ISSUE 1 SCHOOL NEWSLETTER #25
The British International School of Marbella
NEWSLETTER A Newsletter for Parents, Students and Friends of our School
February 2018
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Headteacher’s Message Dear Parents, Guardians and Students, Welcome to the February edition of our newsletter, within which you’ll find the details of a wide variety of activities and events. This breadth of offering is, to my mind, one of the strong points of the education we provide; a focus on the core academics alongside an array of opportunities that further and promote the arts, sports and foundation subjects. The month began with the children challenged to consider their diets in our Healthy Eating Week. The week’s activities culminated with the visit of a visiting theatre in education group from London. They led a very special assembly and then ran a number of workshops throughout the day. The following week we were treated to an assembly from our youngest children in pre-nursery and nursery. Their retelling of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, which tied in nicely to the events of the week prior. Within the same week we marked Safer Internet Day and were very fortunate that one of our pàrents, Mr Wiberg, was able to lead two assemblies on the subject. He gave the children plenty to think about and was able to expertly answer the children’s questions about this important topic from a professional point of view. On Friday 16th it was the turn of our eldest children who led a fantastic assembly on the Chinese New Year. They utilised their IT acumen skillfully to green screen reports from around the world on the topic. The second half of the assembly was led by a special guest, Kingna Wang, who teaches Chinese here in Marbella. She was able to elaborate
on the celebrations from a personal point of view and teach us all a few phrases at the same time. Look out for our ASA and ECA offerings next term in which we will be offering Chinese as an additional club and activity. The younger children later that day held a number of Chinese New Year dragon dances. The older children were tasked with reporting on the occasion and making use of their literacy skills and knowledge to produce recounts of the day. Congratulations to Isabel Potter, who produced the winning article featured in this newsletter. The 1st of March is World Book Day and because this fell in our half term break we held our Book Week slightly earlier. Our thanks to Miss Marseglia for organising such a great week which included visits and talks from a number of authors and illustrators both virtually and in person. I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank Mrs Lopez Charro, Oliver’s mum (Y2), for taking the time to come in and work with so many children sharing her experience as artist and illustrator. The children really valued your time, expertise and positive, inspirational outlook. The month’s special events continued in the last two days with a lower school and middle school talent show. For a relatively small group of children we have, amongst the student body, a vast and varied amount of exceptional talent. The last day of the half term, the day before the actually regional holiday, we celebrated Dia de Andalucia. We heard a special arrangement from some of our middle school musicians and Ms Conlan, the whole
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school sang the Andalucian hymn which was followed by a traditional Andalucian breakfast. The mornings activities were brought together by yet more special guests, a trio of very well known and respected musicians. Alongside these special events, the teachers and children continue to focus on academic progress. As we are at mid point in the year, the children completed a number of exercises in assessment week. The results of these, and the resulting targets, will be shared with you shortly. Our children have been out on various trips extending their learning this month and also have been raising their profile, and that of the school, by getting involved in community events. Our Year 7 students represented the school in one such event, exhibiting at the annual gathering of the Decorative and Fine Arts Society of Benahavis. I do hope you have managed to have some family time during the short break. Here is to another full and productive month! Best regards, Brendan Herron Acting Head teacher.
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Pre-Nursery Lucky Coins
Nursery Brilliant Biscuits
As part of the Chinese New Year celebrations in school, the Pre-Nursery children were intrigued to find some secret red and orange envelopes containing real coins! To support their development of counting objects one to one, the children had to choose an envelope, open it and count how many coins they had inside. To support their visual representation of number further, they then had to add their coins on top of the holes in the corresponding Numicon piece to check that they were correct. Sadly, they did not get to take their lucky money home, but they did get the opportunity to count it all over again the next day! Mrs Rutherford Pre-Nursery Teacher
The children in Nursery Class used fantastic listening skills when making biscuits! It is safe to say we have some very keen bakers in Nursery Class and the teachers were blown away by their ability to follow pictorial instructions! Expect to see these children in a future episode of The Great British Bake Off! Our biscuit making linked closely to the children’s Maths learning. The children added a given amount of flour, butter etc to their mixing bowl and they knew they had to add the correct quantity to make great tasting biscuits! The children shaped their biscuits like dogs in honour of our Chinese New Year celebrations (The Year of the Dog).I definitely think they enjoyed eating them as much as they did making them! Miss Nixon Nursery Teacher
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Pre-Nursery and Nursery Assembly
