ISSUE 1 SCHOOL NEWSLETTER #41
The British International School of Marbella
NEWSLETTER A Newsletter for Parents, Students and Friends of our School
October 2019
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Headteacher’s Message Dear Parents and Carers, As you can see from the articles in this newsletter, October was a very busy and enjoyable month for all of us at BISM. It’s been an exciting month. I was very pleased to see so many of you at our open days and I hope you enjoyed spending time in school and seeing how hard your children and their teachers work. I received some very positive feedback after the event about the range of opportunities we offer and the relationships between the children and the teachers. Thank you very much for this. The children enjoyed a very successful assessment week and have made excellent progress. I trust that the settling in reports and Parent Teacher Conferences gave you all the information that you needed. Attendance at the PTC’s was excellent and I was particularly pleased to see so many children attending with their parents. I believe the children find it particularly useful to hear feedback from their teachers. The first round of extended curriculum modules ended and it was clear that the children had enjoyed their options very much. Already I can see a difference in the children; they are more confident and certainly more independent around school and this is paying dividends during lessons. A particular highlight of the month was our Halloween celebrations. The costumes the children wore to school were amazing! The Foundation Stage Halloween party, organised by our Secondary students
was a resounding success. One of the strengths of our school is how well the younger and older children work together and it was lovely to see them interacting so well. Work on our new campus is progressing well and we are now starting the process of designing the interior of the classrooms, organising furniture and adding the finer details to the plans. I’m sure, like me, you are excited to see the new school, in all its glory, and I look forward to this day very much. With very best wishes, Dean Moore Head Teacher
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Foundation Stage One Peppermints for Dragons
When you are a fire breathing dragon you soon end up with a sore throat! What does every fire breathing dragon need for this?.... A doctor who is a Princess with some peppermints to cool it down. Foundation Stage 1 played the role of doctor brilliantly by making peppermint creams to help sooth the dragons throat. The children loved cracking eggs and squeezing the lemons, then whisking the mixture. They then had to pour out some icing sugar to complete their special mixture. When the peppermints were set the children enjoyed roaring like dragons in order to earn their special peppermint from Princess Pearl. The children have loved reading the Zog books all about a dragon who helps a flying doctor fulfil her role. It inspired the children to make castles, dress up and be the best set of doctors we could wish for. Well done Foundation Stage 1. Mrs Riddell Foundation Stage One Teacher
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Foundation Stage Two What Makes a Good Book? There are many quotes from authors the world over, explaining the importance of reading books, especially for children. Here at BISM, we do our utmost to promote a love of stories from the very beginning of your child’s school life. One of our favourite authors here in Foundation Stage is Julia Donaldson. Her books and their illustrations allow the children to escape to magical lands with dragons, Gruffalos, giants, stick men and more. Please read the attached quote written by Julia Donaldson about the importance of reading with young children. This month, the children have enjoyed the stories of Zog, all about a dragon who is desperate to win a golden star at school but manages to have many mishaps along the way, and more recently Room on the Broom, a lovely story for Halloween where a witch loses her things and helpful animals return them to her for a ride on the broom until they have an accident and have to deal with an unruly dragon. The children absolutely adore these stories and happily spend time recreating them using masks, making their own props, sharing their story knowledge with their friends and building their own make-believe worlds through play. Please continue to support your child’s love of books by making sure that storytime is part of your routine at home. Not only will it help develop your child’s imagination, but will show them a world of new vocabulary, creativity and most of all, the magic of make-believe. Mrs Rutherford Foundation Stage Two Teacher
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Year 1 Dance and Move to Maths It is hard to believe but two months of school have passed and I must say that much progress has been made in our Maths lessons. A very popular feature of our Maths lessons are the aerobic maths starters that we take part in by counting to 100, by 2s or 10s. We have also been learning number bonds to 5, 6 and 10 by singing and dancing. It is an easy and catchy way to learn important math skills. I have been very impressed by the pupils’ work ethic across all subject areas but I am very happy to see there has been significant improvement in the pupils knowledge of maths in these first two months of school. Writing numbers correctly was a big target for the class and setting out their work neatly in their books. They have really worked hard with these targets and will be a continued target for the rest of the year. If you would like to try out the catchy aerobic fitness maths dances yourself please research Jack Hartmann, he has produced some fantastic resources. Enjoy a fantastic half term break! Mr Thomas Year One Teacher
