Welcome Living When I met with the PA on March 3rd the agenda included a review of the Parent Survey from earlier this year. Inevitably however, we ended up talking mostly about the return to school protocols and did not manage to get into the detail of the survey. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was very happy with the support and comments that came from the survey and in terms of moving forward we will be looking at some of the key areas where we can:
As you can see in the presentation attached, we have identified topics in each of the areas above and will be exploring them more fully in future meetings. Learning This week we begin to welcome our staff back to the campus to familiarize themselves with the protocols and prepare their learning spaces. Please see the letters on the parent portal for more information about the period between now and Easter. All students returning in April will be attending an induction half-day between March 25th and March 30th and all information will be shared with you on Friday. As part of our protocols, students are not able to return to school full time until they have attended their induction session. We look forward to welcoming them back to BSQ and you can find the protocols here. From the Staff and the Students Continuing with our teachers and their stories about e-learning this new period. This week we have Ms. Sara Avent, Mrs. Patricia Tufiño, Mrs. Rocío Rueda, Mr. Simon Newman, Ms. Aditi Sadotra and the Equality & Diversity Committee from Secondary and Ms. Hayley Dean, Mr. Kevin Dobson and Ms. Antonella Coronel from Primary. Y13 TOK lessons Year 13a have had an extremely busy week with TOK essays being completed and the due dates of several IAs upon them. Most students will by now have completed and submitted their TOK essays and Mr. Samaniego and myself congratulate them on this amazing achievement. I am sure the completion of this will let them breathe a sigh of relief. In this final rush of deadlines, students have worked hard to do their best to meet the expectations of the IB and their teachers. Tomas and Nico share their thoughts on how it is going right now: Nico: “The IB has certainly been a great, but fulfilling challenge during the pandemic. More recently, our deadlines have been approaching which has posed a great stress to all of our class. It has forced us to learn time management skills, along with many academic skills that certainly will result fruitfully in our university lives. With deadlines near, we can also begin to see the end of it all, which is really motivating as two years of extremely hard work are coming to a wrap. Although I'm stressed with deadlines, I'm excited to see what is coming next.” Tomas: “The deadlines have made me feel very stressed. But, that is the obvious answer. Although the deadlines for multiple IAs are tough, I have really enjoyed seeing the effort my teachers have put in to help us. I am thankful for the education that I have.” As the weeks go on, the Year 13s will continue to need our support at school, but also at home, to meet the demands of this challenging program – please do what you can to support them in their journey. This can be as simple as asking them what they are working on right now or giving them a quiet space where they can work uninterrupted. Despite this busy time, our student council reps found time to create and share an informative presentation on Monday – International Women’s Day. Thank you to Sofia and Martinna for sharing this and getting the discussion going. Year 7 Spanish: In Spanish lessons, Year 7 students are reviewing the subject of the autobiography, for this reason, they made creative posters with the most outstanding information from their own lives. They have shown a lot of creativity and we have known something of each one. We share some of them below: Mrs. Patricia Tufiño, Spanish Teacher Year 9 Humanities: The year 9 students have, as always, been working incredibly hard in Humanities and creating some excellent work! Here are a few examples from some units of work completed about abortion (the arguments of pro-choice and pro-life), glaciers and earthquakes! I am sure you will agree the quality of their work really demonstrates their enthusiasm for the subject area and their excellent understanding of these topic areas. Well done Year 9! Ms. Natalie Sawyers, Humanities Teacher Year 7 Science Year 7 have planned an experiment to investigate the different factors that affect dissolving with a simple at-home experiment. On Wednesday, they performed their experiments in small groups. Over the next few days they will analyse and communicate their conclusions with the rest of the class. Lyla, Anna, Antonella, and Isa made sure to turn their cameras on and perform their experiment together just like we would at school! Ms Avent, Science Teacher Year 8 English To complete their learning around Lois Lowry's The Giver, Year 8 pupils were asked to write a response to this question (one that seems more relevant than ever, given the events of the past twelve months): How do you feel about the concept of age in relationship to maturity, responsibility, and growing up? You can see a selection of (shortened) sound 'bites' from some of the children's essays just here. Space means I could only share a few I'm afraid! Elias N: I think that some schools are not preparing young people for the future, (university and jobs) they are preparing us for the past. Let me explain: if you see a car from the past and a car from now, there is a big difference but if you see a class in the past and then a class from these days there is not much difference. In an online article that I read it says, “Schools give the same education from the past.” I do agree with the statement that schools or high schools are not doing enough for students to be professionals. There is evidence that some schools prepare students for being an employee of a big enterprise or company, but I think schools need to boost children to create their own business or company to open their mind to new opportunities. The Giver shows