Welcome Already school life seems to have regained much of the normality of early 2020 and one of those areas is our school events. Last week we celebrated the Y7 tie ceremony (Group 1 only with Group 2 this week) and this coming week we have our picnic celebration weekend with the Bandera coming up on September 27. All of these events will look different this year but the fact that they can happen is something to be celebrated. Adapting and changing is a key part of our lives now – more so than ever – and finding those ways to keep living and learning successfully is something we are all fully committed to at BSQ. Daily life at BSQ is designed to support our students to grow into adaptable adults who can approach any challenge with the skills and confident to thrive. Being adaptable is all about being creative and flexible in the face of new situations and whilst many people tend to shut down when things get tough the best advice according to one family counsellor is to ‘ride change like a wave. If you are in a fall, a rise will follow.’ What great advice for all of us as we travel through this term. Drive through. Following on from last week’s newsletter I once again appeal to the parent community to work together to respect the processes we have in place for arrival and departure. Our system is strong but can only operate when everyone plays their part. There is increased non-BSQ traffic on the main road since the pandemic and as a result it is essential that all parents approach the car park first and wait their turn to enter. It is not acceptable to park further up the road and jump the queue. Entry from that direction into our side road will be prevented. Our community is about respect and care for each other and this includes every interaction. Thank you as always for your support. British Sign Language Following from our previous newsletter, this week 6 of our Y12 students will be demonstrating 3 new signs: Yes, No, Maybe using BSL, please watch this brilliant video: Ms. Hayley Dean – KS2 Lead Welcome Back Picnic This weekend is the Welcome Back Photo Picnic. Remember to take your photographs and share them with us to enter 1 of the 3 competition categories:
Photos need to be with Andrea Zambrano [email protected] by 11am on Monday September 20th to be entered. Use one, two or all three of the frames to enter. Good luck and have fun!! Dates for your Diary As always please check this section carefully and ensure that you have all the details in your calendars.
Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Teachers are often asked by parents if they should only speak with their child in English at home, even if this is not their first language. Educational research indicates that a child having a strong foundation in their mother tongue leads to a much better understanding of the curriculum as well as a more positive attitude towards school, so it is vital that children maintain their first language when they begin learning in a different language. Therefore, it is important for you to continue developing your child’s first language because:
How you can support your child’s language development at home:
That said, it is also important to make links between the child’s home language and other languages they are exposed to, particularly English in our case. Children are naturally inquisitive and will ask lots of questions about their surroundings and how we describe them, so take the opportunity to make links between languages and develop their language versatility and knowledge. I would like to highlight for Early Years and Key Stage One students that Monday 27th September is an important training day for all our Early Years and Key Stage One staff in the teaching of phonics, which means that all students from Nursery to Year2 will remain at home and work on independent tasks, directed by their teachers. For all students, it is important that they bring a labelled hat each day to school, a labelled water bottle and a spare mask. For younger students, we would also advise sending in a spare set of clothes (which do not need to be school uniform) in case we need to change them during the day for any reason. Marcus Madden Head of Primary Year 6 lighting up the first weeks! So, here we are again, the start of a new year – same, same, but different. I have been struck by the realisation of how much time has passed since the playground was filled with the wonderful mixture of sounds that outdoor play creates, alongside the energy of functioning, healthy school. I had forgotten how beautiful the campus is; the ever-present mighty Ilalo looking down on us, the hummingbirds in the trees, birdsong forever echoing around the campus – as well as the odd motorbike, breaking the speed limit on the Ruta Viva. It has been a learning curve for everyone these past few weeks, but Mr Burbano and I have been having a great time getting to know these new humans that are starting their final year in Primary, and whom we have the pleasure of passing the next year with. This term we are focussing in on The United States of America, linking it to our other subjects, where possible, and we have been impressed by the children’s initial knowledge of this diverse country. Science stands alone this term and takes us into the wonderful world of Light. This week we have been investigating reflection and attempting to use precise scientific language to explain what is happening when light reflects. As part of this, Year 6 undertook some group work to design and create a light maze to show how light reflects. They used a range of resources and, for our first experiment, did a great job! We wanted to share some of the pictures from class and one from Jose Carlos, at home. We are very much looking forward to the rest of term AND year! Mr. Kyle, Mr. Burbano – Y6 Team Being BSQ – Secondary Update Setting the baseline for the year ahead I am pleased to report that life is settling down nicely now in Secondary and we are past the challenges we always face at start of the year. Learning is taking place and new relationships are being forged between staff, you as parents, and our students. It was lovely to see those of you who were able to attend the welcome back meetings with tutors on Wednesday afternoon. They really are a useful opportunity to share information and I have been responding to some of the questions that were raised. Thank you if you took the time to ask. Last week we started the process of finalizing the activity around university destinations and year 13 are now engaged in filtering down to 4 or 5 preferred places. It seems that they are already thinking about the end with the delivery of hoodies and jackets this week. As I write