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Year 2
Bump a Lump Year Two have had a wonderful start to the year and have worked incredibly hard to ensure they make progress across the Maths and English! They have worked together but also independently, and have shown an excellent level of enthusiasm for learning! English The children created their own Bump-a-lump monsters using a range of cohesive devices. They used adjectives, conjunctions and punctuation to add flow to their writing, remembering all of their spelling rules! The children became poets by creating incredible poems about the sea, using onomatopoeic words! The children used their imagination to tell the story of their ship crashing through the waves of a storm. They used watercolour paints to incorporate their written work into art, adding the appropriate colours that reflected the storm, all the while learning how to work with control when painting! Maths Year Two thoroughly enjoyed geometry week and learning about new shapes. The children learned about lines of symmetry, tessellation and how to identify shapes as polygons. The children used their prior knowledge to count sides and identify right-angles. Behaviour and Achievement Year Two have worked so hard over the course of term 1 and have made a conscious effort to follow instructions, listen to others and respect our charter values. This resulted in the children meeting their dojo targets of 500 and 750 points. As a reward for their hard work, Year 2 had the opportunity to take part in a ‘Pyjama Party’, where they could bring in their favourite toys and yummy snacks. Golden time has also been introduced into their weekly schedule, which allows the children some free time to play with friends, draw, read and be happy! Overall, the children have worked very hard and they should all be proud of what they have achieved in the first half of Term 1. Year Two… YOU ROCK! Ms Flanagan Year Two Teacher
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Year 3
Spelling Champions Do you remember the words you were spelling at age 7 and 8? Well, all of the children in BISM´s Year 3 are working very hard on their spelling words and some are even spelling words, I know I would not have dreamed of being able to spell at age 7 or 8. Completion, inconsiderate, discontinue are just some of the mind boggling spelling words the hard workers of Year 3 are trying to spell and many times are being successful at it! Best of all about the children in this class, is that if they do not get it right the first time, they try and try again, inspired by Michael Jordan´s famous line; “I have failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” The children use their spelling words to practise their handwriting, they play spelling tennis which is very popular with them and often have to find the meanings of the words they are learning to spell in the class dictionaries, as well as other fun ways to practise their spelling words! With their efforts, the children have certainly cast a spell over me! Mr Holden Year Three Teacher
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Extended Curriculum Key Stage 1 Creating and Performing Uke n Do It ‌.and they did it too! The Creating and Performing module 1 choice has been great fun. The children have worked very hard and can now play several melodies on the ukulele using open strings and the chords C, C7 and F. The children have also teamed up with the guitars for an ensemble performance of Acadian Lullaby, a folk song from Nova Scotia. The children have to maintain their own accompaniment part against the melody part in the guitar. No mean feat. It is very challenging to learn how to keep a part going when there is something quite different going on simultaneously, but still have to remain in time. The Year 1, 2 and 3’s that have chosen this module have risen to the challenge admirably and hopefully you will come along to the Extended Curriculum Music showcase to see their fantastic progress. Miss Conlan Lower School Music Teacher
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Enterprise and Challenge A Helping Hound Throughout this EC module children have learnt about local charity Triple A. Triple A is a nonprofit charity, dedicated to the care of abandoned and abused animals in the Marbella area. They give the cats and dogs in their care love, shelter, medical care, and where possible help to find new homes, so that they can have a second chance for a happy life. During the module the charity’s secretary Jan paid the pupils a visit along with a very cute and furry friend. The students learned about the charity and just how many dogs and cats are abandoned there. They decided to work together to help raise awareness and money for the worthy cause. They created a ‘donation station’ for BISM families to donate food, blankets, towels and sheets to help keep the animals at the shelter warm, safe and fed. They also ran a ‘Tuck Shop’ during playtimes selling lots of yummy treats which helped raise €200 for the charity. I was so impressed with the children’s sense of compassion and enthusiasm to help in anyway that they could. Well done to all who participated in the module!! Miss Allen Interventions Teacher
