WelcomeWelcome back after the long weekend to celebrate Labour Day – or May Day as it is called in some countries. May is traditionally the month when students start to enter the exam room to demonstrate and celebrate all they have learned during the course of their time studying their chosen courses. This year of course, we are once again following a non-examined pathway where the students’ grades are determined by the quality of their work throughout the course. In many ways, despite the pandemic forcing this situation, this is a far more effective way to encourage students to see the value of every learning experience rather than focusing on a terminal outcome. Many thanks to those parents who have been supporting students in exam classes at home during this year. The doodle challenge: Continuous school improvement is always top of our list of topics in every meeting, workshop and goal setting exercise and of course there are lots of books written on this subject. One of my favourites is this: In this small book I can find simple thoughts about how we do things and how we could think about doing things differently. At the moment we are looking at our curriculum between Years 6 and 7 where we want to make sure that students have what we call a ‘seamless transition’ and this set of images reminds us of how interlinked all our learning and knowledge is. So here is a challenge for all parents – can you think of another way to consider where our curriculum has connections? Send in your image along with the subjects that are suggested by it and let’s see what we come up with. I look forward to your creative thinking! Dates for your Diary
Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Following on from Mrs Novoa’s wonderful activities for World Book Day, I would like to share with you some of the benefits of reading with your child. 1. It will help make your child smarter When you read to your child regularly, they will enjoy stories and enjoy reading. When a genuine love of stories and books develops, children become readers. Your child will also begin to understand empathy, as stories let you understand the world through someone else's experience. Children learn more about the world, themselves, and people different than them in the process. In the end, your child will have an edge. They will learn faster, boosting their intellect, vocabulary, and understanding of people and concepts. Furthermore, numerous studies have shown that preschool children who get exposed to reading and writing at an early age tend to perform exceptionally in school. The reason behind this is simple. If a student struggles to put words and sentences together because they were introduced to reading and writing late, they will obviously have problems grasping maths, science as well as social concepts. Your child also gains concentration and focus through reading. When your child learns how to avoid distractions at a very young age, they can concentrate in school and even develop better memory retention. Reading to your child gives them an advantage when they start school and throughout their school ‘career’. 2. It will help your child develop a better mastery of language and speech skills Children usually learn important language and enunciation (the way a person says words so they are understood) skills throughout their preschool years. When you read books to your child, you expose them to speech skills early, which is an excellent pre-literacy activity. By the time your child is entering preschool, he/she will most likely start sounding out words without any help. Furthermore, numerous studies have shown that early reading gives children a better understanding of language fundamentals. I will share more reasons next week, but I hope I have already inspired you to pick up a book and read with them tonight! Marcus Madden Head of Primary 3B's contribution It has been a busy and productive start to the summer term for 3B. For our unit of work for Topic this term we have begun to look at the famous American photographer Ansel Adams. Adams was a landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of Pachamama. During our ICT lesson last week, the children used GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program - to convert coloured photographs of national parks in the USA into black-and-white photographs. I'm sure you will agree how stunningly breathtaking they look! Sarahí: Pedro: Carlos Alberto: Kind Regards, Mr. Tim Graves, Year 3B teacher EYFS update
Antonella Coronel Head of Early Years Being BSQ – Secondary Update The celebration season is approaching We have had a remarkably busy week in the Secondary School where the focus has been getting staff and students ready for the collation of the year 11 IGCSE teacher assessed grade evidence ready to submit to Cambridge. Right now, there is a great opportunity for students to really work their hardest over the next 2 weeks to get the best possible grades. This presents another opportunity to sit exams formally which are based online. We are well versed with the process now and the software that ensures that exam papers and the student responses to them are secure. My advice to students is to really use your time wisely to prepare for each exam. Do not just read – information is less likely to