ISSUE 1 SCHOOL NEWSLETTER #27
The British International School of Marbella
NEWSLETTER A Newsletter for Parents, Students and Friends of our School
April 2018
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Headteacher’s Message Dear Parents, Guardians and Students, The summer term has arrived and we find ourselves already one month in. The old adage that, ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’ has certainly rung true for us this month. The Foundation Stage as a whole took themselves down to the beach to extend their learning about seas and oceans, whilst our reception class also went shopping at the seafood counter of our local supermarket. A number of classes also began their new topics with active and engaging Wow Days in school this month. Our push to improve literacy standards across the school saw the launch of a new reading initiative. In a bid to increase the amount of reading the children do at home we have incentivised the reading with rewards based on the number of books read. As a school we have invested in more books, buying one each of every title in the recommended reading lists in your child’s reading records. Lower down the school the children receive raffle tickets for each book finished, where as the middle school children have been given a set number of books to complete before the end of the term to earn themselves a book voucher. Also this month we had a lovely ‘Poem in your Pocket’ day. Poems were heard being recited around the school and a number of children were inspired to go home and compose poems of their own. The school hall played host to assemblies from Year 4 and Year 2. Year 4 showcased
just how much they have been learning in their science lessons with a scintillating, electric themed show. Year 2 taught us lots about their topic ‘Dangerous and Nocturnal animals’. As well as sharing, a great deal of facts they also entertained us with their international accents. Science was also in focus this month during our annual science fair, the theme this year was ‘Exploration and Discovery’. Every year the children bring in a wide variety of weird and wonderful things. This year the children were challenged to develop their projects further and present to a cross section of their peers in house groups. The children rose to the challenge and did themselves proud whilst exciting and amazing their audiences. Our month culminated in a very special afternoon in the sun with the evolving and expanding, Spring Arts festival. During the show we were treated to a cross section of dance and musical acts from Year 1 to Year 7. We saw performances honed during dance lessons, individual music lessons (IMPS) and whole class, Primary Instrumental Practice (PIPs). We have so many talented children, coached by our equally talented staff, that we struggled to get through all of the acts in the time we had. With very best wishes, Brendan Herron Acting Headteacher
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Pre-Nursery What is Water?
What is water? The children in Pre-Nursery found this quite a hard question to answer! “The man brings it from the swimming pool to the pipes” thought Luca, “It comes from the sink” said Thomas. After a discussion about rain and reservoirs, the children went off to explore the water tray. Why is it wet? “It is a liquid” repeated Ariana. The children pushed their hands under the water to show how their hands get wet when they take them back out. Can you pick it up? “No!” exclaimed Nastia. After many attempts, the children realised that it was impossible to pick up the water using their fingers. Using a range of different sized containers, the children explored how water can be moved for a long period of time, showing just how interesting water can be! Mrs Rutherford Pre-Nursery Teacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Nursery St George The children had a wonderful time in Nursery Class learning about St George. They listened very carefully to the story and then helped the adults to retell it using small world characters. Once the children had a firm understanding of the story they took to the Nursery Class stage with costumes in tow. Once the children were dressed to impress in their knights, dragons, princesses and horses costumes, they acted out the story with suburb conviction! As the adults read the story aloud, the children darted around the room and castle, playing their parts to perfection! As a class, the children changed the end of the story to a more cheery tone and we prefer their version. Their version consisted of the dragon being so scared of George, that he flew away and told all the other dragons, meaning that no dragon ever came back to the land of humans. No dragons were harmed or hurt in the making of Nursery Classes story! Miss Nixon Nursery Class Teacher
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Reception Something Fishy Reception have loved diving into the “Who lives in a rock pool?” topic with so many fun activities planned. One of their favourites was going to Mercadona to buy some real sea creatures. They walked sensibly to the shop and found the fresh fish counter. They enjoyed seeing all the different types of fish. We chose some, watched it get weighed and priced before paying for it. We then brought it back to school where the children got to take a closer look working on their vocabulary to describe how it felt and smelt! They looked at different fish, an octopus and mussels, which some of the children had eaten before. Some mussels had limpets stuck to them, which reminded the children of the story of, ‘Sally and the Limpet’. Mr Holden Reception Teacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Foundation Stage Wow Day Beach Fun!