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Knowledge and Understanding Thistle Interest You The children of Lower Primary have had the opportunity to learn all about Scotland and everything it has to offer! From its rich history and culture to geographical areas of significance, the children have taken a journey through the highlands and have developed their knowledge across a range of curriculum areas, all the while learning key skills that help become independent learners. History and influential figures The children learned about the history of Scotland, in particular the most famous figures that have shaped modern society today. They looked at key inventors such as John Logie Baird, Alexander Fleming, Alexander Graham Bell and James Watt. They developed their IT skills to research and create interesting posters about their chosen inventor and learned about the importance of inventions that have been influential in the development of our world! Scottish Art: Design your own tartan The history of tartan and its use throughout history formed the basis of art week. The students had the opportunity to design and create their own tartan, incorporating their own choice of colours. The results were fantastic! Scottish Ceilidh Dancing Scottish music and dance plays an enormous role in promoting the culture and heritage of Scottish history. The children experienced a traditional scottish ceilidh, where they learned important dances and also got to taste some Scottish treats! They were introduced to key instruments used in highland dancing in its historical context. Safe to say the children had a pure good time! Traditional food The most important part of Scottish culture are the many delicious cuisines that have been adapted and tested across the globe. The children took part in a cooking class by making a traditional ‘Cranachan’ (without the whiskey of course!) and created the ‘King of Scottish desserts’.... YUMMM! Overall, the children worked incredibly hard and showed a real enthusiasm for the module, taking part in each activity by embracing the culture that many had never heard of before. As this a topic which is close to my own heart, I was immensely proud of the children and how much passion they showed for each lesson, showing the same love that I have for my own country! Thank you to all the children for their hard work! Ms Flanagan Year Two Teacher
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Sports and Wellness Round (ers) Up The children who chose rounders for their Extended Curriculum have enjoyed developing their throwing, catching, fielding and batting skills through a variety of fun rounders games, from football rounders, to a full game of rounders. They also learned how to make fast decisions and work as a team, which are excellent life skills. It was great to see so much progress in a short space of time. Well done rounders group! Miss Bruce PE Teacher
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Upper Primary English Years 4-6 Year 4 As the excitement regarding Halloween built this month, Year 4 have been looking at, listening to, reading and writing spooky stories. The children read some high quality examples and listened to a book that had been adapted into a podcast, complete with accompanying sound effects. The children searched for, and identified, ways in which authors build suspense and considered how we can add to stories for effect. How atmosphere is built was also reflected upon as well as the more subtle ways we can show what a character is thinking without being explicit. As a class, we thought about a scenario that we might be involved in that could have a spooky element. We decided that a school trip provides the perfect opportunity for something strange to happen and so set about planning stories featuring our very own class on a spooky trip. We looked at sketching ideas and annotating them to help with the planning process too. The results were really good fun to listen to and the children practised reading aloud to their peers, considering their tone for effect. The stories featured mummies, zombies, creepy clowns and haunted hotels, to name but a few. Mr Herron Year Four English Teacher Year 5 In Year 5 we have moved onto non-fiction texts and the class have been answering the question: Which animal makes the toughest migration? Did you know that the Arctic Tern travels 70,000km from pole to pole every year? Or that Monarch Butterflies travel almost 5000km to spend the winter holidaying in sunny Mexico? Animals are amazing! As well as learning about these extraordinary creatures, Year 5 have also been learning about relative clauses: words like ‘which’, ‘who’ or ‘whose’ that can be used to add extra information in a sentence. The class used formal English and relative clauses to write and present an audio commentary for whale watchers on a tour to watch the Humpback Whales’ migration, using the correct tone and intonation for an audio commentary. You can see some of the children performing their commentaries in the photos attached. Great work Year 5! Year 6 Year 6 have started a fascinating new non-fiction book all about Pompeii. With a mission. To go back in time and save the poor people of Pompeii from that dreadful eruption. What happened on that day back in 79AD? Why were the people so unprepared? What would they have thought it was? How can someone survive a volcano eruption nearby? These are just a few of the questions that the Year 6 students will be answering in this module. This week, the class has been learning about the features of a non-fiction book to help them navigate around the e-book and find important information. They have also begun to prepare information leaflets to help the people in Pompeii know what to do to survive a volcano
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eruption. Can Year 6 save the day?! (Of course they can!) Miss Marseglia Year Five & Six English Teacher
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Upper Primary Maths Years 4-6 Year 4 Year 4 have been focusing on understanding and using formal written methods of addition and subtraction. First they were using dienes to understand when we needed to exchange tens and hundreds and then they started to use their reasoning skills to explain why. They they moved on to solving problems using the knowledge they have gained. See if you can find all the possible solutions to this problem!
