After School Clubs – reminder. 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 this term. The club runs on Tuesday and Thursday after school from 15h20 to 17h20 at A13 classroom. Driving Change 2020 – Save the Date and volunteer Thank you to those of you who have signed up to attend our conference later this month. The event is getting closer and the committee are very excited about the speakers. Before the break we introduced you to one of our speakers – here is another one. María Paulina Romo A wife, mum and professional with more than 20 years experience. After these few years working in my own business, I have realised it is still a privilege being a woman in this role and I would like to encourage those incredible women who have not yet decided to believe in themselves to do it. Even more than that, to have the confidence to work with your partner towards the same dream. From the Staff and the Students Continuing with our teachers and their stories about learning in the classroom this period. This week we have Mrs. Alejandra Miranda and Year 9 students from Secondary and Mr. Simon Newman and Ms. Coronel from Primary. Mrs. Alejandra Miranda – Secondary Language Support Coordinator Language Support in Secondary Teaching Spanish as a foreign language is quite challenging, but this letter from my year 9 students makes me want to continue working along them. Language is a powerful tool that lasts forever, and can make my students life easier while they are here. Gracias! ‘I come from Saudi Arabia and Jhoana and Domenik come from the United Kingdom. We are from countries far from Ecuador! However, Miss. Ale makes Spanish learning easy and fun. We enjoy our lessons because we get to watch videos, play some games and listen to songs in Spanish to get the language straight. We also learn grammar and we read books. This is all to make us enjoy and improve. We all want to thank her for the support and time she puts towards us. Thank you so much Ms. Ale, and we appreciate everything you do for us!’ Salam (Year 9 Student) Year 9 students 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓑𝓢𝓠 The 14th of February is always a special day for everyone, it’s when you can celebrate friendships and relationships. Last week was all about love, friendship and preparing for our Valentine’s Day. This year in BSQ we celebrated Valentine’s Day by giving serenatas, roses, chocolates, and mandarins to who you really have affection for. Also, we had weddings for the students to marry each other. The atmosphere of this event was successful, with students wearing their relationship status. This gave a warm feeling towards others, even if you were heartbroken or single you would still have someone by your side even if it was a friend you didn't know. This atmosphere brought everyone together from different years to meet new people and to interact with them. Mr. Simon Newman – Year 6 Teacher There’s a lot going on down in the Year 6 classroom at the moment. Along with our daily lessons, we are working hard in rehearsals for William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The Year 6 pupils really are an exceptional group when it comes to teamwork and self-management. There’s a hunger in the air to make this production work. There’s much to do and much to enjoy as we are becoming more and more familiar with the lines we need to learn, the actions we need to perform and the songs we need to sing. Our performances will be in late June and we don’t really want to give too much away about our interpretation of The Tempest. However, a few photos here from our weekly rehearsals wouldn’t go amiss! So, take a look at the joy that Shakespeare’s work still brings to young people regardless of culture and location. Ms. Antonella Coronel – Head of EYFS Welcome back! We are very excited for this first week. In class we will be learning about all the wonderful new memories the children have made with you during this long break, we want to hear all about them. Make sure to upload all your stories on Tapestry so the children can tell their friends all about what they have done. We have a lot of fun filled events coming up for the Early Years team. This week we will be celebrating international women's day which means we will be learning about all the great accomplishments women around the world have done in the past and now in the present. We also have our very first EYFS family picnic coming up this weekend for all nursery and reception families, make sure to confirm your attendance with your class teacher. This will be in Parque La Armenia on Saturday March 7th. More information about this will be going out this week in your child’s bag. Also for the very first time we will celebrate grandparents’ day. We will be sending out invitations for your child’s grandparents to join us for a delicious tea party, you will also receive more information about this event soon. Dates for your Diary March 6th – International Women´s Day at BSQ March 17th – Karl Wilkinson visiting March 18th – Admissions General Open Day March 20th – 21st – Driving Change 2020 March 25th – Admissions EYFS Open Day March 27th - IB Art Exhibition Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Welcome back to BSQ after the Carnival break – I hope you and your family enjoyed a relaxing and rewarding time together. We now have five weeks of learning before the Easter break, with lots of exciting activities and events planned across the Primary School. This week alone we have a trip to the theatre for Key Stage One on Wednesday, an Own Clothes Day and Bake Sale on Friday to raise money for an Australian Bushfire Charity and Science Day on Saturday morning between 8am and 12pm for Year 1 upwards. On this day, buses will run as normal to get to school for 8am and leave at 12pm and there will be school snack provided for those who usually have it. Nursery and Reception will spend the morning at Parque Metropolitano La Armenia with their teachers – more details to follow from Miss Coronel. Other events to put in your calendar include the Driving Change Conference on 20th and 21st March, the next Parent Teacher Conference Day (when students will only attend school for their meeting time) on Tuesday 24thMarch, with this term finishing at 12pm on Friday 3rd April. This week in assembly time and in PSHE in class we are focussing on the word Ambition, from our school value: We live and learn with an active and determined approach to our ambition. We will be exploring the different ways we can encourage our students to have a clear understanding of their own ambitions, whether they are in the immediate future or more long-term. These are the four statements the students from BSQ came up with when asked to expand on the idea of ambition:
Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update This coming Saturday sees another packed day of learning. All Secondary students are expected to attend, as are parents of students in Years 9 and 11. Science Day The main event is Science Day. The Science team, led by Mrs Maudsley, have put together an extraordinary array of workshops for students to choose from, including hovercraft engineering, Ecuadorian ecosystems, and DNA diversity. As ever, these activities are designed to develop and build valuable skills and knowledge while applying them to real-life, practical problems, and at the same time being engaging, fun, and providing opportunities for mixed-age groups to work together. IB and IG Options Workshops Additionally, parents of Years 9 and 11 are requested to join us to learn all about the Cambridge IGCSE and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programmes. respectively. The coordinators, Ms Todd and Mr Karakashian, will explain what each programme is for, how it's put together, what the teachers and students will be doing over the two years of each course, and how success can be supported by parents at home. On top of this, and of more immediate concern, is an explanation of the subject choices students will need to make before beginning each programme, and the factors on which those choices should be based. We very much hope to see you there. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about whether the news is too scary for children.
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May 2024
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