different ways to teach children of the future. In my opinion I don't think those are the best ways. Giving 12 year old children a job for the rest of their life I don't think is the best way; I think it is ordered and not messy but you don't see the perspective of the children. Some ways I think could be better for the children are letting them choose a profession or let them innovate their ideas, to make and create their own jobs - let them experience being free from order and rules let them be themselves. Doménica: Everything is dynamic whether younger people are growing faster than other decades or not, however there are many statements which say children of this generation are being more mature and growing up in a way that is much quicker. I believe that children of this generation are more mature in some ways by growing and understanding concepts earlier in life and having specific behaviours. The way of forming children and teaching them has majorly increased obviously through the years, due to the fact that people have more extended ways of thinking and expressing themselves, for example a common parents’ saying is, “We couldn't do this back when I was a child.” Children, some more mature than others at a certain age, may not be so mature but however they are much more knowledgeable than children in previous generations and years due to that they have more availability of resources and chances in the world, for example the media. Gabriel: Children now are more likely to have more access to technology and that for me can affect them. It can affect their creativity because they only think about technology and video games - and creativity is important for children to mature. However, sometimes technology also helps responsibility but still, I think children before were more mature and responsible. Technology can make children be more responsible by managing time well for example and not spending the whole day indoors, playing video games but going to do something productive instead. I think the school system is pretty good because it prepares you for adulthood. Although I think maybe in school teachers could be making students from y10 to y13 make a long project on preparing more for adulthood. For example, choosing a topic that interests you and which could be similar to the topic that you will choose when you grow up and go to college and university. So, you have a lot of preparation and you can make a wise choice for your career. In The Giver, I do not approve of how they manage the community because it’s too strict and everyone and everything is the same. It’s like a prison where there are no hills, the climate is changed by scientists and people are controlled in their marriages and jobs. Everyone is in total conformity, because the elders make a policy of Sameness. Gianella: Not all children in the 21st century are becoming more responsible at a younger age. Nowadays, children are receiving technology at the age of 5 or 6 and this makes them get in contact with the cyber world a lot and they get addicted. If a parent takes away the phone, tablet or computer from the child because they behaved badly, the addicted child might start to cry. Because of this irritating loud noise, parents give them back their technology. If a child needs to have his technology taken away because of bad behaviour, don’t give it back to them! Let them cry, let them see that things have limits and you create or destroy them. Last generation people were raised in a better way with firmness and punishments if necessary. They stayed all day long outside and played with friends. Now it has all changed. All schools should try to treat teens like teens, not like they are children. We, as teens, learn things quicker. We know most of the things teachers thought the year before. Sometimes it’s just tiring that teachers reteach us things we already know. That is understandable because you will always have to revise the things you did before. The school should treat people like they are a little older than they actually are. It makes people feel more smart and independent. I think this would make people feel that they can do more than what they expect. Sometimes if teachers give a specific student a specific task that is at a higher level than the rest of the students, it might make them feel more intelligent and advanced from the rest. The community in The Giver is strange, and I personally don’t like the way it’s managed. People are used to following the rules and if disobeyed, people get punished or sometimes expelled from the community. I don't agree that 12 year olds are given their job for the rest of their lives because they don't get to choose what their job is going to be and because they might not like their job. Also children aren't prepared to have a job for life. Ivan: Children are growing up faster because nowadays children are learning more adult things, and in some schools teens are being prepared for adulthood. Yet, I also disagree because the exposure to the internet may affect them in a bad way. Technology, which used to be hard to use, has matured young people because during the pandemic we are forced to use it to go to school and there it makes learning a lot easier. Sometimes parents give children too much and they become dependent on parents and that's not how parents should treat their child. The child should be treated with respect and love but if you want your child to be mature and independent don’t let him take control. Children have limited knowledge in The Giver because the elders don’t let children have the freedom of knowledge. Making the children into adults at the age of 12 is one of the things I don't agree with about The Giver. The only way to know what is happening in the world of the is novel to be chosen as a receiver and that way you learn about freedom and see memories of others and in a way feel them. In our world we have freedom to think what we want without anything really bad happening. In addition we have the freedom to learn to go to school and learn about the flaws in life. Julian: On the