Year 5 Over the past 2 weeks, Year 5 they have been focusing on using written methods of addition and subtraction. They then started to apply this knowledge when solving problems involving multiple steps. One of the problems that they encountered was the maze.
They worked systematically to find the lowest score and the highest score they could possibly make whilst working through the maze. What is the lowest you can make? Mr Whyman Upper Primary Maths Teacher
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Extended Curriculum Key Stage 2 Creating and Performing Stop Fretting and Play the Guitar It has been very encouraging having so many keen musicians choosing the Guitar Module, and all 16 children have made huge progress over the last seven weeks! It takes time to adjust to playing a new instrument, and for most students, this was indeed a brand new venture. As such, time needs to be taken to get to know the instrument, to understand how the strings and frets are numbered, and to begin to be able to read chord charts and TAB notation. The emphasis has always been on the practical, and the children bravely got stuck in straightaway learning a piece called ‘6123”, based on using open strings 6, 1, 2 and 3. However, in order not to make things too easy, there were also some chords to master. After three sessions, everyone could play the piece from beginning to end - amazing! Gradually over the weeks, we have been able to build this up into a proper piece of music, playing along with a funky backing track, and it’s become a real favourite to play each session. It’s also important to be able to read TAB, and this requires thinking about strings, frets, fingers (on both hands!) and being able to read as well, all at the same time. ‘Acadian Lullaby’, a folk song from Nova Scotia, was chosen for its calmness (juxtaposed against ‘6123’!) and has allowed the children to really get to grips with reading TAB whilst allowing them to play something fairly simple that sounds much more complex. The Lower Primary, starting out on their journey of learning the Ukulele, have also learnt a part to sit side-by-side with the guitar part, and at the EC concert after half-term, we will be able to join together to perform ‘Acadian Lullaby’ in its entirety and in harmony. The children have been a delight to teach, and now have a fantastic grounding on the guitar on which to build further in the future - well done, everyone! Mr Everist Upper Primary Music Teacher
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Enterprise and Challenge Crystal Maze In Crystal Maze, an Extended Curriculum option with Mr. Whyman we do a bunch of puzzles that make us scratch our heads. Each lesson we add points to our overall score. Some of the games we have played are making a square; making nets; tarsia puzzles; arranging squares; strike it out; stop or dare & connect 3. One of my favourites include making a square is a game where we have several squares and we have to make a square. Arranging squares is where we have several colours of squares (yellow, red, blue and green) and we have to arrange them e.g top left red, underneath yellow and so on. Stop or dare is a game where we have a pack of cards (excluding jokers) and we have to make 100. Seems easy but if you get a king or ace you have to start from the beginning. Connect 3 is a very mathematical game and you must add and subtract from dice. It goes from -12 to 12 and you may get 3 diagonally, horizontally or vertically. Max Death Martell Year Six Student
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Knowledge and Understanding Word Detectives Science, Humanities, Linguistics: one for all and all for one. Three disciplines, only one module. For seven weeks our Key Stage 2 Word Detectives have become scientists, linguists and historians. From language trees and linguistic relationships to “sisterhood” in Romance and Germanic language families, our Detectives have been introduced to the study of etymology and reconstructed languages like Proto Indo-European. They have realised that languages are living organisms after all. Languages have roots, a source. Languages have sister languages, many relatives and common ancestors. Like linguistic scientists, students have been studying how languages evolve (etymology), how languages work (word formation mechanisms), and how they keep influencing one another (borrowings). In the case of English, they have been familiarising themselves with Old English and words coming from Old French with the help of etymological and monolingual dictionaries. Our students have also been made aware of the development of the English language through historical events, such as the arrival of Germanic tribes in the British isles (Angles, Saxons and Jutes) or the Norman Conquest in 1066. Those new people, who brought with themselves a language, culture and new ways of seeing and representing the world, built on the foundations laid by earlier inhabitants. That is how it works. English was not to be the same again. These peoples forever changed the course of the language that unites us all here at BISM: English. We are always leaving something of “ourselves” behind wherever we go. That is, after all, what we wanted our students to understand. Even their own experience at this international school, with so many languages in contact, will forever influence their ways of speaking and perceiving the world. Miss Rodríguez Spanish Teacher
