WelcomeLiving What a wonderful day we had on Saturday at the annual Family Funday. A fantastic turnout meant that there were so many people to enjoy the food, entertainment and company. Thank you to everyone who ran stalls, brought food, sang, danced and helped out in so many other ways. Particular thanks to our wonderful team of parents on the Parent Association who, as always, worked tirelessly to ensure the day was such a success. Thank you. We are nearly ready for our Easter break and I hope that you have all planned relaxing and refreshing ways to spend time with family and friends after a very busy term. In the pre-Easter newsletter last year, I wrote about the successful Preparatory visit we had just completed for CIS. As we head into Easter this year, we are busy preparing for the final part of that journey at the end of May with the team visit. The visiting team comes with a wealth of CIS experience and a range of current roles. After the break I will share their details with you all and I look forward to some of you having the opportunity to meet with them. Learning In the same way as many schools around the world, when we return from the Easter break, we are heading into the exam period for our older students with the IGCSE and IB exam schedules starting in early May. With so much publicity now about the stress exams cause, it is easy to lose sight of their value. The process of preparing for exams is valuable in itself, and, with a focused revision approach, learning can be deepened effectively. For example, year 13 students have been looking at a spaced learning approach to revising for their exams where learning is embedded with a programme of regularly returning to key topics. We all know how much easier something is the second time we do it and how easy it can be to give up the first time. Students (and adults!) of all ages can learn from this. There is a well-known phrase in the English language that tells us that ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.’ Apparently, this was first written to encourage American children to do their homework in around 1850 but has become a mantra for not giving up and being resilient all over the world. Here you might say ‘Sigue intentando, no importa si fallas. Del suelo no vas a pasar. Sigue adelante!’ Or if you were French you might say ‘Petit a petit, l’oiseau fait son nid.’ In other words, the bird will build its nest slowly so persevere! Or if you were German you might say ‘Anfangen ist leicht, Beharren eine Kunst’ or starting is easy but perseverance is an art. So, enjoy your holidays and rest your brains and bodies ready for more perseverance, resilience and trying in the classroom next term. From the Staff and Students Continuing with our teachers and their stories about learning in the classroom this term. This week we hear from Mrs. Patricia Tufiño in Secondary, from Mr. Pete Drayton and the Year 2A students + Ms. Laura Stone and the Year 1B students in Primary and from the Y10 and Y12 students. Mrs. Patricia Tufiño – IB Spanish Teacher En estas dos últimas semanas, los alumnos de año 8, en la clase de españolhan trabajado en la expresión escrita, la lectura y la creatividad. Los chicos están leyendo la obra literaria “Lágrimas de ángeles”y están explorando la historia de los niños de la calle. Reflexionando en profundidad los ámbitos de la obra y comparándola con su realidad. A la vez, revisaron el tema de la carta, los tipos y partes que la forman. También, se aclaró que las cartas se envían en un sobre y se reforzó los datos que se escriben en el anverso y reverso del mismo. Luego de todo esto, los alumnos crearon su propio papel de carta y armaron el sobre. Posteriormente, los estudiantes escribieron una carta familiar a la persona más importante de su vida para contarle las vivencias escolares más sobresalientes de este año lectivo en el British School Quito. Se revisó cada una de las redacciones para hacer correcciones y sugerencias. Finalmente, cada alumno pasa su escrito a la hoja preparada para este fin y pueda tener su carta lista. Se llena los datos del sobre y listo. De esta manera ponemos en práctica la creatividad y la imaginación al escribir para que esto contribuya al desarrollo del idioma español en todos los niveles. Mr. Pete Drayton – Year 2A Teacher In Year 2A this week we have been exploring multiplication and division, through strategy games, arrays and word problems. Throughout our PSHE unit this term, we have thought carefully about our emotions, dealing with difficult situations, problem solving and what makes a good friend. Through this work we have developed our ability to work collaboratively and then practiced these skills throughout different subjects. We have looked at a healthy diet and considered what food we need to eat to stay healthy and then developed our perfect lunch box. Over the last four weeks, the children have worked incredibly hard in literacy to write some super diary entries from the