WelcomeSaturday was an exciting day here at BSQ with all the students exploring STEM activities (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) in classrooms and workshops. Huge thanks to all the teachers and assistants who designed and ran the projects and particularly to Mrs Maudsley whose vision led to such a range of exciting activities in Secondary – including our very own Escape Room! Coronavirus. Many thanks to all of you who have communicated with our school doctor about your travel plans – please continue to do so and to be vigilant and aware of your own health. Please note that we will be considering all out of school activities in the light of any developments here in Ecuador and it may be necessary to either cancel or postpone activities if the situation here changes. We will keep you posted. After School Clubs. Unfortunately, due to a very low attendance, we have decided to start our Music Club this week. Please do come and join us. Meet the team – Year 4 Team Driving Change 2020 – Save the Date 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 two of our speakers – here are two more. Gizella Greene. Is it possible to be a mother, wife, businesswoman and mentor at the same time? Surely, yes, and you can also inspire and impel many women to fulfill their dreams without sacrificing their personal lives and succeeding in their professions. Join me on this journey and let me tell you about this adventure called SuperFoods Ecuador. She cofounded SuperFoods Ecuador in 2015, an inclusive enterprise, run by a group of entrepreneurial and empowered women. It promotes wellness, integral nutrition and healthy lifestyles, by offering a space with a flexitarian restaurant, an organic store, and healthy cooking classes. As a pioneer in this industry in Ecuador, Gizella promotes gender equality, environmental awareness and generates a positive impact on society, working with more than 300 small businesses and entrepreneurs whose families depend on what they sell. Patricio Lloret. Social Housing Community Building Programme and the role of women as positive change agents. Master in Public Policy, MSc, University College London (UCL). Experience in Public Policy, Public Planning, Social Development, Information Society, E-Government, Telecommunications, Tourism, Human Resources and Research and Development. Master in Business Administration, MBA, INCAE Business School, minor in sustainable development, industry and technology. Consultant in the areas of retail and renewable energy with experience in several industries: pharmaceutical, construction, shipping and hospitality, marketing, sales and customer service. From the Staff and the Students Continuing with our teachers and their stories about learning in the classroom this period. This week we have Mr. Christopher Leadbeter, Ms. Fernanda Espinosa and Ms. Coronel from Primary. Mr. Christopher Leadbeter – Year 3A Teacher The new half term has meant the start of a new fascinating topic in 3A, ancient Egypt. In our literacy lessons we have started looking at non chronological reports all about the many interesting gods the ancient Egyptians believed in. The class have been thinking about using sub headings, prepositions and the tricky area of apostrophes. The children have been busy discussing which god is their favourite. In addition to this, the children have looked at why the River Nile was so important to this civilization. Also, the children have created beautiful paintings depicting pyramids at sunset. In non-Egyptian related learning we have been finding out all about money in Maths lessons. The children have had to make amounts using the fewest number of coin, calculate the amount of change they should get and solve word problems. In Science lessons we have also begun a new topic ‘Animals including humans. We sorted animals based on whether they are carnivores, herbivores or omnivores. Drama Trip – Ms. Fernanda Espinosa + Y1 & Y2 team The children enjoyed the play "The Cave of the Mice" (La Cueva de los Ratones), a story about the importance of not throwing garbage in the street and separating it before disposal. They also visited the puppet museum, with the owner of the place and puppet master Claudia Monsalve. She shared information about the puppets and the work of La Rana Sabia. Both teachers and students enjoyed this experience, and allowed the children to have more contact with the world of the arts. Ms. Antonella Coronel – Head of EYFS This weekend we enjoyed the first Early Years family picnic in the British School Quito big football field. With some relocation and your amazing flexibility, the children were able to enjoy a wonderful picnic with us and yourselves. The children enjoyed a variety of activities such as the balloon pop race where we saw some great skills and very fast runners. Twister was also a hit, where children competed with their teachers and classmates. A few students enjoyed time designing their own balloons by drawing and coloring great art work on them. Ms. Vasilokonstantaki organized horse races where children got on the back of an adult and raced to the finish line. The children also practiced their jump roping skills. It was a beautiful experience to watch the students enjoy some outdoor play time with their families and friends, as well as watch parents connecting. Being parents is never an easy task but it is rewarding and an incredible experience. Sharing with other parents and each other’s experiences gives us new ways of working through whatever may be going on at home in a positive way. Thank