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Sports and Wellness Cricket Cricket proved to be a very popular module for the first half term, with a large number of children selecting to study it. Lessons predominantly revolved around playing in game situations, either small sided or pairs cricket matches. The students enjoyed playing in these competitive games and also showed some progress with regards to skill development. This included basic throwing and catching skills through fielding, as well as batting skills and overarm bowling. In lessons, the students were also lucky enough to benefit from the expertise of Mr Moore, who was once a keen cricketer himself. In particular, Mr Moore worked with some of the older children, developing their knowledge of how to play in full sided cricket matches, as well as the rules and strategies associated with it. Mr Allen Sports Teacher
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Secondary English Years 7-9 Room 101
Room 101 is a BBC comedy TV show inspired by George Orwell’s novel ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ that involves convincing the audience of something that should be removed from the world completely! The list of things currently in room 101 includes: Boy bands, hard boiled eggs, Politicans, men with colds and of course, the Kardashians! We all have something we would banish to Room 101, don’t we? Year 8s and 9s were set a speaking and listening task to present one thing to their class that they would banish to room 101 and the results were fantastic! From Aston who wanted to banish mosquitoes, Mia who wanted to ban homework, Claudia who wanted to ban hospital waiting rooms and Emma and Julieta AF who wanted to ban make-up testers - the list of things we sent to room 101 was very detailed indeed! The Year 8s and 9s delivered very convincing speeches and reinforced their arguments with lively google slide presentations to reinforce their message. It was a pleasure to watch them become so passionate about their topics! A list of some of the items now in BISM Room 101! Do you agree with the Year 8s and 9s? People who pick their nose Double dipping Having guests staying at your house Homework Donald Trump Spanish Music Make-up testers Mosquitoes Hospital waiting rooms Mums with Facebook Women who believe they should be ‘protected’ Homophobia Tests Fish Christiano Ronaldo Dance Moms Miss Kerlin Secondary English Teacher
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Secondary Maths Years 7-9 Calculating the Area of Polygons
Year 8 children were exploring how to calculate the areas of different polygons. For each of the shapes, the children had to discover how counting squares can be substituted by using formulae. First, we looked at our conceptual understanding of what area is and why all areas can be written with square units. We then used our pre-knowledge of calculating areas of rectangles and transferred those skills into working out the area of a parallelogram. As a rectangle and a parallelogram have exactly the same area, when given similar measurements, the children were able to use the formula for rectangles A = l x w to calculate areas of parallelograms A = b x h. Then we looked at how triangles are effectively quadrilaterals that are halved diagonally. So there is a relationship between knowing the areas of rectilinear shapes and that of triangles. Given that we know this now, it was necessary to see what relationship we could make between rectangles, triangles and a trapezium. When you look at a trapezium, it is possible to cut it into one or two triangles and a rectangle. The two triangles are placed together to make a larger triangle added to the rectangle. So the end formula is the quite simple: A = ½ (a+b)h or (a+b)h divide by 2, where a and b are the two parallel sides. Have a go at calculating the area of this trapezium: Remember the formula - A = ½ (a+b)h
Mr Kuhn Secondary Maths Teacher
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Secondary Science Years 7-9 Chicken Leg Dissection
The Year 9 children have been learning about the skeletal and muscular systems. The skeletal system includes all of the bones and joints in the body. Each bone is a complex living organ that is made up of many cells, protein fibers, and minerals. The skeleton acts as a scaffold by providing support and protection for the soft tissues that make up the rest of the body. The skeletal system also provides attachment points for muscles to allow movements at the joints. New blood cells are produced by the red bone marrow inside of our bones. The skeletal system in an adult body is made up of 206 individual bones. They have learnt about how our body moves and the function of different types of joints including the hinge, ball and sockets, fixed and pivot. We took a closer look at a hinge joint by dissecting a chicken leg, the pupils took off the skin to expose the antagonistic muscle pair. They they cut into the joint to expose the cartilage and ligaments. They identified the tendon and now know the difference between tendons and ligaments and why it is important that tendons do not stretch! We then went on to expose the joint further and cut into the bones to see the bone marrow, the site of blood cell production. They really enjoyed this hands-on learning experience. Ms Ladds Secondary Science Teacher
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Extended Curriculum Key Stage 3 Sports and Wellness Theory of PE
Students that selected to study this module have learned about a variety of things associated with the human body, including components of fitness, heart rate and the body’s responses to exercise, fitness tests, methods of training, as well as the basics of nutrition and what makes up a balanced diet. The students particularly enjoyed testing their own fitness through a series of fitness tests and creating their own fitness training sessions, some of which the class may take part in during the final week of the module. This has been a good introduction to PE theory for those that take an interest and may be considering taking it as an option for GCSE in the coming years. Mr Allen Sports Teacher
