WelcomeLiving We all agree that the BSQ campus is the most beautiful place to live and learn but last week we found ourselves living with one of the challenges of our location – the UV warnings issued by the Instituto Nacional de Meterología y Hidrología. We were careful that hats, sunscreen and shade were top of our list of priorities. All our children were very sensible about eating and playing under cover and our sports staff made last minute changes to their plans so that the children could still enjoy their lessons safely. It is rare that, despite the ever-present threat of earthquakes, volcanoes and the sun, we need to take drastic action, but it is reassuring to know that the community understands the importance of responding appropriately when we do. It is a good time to remind all families that hats and sunscreen are an important part of the school kit needed to ensure safe living and learning at. BSQ. Please take some time this week to check that your children (however old) have what they need in their school bag. Meanwhile at BSQ we are reviewing our effective evacuation policy to make sure that we have the very latest advice and guidance clearly established. This month we will also be practising our earthquake evacuation drills. 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 introduce you to the way in which we use Cold Call to allow all students the opportunity to answer questions effectively in class. This week is the fifth of our classroom strategies and it is another 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 No Opt Out and simply involves the teacher skilfully managing to include all students in the questioning process – even if they think they do not know how to answer. There are key ways to support students to be able to respond such as giving them a clue or asking another student to respond and then returning to the first student for repetition. It’s a really great way to develop classwork and confidence and we think it makes a positive difference. This weekThis week we have some exciting trips going out. A group of secondary students will be venturing out to Ilaló as part of their community project with Ms Parker and our IB students will be attending the Build You Up careers event in Quito with Andrea Carrera. http://congresovocacional.com Thanks to both of those members of staff for organizing these trips and we can look forward to hearing all about them in next week’s newsletter. Parent Association I am delighted to announce that following a very positive and engaging meeting on Wednesday morning last week, the elections for the 'new' PA were completed. Congratulations to Martha, Pilar, Gloria and Maria Belen who will be continuing their work with the support of all the class representatives this year. And finally from me - some reminders and resetsPartial reports were issued last week. Please take some time at home to discuss these with your children and celebrate their achievements whilst also focusing on where they can work with support to address key areas. From the Staff and Students Last week we heard from Mr A. Taylor and his fascinating description of the Schiehallion experiment and its links to Ecuador. This week it is the turn of Ms. Parker and Mr. Kyle. “A beautiful question is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something.” This past two weeks, teachers at BSQ have been thinking about how we can enable our students to ask better questions. We have been excited to learn about the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) during our in-house training and several teachers have dedicated lessons to practicing this exciting strategy, me being one of them. In year 7 English lessons, students used QFT to explore perceptions of others and how these feed into racial stereotyping. This QFT session led to students asking important questions like what are stereotypes? and what plays an important role in changing people’s perceptions? Higher up the school in year 12 IB English Literature classes, students used the same technique to develop three questions that will guide their exploration of the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. During the first stage, Victoria Proaño, Sofía Lofredo, Juan José Andrade, Camila Andino and Francesco Ferrari created numerous questions in response to the stimulus statement: ‘Heart of Darkness’ is nothing more than a white supremacist’s representation of the ‘civilising mission’ of the Victorian era. They then collaborated on categorising, selecting, rejecting and refining their questions until, finally, they created the three questions that will guide future lessons and a final essay on the text:
As an English teacher, I feel a great sense of responsibility to develop the critical thinking skills of young people and I believe QFT holds the power to do this. These questions show a tremendous amount of critical engagement and I am excited to see what learning outcomes they may lead to over the next few weeks. Ms. Danielle Parker English Teacher - Secondary An update from Years 5 and 2 Year 5 have been enjoying an interesting six weeks since the start of term. We've been getting our heads around Australian and Aboriginal culture - particularly enjoying looking into the artwork of Emily Kanwe Kngwarreye. We've also enjoyed comparing pre-Columbian Ecuadorian style with Aboriginal styles in art, whilst also comparing the Dreamtime stories to early Ecuadorian legends. Year 5 and Year 2 have been joining forces once a week in a joint environmental project focusing on reusing household items instead of throwing them away. It's been great to see the children supporting each other and taking on this new challenge with real enthusiasm. Check out our class blogs for more info! The future? More learning, more challenges and more fun. Our class assembly is just starting to pop up over the academic horizon so keep your eyes out for that – it’s going to be EPIC. Mr. Oliver Kyle Year 5 Class Teacher Dates for your Diary October 9th - Secondary Community Project Trip to Ilaló October 11th - Build You Up event. Year 12 and 13 students. October 13th - Classes on Saturday. STEM projects for primary and Parent – Teacher – Students Conferences in secondary. (Details in the secondary section below.) October 18th - Year 2 Botanical Gardens trip. October 19th - Secondary school cultural trip – details have been sent home October 19th - Primary school parent teacher conferences. (Details in the primary section below) October 24th - Football tournament for senior boys and girls away against Johannes Kepler school. Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update This week we have held the first of our regular Class assemblies, where the students shared their learning with both their parents and the rest of their Key Stage. This week 1A and 3B hosted these assemblies, displaying many of our school values as well as practising their speaking, performing and creative skills. For many students, this was the first time they have been on stage in front of a large audience, so nerves were to be expected. However, both classes performed remarkably well, sharing their learning and interacting enthusiastically with the audience. On Friday the students received the first Partial assessment grades, detailing their Effort, Ecuadorian Grade and Attainment Level Descriptor. These standardised and moderated levels and grades allow us to monitor each student’s progress, evaluate the effectiveness of their learning and our teaching and also to identify when to use intervention strategies if a student is not making the expected progress. Of course, we want to discuss every student’s progress with our partners in their education, so we are inviting all the parents to school on Friday 19thOctober for our first Parent Teacher Conference (PTC) of the year. Please do reply to the letter sent last Friday and we will be extremely happy to meet with you on Friday 19thOctober. Before that, we have our first academic Saturday in school, on Saturday 13thOctober, between 9am and 12pm. This gives the students and teachers a chance to extend the learning over a longer period of time and complete a whole project in one day. Our first project is based on STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Research shows us that STEM related careers are growing at a faster rate than other occupations, particularly as STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy and enables the next generation of innovators. All the students will be faced with a STEM challenge that they have to try and solve, often only using specific materials. Some of the benefits of this type of approach are explained below:
Star of the weekMarcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary UpdateOn Friday, October 19th we will have our first cultural trip of the year in Secondary. Having planned and organised very successful visits last year to Mitad del Mundo and the museums of Quito, Ms Montenegro has this time arranged for us all to take a journey of discovery tothe city of Ibarra, from where we will take the historic “TREN DE LA LIBERTAD 1” to Salinas de Ibarra, making a number of stops, and engaging in a number of cultural explorations, along the way. We have booked the entire train, and every student and teacher in Secondary will be going. It is very important that all the students come with their complete PE kit, sunscreen, bottle of water, hat or cap, a snack for break, comfortable shoes and no heavy/ big backpacks or valuable objects. Lunch will be served in Salinas de Ibarra at Centro Gastronómico El Palenque. Departing the school at 08:20, we will travel by bus to Ibarra. We will return to school 17:30. We very much value the strong, cooperative relationships forged between teachers and parents in ensuring the success and happiness of the students at BSQ. This Saturday, 13th October, is our first community conference day of the year in Secondary. Parents and students of Years 7, 11, 12 and 13 are invited to attend between 08:30 and 12:30 to meet with subject teachers and discuss individual student progress. In addition there will be two other very important events taking place: for parents of Year 12, there will be a workshop introducing the IB Diploma Programme and its component parts, explaining the process and structure of the next two years, and outlining how best you we together can support student development; and for Year 13 parents, there will be a workshop on the important process of university applications and next steps. I very much hope to see you there. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, talks about how to help your children to make good choices.
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May 2024
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