Welcome This week we welcome the month of June – the last month of the school year for our students. Tuesday June 1 is Children's Day here in Ecuador and traditionally we have worked with our partners at Sinsoluka to support them to provide games, learning and other supplies for the children they care for. Our CAS students continue to work to support Sinsoluka and the community at Triada. More details on this as we move through the month of June This year we also have another project underway and it is connected to our own students and their understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations at different times in their lives. This June the Yellow campaign #I’llStandByYou is designed to support parents to be part of the conversations at home too and support materials have been prepared by our SSD team to enable that. These are not always easy conversations but it is important that staff and parents work in partnership to educate and protect the young people in our care. If you would like to talk about the June Yellow campaign further, then a parent workshop will take place later this month to explore ways to help at home. With part 2 this week we are delighted to welcome our guest writer, Sylvia Harcourt. Sustainable goals. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE, BIODIVERSITY AND FOOD. 2021 Congratulations on what you all did in BSQ for Earth Day – and extended it to be Earth Week – a real commitment. World Environment Day takes place on June 5th and World Oceans Day on June 8th. Also in June we have World Day to Combat Desertification on the 17th, and more relevant for Ecuador, the 22nd is World Rainforest Day and the 29th the International Day of the Tropics. Maybe you could make the whole of June become Earth Month? Maybe every day you could make some small change in what you do, to help the planet? Maybe even ask BSQ to declare June as Earth Month? I would like to concentrate on this idea now and go back to my second article about food next week. There is however a link. The biggest change you can make, as an individual, is make changes in what you eat, as the expansion of agriculture has been one of humanity’s largest impacts on the environment. Not only has agriculture caused land use increase, destruction of forests, increase in livestock, but it has caused tremendous impacts on the soil. Natural fertility levels dropped and now huge quantities of chemical fertilizers have to be applied, along with herbicides and pesticides. These all filter through the soil and into the water – streams, rivers and into the ocean. We need to think of the Planet every day – not just one particular day. Maybe we could all make a list of at least 30 things we could do, at least one for each day of the month – but not just the normal “recycle” – maybe more basic such as don’t buy drinks in plastic bottles, take cloth bags when you go to do the shopping, only take a 5 minute shower, have 15 minutes every evening with no lights on, or one hour with no smart phone use. Try Meatless Monday and Viernes Vegetariano, buy organic products whenever possible…there are a lot of actions. I really liked the request by one of the BSQ students to grow vegetables to feel part of nature, and then donate them – a double result – lovely! As Greta Thunberg said during one of her “Friday for the Future” speeches – NO ONE IS TOO SMALL TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. So, let’s get Active (not anxious), Bold, Creative – AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Thanks, Sylvia Let´s talk about emotions Happiness is one of the many emotions we, as humans, are fortunate to experience. This emotion is so pleasant that it is logical we constantly seek it. But, although focusing on the positive is very productive, it is important to listen to what other emotions may be trying to tell us. Dates for your Diary
Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update Following on from our extremely successful Careers Week activities, organised by Ms Dean and Ms Camacho, last week I was lucky enough to listen in on two special visitors to Year 1, both focusing on a form of transport they are involved with. First, Mr Daniel Cook from the UK explained how he was first introduced to kart racing when he was young, being taught to drive by his mother, who was a driving instructor, and subsequently working alongside different racing drivers and becoming involved in the engineering side of racing cars. Our Year 1 students asked some extremely insightful questions and were fully engaged throughout the presentation, learning a variety of scientific and engineering concepts. Our second special visitor was equally as engaging and knowledgeable – our very own Bruce Duthan from 1B. Bruce shared his passion for karting and explained several of the safety features of go-karts and we all agreed that both visitors had motivated us to explore our passions further. Please do note the following events in your diaries and look out for further details regarding these via email and on Canvas:
Marcus Madden Head of Primary Y2 Newsletter The Mackintosh Rose Year 2 have been studying different artists as part of their Topic learning. The children have explored a lot of styles of art, from Abstract and Impressionism to Pop and Contemporary art - it has been so much fun! Last week, the students studied the Scottish artist and architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who is famous for his ornate yet simple MacKintosh Rose. The children created their own roses inspired by the style of Mr MacKintosh and have produced the most wonderful pieces of art. We have so many talented artists in Year 2! Exploring our fingerprints In Science, this week, Year 2 students focused on exploring their fingerprints; how they look and why they are unique. Students tried an experiment and took fingerprints of their family members for their experiment comparisons. Year 2 Team Student Council Newsletter In the student council, we have been reflecting on the past year that we have been online and thinking about some of our successes and what we have managed to overcome from the difficulties. Each student councilor spoke to their class and wrote a short paragraph to summarise their experiences and what they are looking forward to in the future. We hope you enjoy reading it! Year 1. This year we have learned about the solar system, planets and rockets and also about Earth and volcanoes. In Maths we have been counting into 2s, 5s and 10s. We enjoyed cooking and doing science experiments like recreating a rocket take off. Also, although it has been a bit difficult at times, we really like spending time with our parents and waking up late! We also like to learn about how to use the computer and share our ideas in the public chat. We miss a lot of places in school like the canteen and the pool, but mostly the playground. But the things we miss the most are our friends and teachers. Year 2 This year, we enjoyed learning about informal letters. We also learned about how to be resilient and be kind to everyone. The best thing about online learning is seeing our friends through a camera and talking to them. Another thing we really liked was spending more time with our parents. We have really missed our classrooms, the playground and the pool! We also missed our friends and teachers. Overall, we miss our adventures at school! Year 3 This year in 3A we have been learning about Ancient Egypt when we made Canopic jars and mummified tomatoes. Also in Science we learned about magnets and how to make plants grow well. The best things about online learning have been spending more time with our family pets, and getting to use different apps. We have missed playing with our friends at break time and being able to go on school trips. We can’t wait to all be back together! This year has been very difficult for everyone in 3B because many of us have stopped seeing our friends and relatives. 3B has been studying about ancient Egypt and mummifying a tomato. We also like reading and doing maths. Sadly, the pandemic has taken away a lot of things that we like about our dear school BSQ. Some things we miss are: playing with our friends in the playground, hugging them, laughing, doing sports outside and swimming in the pool. We are really thankful for our teachers. Year 4 This year in year 4 we have been learning about many things including: fractions, Japan, ancient Greece and civil rights. Other cool things we have done are having visitors and creating our own masks during theme week. We have missed being with friends, having trips, meeting our teachers in person, the playground and coming in on the bus. The best things about online learning is using programs like: Flipgrid, Closegap and Scratch. We are really looking forward to next year when we are back together again as a school! Year 5 During our year of online learning, Year 5 have been studying lots of different things like Oswaldo Guayasamin, the Incas, Apartheid, lots of different topics in Maths and poetry. In art we have learnt lots of techniques and we have managed to do some experiments in science! Even though it has been difficult studying online, we have really enjoyed being able to sleep a bit more! Also we feel like our typing and general computer skills have improved, and some of the classes have been really fun. However, we’ve missed seeing our friends and all the teachers, doing group work in person, playing games like football and playdates after school! It’s difficult not being able to see each other but we are looking forward to next year! Year 6 This year we have been learning about lots of new things, for example in Maths we have been learning about decimals, fractions and also coordinates. In literacy we have been learning about how to make a letter. In Art about pointillism (art made with lots of points) and in science we have learnt about circuits and classification, we also have learned about the history of Ecuador in sociales and also Yoga in P.E. One of the best things about online learning is that we can spend more time with our families and pets, as well as learning to control the computer better than before, and watching movies with our friends online and having our pajamas on all day! However, one of the things that we miss about school is seeing our friends and teachers, playing football with friends in school and also being in class without our internet being cut off. We hope to return soon! EYFS Update Dear parents, June 1st is Children’s Day, it is an annual celebration in honor of the children across the world. This date offers us the opportunity to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s lives and their rights. In the British School Quito, we have decided to not only honor this day, but also to celebrate their lives throughout the full month of June. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, we will begin this special month with a whole department celebration on June 1st, at 10:30AM via Canvas. We look forward to sharing this day with all of the Early Years students together in one session on such a meaningful day. Antonella Coronel, Head of Early Years Being BSQ – Secondary Update Surfing the wave in style! The time is passing extremely quickly and again we have enjoyed a wonderful week in the Secondary School. It seems like we have joined a wave as it starts to build, and we are now surfing comfortably in the tube as we head through the next couple of weeks. I am looking forward to the point where it breaks, and we ride out in style. Our wave this week has included the year 11 work experience activities so excellently led and considered by Ms Sadotra and Miss Carrera. Students have learnt about interviews, CVs, applications, and many other elements that make up the world of work. I had the pleasure of interviewing Antonella