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Enterprise and Challenge STEM
The children who selected the STEM - Design for a better world have chosen one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. I challenged them to come up with a solution to help achieve one of the global goals. We have looked at a variety of projects that are already underway to enable the United Nations to achieve their goals by 2030! Here are the extracts from the students about their projects! Eliminate Gender Inequality - Hugh and Felix We are making a video about gender inequality, this is global goal number 5. Our film is going to outline examples of sexist behaviour of our society and how Jay (Felix) and Justin (Hugh) fight against the cruelness of this world that we live in. We hope to raise awareness of gender inequality in our school and our local and global community PowerHouse - Victoria, Claudia and Lauren Our global goal is number 13 Climate Action, to try to prevent climate action we are going to make a Power House. The power house contains a climate system which includes: Solar panels, wind turbines, plants, algae garden, solar water heater, eco- chargers and many other things. Our idea is to create an urbanization that contains these power houses. We plan for the urbanisation to be next to our new school. Spain is perfect for renewable energy resources as it has the perfect climate for wind and solar power. We want to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is accelerating the greenhouse effect and causing global warming.
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Underwater garden - Olympia, Evie and Ella We have chosen Global Goal - 14 Life under water. The underwater garden will help reduce the loss of the coral reefs by helping absorb harmful carbon dioxide from the oceans which bleach the coral reef and cause our oceans to become more acidic, harming marine life and damaging the complex marine food webs. During photosynthesis the plants will give off oxygen and that will increase the biodiversity. We plan to hire scuba divers to create the underwater gardens and educate children in schools about coral bleaching, together we will restore our oceans! Protein Patch - Jasmine, Sophie and Laura We are making something called a “Protein Patch� which is going help solve the problem of world hunger. This is global goal number 2. We are planning to source bean seeds, we plan to distribute them to the poorest parts of the world so people will be able to become more self-sufficient and have a good sustainable source of protein, essential for a balanced diet and healthy growth and repair of our cells. They will be able to harvest more beans and plant more seeds, they can make delicious recipes using beans. We found that the fastest growing species were the alubia pinta beans, they do require a lot of water for growth so we need to come up with more efficient irrigation systems for the areas we plan to plant in! Eco-Cosmetics - Sarina, Armelle and Poppy Our global goal is goal 14.1, plastic pollution. Our brand idea is a skin care and cosmetic range which uses organic, natural products that are beneficial for the environment because of all the other skin care brands use a lot of plastic. The materials used for packaging will be glass and paper and will avoid any kind of plastics, all products will be recyclable and reusable. And even better! Our products will have no harsh chemicals and include all hair and skin types so we are ensure equality. Using less plastic will not only reduce plastic pollution but also plastic waste and production in general will be greatly reduced. Dehumidifying water bottle - Lautaro, Niko, Charlie K, Uzala Our Global Goal is number 6 - Clean water and sanitation. We have created a water bottle that is called Air Double V so everyone can have access to clean fresh water without buying expensive filtered water to fill up the bottles. It absorbs the water from the humidity. It is powered by solar panels. The germs are filtered because our water bottle has poly glue that can clean the water. Robot Whale - Veronika and Sofia We have chosen goal 14 - life under water. Plastic is a big problem, underwater food web of the sea animals. Microplastic is so small, that you and other underwater creatures can not see it and so, it enters in our food chains. Plastics can be deadly to our marine life as they get caught up in them or are damaged by them. We want to create a robot whale that acts like a hoover for the plastics in our oceans. It will look like a whale, so it blends into its surroundings. It will digest the plastic particles in the oceans and break
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Eco-Hotel - Maria and Daria Our goal is goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities. Our idea is to build a Eco-hotel for the poor people living in South Africa. It will be 100% made out of recycled material. The materials that we will be building the hotel out of will be old flooring, ceramic tiles and glass bottles. The homeless people will temporarily be moved to the hotel, they will be working there until they have enough money to move out of the hotel to welcome new homeless people. The project will be completely sustainable and funded by crowdfunding websites.