The children of FS loved their Wow Day recently. The Wow Day launched our little pirates, mermaids and beach goers into their new topic related to all things “sea” themed. The children made wonderful cakes decorated with sea creatures. These were devoured by all the children during our ‘FS under the sea party’! They also made telescopes, essential for any budding pirate or explorer! They dug deep in the sand to find an array of shells, such as razor shells, cockles and auger shells, talking about what lives in a rock pool. They also enjoyed singing Miss Conlan´s “Polly the pirate’s parrot” and playing with lots of sea creature toys. Foundation Stage Team
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Year 1 Long Boat This term the children have been learning about different types of transport; old and new. We have been looking at transport through the ages and this month we have been looking at the Vikings, including how they travelled on water. A great way to help us understand what it was like to be a Viking in a long boat was to make our own! We used tables in the classroom to show us how cramped it would have been for the soldiers. Not only did they have to carry their oars but they also had to have their shields to protect them when going into battle. Miss Lawrence Year One Teacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Year 2
Planting in Spring
Deadly Sixty Assembly
April has meant welcoming Spring and what better way to celebrate this time of year than planting some seeds! The class set up an investigation about what plants need to grow healthily. We brainstormed ideas of what plants need to grow and put it to the test. We planted four seeds in different conditions, with and without water and sunlight. Predictions were encouraged throughout the process of planting and the children got really excited. The correct vocabulary was used during the set up of the investigation. Keeping the investigation fair was firmly in the mind of the pupils, ideas such as the amount of soil given and the same containers etc. It really was well thought out and the class demonstrated good teamwork, one of our charter
What a class full of performers we have in Year Two! From learning about dangerous animals during our Topic lessons the class had been practising to perform a TV show as our assembly. The intention was to deliver an informative session
values!
but done so in a theatrical way. This proved to be
We have not come to the end of the investigation
audience were putting their hands up at the end of
yet but the class cannot wait to find out the result and observe the differences. It has been a pleasure to see their curiosity flow especially during our
a success as many of their fellow pupils in the the performance to explain what interesting facts they had found out.
Science lessons this month.
Each child had lines to learn at home and also had
Mr Thomas
time put their own stamp on it. Learning was really
Year Two Teacher
to remember what actions to do and at the same brought to life during the week building up to the performance through our Topic lessons and we even completed lion sketches to complement the backdrop for the show. I was very pleased to see that all of our charter values were on display rehearsing the performance and as their parents you should be really proud of your children delivering such a high quality assembly. Mr Thomas
Year Two Teacher
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Year 3
Healthy Me Wow Day
Viking Art
It was an energetic start to Year Three’s Wow day. The ominous clouds did not stop them going out and completing a circuit of exercises. The children discussed why it is important to exercise and the impact it has on your body. With that in mind, they threw themselves into each activity, after a warm up led by bootcamp expert, Miss Portelli. The children had to complete a circuit of eight exercises: star jumps, skipping, shuttle runs, hurdle jumps and stretches. After all of that activity the children needed a healthy snack which was kindly provided by the parents. On the menu strawberries, blueberries, and fruit juice.
This term, Year Three are studying the Vikings during Humanity lessons. As an ‘arty’ introduction to the topic the children created their very own Viking shield. The children discovered that Viking shields were round and made from wood, with a boss made of iron in the center. The children researched different patterns that were used and looked carefully at the colours and designs. Next, they used these to inspire their own designs and transferred these onto round cardboard templates. They then applied paint to add colour and used tin foil to create the boss.