for her Veterinary role and was amazed by her confidence, and her ability to articulate her thoughts. Her friendly manner and enthusiasm convinced me as a potential employer. It again reinforces my belief that we really do prepare our young adults so that they stand out from the crowd. At the end of the week, it all came together with presentations from the groups about their individual experiences of the activities and lessons learnt, and the opportunity to present their research task. The results were outstanding! Once again an abundance in confidence, detail and dedication by all. We are now looking ahead to the Extended Essay and their focus on this in their subjects over the next 2 weeks. Mrs Newman starts this off on Monday and then the higher-level research, analysis and writing begins. Year 13 are nearing the end now and their attention on Friday will turn to the leavers assembly where we will all be there to see the anecdotes and various messages from the teachers. I am sure that there will be the odd tear, but this is to be expected. Year 9 this week had their introduction to IGCSE sessions and when I surveyed them to consider the usefulness and whether what they experienced raised their interest in what was to come, the success was resounding with a 95% positive. Well done to the teachers for preparing and delivering such engaging sessions. We are now looking at the year 6 to 7 transition activities and the IB taster sessions for year 11 which start in a couple of weeks’ time, so again we are looking ahead and preparing for the year to come. On Friday we enjoyed a house activity led by Mr Edwards and the student council which had a STEM focus and specifically celebrating women in STEM fields. Students attended workshops of their choice on Artificial Intelligence Robotics’, Engineering, and Constellation’s. Challenges were set in these fields and the entries will be judged early next week. Great work again from our amazing student council and no doubt over the weekend students will be negotiating the hurdles set! I am personally looking forward to finally meeting our hard working and very dedicated parent reps in the Secondary school. I was lucky enough to meet some as part of my interview week last year back in January. It really is very strange that we have not had the chance to reflect and come up with strategy from the parent perspective, or to be able to merely socialise and get to know you all. This meeting is taking place on the afternoon of Monday 7th. Mrs Newman has sent the invites and I look forward to you questions and to meeting you all so that you can feed back to the wider community. Have a wonderful week everyone. Lee Moors Head of Secondary Spanish lessons The students of year 13A and B are living challenging times because they are near the culmination of their General Unified Baccalaureate to obtain their baccalaureate degree from the Republic of Ecuador, for this reason, the students are working on their Degree Project that will replace to the Ser Bachiller exam. This project aims to analyse a case study. The Case Study is a research strategy that encourages critical thinking about situations, problem solving, discussion and reflection on the case that each student will choose according to their interests. We wish you the best of success in this important endeavour on your way to obtaining your bachelor's degree. On the other hand, the year 7 students are working with the lyrical genre in the unit entitled Poemas con cariño. They are learning everything related to the elements of a poem such as verse and stanza, as well as related to consonant and assonance rhyme. For this reason, they are creating their own poems. I share some examples of these works. Mrs. Patricia Tufiño, Spanish Teacher Year 9 Chemistry Taster Session This week year 9 got a taste of what IGCSE Chemistry is like, they impressed Miss Todd with their knowledge of the atom and its component parts - here we use the multiuser whiteboard to allow students to share their answers in order to assess understanding and check their answers! Ms Todd, Chemistry 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 Mikaela, Anastasiia, Rafaella and Angela Mrs Tufino, Spanish Teacher Year 9 Geography Taster Session Year 9 were given an introduction into IGCSE geography last week. At the start of the session they picked a random number and were then given one of the below categories and had to find an item around their house that linked to it, then explain it. Here is the work they produced! Ms Sawyers, Geography Teacher KS4: Introduction to the theory of knowledge Last week the year 11 students spent a week learning about the theory of knowledge. This is an important part of the IB curriculum and this important week was excellent preparation for them. The students looked at knowledge from the perspective of a number of different subject areas and came up with some excellent work. Well done year 11! Mrs Madden, ToK Teacher KS5: Year 13 Futures Curriculum Students in Year 13 have been receiving lessons prepared by the Student Support Department as part of their Futures Curriculum. Teaching Life Skills education to the students can be helpful as it specifically addresses the needs of students this age, helps in motivating, providing practical, cognitive, emotional, social and self-management skills for life adjustments. We have also designed sessions that are mostly dialogue based in order to provide as many spaces as possible for the exchange of ideas and for students to ask as many questions as they need. Some of the topics we have covered so far include Healthy Relationships, a Refresher on Consent, Homesickness, a Forum session with guest speakers and Sexual and Reproductive Rights. It is wonderful to see the students become active participants in their learning. Great work Year 13! Ms Leon, Student Support Department
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