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Knowledge and Understanding Quench my Curiosity
In this module, children discovered the world of research. With the wealth of knowledge embedded in the worldwide web, one might think that this is a straightforward task. Just enter a search into Google and within seconds you have searched your given topic. However, the children will tell you that a lot more thought needs to go into finding reliable information. First, we looked at different sources of information and then evaluated its reliability. We soon discovered that even the most basic facts can be portrayed in numerous different ways and on various different websites. Lots of information is biased and therefore does not depict an objective truth. For the first few sessions, we looked at where to find trustworthy information and how to evaluate its quality and reliability. Then through an industrious quest, the children whittled down their favourite five topics until they reached a final statement or question to base their research paper on. Here is where the children noticed that the more answers you find, the more questions that generate. Some of the topics children chose includes: Deja Vu’s - The truth The Strange and Unexplained Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle Can Science bring back the dead? The truth about Maddie Mccann Aliens: Truth or Myth Memory and the human brain Can human beings have superpowers? Some great topics picked and the quality of the research papers are of a very high standard. The structure and layout of the papers form an important part of the overall criteria when writing a research paper. The children have done really well to include these features in their writing. The last task for the children is to present their findings to the rest of the group who will be using a set of criteria to peer critique the quality of the presentations. Well done for your hard work and dedication in producing excellent research papers! Mr Kuhn Secondary Maths Teacher
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Creating and Performing Indonesian Studies
Indonesian studies has taken the students on a journey to Bali and Java to explore traditional design techniques and use of symbolism and symmetry in art work. Inspired by shells and hibiscus flowers, we have designed symmetrical panels ready to be made into silk paintings later in the year. We have been exploring issues in the Textiles industry, in particular in the cotton industry, and what we can do to help support workers in developing countries and to help preserve traditional techniques such as batik. Claudia and Agatha have been looking at ways to raise awareness of issues in the fashion industry while Evie, Mary, Olympia, Ariana and Mia focussed on brand ethics in leading brands. ‘We were given a T-shirt and we needed to research the brand it came from, in this case, (United Colours of Benetton). ‘We learnt about the life of a cotton farmer and we went to the brand website to see what they do to help. Benetton is not fair trade but it is not the worst unlike some of our favourite brands, for example, Michael Kors and Ralph Loren. Hugo boss is one of the good ones it is more than Benetton... Some of the fairtrade brands are Obey and Aventura. They are brands you might not know but should buy from these shops’. Art exhibition Later in the year, BISM will be holding an Art exhibition to showcase work completed in all Art units. The exhibition will cover work from Upper Primary and Secondary students, and will feature work completed during Extended Curriculum modules during the Autumn term. Ms Townsend Secondary Art Teacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Spanish
Autumn, Wheat and Bread Over the last couple of weeks students from Year 2 and 3 have been learning many things about autumn: the landscapes, the fruits, the weather, the colors, the animals that can be seen in autumn... We have been outside in the playground exploring all the changes that we can see in autumn, and the children have enjoyed it very much! To learn all about autumn we have completed many quizzes, some children have created quizzes at home on their own to play in class afterwards! Well done, you have all worked very hard this first half term. We have also learned a lot about wheat harvest. Students have learnt how to grow wheat, its components and how it is processed. In addition, they have become experts in the process of making flour. They have created posters explaining what the wheat and bread cycle is, and they have shown it in front of their peers to explain this process. Finally we decided to do a dynamic and fun activity so that children can experience what the process of making bread is like. We brought wheat to class so they could see what it looks like, and also flour, salt, water and yeast, and the children made bread in class. They mixed the ingredients themselves and saw how the bread is kneaded. The results were fantastic and the students really enjoyed the activity. Miss Aburuza Spanish Teacher
EARLY YEARS
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PRIMARY
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SECONDARY
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