Welcome Well, we may not have been able to be together as a whole community for our Welcome Back Picnic but it certainly looks as if everyone had a really great weekend of picnics and fun. The competition categories resulted in lots of brilliant entries and you can see some of them here. Judging will take place this week and the winners will be announced in next week's newsletter. Celebrations. Whilst we are all looking forward to celebrating the success of our oldest students as part of the flag ceremony next week, we have also now completed our tie ceremonies to welcome our youngest secondary students into the school. Congratulations to you all. Parents Now that term is fully underway, we have our new parent class representatives to share and I am delighted that, once again, so many parents have chosen to support BSQ by supporting the families in their classes. I am sure you know who your class representatives are but if not then you can find them here. I look forward to announcing our new executive committee members in the roles of Chairperson, Vice-chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary next week. British Sign Language Following from our previous newsletter, this week 6 of our Y5A students will be demonstrating 3 new signs: How are you?, Please, Thank you using BSL, please watch this brilliant video: Ms. Hayley Dean – KS2 Lead Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee (EDI) We are finally back and renovated! We have moved from being the Equality & Diversity (ED) Committee to the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Committee. The EDI group has many projects on its way. Drumroll... We are working on an EDI website; we will give further details later. For these amazing projects and ideas, we are also looking for new and fresh contributions! It is time for the EDI to grow, and for our community to expand. Last year was a success but there is always room for innovation and improvement, especially now that we are back on campus. Some of our previous projects included: CLICK (a resource bank related to EDI), workshops/lessons of EDI with primary students, developed a Mental Health booklet, etc. These projects are fully intended to spread awareness on global issues and support students in every way. Consequently, our new recruitment team is working on ways in which we can make our students' voices be heard, we want to know and employ your ideas. Who knows? Maybe we can bring the international day back, but for this, we need your help. Anyone wishing to join the team is more than welcome to do so. The more the merrier! The EDI Committee is looking forward to seeing new faces this year and can't wait to see the great things we will achieve. Maite – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Do you have any questions? Contact us at: [email protected] 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 It is clear that many of our students have a clear purpose and focus for their learning and play, both inside the classrooms and at home. This is particularly evident with our youngest learners; they show great determination and effort when designing and building a tall tower from construction materials, acting out a transaction with a friend or climbing up a new part of the playground equipment. How we nurture and develop this determination is more difficult to quantify. One way we can support their development in this area is by encouraging them to set reasonable expectations and then celebrate with them when they make progress towards their goals. Our students need to hear us say that making an effort, working hard and planning ahead are important. Equally, we must teach them that making mistakes is both natural and actually desirable, since we learn from these mistakes and improve our technique or method the next time we attempt the same activity. Our students must also be encouraged to understand that sometimes they must struggle with learning tasks from time to time, seeking support and advice from around them and working towards their long-term goals. Through this process, the feeling of accomplishment they get will lead to bigger and better accomplishments in the future! Over the past two weeks each class in Years 1-6 has nominated their Student Council representative – ask your child about this and encourage them to share their thoughts and ideas with their class representative. In the assemblies last week, I introduced an initiative created by Elisa, one of our Year 13 students, to support the Lagartococha community by raising funds for desks and chairs. She has asked all primary students to bring an unwanted/read book into school along with $1, which then allows them to choose a new book to take home. Students can bring more than one book – for each book exchange, they need to donate $1. Collections will be made in each classroom until Thursday and then on Friday students who have brought books and money in can choose new books to take home. Marcus Madden Head of Primary Year 1B This week Year 1B have been working hard on all of their new routines and expectations after being at home for so long! We have explored 'greater than' and 'less than' in Maths. In Literacy we have been using what we have learnt in phonics to try and write adjectives to describe characters and settings from 'The Wish Fish'. In Topic we have learnt about the 3 regions of Ecuador: coast, mountains and jungle and we have looked at dance and clothing from the different regions. In Science we are starting to grow a bean and a bag and observe the changes. Plus, in Philosophy we pondered questions such as 'Would you rather be chased by a wasp, a lion or a monster?'