WelcomeLiving Drive-through Thank you for your patience with the work on the road outside the school. As you know, for the last few weeks we have extended some of the drive-through times to ensure all can get to school on time. This does not now seem to be necessary and so from tomorrow (Tuesday April 30th) we will be operating the following opening and closing times. Please read and note: The gates will open at 07:45 each day The gates will open at 12:00 for nursery collection The gates will open at 15:15 for the first collection of students and will remain open until 15:35 Labour Day Following the announcement from the President about the half day for Labour Day on Wednesday May 1st. In order to comply with this instruction we will be taking the following actions: 1. Nursery students will leave at 12:00 as always 2. Secondary students will leave at 12:10 following period 5 3. Primary students will leave at 12:15 - the start of lunchtime 4. Buses will leave at 12:25 5. The drive-through will be open between 12:00 and 12:30pm. I hope that you enjoy this unexpected additional time with your families. Orbital Conference Next week I will be in Manchester for the Orbital annual conference. This is a really good time to celebrate our successes and look to the future and I look forward to sharing the outcomes with you on my return. Learning As a British school in an international setting, we are always excited to establish strong connections with the UK and recently we received some exciting news from Head Office in Manchester. Here is the press release and praise from Orbital Chairman, Kevin McNeany, for our hard work and determination. Orbital Education receives the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade We are delighted to announce that Orbital Education, the group which BSQ is a part of, has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade. Orbital Education is one of a select group of companies nationally chosen to receive the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Announced today (Tuesday 23 April), Orbital has been recognised for its excellence and innovation in international trade. The Group, founded in 2008 by Kevin McNeany, a pioneer entrepreneur in education, owns and operates a global group of British international schools. The award has been given for the company’s success in identifying and satisfying the demand for quality British education in many parts of the world. The schools deliver a British-style curriculum adapted for an international mixture of expatriate and local students in its schools. As well as in Quito it also has schools in Hungary, Slovenia, Spain, Russia, Qatar and China, with planned additions in the UAE. Kevin McNeany, chairman of Orbital Education said ‘We are honoured to be receiving the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2019. Our company believes that quality, transparency and accountability leads to success for our students, their families and the company. This award is a result of all the hard work from our team of internationally minded educators, and I would like to take the opportunity on behalf of the Board to thank everyone for their dedication and professionalism’. Now in its 53rd year, the Queens Award for Enterprise are the most prestigious business awards in the country, with winning businesses able to use the esteemed Queen’s Award emblem for the next 5 years. Orbital Education will celebrate its award during a royal reception for Queen’s Award winners in the summer. From the Staff and Students Continuing with our teachers and their stories about learning in the classroom this term. This week we hear from Mr. Nick Kennedy in Secondary and from Ms. Lauren Backhouse and the Year 4 students in Primary. Mr. Nick Kennedy – Biology Secondary Teacher I was planning a flower dissection for a lesson with year 10 when I was reminded of Ode to a Flower by the Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman. He says: "I have a friend who’s an artist and has sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a flower and say "look how beautiful it is," and I’ll agree. Then he says, "I as an artist can see how beautiful this is but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing," and I think that he’s kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too. Although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is, I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. "At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it’s not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimeter; there’s also beauty at smaller dimensions, the inner structure, also the processes. The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts." This seems particularly relevant early this morning, writing this in Huasquila Lodge, surrounded by the beauty of flowers. Ms. Lauren Backhouse - Year 4 Teacher In Year 4 we have started our topic thinking about 'What influences great artists?' Year 4 are learning all about Keith Haring and what inspired him. We started by looking at a piece of his artwork and discussing the questions we had about it. Then we worked together, using different symbols from his work to create our own class mural. Children also had the opportunity to recreate a piece of artwork using a computer programme. Later on in the term, children will take inspiration from Keith Haring's work to produce their own piece of ar. Dates for your Diary April 29th – Year 6 Graffiti workshop April 30th - Year 3 trip to the Photography studio. April 30th - May 2nd - Year 10 PE trip to Guayaquil May 1st – Year 6 Graffiti workshop May 1st – See above for Labour Day changes. May 3rd - Labour Day Holiday (note change of day) May 24th - Battle of Pichincha Holiday May 26th - 31st CIS Team Visit Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update It was great to see the school populated again with the sounds of students busy learning last week, sharing their holiday stories and getting back into the routines of school life. The transition from holiday mode to school mode can be difficult and challenging for some of our students, so please be patient with them as they get used to being back at school. Of course, this week is also not a ‘normal’ week, with Friday being a school holiday for our students and staff alike. We also welcome back the Year 5 students who visited Huasquila Amazon Lodge last week - many thanks to all the staff who organised and supported on this trip. These types of trips afford a huge variety of benefits to the students, which we cannot always measure but notice in many ways. Similarly, this week we have a variety of exciting learning opportunities for the students, from graffiti workshops for Year 6 and a trip to the photographers for Year 3, alongside our usual learning opportunities in class. Many of the students have also chosen their next Enrichment activities, starting on Wednesday. Star of the week Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update Afro-Ecuadorian Day A huge thank you to Ms Danielle Parker for organizing the school's first Afro-Ecuadorian awareness day. We enjoyed some amazing music and dance, and learned a great deal more about a number of the deep-seated issues faced daily by this and other minority groups in Ecuador and beyond. IB Science Projects Part of the IB Science programme is the Group 4 project, a cross-disciplinary research and writing activity based on shared data-collection and collaborative analysis. The Year 12 students visited Huasquila Lodge in the Amazon this last week, where they were led by scientists and teachers in observations of a range of natural phenomena. A full report will follow in a later edition of the newsletter. IG and IB Exams This week sees the beginning of the May 2019 IGCSE exam session, and next week sees the beginning of the IB exams. The students have been working very hard to prepare for this important time in their academic lives, and we ask that their parents continue to support them, as we will, through the stress that is inevitable at this time of the year. And while we are sure they won't need it, we wish them the very best of luck. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about how to handle and prevent underage drinking.
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