PriNewsletter

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T H E P R I M A RY N E W S L E T T E R Primary News from the Pupils and Teachers of The British School of Alicante

Making Friends

Th ank You! A big thank-you to the Primary School Council who greeted Parents at the end of our Creative Arts Week. They also escorted Parents around the Patio area, explaining what the week had involved and showing off our wonderful sculptures!

Thank-you also to all our Year 2 Pupils and Parents for the magnificent books, posters and models that were completed at home for our “Through the Key hole” topic. The homework task was set at the beginning of term and pupils were given a number of weeks to produce project work at home.

The emphasis was on “working together” as a family, in order to build upon our strong partnership with Parents.

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M es sa ge fro m t h e H e ad of Pri mar y The focus of this newsletter is the very successful Creative Arts week which took place earlier in the month. For one week, we celebrated creativity with activities which were designed to excite and motivate and at the same time being highly relevant to our school and pupils.

Changes to Primary Education in recent years have meant that creativity and innovation are now actively encouraged in schools in order to develop creative ideas: “Promoting creativity is a powerful way of encouraging pupils with their learning”. (Excellence and Enjoyment in Schools 2003) Research shows that it has a powerful impact on children’s confidence, concentration, behaviour and attitude to learning. It involves all children and even breaks down the language barriers.

For some time now we have been developing and fostering a whole school approach to creativity. Last year I told you about the introduction of the Creative Curriculum in Reception to Year 3. This has now been extended and concentrates on reinforcing existing skills through a different medium and gaining new ones. LAMDA was also introduced last year in Years 5 and 6, with pupils working towards accreditation in communication skills through drama and the arts. The introduction of the Literacy Framework in September 2009 has also ensured that speaking and listening and drama activities are part of the curriculum.

The production of “Joseph “was a huge success and we are now working on our next whole school production of “Oliver”. Our commitment to this area is also shown in the appointment of Mrs. Tomkins as

Creative Curriculum Co-ordinator and Mrs. Manners as Creative Arts Co-ordinator.

When we think of creativity we often associate it with the arts, but it can be identified in all aspects of learning, and this is something that we are now focusing on throughout Primary. Our goal is that creativity underpins our approach to all areas of the curriculum in order to build confidence, self-esteem and impact positively on our pupils’ attitude to learning.

Creative Arts week was a great success and fun! Our next step will be to embed creativity further in the curriculum.

Fiona Thomas Head of Primary

We l c o m e Ba c k!

As most of you know, I had previously been working in Primary in BSA. I have not been working here for the past two years as I was living in Germany. Of course, I went there because I wanted to improve my German, but I could also travel here and there and experience many

things. Travel is for me the best way of learning and understanding other cultures. Anyway, I am very happy to be here and to work again in Primary, and also in Secondary with many of the children I taught years ago!

C l i m b i ng Frame At the start of the Autumn term, the children in Reception discovered something new on their patio. To their excitement they found a new climbing frame with soft flooring! Every day since the beginning of term, they have enjoyed playing and sharing the climbing frame with their friends.

The children can now whizz down the slide and land with a soft landing!

Pr i m a ry S ci ence Children in Primary now carry out a number of investigations throughout the Year. One strand of the Primary National Curriculum focuses on scientific enquiry, which relates to practical skills. Planning, collecting evidence by making observations and measurements when trying to answer a question and evaluating outcomes are all part of the process.

This term the following investigations have already been completed:

How do toys move?

How strong is this material?

How can we keep Teddy dry?

Parachutes for toys (Investigating air resistance) Investigating how shadows change Investigating soils and drainage

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COLOURS IN NURSERY T

he Nursery children have had lots of fun over the last few weeks learning all about colours. They have participated in lots of activities to help them learn colour names in English, such as playing in coloured water and sand, making special models such as red fire engines, and lots and lots of painting activities. The children have also come to school dressed up for special colour days which gave them the opportunity to talk about the colours they were wearing. We are very proud of the children as most of them are now able to use English words to talk about colour, well done Nursery!

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Y1 Trip to TIBI Year 1 had a great time on their trip to the Biodiversity Museum and the Ludoteca in Ibi. Here are some photos and children’s comments which capture the day: I liked the parrot.

I liked the crocodile.

I liked playing with the baby dolls.