perspective of the school cat or a pet. They have been busy publishing these diary entries ready to video blog next week. Ms. Laura Stone – Year 1B Teacher This term the children in year 1 have been learning about the different habitats the animals live in around Ecuador. We are so lucky to have such a range of habitats in one country! When we learnt about the Rainforest and we learnt that it is being cut down at a considerable rate we decided we must do something! The children have all been very busy creating their art for an Art Sale. They made a range of art pieces and then chose one to sell. The money raised went to help plant tree nurseries with local communities in the Amazon. In total we raised $310.50! Well done year 1. International Duke Of Edinburgh’s Bronze Award Maite Peñaherrera and Arianna Maldonado - Y10 students Last week, Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th, 12 students from year 10 set trail to Cotopaxi. A lot of hard work was put into the organisation of this expedition as well as the hard work needed to complete it. A lot of teamwork was to be seen , setting up tents in the campsite ( at Tambopaxi), when cooking our dinner and travelling with the map. We encountered some rain at the beginning setting up the tents which caused us some problems. The cover was blown away but as a team we managed to get it all set. Fortunately it passed , we had no major complications during the preparation of dinner but we were definitely managing our time in case rain fell. The first day we walked from the North Entrance to Tambopaxi , and from Tambopaxi to Manantial and returned to Tambopaxi. We surely walked more than 10 km .There isn't an exact route to follow so we had to figure out using a map and a compass our route, it wasn't easy but we made it. Every member of the team contributed from start to end. We did find struggles along the way , but we managed to pass through them and continue our journey. The views over there were overwhelming, almost unbelievable. It was an unforgettable experience , with lots of memories to carry on. From this we achieved stronger friendships, map skills, teamwork and many more achievements. CERN Masterclass, Universidad San Francisco de Quito - Saturday 30th March Martin Anhalzer and Estefanía Orellana - Y12 students Particle physics is a branch of science that tries to explain the state of our universe in the instants after the big bang. It is concerned with the particles that make up the universe and set out to discover the most fundamental particles, in what they call the standard model. Research in this area is conducted in particle accelerators, which collide common particles at enormous speeds to create new and unseen phenomena. Being an inaccessible, but fascinating and relevant subject, scientists at two of the leading Labs and universities for particle physics created the International Masterclass for Particle Physics. The school was invited to take part in the master class at Universidad San Francisco, and both of us were selected. I was also very glad for participating in this masterclass since I learnt a lot of new things regarding physics particles that I didn’t know before, such as the things already mentioned by Martin. I found this topic very interesting due to the fact that it not only enables us to picture an image of how matter is and how it works but also allows us to address questions such as ‘what is the world made of? During the data analysis phase of the day, where we looked at real experimental data, we identified the elusive Higgs Boson, a very important particle that physicists believe is responsible for the big bang! We were thrilled to have identified such an important particle, especially because it is rare to find collisions that result in it. To end the day, a video conference to discuss data, and other questions was held with other schools and physicists from CERN and Fermilab, where I reported our results to the other members of the event, and got to ask a question on the future of data processing in physics, that amazed one of the physicists! In general, the data analysis process clearly enriched our knowledge regarding physics particles since we had to recognize whether a particle was an electron, a muon, a zoo or as mentioned before a Higgs boson. At first, we only got electrons and muons which was quite repetitive to be honest since we already knew perfectly how to identify them and we wanted to have a bigger challenge. However, when we got to identify the Higgs Boson we were incredibly amazed since as mentioned previously it is very rare to find those kinds of particles. Overall, despite the fact that at first, it was kind of repetitive the particles that we got, it was very useful since we learnt how to identify them perfectly as we got many of them to practice. It was an amazing and very fruitful experience. Dates for your Diary April 9th– Year 4 trip to the Science Museum April 9th– Tree planting ceremony. 