WelcomeLiving Last Wednesday we celebrated the work of our Year 13 students throughout their school lives as they either pledged their allegiance to their flag or showed their respect. My words to this group of students had extra resonance this year as I am working closely with them to support their final year here at BSQ as their form tutor. It is a year that has, and will, present many challenges as the prospect of leaving school and moving out into the wider world becomes very real. As I said last week, ‘we are proud of you all, not least because you already show the characteristics that are needed in our society and communities if we are to make our own lives and the lives of others better. We are proud of your families for the support that they have given to you and we are proud of the teachers for their professional and personal commitment to you as learners.’ Learning Here at BSQ we have a set of classroom strategies that are designed to support our students to learn effectively and you will see these teaching and learning behaviours happening in all our classrooms across the school. Last week I introduced you to the way in which we engineer efficiency at the start of each lesson. This week is the third of our classroom strategies which is one way in which we support our students to be able to participate fully in the parts of the lesson where questioning is important. This strategy is called Wait Time and simply involves leaving a thinking space between the teacher asking the question and the students being required to answer it. This pause gives all the students an opportunity to think hard and improve their first thoughts before responding. We think it makes a positive difference. This week
And finally from me - some reminders and resetsRemember that next Monday, October 8th, BSQ is closed for Guayaquil Independence Day. Sometimes this causes confusion about which equipment to bring as we start our week on a Tuesday. Don’t forget to check timetables and diaries. From the StudentsThis first partial of the school year has been very productive for Year 8. We have been doing very interesting classwork. For example, in humanities, we learned about ecosystems and how many animals, specially camels, have adapted to extreme weather conditions. In Science, we successfully accomplished a cow and lung dissection in our Lab class to have a better understanding about the functions of the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems. In music, we learned more detail about music elements, and in PE we have been practising Ultra Frisbee, whereas in Art we drew and painted incredible cubism paintings from Sonia Delaunay, Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brancusi. We are getting to the final touches. In Maths, we studied decimals, adding and subtracting fractions, powers, negative numbers, factors and multiples. In Sociales, we discussed about the 30s, 40s and 50s. In Spanish we learned about the Narrative genres that include: stories, novels, legends, myths and tables. Last but not least, in English we are reading a book called “The Lord of the Flies” about British school boys, ages 6 – 12, who survive a plane crash on a small coral island in the South Pacific during a world war. There are no adult survivors. In conclusion, this partial has been very busy and Year 8 students have acquired a lot of fresh knowledge and understanding. Bárbara Ortíz Student Council - Year 8 From the StaffLast week we heard from Mr R. Taylor, and this week it is the turn of Mr A. Taylor and Mr. Dobbin During a year 12 lesson on motion this week I found myself recounting the details of the famous “Schiehallion experiment” carried out at the mountain of the same name in central Scotland in 1774. Carried out by the Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, the experiment allowed the first scientific measurements of the density and mass of the earth to be made. This is a story I know well, having climbed Schiehallion several times and I often use it as an example when teaching gravitational theory. However, while I was describing the experiment to the class I had a nagging feeling that there was a connection with Ecuador that was escaping me and I was right. In 1738 the same experiment had been attempted by two French scientists (Pierre Bouguer and Charles Marie de La Condamine) on Chimborazo but the conditions and terrain thwarted their efforts. I also discovered that the survey of Schiehallion to establish its volume prompted the creation of a new technique of representing 3 dimensional shapes on paper – contour lines. By coincidence I found myself explaining their use to the Year 10’s during Duke of Edinburgh Award Training the very next day. As a student it can sometimes seem difficult to see the connections between the subjects studied at school. However, it is well understood the process of seeing and making connections between ideas and knowledge can help us to think more creatively and results in higher quality work. Look around at the world outside the classroom and you will soon see that the subjects you are studying are not as disparate as they might seem. Mr. Alan Taylor Science Teacher - Secondary In Reception A we have been working on the Rainbow Challenge. The challenge is currently broken down into 5 different areas, Creative, Construction, Maths, Phonics and Investigation. When children complete an area of the rainbow challenge, they earn a different coloured lolly stick that they can put beside their name, with an aim to complete all the different areas before we update the challenge at the start of each week! Mr. Barney Dobbin Reception A Teacher Dates for your DiaryOctober 1st - 1A's Class Assembly (1pm) October 3rd - 3B's Class Assembly (9:30am) October 5th. Partial reports. October 8th - School closed – Guayaquil Independence Day October 9th - Secondary Community Project Trip to Ilaló October 9th - Year 3 trip – Quito October 16th – Open Day Admissions 2019 - 2020 Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update This week I have been extremely fortunate to be able to visit all of the Primary classes, either as a teacher or as a visitor. I see this as a real privilege, one that we also encourage our teachers to do regularly and a unique opportunity to recognise and celebrate student success. One important aspect of my time with students is identifying how they learn best and then supporting all the teachers to create the best atmosphere and environment for this learning to take place. However, with such a talented and experienced group of professionals working with the students, it is more often the teachers who demonstrate the optimal learning strategies to myself. Hopefully, as parents you will get a feel for your child’s education through the Class Blogs, their home learning and through discussion with them at home. However, we recognise that to develop the home-school partnership we also need to share their learning and progress with you, so the teachers are busy preparing the students’ first Partial Assessment Report and also will invite you in to school to discuss your child’s progress on Friday 19th October. One exciting learning opportunity this week has been a collaborative activity planned between 2A and Year 5, based on Environmental Issues and Sustainability. This week, following on from the learning last week, the students from 2 and Year 5 joined up to create a series of questions about whether we should reuse, reduce and recycle to make our local community and planet a cleaner, safer and nicer place to live. Each group consisted of a mix of students from each year group, with each student’s ideas and opinions valued and recorded. They then discussed the different ways they reuse, recycle or reduce at home and school and recorded these ideas using the i-pads and an application called Padlet. This allows every student to share their ideas and all the comments are displayed on one central page, displayed using the projectors. Next week the students are being encouraged to bring in some rubbish from home to work out how we could actively reuse, reduce or recycle some of the items. Star of the week Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update Creativity, Activity, and Service This Monday 1st October, a group of Year 12 students - Maite López, Lucía Paz, and Carlos Abrill - have organized for Cruz Roja Ecuatoriana to visit the school to collect blood. This potentially life-saving endeavour is part of the students' own efforts as part of the IB Diploma's CAS programme. We actively seek to encourage student leadership, citizenship and responsibility. As well as the terrific work carried out by our Student Council and in our Community Project groups, the students use CAS as a platform for growing themselves and contributing to others. CAS, which stand for Creativity, Activity, and Service, is a requirement for all students pursuing the IB Diploma around the world. Over a period of 18 months in Years 12 and 13, students engage in a number of activities outside of the everyday school curriculum; reflect on the process of researching, planning, and executing these activities; and then reflect upon themselves as learners and members of their communities. Along with the Blood Drive, other activities already planned or taking place before the winter break this year in CAS include a whole-school football tournament, a 'Spirit Week', and our Fiestas de Quito celebrations, all of which are being led by groups of students. I'd like to thank the whole school community for their support in ensuring the success of such tremendous efforts. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about building positive family relations with teenagers.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
CategoriesArchives
May 2024
|