I liked playing with the doctor’s things.

I liked the transformers and the big Hot Wheel race.

My favourite toy was Barbie.

I liked the scary car.

I liked playing with the cars.

We liked going on the bus best!

I liked playing table football.

I liked playing with the dinosaurs and snakes.

I liked the little pet shop.

We went on a big climbing frame.

We saw a polar bear!

I didn’t like my sandwich!

Y3 Trip to a Factory

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Year 4 Enter the Past Year 4 went on a school trip to Alicante to visit the MARQ museum, to find out about Egyptians.

A group of 67 Year 4 pupils from BSA had a great day trip to El Pameral park and then the MARQ museum.

The first stop for the children was the park near Alicante, the group of children walked around the park and under the waterfall. The children got a little bit wet and Clara from 4P said “It was very exciting and it was very wet.”

Later there was time to play; Mrs Phillips told us that she has never seen so many children on one climbing frame in her whole life!

At the museum the tour guide showed the children maps of Egypt, mummies, mummy caskets, burial items, jewellery, Egyptian crocodiles and many more items from the past, the most popular artifact was the mummy!

Elena from 4P said “I liked to see the mummy, it was a real mummy and it would smell.”

Mark from 4H enjoyed the different smells in the museum like the honey, these were used to hide the bad smells that came from the mummies.

A fantastic time was had by all!

Year 5

Poetry

Year 5S did some poetry work with Mrs. Thomas.

Here are some of their wonderful animal poems:

The Turtle Oh little Turtle Why are you so slow?

Why can’t you be as fast as me?

Oh little Turtle Why is your shell so dull?

Why can’t your shell shine?

Why, why, why?

Oh little Turtle Why are you so green?

You look like an alien?

But that makes you special Leave it at that Otherwise you wouldn’t be a Turtle

By Pablo

Cats are Silly My black cat wears silly hats My black cat hates rats and bats She loves to sell one big shell When she hears a bell she starts to tell “Everyone yell” Now my black cat doesn’t wear silly hats But instead my black cat likes dancing on the mat

By Reina

Small White Seal Small, soft, white creature dives down into the deep cold sea.

He swims swiftly through the sea with a playful smile.

Small, soft, white creature with your big blue eyes To enchant everyone Your soft fur glistening in the snow Everyone loves to watch you glide across the ice As you playfully chase your small tail Everyone loving your shiny fur and tiny tail fins Small, soft, white creature sleep calmly in your bed Even though it’s cold your soft fur keeps you warm Stay asleep small white seal Don’t wake till morning

By Olivia

The Dolphin Little dolphin How can you jump so high?

Over the waves, With your shiny brown eyes Little dolphin How can you swim so fast?

In the cold sea With your little fins.

Little dolphin How can you be so cute?

With all your friends And your slippery skin.

By Tess

WINTER W E AT H E R Now that the weather is becoming colder please ensure that your child has a warm coat for patio times as all children are expected and need to go outside for Patio.

In extreme conditions the pupils are kept indoors during break times.

UNIFORM There have been a number of items of lost clothing recently. Please ensure that all uniform is labelled with your child’s name. There is very little the school can do if there is no name on a lost item. Teachers/ office staff/bus monitors will do their best to help but apart from the very young pupils it is the child’s responsibility to take care of their clothing.

PA R K I NG Thank you for your cooperation with our request not to park in front of the main school entrance, it is creating a much safer environment for our children and the public traffic flow is being maintained.

We enclose a diagram of the red zones which we would ask that you continue to keep clear at the beginning and end of the school day.

S C HO OL EN TR A D A SO L O A U TO B U SES

He a dte a c h e r´ s Bl og I invite all parents to read the Headteacher´s blog which is available on our website. News and information will be posted and updated regularly . I hope this will keep you more informed of school developments.

Dates for November 3rd Nov – Nursery and Reception Theatre trip 10th Nov. – Year 5 and 6 Theatre trip 19th November – Primary Reports sent home W/B 22ND Nov – Parent Meetings – Information to follow W/B 29TH Nov. – Parent Meetings – Information to Follow For more dates please see our Parent Calendar on the website. w w w. b s a l i c a n t e. c o m

Glorieta del Reino Unido 5 Alicante 03008 Spain www.bsalicante.com email: carlos.lazaro@kingsgroup.org