4pm April 11th - Years 5 & 6 trip to Ilaló April 11th– Year 1A Reward afternoonfor gaining 50 Marbles and bringing in the most contributions for the PAE charity collection. April 12th - school finishes at 12 for the Easter break. Happy holidays everyone. April 15th - 19th - Easter Week May 3rd - Labour Day Holiday (note change of day) Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Thank you to all the parents and students who helped make the BSQ Fun Day such as success. Next week we have Year 4 visiting the Science Museum and Years 5&6 walking up Ilalo, before we finish at 12pm on Friday. As we approach the Easter break, I am sure many of you are planning lots of exciting and engaging activities with your family. In today’s non-stop world, boredom is seen as a bad thing. New research from toymaker Melissa & Doug and analytics and advice firm Gallup shows that fewer than one in five British parents strongly agrees that it is good for children to be bored from time to time. This can lead to us overscheduling their time, and not allowing them enough opportunities for child-led play. Have you ever thought you would be a millionaire if someone gave you a dollar for every time your child complained about being bored? But far from being a bad thing, periods of boredom, where children have to rely on themselves for entertainment, are essential to a healthy childhood. When children are left to their own devices, they are forced to be more creative and imaginative in finding ways to amuse themselves. Giving them opportunities to try things of their own volition builds their sense of discovery and curiosity and helps them explore what brings them joy. Indeed, research has found that people who are given a range of boring tasks to complete show more imagination when they are then asked to take part in a creative thinking activity. Dr Teresa Belton, visiting fellow at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia and author of Happier People Healthier Planet agrees: ‘Children need to learn to take initiative and think of ways to occupy themselves that are not dictated by someone else. ‘It’s a stimulus to imagination and creativity.’ As parents, we need to stop intervening, because being bored will help them develop their problem-solving skills. ‘In a world where children are constantly stimulated, they can feel uncomfortable if they don’t have anything to do,’ explains Teresa. ‘But this encourages initiative and problem-solving, as they have to rely on themselves to tackle the ‘problem’ of being bored.’ Having unstructured time to play with other children will help your child develop interpersonal skills that are becoming lost to this technology obsessed generation. ‘If children are given time and space with nothing to distract them, it helps them to negotiate and collaborate with each other and develop activities jointly,’ Dr Teresa says. Try these techniques for encouraging children to entertain themselves.
Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update Family Funday A huge 'thank you' and many congratulations are due to the Parents' Association for planning and delivering such an excellent and enjoyable Family Funday on Saturday. I was struck immediately upon entry by the scale, the vibrancy and the variety of what was on offer this year. The Mexican, Chinese, Chilean, Brazilian food stands stood out among the many that were beautiful decorated, and the food itself was superb. From the Bolivian folk dancers through the breathtaking Capoeira performers to the Zumba free-for-all at the end, the entertainment was first rate. And of course this is only possible because of we have such a rich and diverse community at BSQ - I counted 16 nationalities in Year 10 alone the other day! - all of whom are willing and keen to get involved, share their culture, and learn about others. Whether it's Oliver Willcox on stage fronting the band, Ms Molina and Ms Carrera strumming and singing, or Carolina Castillo leading the Spanish dance, the smiles and the energy and the passion make events like this a real joy to attend. Attendance I've noticed an increase over the past months of students coming to me with exit slips, telling me they need to leave early. School, and lessons, run from 08:00 to 15:20 Monday to Friday, and the teachers make sure that every minute in class is useful, meaningful and vital to achieving success and happiness. I understand, of course, that some things cannot be avoided. But some can. Please, do try to arrange doctor's, dentist's, or any other appointments outside of school hours wherever possible, as the teachers do. And please don't decide that the first, or last week, day, or even half day of term isn't important: it is. There is no good time to miss school except when school is out. Otherwise, we wouldn't be doing our jobs properly. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about walking as tpfect exercise.
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