... What do you think? Ms. Natalie Cook – Y1B Teacher Being BSQ – Secondary Update Home learning and homework Once again we have enjoyed a fabulous week at school with our group 2 students attending in years 7-10. We have again reflected on the developments with blended learning so that staff can share what is working well and come up with solutions where things are more of a challenge. One of the main issues staff are experiencing is difference in application at home. Miss. Sadotra has written to parents this week about the need for support with encouraging some basic expectation when accessing lessons online. You will recall a couple of weeks ago that I shared with you some information on what you should expect from us in online lessons such as regular touch bases from the teacher, senior staff passing through on learning walks will try to interact with the children at home, the planning of activity is designed to allow a balance of attention with students at home and in the classroom, and the promotion of interaction between children at home and those in the classroom. We need your support to encourage some basic expectations for your son or daughter as well, as staff are experiencing non-responsive students, little or no communication, or even the lack of intention to communicate by logging in with just headphones, and little or no work from the sessions in the workbooks. We ask that you support us by encouraging the following:
These things are designed to ensure that we maximize learning potential. If students do not engage or interact in any way with the teacher there are limitations on assessment possibilities and inevitably this will impact their Partial 1 grade. It is a good time now to improve this as assessments are not far away. This week we have enjoyed the completion of the tie ceremonies for year 7 and I have also been watching the marching and ceremonial ‘Drill’ unfold for the year 13 as they prepare for the Bandera on Monday. Mr. Fernando has worked his magic as usual and they all look like everything is almost ready. On the subject of rehearsal, we have also completed some excellent fire and other emergency drills on site which are critically important as we all return to site. Our students have been absolutely wonderful in the process and I am confident that in a real emergency they will be super prepared. Some year groups have been completing base line testing ready for the new data and reporting structures we are moving to this year. I will be writing to you next week with our plans for this exciting development. There will be a new report format and we will be assessing and sharing information in a slightly different way. Homework should be being set weekly in all key stages this year. Here is a reminder of the timings that this should be set for each year group. I would be grateful if parents could support us in encouraging this important independent learning skill at home as this is critical as students get older. Please ask about what has been set when your son or daughter gets home. This could potentially be 2 homework assignments a day. Staff are now focusing on this next week, so do please focus at home as well. Again, non-completion of homework will have an impact on assessment grades. On the subject of student achievement, we have two news stories in Secondary this week to share with you. The first is Joaquin in year 7. Joaquin took part in a 4 course horse riding event as part of the FEI children’s Bronze tour last weekend making 2 clear rounds which saw him achieve a fantastic 3rd place. The is an excellent achievement, especially as the category was for older competitors. Also this week Ignacio in year 8 performed magnificently at the G2 National Tournament that took place in Portoviejo, Manabi this weekend. Ignacio has been crowned as the singles champion in the 12 years old category. Last week in the COSAT South American Tournament in the 14 year’s category he also reached the semi-finals in both the singles and double tournaments. Another fantastic achievement again from this very promising young man! Year 9 Year 9 has had a great start to the year and have welcomed new student Vinayak to the class very well. Despite the class being half at home and half in school it never sesses to amaze me how this class still brings such energy and excitement every day. Not only are we saying hello to a new student, but we are also saying hello to our new form tutor and biology teacher Mrs. Parkinson. She has been a fantastic addition to BSQ and her "question of the day" during tutor time has sparked some seriously exciting discussions in the morning. During Life learning skills we looked at data on how much we use social media in Ecuador. It was great to hear the students discuss the positives and negatives. Most importantly how we can use these platforms safely. Furthermore, a massive congratulation to Kat and Marcel who are our newly elected student council reps who will look to bring positive incentives and changes for all students in BSQ. I am truly excited for the year ahead with such a great form of fun intelligent learners. Y9 Writing Here are a few pieces of Year 9 writing on the theme of 'Doors': A door is a gateway into another dimension. What dimension is up to you? It's an escape from pain and reality from the thing you hate to the thing you