Next the children created some eye catching artwork. They used oil pastels to create a bold strong background and the create silhouettes to place on top in ‘active’ positions such as the splits, pirouettes and yoga poses. Finally, it was time for another nutritious snack. This time the children had to make it themselves. Using oats, bananas and milk they made some delicious flapjack. What a great start to explore this term’s topic of ‘Healthy Me.’ Well done Year Three for running, jumping and throwing yourselves into each activity! Miss Allen Year Three Teacher
The shields are bright, eye catching and well designed. So well designed that they may even make an appearance in the upcoming class assembly. Well done Year Three!! Miss Allen Year Three Teacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Year 4 Year 4 Music
Electricity Assembly
Year 4 have certainly excelled at Music this year, both in their whole class lessons and, for some, during their private instrumental lessons as well. What a talented bunch! This month, as well as learning about canon, they really impressed me when they performed as a whole class band during our class assembly about Electricity. Some children played the drums, the keyboard, the guitar and the glockenspiels while singing along to the song about Electricity. They learnt all of this in two weeks! Year 4 always work with genuine enthusiasm and interest in their music lessons and Miss Conlan has been really impressed with their progress. Year 4 have also been preparing a rendition of La Bamba, using voice and ukulele, for the Spring Arts Festival this month. Thank you to Miss Conlan for inspiring and nurturing Year 4’s musical talents and ambitions! Miss Marseglia Year Four Teacher
Do you know why Miss Conlan got struck by lightning during the Year 4 band practice? Because she’s such a good conductor! This month, Year 4 taught the school and the parents all about the uses of electricity, how we can use electricity safely and the different sources of electricity. The were helped by some electrical superheroes, including Electro, Black Lightning and Storm! This is all linked to our current Science topic, which is, of course, ELECTRICITY! During this topic, the class have also been learning about the different parts of an electrical circuit and building basic circuits with wires, bulbs, batteries and switches. A highlight of the assembly was the song, Electricity by OMD, which the class learnt to sing and play on various musical instruments in just two short weeks. Thank you to Miss Conlan for teaching us that song! Thank you also to the parents for helping the children to learn their lines and coming to watch the assembly. Miss Marseglia Year Four Teacher
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Year 4
Modern Europe Wow Day We kicked off our final topic of the year, Modern Europe, with a fun and information filled day! This topic is very important to us as we are all living in Modern Europe right now and most of us are from a European country. The children came into school dressed in traditional clothes from a European country, or the a sports kit or colours of the flag. Throughout the day we were very lucky to have teachers and teaching assistants from across the school come into our class to teach us about their country. Miss Aburuza taught us about the Basque Country in Spain, Ms Sibcy talked about about Wales, Miss Flanagan shared interesting facts about Scotland and Miss Lawrence showed us what Holland is famous for. Did you know that the national animal of Scotland is a unicorn?! We ended the day with a Kahoot quiz all about my favourite country: Italy! During this topic we will be learning about the geography of Europe, famous landmarks, languages, cities and cultures. The children will be undertaking a mini-project of researching a lesser known European country to teach the class about. Miss Marseglia Year Four Teacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Year 5
Jane Goodall This month, as part of our science unit of learning ‘Living things and their habitats’, Year 5 have been looking at conservation. As part of their research they focused on the work of Jane Goodall, the British primatologist and anthropologist, considered by most to be the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. In 1900, an estimated 1 million chimpanzees lived in the wild. Today there are as few as 340,000. The children developed a further appreciation for the links between human activity, loss of habitat and the subsequent effect on the numbers that remain. They displayed maturity in their response to threatened species and the role we, as the human race, have to play. As part of their work, making links with their literacy curriculum, they considered how best to appeal to people to raise the issue and encourage donations. If the attitude the class showed in lessons is anything to go by, then there is hope for threatened species in the future. Mr Herron Middle School Science Teacher
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Year 6
Freeze and Melt Drama is an essential part of Literacy learning as it helps children to expand on their understanding of key characters and allows them to explore hypothetical situations. In our study of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, the children used the ‘Freeze Framing’ technique which challenges the children to hold a pose to express a particular feeling or mood. The children chose characters who they felt they understood well and could show two sides of. In a challenging twist to the activity, the audience members were able to tap a frozen character on the shoulder. This character would then ‘melt’ and become separate from their frozen group members. The child would be asked probing questions aimed at revealing more details about the scene they were representing. This activity allowed the children to explore their chosen character more freely and enable them to provide reasons and justifications for their thoughts. Well done Year 6; you showed fantastic drama skills! Mr Anthony Year Six Tutor
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Year 7
Online Safety
Year 7 have been extending their knowledge about digital safety and the importance of monitoring their digital footprint online. During this unit we first established the digital climate in the classroom and realised what an extremely wide range of online platforms we currently use, sometimes on a daily basis. Using online applications, games and social media, does come with a risk and we discussed what we currently do to ensure we stay safe when online. Some of the ways we keep safe online include: “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “
I I I I I I I I
do not open any suspicious pop-ups.” do not open any emails from somebody I don’t know.” never chat with somebody I don’t know.” never post photos or videos of myself on a public account.” don’t put any personal details online.” turn all settings to private.” delete all unknown friend requests.” use a fake name, when online.”
