WelcomeAt the heart of our school are our values - the commitment that we provide a caring, happy welcome for everyone and that we treat every member of our community with respect whilst encouraging them to be ambitious and determined in their thinking and actions. We have created a school environment where all learners are welcome and valued; we work hard to listen to the thoughts, suggestions and recommendations of our parents; we look for feedback on how we are doing in a range of areas of school life; we review our curriculum to ensure that it is broad, balanced, rich and diverse and we always ask – how can we do even better. But is it enough? According to the IVET (International Values Base Education Trust there is a difference between a school where values are taught and a school where values are lived and learned. ´Values education teaches learners about values. Values-based Education provides a teaching environment in which learners experience those positive universal values first hand throughout their schooling. ´ (https://valuesbasededucation.com/what-is-vbe/) As we move forwards and away from COVID restrictions we are working on plans to ensure that additional learning opportunities really do give our students the chance to live our values. Last week the DofE team were out on their practice expedition and it is exactly the welcome return of activities like this that enable young learners to be caring towards each other, determined to succeed and ambitious in their planning – all of which leads to great happiness with the outcomes as I am sure you can see from the pictures. Parent Values Over 2 years ago we all met in the library to write the Parent Guide to our Values and for those parents new to BSQ or those who would welcome a reminder they are attached here for you to read again. Perhaps you now think that there are additions or changes that need to be made. Please do get in touch with your thoughts and suggestions and let's make sure these are both fit for purpose and contributing to the values based education here at BSQ. Family Funday Following consultation with the PA team, we have decided to move this fabulous event to May 14th. Hopefully, this means we can have more activities, more guests and more fun. Please put it in your diaries. British Sign Language (BSL) This week four of our BSL Enrichment students will be demonstrating the days of the week using BSL. Please watch this brilliant video: Ms. Hayley Dean, KS2 Lead Join our Yearbook Cover Pages Contest! Our BSQ community members - students, parents, staff - are invited to participate in our Yearbook Cover Page Contest. The theme is A place for every learner, where you create a design. We will choose 3 winners (one for students, one for parents and one for staff members) and their designs will appear on the Yearbook Cover Pages. Please send your proposed designs, considering the following parameters:
If you have any further questions, please contact Andrea Zambrano to: [email protected] From BSQ Food Education Programme Dates for your Diary As always please check this section carefully and ensure that you have all the details in your calendars.
Mrs. Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Last week, the Primary students participated in a variety of Science activities organised by the Secondary Science team, with some classes even joining in with Secondary Science classes! The many benefits of participating in practical science have been shared before - our students definitely benefited from this approach. This week we have several events for students and parents for you to be aware of. On Tuesday, we have our Food Education sessions, with a guest speaker joining us online to share their knowledge with us all. On Wednesday, we are hosting the RSE Parent Workshop at 4pm, where we will share the content and structure of the upcoming Relationships and Sex Education sessions in Primary. On Thursday, there is no school for students while we meet with you all for the Parent Teacher Conferences. This is your opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and next steps with their teacher and share their successes. Many parents have also been asking about when it will be possible to resume swimming lessons in school. Selected Secondary students will be trialing this in the coming weeks, with the plan being for Primary students to resume their swimming lessons after the Easter holiday. Please do refer to the Parent Handbook for the required equipment for swimming lessons. Y2B - Different, not less In our 2B class, inclusion is one of our priorities; we make sure we all have a voice. Inspired by the book we have been working on the last two weeks ‘The girl who thought in pictures’ which is a representation of Dr Temple Grandin’s life, we have explored with our 2B students how our differences are actually our strengths, how any special conditions we may have can make us stronger and how ignorance by other people does not signify inferiority. Dr Temple was an unusual girl that hated big squeezy hugs. Although her classmates were not treating her well, she did not give up. Some support from a teacher was enough to design her own machine for animals at a very young age! Although people would ignore her ideas, she kept on insisting and following her dreams. Now, she is a speaker teaching around the world that we are all special and that our minds are unique. Science week - visiting the Science lab With great thanks to Mrs Parkinson who welcomed the KS1 students to the Secondary Science lab, this Thursday students had the chance to observe different items under the microscope. Words and expressions of excitement filled the lab on Thursday morning and 2B students were able to comment on the items they would see and describe them in great detail! Some Year 6 scientists were also there to help our 2B students. Ms. Anna Vasilokonstantaki, Y2B Teacher Being BSQ – Secondary Update Is it all a big drama? I have met some wonderful people over the last couple of weeks with Mrs Newman as we have been interviewing new staff for the next academic year. I have been struck by the fact that BSQ really does appeal to staff overseas at this time. There are a number of factors that contribute to this but overwhelmingly, they are impressed by our commitment to our shared values, our community, the professional approach to learning, and how this all shines through on the website. I know that there has been a huge amount of work done on this recently and it is good to hear such positive feedback for the effort made. These things are really important and we are lucky to have such creativity and attention to detail at BSQ with those that drive our public view locally and internationally. We are making some changes to the planned parent-teacher conferences that are coming up. There has been some disruption to learning this year with vaccinations and breaks in attendance at school and our aim is to try and minimize this as much as possible for us all. The date that was published for years 11 and 13 was the 31st of March but we have decided to move this to the 6th April for a number of logistical reasons. The rest of the school will follow on the 18th of May and the details of this will also follow. It is hoped that parents will be able to do these on site by that time. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Essentially, both events will have targeted agendas towards either final exam prep for years 11 and 13, and a reflection of the year gone by with a targeted focus going forward for the others. I am pleased to announce that the Arts department is putting in a big team effort for us all to celebrate the end of the year with the school production. Time is tight but I am confident that with all of our support Miss Cano, Mrs Espinosa, Miss Arellano, and other connected staff helping will prepare an excellent show for us all. Most of the activity will take place on Wednesday enrichment, but inevitably as the pressure rises and time runs out, additional practice will be required outside of our timetable. I look forward to lots of music and performance over the next couple of months, and to a wonderful show later in the year. It is certainly going to be magical? It is exciting to also announce that we intend to recognise and award contributions to enrichment and the way that senior students lead enrichment activities in the regular award ceremonies. Staff are now considering this element going forward. Miss Martinez and I will be visiting all of the activities taking place on Wednesday next week. It is very clear that we have many talented students in the school and as I wrote last week, Mrs Todd is working on the programme identifying who they are and why they are gifted and talented. On Saturday we enjoyed our graduating IB Art students exhibition on site. Look out for the reports and pictures - the work is of an extremely high standard. Finally from me, a huge thank you and well done to the staff who led an excellent D of E expedition last week. Mrs Madden, Miss Leon, Mr Edwards, Mrs Davilla and Mr Dobson ensured an excellent event for over 20 students. I went to visit the teams at the campsite and was really pleased to see and witness the buzz of the campsite with students enjoying each other's company out of school. It was wonderful to finally see this happening again. Well done all! Science Week 14th March to 18th March. It has been a pleasure to be part of organizing Science Week this week. Celebrating British Science week here at BSQ. The theme this year has been Growth. Every class in the school has taken part in two competitions. One to grow seeds which lasts for a whole month, and a poster competition. I am very happy to announce the winners of the poster competition are We had loads of entries which are being displayed in the windows of the science labs. We will update you with the winners of the plant competition later in the term. Every day in tutor time we have learnt a little science, on Monday we learnt about Ecuadorians Scientist Eugenia María del Pino Veintimilla, Tuesday about factors needed for seed growth, Wednesday ´guess the embryo´, Thursday how to reinflate a helium balloon using a hair dryer and Friday different jobs that science is useful for. We also had our first BSQ Science Fair on Tuesday. Students from the KS3 Enrichment group had worked really hard on their own projects. We had visitors from staff including, Mr. Newman, Mrs. Espinosa, Mrs. Newman, Mr. Moors and Mr. Kyle. A number of students from KS3 and Y6 also came in to speak to the students. It was really great to see students sharing their passion for science through their own projects from research on Black holes and Vaccines, to experiments on the effect of vinegar on eggs, light on plant growth and filtering water. One group even looked at the effect of music on the behaviour of horses. As well as form time and class activities the students have had some opportunities in Secondary Science to do different practical work.
Year 1 and 2 also came up to the Secondary lab to use the microscopes and this was really exciting for them. We guessed what some things were under the microscope – this one is a picture that very few people got correct… can you guess what it is? The students had collected objects from school and home that they wanted to look at under the microscope and they also had feathers, small lizards, butterfly wings and fibres to look at too. It was a pleasure to have them up in the Science labs. The Year 6 students, Charlie, Elias, Indie and Jose who came to help out were excellent. It has been so lovely to see so much science happening around the school this week during form time and in other subjects too, and a big thank you to all the students and teachers who have got involved with Science Week this week. As always, great community spirit. Ms. Nadine Parker and Mrs. Rachael Parkinson, Science Teachers Year 7 Science Our new topic in Science for Year 7 this partial is the rock cycle. We have been learning about the structure of the earth, and part of a homework task was to write a song or rap which described the four layers of the earth. The students came up with some amazing songs which they performed in front of the class. There were some excellent displays in class of rhyming lines and excellent beats and rhythms to their songs. Here there are two videos which some students put together. The special effects on Matías video are particularly impressive. Well done to all of Year 7! Ms. Nadine Parker, Science Teacher Duke of Edinburgh International Award – Bronze Qualifying Expedition to Chaquiñan and Ilaló (15-16 March) Last week we were incredibly fortunate to take 21 students from Years 10 and 11 out to complete their Qualifying Expedition as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award scheme. The last time we were able to do this was in February 2020 when we took participants to Quilotoa. After much planning, and a variety of changes to our plans (we were disappointed not to be able to go to Cotopaxi National Park as we usually do, as a result of restrictions on camping in the park), we embarked on Tuesday 15 March to the Chaquiñan in Tumbaco, where students walked 14km to Puembo with their rucksacks loaded with everything they’d need for the next two days – clothing, tents, sleeping bags and mats, stoves, gas canisters, food, and anything else they might require! Day 1 went smoothly with all students finding their trek along the Chaquiñan manageable, but were certainly pleased to arrive at the campsite in Puembo where we witnessed a range of nutritious meals being prepared as well as the successful erection tents before settling down to sleep for the night. Day 2 was a much bigger challenge – with students walking up the slopes of Ilaló from La Morita to finally reach the summit around lunchtime, before taking the walk down to Guangopolo to finish the hike. Another successful day – though certainly a lot more challenging for all involved! All of the staff on the visit – myself, Mrs Madden (who was assessing the students for their Bronze Award), Miss Leon, Mrs Davila, and Mr Edwards – were hugely impressed by the maturity, responsibility, and determination of the students and I am pleased to say that all passed the assessment for their Bronze Award. Now, students must write a short report about their expedition, deliver a presentation, and complete the required hours for their individual skill, service, and physical activities to achieve their Bronze Award certificate. Mr. Kevin Dobson, Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Coordinator.
Have a good week everyone. Lee Moors Head of Secondary
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May 2024
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