love. It's a place to relax and rest where you are protected by the door. It incases you until you are ready to leave and when you leave you come back as a new man. A door can be many things but it always chooses who gets to open it and who doesn't. But even doors aren’t saints, so they keep you locked like a prison. A door can also be a barrier preventing you from going to your destination. They judge you and how long you’re supposed to stay locked and how much you are supposed to suffer. A place where you can stay centuries trapped all because of a door. People wish they could have their younger years back. The door lets you return to your past. All of this means doors are magical, creating new possibilities, conjuring spells but they only reveal their true form to the deserving. – Ivan A door is an art piece so perfect it has become the door to many opportunities. Its meticulous symmetry can lead to many of your desires or to some of your worst fears but to find out what they are you need to be brave enough to venture into one. The best dream I have ever imagined is waiting to be discovered behind a door; sometimes I wish that the door to the outside wasn't so heavy and big but is it the door heavy or am I to weak? Sometimes doors are so well done that they will never be opened again, after all it is their only and simple purpose don't let things in or out whether it is there to protect you or not. How pointless to try to open a door that isn't surrounded by walls, how pointless to look for more when you already have everything. A magical story waiting to be written, so are you a writer or a reader? - Julián A door can be many things You decide if to cross it or not There may be consequences, sometimes good, sometimes bad. A door is the portal to the soul Anyone can access it if they are permitted to You have the key access so be careful with who you share it. A door has many purpose Thing that may unlock happiness Sometimes it brings your worst nightmares. A door is a universe That we haven't discovered. We need to find the key to open new possibilities. Marcel It's dark as I sit. I see the door, taunting me to open its doors of its so called “freedom” it tells me about. I don’t believe a word of it. What should I know of a place unbeknownst to me? How do I know it's not lying? People lie. What if the fiction of everybody's words have caused me to be so wary? I taught myself to never be tricked by the cruel words that come out of the mouths around me, filling my ears with sweet deception, blurring my eyes with a dream that will never come true. But what if this “door” tells the truth? Will I truly have this so-called “freedom” the door talks about? I long for it. I yearn for the feeling of being free, but I've been told I could have freedom in so many ways, by so many people. None of them really gave me the liberty that they promised. If so many others have fed me with untruthful vows, then why do I feel drawn to opening the door? I should’ve learned by now, so why does the possibility of finally having freedom pick at my mind? I contemplate in the deafening silence. I try to organize my thoughts by rows, but it’s useless. My thoughts scatter like wild horses, barreling in the rain as if they too were searching for the liberty they were promised. I stand and slowly approach the door. It's scary. It's terrifying, really. But what am I so afraid of? My hand gently touches the strangely warm door. It gives comfort after being sat in a cold space after however long I’ve been here. I can hear my consciousness screaming at me, but I’m not sure what it's saying exactly. I dart my eyes to the handle, my hand following soon after. ‘I wonder what freedom feels like?’ I ponder as my fingers twist the handle. I stop hearing all the voices riot in my brain as the door cracks open and let myself be enveloped in a mellow light. Freedom doesn't seem so bad after all; I muse, letting myself drift away into a null sleep, one I haven’t had for decades. - Maya A door is what you want it to be, It isn’t a portal nor another dimension. It can be a prosperous future, or a dreaded past. The door is an escape, an excuse, To pardon the wrongdoings of man. To give a hope which will or won't come. And if not, it’s an immaculate household item, that allows a person to circulate. - Nicolás So many doors in my view, and each single door opens. Trying to find the one that will give me freedom. Walking silently passing the doors, with fear in my eyes, on a long dark cold road. There was a strange, dingy, sunless old door. I was aware of every second and minute that passed, All the sweat that fell from my face. Passing the decrepit old door to beyond my freedom, It was a trap, time passes quickly, just had a few minutes left I began to worry, keeping in mind my freedom. My lips were purple, my pale face couldn't stand the cold anymore. didn't know what to do anymore and just kept thinking: What could lay beyond all these doors? Dusky, old bones,infernal, mystic carvings of past religions? Possibly all doors bring up a decrepit memorie from the past. But it was too late, I couldn't do anything anymore, hearing the clock, minutes running, closely to dying, I began to shake, Lying on the floor crying, panicking because it was too late. Staring at the door, waiting for my time to come. - Naomi Have a wonderful week everyone.
Lee Moors Head of Secondary
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May 2024
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