We discussed how contact by strangers may be through friendship requests, personal messaging, email or posting, group chatrooms and online chat in online gaming. This will depend on the information that the children have put online themselves. To ensure children know what to do incase of unwanted contact online they were reminded: That they have the right to feel safe and protected when online and do not need to ‘put up’ with unwanted contact. They also have a responsibility to protect themselves and others online. Keep personal details private and online profiles brief. If learners receive unwanted contact online, to tell a trusted adult about it as soon as possible. To use Apps, games and websites that are age appropriate. That if the contact is persistent, to block the accounts of any unwanted users. To avoid messaging back or responding in any way to unwanted contact, as this will likely only encourage the user to continue to make contact. The children have shown that they already have a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding of digital safety and they are eager to further develop the skills to ensure they are always safe when online. Mr Kuhn Year Seven Tutor
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Music
Spring Arts Festival
What a busy April we had in the Music Department. There is always a sense of excitement and a buzz when we have a performance coming up and this month was no different. The children absolutely love the opportunity to show off their talents and perform to an audience. Miss Conlan and I really enjoy events like this and we hope you had a fantastic time listening to, and watching, the performances during our Spring Showcase. What a great way to open the afternoon with the dance routines from each class in the middle school. We don’t often get to see what happens in dance lessons and I was so impressed with how the children remembered so many dance moves. It was very professional, great work Miss Condliffe! How wonderful to see such a wide selection and variety of musical offerings this year. We heard from all the classes and saw what they had been learning throughout the term: ukuleles, Samba, recorders, keyboards, and more! A selection of our young pianists also performed and we saw how they had really improved their skills and notation reading. Some of our young singers bravely took to the stage and entertained us all! It was also a joy to see students starting to learn more challenging instruments such as the clarinet, saxophone and violin. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did! Miss Conlan Lower School Music Teacher Miss Stone Upper School Music Teacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Spanish
Year 2-3 Spanish
Special Event Science Fair
This month Miss Escribano’s class started a new topic based on Natural Science where children learnt all about plants. To start of with, children learnt about the parts of a plant and how they each function. For this, they created lovely “flip books” which helped them to memorise, and recognise better, each part. By the end of the lesson they were able to name all of the parts and say at least one main characteristic. Furthermore, children learnt how distinguish a herb, a bush and a tree from each other and categorise different pictures of native plants from Andalucía. I was very impressed by their ability to name some of this plants for their first time! Last but not least, children spent a couple of days looking at leaves of different plants. They were extremely curious and they learnt how to recognise and classify a leaf by its shape, border and nerves. They have shown great persistence despite the tricky names they had to learn. In order to decorate our classroom display, they chose a leaf and made a label with its characteristics. Finally, children created their own “herbario” (herbarium) using the leaves provided in class, drawing around them, colouring them in and classifying each one. I am sure that after this topic they have become great botanists! Well done children! Miss Escribano Spanish Teacher
Friday the 13th is unlucky for some, so they say- but even the torrential rain could not dampen BISM’s spirits on the annual Science Fair last Friday. The theme of the Science fair was ‘discovery and exploration’ and the event was organised slightly differently from previous years. To develop and support the children’s speaking and listening skills, each child demonstrated their experiments individually to the rest of their house team. In the morning some excellent Year Three scientists explained some tops tips and demonstrated an egg-periment, managing to get a hard boiled egg into a glass jar without the use of their hands. There was even a video message from the much loved Professor X wishing the children luck with their presentations. The Science fair did not disappoint and the students did an amazing job of presenting their experiments. They discussed what they were investigating, the equipment needed to conduct it and finally what we can learn from their demonstrations. There were exploding rockets, balloon hovercrafts, homemade lava lamps and expanding rubber gloves to name but a few!! Congratulations to all students who presented - keep exploring and discovering!! Miss Allen Science Coordinator
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Special Event