there are some lovely jackets being worn by all of the year 13 very proudly indeed. There is much to do yet though! Of course we do have much to look forward to with the Juramento de Bandera on the 27th September and they are working hard in PE to practice the marching skills and understand the finer movements of the ceremony. We all look forward to the event and the footage if you are unable to attend. Over the next couple of weeks, we enter a period of internal testing to set the base lines for our academic monitoring systems in school. This is so that we have a clear beginning point for the year and something to set our sights to for each student. We will be facilitating progress tests in English, Mathematics and Science in years 7-10 and year 7 and 10 will sit a CAT4 test that will give us extremely important academic ability information on each child. Previously this has not been shared with parents, but this year we are planning to change this so you understand more how we set targets for each child, their academic position at the end of each partial in relation to this target, and how their effort in lessons is impacting performance. I will also be sharing how this is all converted to the Ecuadorian system. There will be much more information to follow on this along with a slight change in reporting style which will present more consistency across phases. Finally, I am happy to report that the Tie ceremonies for year 7 were a great success and we all welcome this group of wonderful young minds and characters to our family in the Secondary School. They will be hugely successful and all staff have remarked on how well they have settled. Well done to them all! Year 8 Nicole: I like how the teachers manage to involve both the online and the real class in their activities. I don’t like how the audio can be so hard to understand with the teachers and students wearing masks, and I think this could be improved with a better microphone. Rossy: I like how the teachers are always worrying about the rules of distancing and I also liked how the classes are given. Lyla: Reflecting on the experience so far, I really like all my classes that are interactive and I like being able to see and talk to my friends again. I don’t like that we can’t play many touching games but because of the restrictions that is understandable. It would be nice if some more of the classes were engaging, instead of just doing worksheets. Weas a class could improve if we practised social distancing a bit more. Nina B: I like how the school is handling everything with the virus there. I really enjoy the classes and seeing my classmates after 2 years of online school. The activities and lessons have been really nice and I've been enjoying everything so far. Antonella: I like presential lessons more than online lessons because I understand more and the teachers are really nice with me and I hope that everybody enjoys the school like me. Tomas: I really like school and how it’s going. During these 2 years of online learning, the teachers have been doing a great job. I don’t have any suggestions or complaints. Natalia: I think it is really nice that we're here because two years has been tough, but the teachers have been working really hard for us and I really admire that. The school is doing pretty good and I don’t have any complaints. I am able to see our friends again. I do think we could improve in the groups, meaning we can switch up and mix the students so we can see others and not the same people and even get to know the new students! Although I am very grateful that we are able to go to school presently. Mathias: I like being back in school because I am able to see my friends again and you can concentrate much more in face-to-face lessons...and I definitely don't miss the internet issues! Isa S: I like how the school has managed to make us come back to a new school year and how they involve both online and presential learning. I am so happy to see some of my friends and teachers and have a good time. I find it difficult to understand sometimes due to the internet problems but I think it could be improved by having the microphone next to them or speaking louder. Isa Ch: I like how we came back to school and thanks to everyone that collaborated to help the school. Also, how teachers could manage online classes. I was also so happy to see most of my friends; it’s a bit hard to learn more stuff online because teachers pay more attention to students at school. Seojin: I have been very satisfied with the classes I have attended so far.I am trying to make friends with new friends.Of course, I am also trying to be satisfied with the online classes.But I’m not able to participate in the class because I can’t find new conferences on Canvas. Anyway, I like my new friends and teachers. Ignacio: I like how the teachers have been managing the online and the classes at the school and how they have been doing everything. Mr. Newman, Ms. Espinosa – Y8 Tutors Race 4Good - CAS This year six CAS Students from Y12 and Y13 will participate in the first edition of Race4Good, Latin America. During this race, all our students will work for a community in Morocco, with guidance from business mentors as they compete against other schools from around the world. Each school team has the opportunity to be involved in specific race Hubs that cover a wide range of interests and disciplines including finance, technology, creativity, wellness, and more. But what is race 4 good? Race 4 good is a Global Youth League that mobilizes students to engage in high-impact learning and develop practical problem-solving skills. It is a great opportunity for their academic and professional life. Stay tuned for more information as the race starts today. Ms. Montenegro Jeans Day We have great news! Our back-to-school jeans day was a success. The Beyond Lagartococha BSQ project has worked hard these past weeks to be able to make fun welcome back to the school campus to all our new students and of course the ones we already know. With all your help we were able to collect a total of $113! Because of all of you we are now a huge step closer to achieving our goal of helping the Secoya community. The Napo river caused a devastating flood a few months ago and sadly the children in the Lagartococha community are now receiving classes on the floor. Now we will be able to help them recover and hopefully keep helping with all the unfortunate events caused by the floods. We are extremely grateful for all those who have supported our cause and worked together with us in this journey. Lagartococha Team Have a wonderful week everyone.
Lee Moors Head of Secondary
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