WelcomeI hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and are looking forward to this last push towards the summer holidays. With 5 weeks of learning time left in this academic year, the BSQ community is busy preparing for celebrations of achievement, attainment, commitment and determination throughout this long and challenging year. The staff are reflecting on the awarding of certificates to students who have worked hard, made significant contributions to the class, supported others, smiled, been brave and made progress (amongst many other categories). Despite the long time we have been at home, our students have found ways to continue to develop and grow – and even suggest ways to improve our school environment when we get back. I was delighted to receive a collection of letters from Y4B last week where they were sharing their persuasive proposals for more play equipment at BSQ. Here are some extracts that particularly impressed me although all the letters were well-written and clearly planned for maximum effect! Well done 4B. A request for a vegetable patch: Firstly, a good reason to have a vegetable patch is to help the students learn to take care of plants. These vegetables could be used for charity and we would be able to help many people as well. Surely, with this we will have more nature around us. Wouldn’t it be a great idea to help people in need? (From Melissa) A request for a slide: Please put the slide in because it helps the children to exercise and a natural way of climbing to the top of the ladder also helps with their leg strength and coordination. Sliding helps develop the vestibular system therefore their sense of balance and unstructured play allows children to develop their vestibular system. (From Ojas) About why we should buy swings: Are you thinking about why you should buy swings? This is why. First, only on a physical level, swings are extremely positive tools that promote muscle development, flexibility and coordination. They help develop balance, gross and fine motor skills (modulating grip strength and hand, arm and foot coordination) and strengthen the heart! (From Ximena) Sustainable goals. As you will all know, here at BSQ we are committed to educating our community about sustainability and changing behaviours as a result. We have strong student groups working on this, committed staff and parents who get involved when we hold events. We are also lucky to have wider community members to offer support, advice and guidance. Today we welcome Sylvia Harcourt to our newsletter. SYLVIA HARCOURT I have a B.Sc from Nottingham University (UK) in Zoology and an M.Sc from Bangor, North Wales in Ecology. As a biologist I have worked in Africa in Rwanda studying Mountain Gorillas, in Kashmir observing Hangul deer and for many years in Ecuador, mainly in Galapagos. I am a Governing Member of the Charles Darwin Foundation and also now do biological and conservation translation work. Travels over the years have taken me to National Parks in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Peru and Costa Rica – all countries with amazing wildlife and all in need of protection. I have been involved with the BSQ for 26 years as a parent, bi-lingual class assistant, Vice President of the PTA, and President of the Board. For the last 4-5 years I have worked as a Consular Agent with the British Embassy. In 2006 I was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth for my conservation and education work in Ecuador. For me education has to be a priority for conservation to succeed. A big question now that we all need to ask ourselves is - can one personally do anything useful about our climate emergency, the loss of plant and animal life (biodiversity) and the high levels of pollution in the world, whether from pesticides, plastic, car fumes or excess light at night – or are these problems that the Government and big business have to solve? I hope my article helps answer that. CLIMATE CHANGE, BIODIVERSITY AND FOOD. 2021 You may wonder what food has got to do with biodiversity and climate change – a lot. Two big international organisations have started campaigns connected with food and COP26, the big climate change conference to be held in Scotland in November. Both groups are targeting animal rights. One group is requesting COP26 provides only vegan – or at least vegetarian – meals at the conference. The other group is doing a massive campaign against McDonalds – the biggest meat consumer chain – because a large part of its supply comes from Brazil, where forests are being cut down to make way for cattle or for growing soya to feed domestic animals – cattle, chickens, pigs. Their push is not just because of land destruction and the threats to biodiversity, but also because of the appalling conditions that animals are kept in. Animals kept in “factory farms” are given daily antibiotics as they are in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, but need to be kept “healthy”, so they grow faster and fatter. 70% of the global production of antibiotics is used on farm animals. McDonalds are being pressured to re-consider their antibiotic policy. 