Foundation Stage Beach Trip The children in Foundation Stage enjoyed a trip to the seaside to support their learning about the beach and ocean. The trip began with a stroll along the paseo, the children were lucky enough to see the sand artist at work! They admired his work and many children were heard commenting on how beautiful the art looked and how long it must have taken him to make his sculptures! The stroll continued until we reached the port, it was then that the children cooled down with a treat‌..ice lollies! No trip to the beach is complete without ice lollies. Once lollies had dripped down the chins of our excited children, it was time to hit the beach. Buckets, spades, diggers and beach balls at the ready, the children loved every minute of their time on the sand. There was so much teamwork to be witnessed when the children were making castles and forts and digging the biggest holes ever! It was great to see the children sharing all the beach toys and supporting each other when it came to getting water for the castle moats. Reception children, in small groups went on a beach tidy mission (planted by teachers) to support their in class learning and collected lots of pretty shells and stones too. A huge thank you to the parents who supported the children on this trip! It is safe to say, the children had a wonderful time! Miss Nixon Nursery Teacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
E-Safety Decency
This month our charter value has been decency, which provides us with a good opportunity to discuss what is right and wrong when online. Please see the Gooseberry Planet Parent tip below as a prompt for discussion with your child this month.
A number of incidents and discussions this month have, worryingly, led to the discovery that a number of children have unsupervised access to the Internet for extended periods of time. Please be reminded that it is our advice to have computers, laptops and tablets used in open spaces where you can see what your child is accessing. Often the children are only a few clicks away from being exposed to something inappropriate for their age. Best regards, Mr Herron Acting Headteacher
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Picture News What’s going on in the news this month? Following on from our topical suggestions for discussion at home, this month a report from the UK highlights the problem of loneliness. Please see the picture prompt below as a starting point for discussion.
Please encourage your children to share what you have discussed at home with their teachers. Best regards, Mr Herron Acting Headteacher
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SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Special Event
Cobis Art Competition 2018 Throughout the course of the academic year, BISM has had a variety of exciting opportunities to expand their creativity by producing work for a number of competitions that have included schools from all over the world. The competitions have covered a variety of artistic skills and themes, helping the children utilize their creativity and explore their imagination. BISM was incredibly fortunate to be involved in the COBIS (Council of British International Schools) art competition of 2018. COBIS is a membership association of British International Schools of global quality and corporate Supporting Members. Representing over 500 member organisations. The competition topic was ‘Mother nature and the Environment’ and it spanned across the school from Pre-Nursery to Year 7. Three pieces of work were selected from Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. There was also a group entry category with a further three pieces of work being submitted. The children had to explore the theme in various ways in order to fully represent the given topic. They explored the importance of preserving our environment, and how we as humans impact on our surroundings. The children also conducted research and engaged in various discussions over the importance of protecting the environment, endangered animals and recycling. Overall, the work produced from all age ranges incorporated not only the incredible talent of the students, but also the reflection of compassion and respect that each pupil possesses in regards to the preservation of our environment. The winner will be announced during the month of May. Good luck to everyone involved! Miss Flanagan Middle School Art
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Special Event
BSF Art Competition Results A huge congratulations to Daria Izatova in Year 5, for coming 1st place in the BSF art competition 2018 for her incredible abstract lioness. The detail and use of symmetry created a magical and imaginative piece. Daria also used gold leaf around the eyes and nose, which made the subject vivid and eye popping. Her use of vibrant colours and block patterns also made the final outcome truly stand out. Well done! Not only did we have a 1st place winner in our school, we also had two finalists! Well done to Polina Marincheva Year 3, for coming 3rd place in the Lower School entries. Polina created a very interesting abstract giraffe, using an Andy Warhol technique with bold and vibrant colours. Another well done to Sofia Carlsson in Year 2, for coming 4th place with her beautiful abstract insect work. A fantastic job by very talented students! You should be incredibly proud of your efforts! Miss Flanagan Middle School Art
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EARLY YEARS
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PRIMARY
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SECONDARY
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