maturity part, it totally depends on the people surrounding you and sometimes your belongings .So many parents give certain devices at such young age that the children will enter a phase prematurely. Now, books also have an impact on children's thoughts and ways of thinking, like in my case, in the way that certain authors write pieces that influences .One example of this is the book, The Little Prince. One of my favourite books, it talks about how adults are so different and how children are wonderful thinkers and they are so pure that would even draw things that adults think is a hat when it is an elephant inside a boa! In terms of our school, it is a different scenario because in a certain way teachers kind of understand how children feel and think as they are teachers so they try to not make it so similar as university or workforce. Maybe you didn't think this but adults have a life of stress and hard work .The case is different in children .Theirs is filled with being always happy and entertained because the sad reality is that someday they will too become adults and have a life full of stress and hard work .Therefore it is of paramount importance that children have the time to have that sense of happiness until as late as possible. You can guide young people to the person you aspire for them to grow up to be but you can't expect that to happen entirely and can't take away the things that form that criteria because, once they are very settled with that idea, there is no possible way to change it easily - just respect others and live your life because there is only one like this one. Nicolas: In all honesty, I believe a child, however mature, still remains constrained due to the public’s view of youth. Although certain people will be more mature at younger ages compared to others, it isn’t a child’s responsibility to be mature; its responsibilities are to learn, play and to prepare for growth. Sadly, people may expect maturity from children and, although this is understandable, it shouldn’t surprise someone if the child acts like a child. Maturity should be taught, and other things revolving it too. In addition, maturity adds responsibility and an 8-year-old can’t carry too many responsibilities. If mature children were treated as adults, consequences would be serious. Underage people require attention and surveillance to grow in a balanced manner. Mr Newman, English Teacher International Women's Day On March 8th the Secondary school celebrated International Women's Day with the help of the Student Council who put together a plan for the day and created some really useful and informative resources for tutor time. Lyla in year 7 came up with the idea to do something and lead the planning and execution of the whole day. Thank you Lyla for all your hard work, passion, and enthusiasm for this amazing event! Here are some pictures of the various events and activities that took place across the day! Equality and Diversity Committee When it comes to Mental Health, struggling in an area is normal, as well as feeling overwhelmed, pressured and stressed. As a teenager myself and a person who has struggled with mental health I can understand the difficulty of reaching out. That’s why it is important to reach out to people you trust such as your parents, mentor or school psychologist. So let’s talk about ways of reaching out:
No one is alone. You aren’t alone. There will always be someone to reach out for help. And please remember that asking for help is very important. Richicuardo - Equality and Diversity Committee Do you have any questions? Contact us at: [email protected] Careers Day Good morning Primary As I am sure you heard in your Parent Conference with your class teacher last Thursday, on the week beginning 3rd May for KS1 and Thursday 6th May for KS2, we are having a range of online careers talks with all of our students. To be able to provide them with inspirational and motivating lessons all about the different careers out there, we need your help! If you are interested in giving a maximum 30-minute talk to either our KS1 or KS2 students, please get in contact with your class teacher. Once we have all of our wonderful volunteers I will be in contact with more information. We are so excited to provide this fantastic opportunity to our students, thank you in advance for your continued support. Miss Dean 5B Newsletter Contribution Theme Week for Primary is rapidly approaching and 5B have been busy making plans for what they will spend a large portion of the week creating – they have been charged with the task of producing any ‘creative piece of work’ (such as a piece of artwork, a large mural, a video, or a literary piece like a poem or a song) that relates to one of the 30 Articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Why are we doing this? Well, this term’s key focus is Human Rights, and we have started by looking at what this means – where did the Universal Declaration of Human Rights come from, and why is it so important? We also asked the question of whether all people of the world are able to access their Human Rights, and identified a range of situations (such as war, conflict, refugee events, natural disasters, and child workers) where Human Rights have not been applied. Whilst 5B are already incredibly knowledgeable about a range of Human Rights issues, particularly the Civil Rights movement in the USA of the 1960s-onwards, an area we have been studying is the policy of Apartheid in South Africa between the 1940s and 1990s. This is something they have been shocked to learn about, and we are curiously finding out about the life of Nelson Mandela. In Theme Week, each of 5B will be investigating one of the 30 Articles (see the image below) – we look forward to seeing what they create during the week with so much freedom to engage and explore this topic! Mr. Kevin Dobson & Ms. Andrea Figueroa Mrs. Antonella Coronel – Head of Early Years Dear parents, As we move forward with the school year, you may find your child experiencing challenging moments both at home or during school activities. This of course is normal to encounter with young children for both teachers and parents as they are in a process of identifying their emotions and how to handle these, they may also be looking to be challenged in different areas of their learning, or might feel overwhelmed with being at home for long periods of time. Because of this, we are inviting Early Years Foundation Stage parents to a creative workshop on ‘How to keep my child motivated’ on March 24th at 4:00pm on Canvas. Please follow the steps below to join this workshop: 1. Follow this link EYFS Events and Assemblies 2. Press on ‘enrol in course’ 3. You are ready! Thank you for another excellent week of online learning, the children continue to progress and achieve new skills with the support of their parents, teachers and classmates. Dates for your Diary
Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Now that we are approaching a staged return to school, using the protocols and systems shared with you all by Mrs Newman, as a community we need to plan the support for our students carefully to ensure they feel fully ready for the changes ahead. After a year of online learning, we have all developed new routines and ways of working while at home, which have now become the new normal for us. Any change to this normal situation could be perceived as a concern, leading to stress, so we need to discuss how they are feeling, share strategies to help them cope with the changes and to listen to them when they share their concerns. Please do look at the guidance written by our Student Support Department about the return to school and how you can support your child during the transition, even if they are remaining at home for an extended period of online learning. This week sees the students engaged in a variety of activities and challenges in each class, with the aim of extending their learning and encouraging them to experience concepts and skills that they may not have encountered before. These activities will also allow them to develop their perseverance and independence, solve problems and hopefully achieve a satisfying end product. Whilst much of this learning will be undertaken independently, their teachers will be available for support and guidance throughout the process and will continue with many of their normal online sessions, such as Literacy and Mathematics. Thank you again to all the parents who shared photographs or attended sessions during our International Women’s Day celebrations and activities – we truly do have an inspirational community of amazing role-models for our students! Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update If you don’t get it right the first time, listen and act to do it better next time What a busy week again as we fast approach the next stage of re-engaging relationships and welcoming students and staff to the school site. The children I have asked about this are really looking forward to this and are super excited about getting back to our wonderful community. As I mentioned last week years 9 and 11 have important decisions to make in respect of study choices as they move into IGCSE study and IB study respectively. I would like to remind parents and students in these year groups to attend a virtual information event on the morning of Saturday 20th March 2021. These important events will launch the process and provide information on what comes next. Do please try and join us. The adverts with the times are below. We will be announcing a significant curriculum development for Year 12 at the event. Year 13 are now fast approaching the end of their formal assessment deadlines and later in April we then embark on our preparation curriculum to ensure that they are practically placed well for the challenges ahead. We are in the process of putting the final planning details together and this will be communicated before the end of this term. Our aim is to cover numerous activities from preparing food safely, money management to Degree study vocabulary preparation. This was a huge success last year and all students benefited enormously for the content. The sessions will be delivered in the current timetable and with their current year 13 teachers. For now, our focus is getting the last IAs and connected activity finished and where subjects sign off as all complete, this subject time will be given to other subjects to allow focus elsewhere in a supervised approach. I have spent time over the last few weeks looking at the quality of the way we present feedback for student work, the regularity that this takes place, and how staff present opportunities for students to improve their work. We have found that the process online has been a little challenging with the workbook approach and something that we have had to be quite innovative about. I have been impressed by the way that staff are tackling this. On Wednesday last week Mr. Bowles shared the way he was using a tablet to add written comments to student work. Ms. Montenegro and Mr. Newman shared strategies they were using to demonstrate progress in student work following their feedback. Mr. Edwards shared his strategy for self-reflection at the end of the unit of study. Miss. Cano showed how she had fed back in a music lesson and the impact she had on the ‘before and after’. You will see this work below. We are all innovating in this area to support each other in our shared purpose of developing assessment and feedback. It is pleasing to report that there are signs of great work and collaboration even in this challenging time. First draft Miss Cano acknowledged what went well in the work and then suggested what could be done to make it better. She then gave the student a follow up task to address the misconception or lost learning Following constructive feedback As you can imagine Miss Cano was extremely pleased with the outcome and this example shows progress and learning in the student work. “Teach – Response – Feedback – A better response = The Progress and learning cycle” Have a great week everyone. Lee Moors
Head of Secondary
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