stick. Use a pen and test yourself, and then look at the answers and see what you have missed. This process is extremely valuable and that is why your teachers have been focusing on this over the last month or so. These exams will be excellent evidence for the board and the most up to date with recent revision activity. Good luck to you all! I have also this week been considering our plans for the end of May and June as we think about closing the year out. There are several things we need to complete. There will be exams for some, possible work experience activity for year 11 (an online version), a Theory of Knowledge introduction for Year 11 and their IB subject tasters, so that they are better informed about what is coming next. Students in year 9 will also need some time to get a flavour from the IGCSE tasters as they move into more formal study next year. We also need to consider the various celebrations and of course, perhaps most importantly, the graduation for our wonderful year 13 students as they end their time with us at BSQ. All of this is extremely exciting and something to look forward to. As a slight focus on PE, this subject has been a particular challenge over the time we have spent online. In primary this has been more teacher led for the benefit of the little ones as they cannot access things independently. I have experienced some of the fun ways that this is approached with my own children. In Secondary PE shifts more to activity which connects with the theory behind sport and exercise science. I encourage you to look at the wonderful activity that has been taking place where students have been following fitness programmes, wellbeing projects, challenge programmes and their current a focus where they have been developing a Yoga session over a three-week period. In Secondary we expect students to be more independent in their activity and to manage and take part in the sessions provided. We always ask for evidence in either picture form or video, where they upload these to their online workbooks. I have been astonished by the quality of this work and the innovation in the planning to set more appropriate and engaging activities for our older students. Y8 contribution For some, flexibility can be a tough fitness to master. Despite this, year 8 has been working hard this week learning the benefits of yoga. We have identified the positives of how yoga can bring about physical improvements, but more importantly the benefits it can have on our mental health. They have started a 3-week project to develop their understanding and practice. They have been learning new poses, their yoga names, and how the use of the breath can help relieve stress and relax the body. At the end of this project, students are to select their favourite poses and develop their own routines. I am excited to see the results and as you can see the students have already experimented with some interesting poses. Mr. Bradley Edwards, Y8 tutor Student Council Fun things to do when stuck at home 10. Have a camp out in your living room!! Basically you pack a bag and make your living room the outdoors. You have to survive for a night in the living room without leaving to get supplies. You could even put a tent up if you have one, and add a few things like candles to make it feel like home. 9. Bake loads of cookies and make a cookie stack!! This is a fun activity to do alone or with family. Make loads of cookies and try to stack then up. You can use icing if you want to help stack them together. You could do it as a family and see who has the tallest tower at the end. 8. Do an all-nighter!! Set up a comfy area with your computer or a device and have an all-nighter. You can make a list of movies and TV shows you want to watch and stay awake all night watching them. Ask your parents first!! 7. Family Game night Gather all the games you have in the house and have a games night! Make a scoreboard on recycled cardboard or on paper. Then play all the games you have with your family. This is a great bonding activity to do with your family. 6. Make Ice Cream Make ice cream and use this video if you want! Ice cream is actually really easy to make, but people normally overlook it. This is a great bonding activity for siblings and is fun to do when friends come over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ff8ca3eqjM 5. Make a blanket fort Make a fort using blankets and pillows. Search online to see how to make one, they are really simple and super fun to play in. you could even sleep in it. Or you could make it for a sleepover. 4. Have breakfast for dinner Have your breakfast for dinner today! Don't miss out on it! It's fun to do with family and friends! Have your breakfast for dinner now! 3. Funny Faces Print some pictures of your friends and/or family and draw mustaches, beards, and funny things onto their faces. Then hang them up on the wall as memories. It will be fun when your friends and family come into your room and see the pictures!! 2. Make a Rainbow Cake Search Recipes on the internet for a rainbow cake and make one. You can make any flavor and you colour it rainbow. You then can add confetti all over the top if you want to add an extra touch. 1. Have a Yes-Day A Yes-Day is when you can’t say no for 24 hours. Basically none of your family members can say no, including you. You set some ground rules though:
If you like this idea, you could watch the movie Yes-Day on Netflix and try to persuade your parents!! Around the world: World Creativity and Innovation Day 21 April Creativity and innovation has been essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has helped people all over the world in many aspects, not just economically. All human beings have new ideas and thoughts every day, which is considered as creativity. This quality is not only developed in artistic disciplines but is also present in everyday life to make our lives easier. Creativity is accompanied by innovation, and is a process that improves what already exists through the introduction of novelties. Both concepts have been key in the evolution of the human species, increased productivity, improved communications, modernised transportation and even helped humans get to the Moon. There is no universal understanding of creativity as the concept is open to interpretation from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, social and sustainable development. Therefore, April 21 was the date chosen by UNESCO to commemorate the World Day of Creativity and Innovation. This day has been celebrated since 2002, with the aim of raising awareness about the role of creativity and innovation in problem solving. In 2006, the holiday was extended from a single day to a whole week, starting on April 15. The same day happens to be Leonardo da Vinci’s birth date, who is an icon of interdisciplinary creativity in the arts and sciences. In 2013, the UN concluded that in the 21st century, creativity and innovation, both individually and as a group, have become the true wealth of nations. Here are some famous quotes related to creativity: “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” - Maya Angelou “Creativity is intelligence having fun” - Albert Einstein “If you can dream it, you can do it” - Walt Disney School Updates: Earth Week at BSQ Since 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated on April 22 all over the world. Earth day is an annual event in which we show support for environmental protection. Its aim is to raise awareness about environmental issues such as global warming, water and air pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, overpopulation, rise of the sea level (glaciers melting) and waste management. Many online live events were held this year throughout the past week, especially during the Three Days of Climate Action, from April 20 until the official day. In these events, people gather to take action. But what about the rest of the year? We must protect our planet EVERYDAY and not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it. Here at BSQ, the Climate Change Committee, Red MOVE, and the Student Council have organised and prepared activities for our community. #RestoreOurEarth #BSQEarthWeek Student Council Updates: We are working on a couple of ideas, but we cannot reveal them yet… The Student Council Newsletter group KS3: Composers in Music Students in year 7 have been learning about the baroque and its characteristics, including 3 of the most famous composers from that time. By the end of the topic they had to create a poster for their favourite baroque composer. Students in year 8 have been learning about Classicism and their composers, like Mozart and Beethoven. By the end of the topic they had to create an Instagram profile for the composer they liked the most. Ms Cano, Music Teacher Poetry discovers my emotions Year 9 students are finishing Partial 3 with a poetry project, after studying all the elements of lyric. In this project, there is a review of most of the covered topics and the students do a creation exercise and finish up with a video of their creation poem. Mrs. Tufiño, Spanish Teacher Henrik Ibsen Timeline Higher Level Literature Year 12 students, are reading the play “Casa de muñecas” by the Norwegian author Henrick Ibsen. For this reason, they have worked on a timeline to investigate the author´s life and circumstances that surrounded him to better understand his literary work, in such a way that our literary analysis acquires greater significance. Mrs. Patricia Tufiño, Spanish Teacher Equality & Diversity Committee With the recent surge of popular controversial topics, I have noticed how important having self-control is. This world is full of different opinions, some that we may disagree with and some that we may agree with. These vary from topics such as the political spectrum, abortion, vulnerability of rights and others. I think we should all settle on agreeing to disagreeing. In my opinion, relativism plays a key role in the progression of our society. There is no "correct" opinion because what is morally "correct" is different for everyone. Hate, lack of respect and resentment are all present in society more than ever before. All these are diseases that corrupt each one of us differently. I invite all of you reading this to accept, respect and value the opinion of others. It is the only way we can become a better version of ourselves =) G-Equality and Diversity Committee Do you have any questions? Contact us at: [email protected] Have a wonderful week everyone.
Lee Moors Head of Secondary
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