you for your time and sharing these moments with us. Dates for your Diary March 13th – Ross Jennings visiting March 18th – Admissions General Open Day March 20th – 21st – Driving Change 2020 March 25th – Admissions EYFS Open Day March 28th – IB Art Exhibition Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary UpdateThe whole BSQ community enjoyed Science Day on Saturday, with the Early Years team hosting an activity session at BSQ. This was a great opportunity to work and learn in different ways and was enjoyed by all who came. This week we are looking forward to the visit of Ross OC Jennings, aka The First Piper. Ross is attempting to play the bagpipes, a traditional Scottish musical instrument, in every country and is visiting BSQ on Friday to both perform the bagpipes and also answers questions about his motivation for this trip. On Tuesday 24th March it is our Parent Teacher Conference for all Primary students. Please do let either Mr Santiago Salazar ([email protected]) or your child’s class teacher know your preferred time. On Friday 27th March it is the end of our Book Week celebrations and learning and the students are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite book character. More details to follow about this event and also other ways you can support your child to celebrate Book Week. Please do contact Miss Nicole Camacho ([email protected]) if you would like your child to participate in the music lessons at school, on Tuesday and Thursdays. One area of the curriculum I want to discuss this week is our ICT provision and how it aims to develop ICT capabilities in our students. ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology and refers to any mode of education that uses information and communications technology to support, enhance, and optimise the creation, delivery, storage or management of information. We all know about how technical our society is now and the predictions that technology will play an even larger part in our lives in the future. Our job as parents and teachers is to ensure that we prepare our students for this future, while still retaining our core values and aces to traditional means of communication and information sharing, such as books, museums and real-time conversations. If technology is already a part of their present and inevitably, their future, then it is essential that we develop our students’ ICT capabilities. ICT is widely used in many industries and employers now expect staff to have a degree of ICT literacy when they are hired. ICT skills in primary education can be broken down into several components which together constitute ICT capability, such as:
Processes and higher order skills are developed through examples, exploration, experience and reflection. The teacher’s role will be one of support and guidance, rather than direct teaching. Here at BSQ we feel the best way to develop a student’s ICT skills within their ICT capability is to provide them with meaningful activities, embedded in purposeful subject-related contexts. We use a variety of online tools and applications to give our students opportunities to practise and refine their ICT capability, while learning about e-safety and appropriate use of ICT. This is one area that you as parents can support your child, reminding and modelling good e-safety, monitoring their use of ICT and ensuring that the appropriate filters are in place to make sure the content is appropriate for your child. Star of the WeekMarcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update International-Mindedness The terms Global Citizenship and International-Mindedness are often used interchangeably in education, but they are not the same thing at all. In fact, in many ways, they are often the opposite. The first is focused on ideas and issues that affect us all, as one people on one planet. This includes things like the climate emergency. The second is about how we are all different, have different perspectives and different concerns, and how we must appreciate those differences in order to be able to work and exist successfully together. At BSQ we work hard on developing international-mindedness through the taught curriculum. In subjects such as Literature, Geography, History, and even Science, we learn about the concerns of different people around the world and in TOK, we explore those cultures and perspectives in increasing depth. Arguably though, it is the Model United Nations programme that is the most valuable in revealing and promoting these different mindsets. MUN is an internationally renowned and highly respected creative and academic exercise combining research, problem-solving, negotiation and debating skills with an astute awareness of current and historical global events and issues. Students gather together to ‘role-play’ the functions and processes of the United Nations, bringing a depth of understanding, a focus on the wider world and a skill-set unmatched by the regular curriculum. It is designed to allow good students to become excellent ones, and to develop their potential as leaders. Last week, numerous members of our ever-growing TOK team took part in three days of high level debate at Isaac Newton School, with great success. Thank you to Mathias Bustos in Year 12 for leading the MUN this year, to all those teachers supporting, and to all the students attending. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about whether you really "see" your child.
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May 2024
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