70 billion (roughly!) animals are in factory farms. Keep in mind that most pandemics have been produced by viruses jumping from domestic animals to humans and this is made so much easier by the close proximity of millions of workers to factory farmed animals. At present humans make up 36% of the biomass of mammals. About 60% of mammal biomass consists of cows and pigs and wild animals now make up only 4%. Farmed poultry contributes to 70% of all bird biomass while wild birds only 30%. These figures are terrible. The food industry, which can be divided into production, processing and distribution, produces 26% of all greenhouse gases (GHG) which contribute to climate change. The combined production of livestock, fisheries and grain crops (much of which goes to feed animals) produces 58% of the GHG that is produced by the food industry. That means just the production of our food contributes around 14% of all GHG. Another rather terrible figure is that 70% of all fresh water is used for agriculture and 1/3 of that water is used for animal production. The average water “footprint” per calorie of beef is 20 times larger than to produce cereals or root crops. And as the human population grows, all these figures will grow too. Many people ask “but what can I do, I feel helpless”? So “Let’s get active, not anxious”. If each of us takes action, even if only a small move, it begins to make a difference and companies start to notice – and the planet starts to recover. Make small changes in your diet. I have long advocated “Meatless Monday”, but even better, go vegetarian three days a week! Start cutting back how much meat and dairy you eat as we don’t need animal protein every day. Make your diet more plant based. Reduce food waste. Don’t put more on your plate than you are going to eat, don’t buy more than you need. Little actions but if each of us do something the total effect adds up. “Take care of the planet – there isn’t another one with chocolate!!!” By: Sylvia Harcourt Let´s talk about emotions Emotions are natural reactions that appear in our body in response to what is happening around us. We cannot control them and they make us feel in different ways. Some are more pleasant than others, but it is important to remember that they are all necessary. By accepting them we will be able to manage and learn from them. Dates for your Diary
Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update At the beginning of this short week, I wanted to welcome you to the beginning of Term 6, our final term of this academic year. Although we have changed to four partials for external reporting purposes this year, instead of the usual six, we have kept the use of six terms to help split up the year into manageable chunks of learning. Term 6 is when we complete the expected learning in each year group and also assess the students’ knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways, before completing the final written report for the year. As part of this process, all students in Years 2 to Year 6 will complete the final Progress Tests in English (PTE) and Progress Tests in Mathematics (PTM) in mid-June. We also host a variety of events and activities to prepare the students for their move to a new year group, focusing on those students who are moving key stages (Reception to Year 1, Year 2 to Year 3 and Year 6 to Year 7). More details about this will be shared in the weeks to come. Please also make a note in your diaries of other important dates coming up:
Marcus Madden Head of Primary Year 4 - Topic This term in topic we have been answering the question ‘What influences great artists?’ looking at the famous and inspirational artist Frida Kahlo. Over the term we have been researching her history, where she lived and investigating a range of different pieces of her collections, understanding the meanings behind her paintings. As we were learning about her influences such as: her background, her family, her culture and how people perceived her. We then used a range of activities such as recreating a Frida Kahlo picture ourselves, learning how to build up to our final creation of our own portrait in the style of Frida Kahlo. Here are some of our photos from our development process and some of our final pieces. Year 4 - Literacy Over the last couple of weeks, we have been reading “Flanimals” by Ricky Gervais. Flanimals are weird and wonderful fictional characters, and in the book you learn about their behaviours… which one you want to meet, which ones would eat you up and which are just plain weird! We designed our own Flanimals and tried to design them each with different personalities. In order to write fantastic descriptions about them, we looked at the author’s use of sentence structures - specifically the use of sentence openers. Have a look at the Flanimal writing Year 4 have produced. Can you see the different personalities? Can you see what sentence openers we looked at? Which Flanimals would you like to keep as a pet? Which would you definitely want to avoid? Thank you so much The year 4 team EYFS Update Dear parents, Welcome to the first week of Term 6, we look forward to working with your children in the final stage of this academic school year. This final chapter does come with new challenges as many changes will be arising soon in your child’s daily routine. Because of this, we want to invite you to encourage open conversations at home about emotions and how to manage them effectively. To open a conversation like this with young children, it is important to create a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, where each child feels comfortable and secure. A fantastic way to create such an environment is through a cooking or baking activity. Here are two fun and simple recipes you can do at home with your child to open a space for a productive conversation. Enjoy the delicious food! Antonella Coronel, Head of Early Years Being BSQ – Secondary Update Deep thinking; preparing for the world of work, future study, and exams We have enjoyed a most rewarding week as teachers now gear up to deliver the final tasks of the year. Year 11 have been absolutely amazing this week and they have completely committed themselves to the introduction to the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) core element of their IB studies next year. Our TOK team have imparted the basics of this line of study. It is a slightly different learning concept to the norm and perhaps requires students to think differently and more deeply. Students will be asked to deliver a thoughtful and purposeful inquiry into different ways of knowing, and into different kinds of knowledge. TOK is composed almost entirely of questions. The most central of these is "How do we know?", while other questions include:
Through discussions on these and other questions, students gain greater awareness of their personal and ideological assumptions, as well as developing an appreciation of the diversity and richness of cultural perspectives. The skills here are most certainly beneficial to degree level study, and when I recall my own studies at University, I was often asking similar questions when considering wider research and literature. Next week year 11 will be taking part in our online version of work experience, which this time has an angle to help students prepare CVs, write applications, and experience a formal interview.. I am really looking forward to posing questions to students as they vie for jobs this week. Year 9 are experiencing taster lessons for the next line of study in IGCSE, and the staff are showcasing their subjects. All conferences are on the year 9 form page and we expect all students to attend these, irrespective of their current choices. In August there will be some flexibility in case any have changed their mind. Next week we will be releasing the exam schedules for years 7,8,9,10 and 12. Year 10 and 12 will be having a more formal exam approach in line with their syllabus and assessment needs, and for this they will also be given revision guides. We really want them to be as successful as possible. Exams will be in lessons and supervised by their teachers, and the grades will reflect on their hard work over this difficult year. Do please encourage revision and preparation for these important end of year exams. Have a wonderful week everyone Lee Moors Head of Secondary Year 13 Since successfully wrapping up all of their IB coursework, Year 13 are now turning their attention to their futures. Teachers have been working hard to create lessons that they will be able to use in their new and exciting next steps, whether that be university, work or a gap year. We asked Year 13a to share some thoughts about some of their favourite lessons from these new courses and this is what they had to say: Lautaro: I have most enjoyed the lessons about general healthcare like exercise. It contained more information than I was expecting and I will definitely become warier of in the future. These classes are really interesting and I am thankful for helping us with these. Gala: I have most enjoyed TOK. This new curriculum is more focused on debates, which we did not get the chance to fully explore whilst doing the IB. I particularly liked the focus on ethics that our "great debate" had. That is something I am very interested in, and wish I had explored more in other subjects. This was a good opportunity to explain to my classmates my view on empathy – one that I have developed a lot these last months. I am not particularly fond of debates, but having experience with this subject (either by reading books or watching videos related to empathy or by having experiences strictly linked to the topic) made it appealing. I gained more confidence in my communication skills and managed to participate more than I expected. Martinna: I really enjoyed the "health series" with Mrs. Luengo. These lessons clarified a lot of doubts I had and myths I believed. Also, I liked the lesson about feeling homesick since it was a very true conversation with Mrs. Leon and the tips were practical and helpful. I loved the first aid lesson. Especially because we got to watch an episode from The Office and we got to discover different songs that work with CPR. The first aid tips were really helpful and a lot of myths were clarified. Tomas: I have most enjoyed Spanish lessons. I have also continued to develop my research skills and have been able to involve myself in a subject I find incredible but did not really understand, pharmacology. Anna: I have enjoyed the basics of first aid with Mrs Madden. I laughed at the video clips of The Office. The videos were a fun way to learn about what not to do in an emergency. The information that stuck in my mind is that we can use the beat from the song Staying Alive by the Bee Gees to know how many chest compressions we have to do for CPR. I also enjoyed Dr. Sara’s sessions. These sessions were extremely informative. She explained in depth the importance of exercise, nutrition and sleep. Ms. Sara Avent Year 9 Humanities Students in year 9 humanities had the opportunity to debate whether Euthanasia should be legalised through thinking from both sides of the argument and putting forward their points and the ideas of others. They worked in small groups with their given viewpoint and then opposed the views of another group. Ms Sawyers, Humanities Teacher Year 9 Spanish The students in year 9 were given the task to help them to see the hidden feelings behind the words of some amazing poets. In groups they analysed poems and then created videos containing their poem and images or representations that conveyed the central sentiment. Over the coming weeks I will be sharing the work of each group. This week it is the work of Isabella, Gonzalo and Felipe. Mrs Tufino, Spanish Teacher
BSQ Equality & Diversity Committee Education access in Ecuador has been an important challenge that the country has faced for decades. Even before the pandemic, some important sectors struggled to get resources they needed. Now, the problem has gotten even worse. Children from all places in the world have lost their right to education or it has become a privilege. Families struggle to pay for electronic devices and internet connection in their houses. The COE Nacional made rural schools a priority in the PICE program that aims a national gradual return to school. However, the increase in COVID cases has created obstacles in the continuation of the program. This situation is one of the many problems the pandemic has brought to minorities. It adds another reason for us to take care and practice biosecurity measures. It is our job and duty. G-Equality and Diversity Committee Do you have any questions? Contact us at: [email protected]
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