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pre-Nursery and Nursery wowed their audience once again in their class assembly. Showing everyone their amazing knowledge of the classic story, ´The Very Hungry Caterpillar.´ The children performed songs, retold the story of ´The Very Hungry Caterpillar,´ and even recited a beautiful poem about a butterfly! It was a delight from start to finish. The youngest children in the school showed a great amount of confidence, joining in with the poem and song and helping to retell the story! It all began with a poem recital about a butterfly, where the children demonstrated their amazing rhythm learning, clapping along to the poem in perfect time! The children then proceeded to retell the story of ´The Very Hungry Caterpillar,´ they certainly caught the audience’s attention with their fabulous story telling! The saddest part was when the story was over! Luckily we were able to enjoy more delights from Pre-Nursery and Nursery when they ended with a fabulous wiggle, wiggle butterfly song! The Pre-Nursery children showed a huge growth in confidence, taking on key roles in the story and Nursery continued to blow us away with their confident line giving! The assembly finished with the children singing the rest of the school out with their wonderful butterfly song! We are looking forward to the next class assembly already! Miss Nixon Nursery Teacher
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Reception Mercadona, Mercadona
We might have only been “popping” to the shops but to say the children were excited when we visited Mercadona is a little bit of an understatement! The reason for our visit was two fold. We had been learning about healthy food as part of the school´s healthy eating week and so buying some delicious and nutritious fruit and vegetable made lots of sense. Even more sense after looking at Guiseppi Arcimboldo´s artwork, where he used painted fruit and vegetables together to look like portraits of humans! The children loved purchasing the food, then using it to make their own portraits and before finally... eating it! The experience also provided the perfect opportunity to practise writing shopping lists, and the children enjoyed crossing off items once they had purchased them! Great work Reception boys and girls! Mr Holden Reception Teacher
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Year 1 Good Morning My Fine Feathered Friends This month the children enjoyed learning all about Quentin Blake during Book Week. They spent the week looking at the repetition in the book and the different language used. Following on from this, the children wrote their own version, writing about a new main character, choosing a new set of ten animals and selecting a new phase to replace Professor Dupont’s ‘Good morning my fine feathered friends!’ The children came up with some great ones during their paired session with Year Five, where the children helped them to use alliteration in their new phrase. Miss Lawrence Year One Teacher
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Year 2
Fractions and Time
Orchidarium Trip
The Year Two class have enjoyed learning about
Trip day had arrived after the whole week waiting, there was so much happening in school that it made a marvellous day for the Year Two class. Firstly we had a Chinese New Year assembly presented by Chinese visitor. The tone was set for an exciting day ahead!
time and fractions during the past few weeks. Both concepts can be difficult to grasp, not so with this class! They tackled the challenge ahead with enthusiasm. They learnt how to write the time in words, on analogue and digital clocks. They were able to tell the time using o’clock, quarter past and to and half past. Do not hesitate to ask them what is the time and now they have no excuse to be late! In regards to fractions, the children worked with oranges cut in halves and quarters. They were counting in those fractions and were able to use mixed numbers! They had fun working practically with such a difficult concept. Lastly, a big thank you to you parents for supporting your children’s learning by showing an interest by helping during our Numeracy Open day. Mr Thomas
Year Two Teacher/Lower School Leader
On our bus journey to Estepona the children were really excited and speaking amongst each other about what lay ahead for the day, in between spotting where they all lived! When we arrived, the children and the teachers were in awe of the spectacular building that were in front. However when we entered the building nothing could have prepared us for what we saw next….three huge waterfalls, palm trees and orchids! What a sight to behold! The class had a great learning experience describing their senses that they were experiencing. Then the class drew and described their favourite plants. When it was time for our healthy lunch in front of the spectacular building we started to sketch the building and the surroundings. The children had a wonderful day that was capped off by visiting a playground in front of the beach! Mr Thomas Year Two Teacher/Lower School Leader
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Year 3
The Green Ship During Book week, Year Three read the story ‘The Green Ship’ by Quentin Blake. The story follows a brother and sister who discover a ship made of bushes. They meet a character called Mrs Tredegar and use their imaginations to travel to far off lands. The class listened to the story and then discuss the main events. Then, working together in groups, they created freeze frames of each event. In all groups, there were more members than there were characters. Therefore the children had to get creative and use their bodies to represent other objects such as the ship, trees and even lightening! The children worked fabulously in their groups and created some amazing freeze frames! Well done! Miss Allen Year Three Teacher
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Year 4 Shopping Or Maths? This month we bought Mercadona/Amazon into the classroom and the Year 4 class went shopping for various items of food, stationery and toys during our Numeracy Open Morning. The children were excited to choose items to buy with their crisp new £20 notes! To work out how much change there were entitled to, the class had to use the number line method of subtraction to count up to £20 and calculate their change. Please see the method below:
As, the children learned later in the week, this method of subtracting money is quicker than column subtraction if the amount they are taking away from is in whole pounds (i.e. £20) rather than pounds and pence (i.e. £21.85). They then moved on to buying more than one item, which involved column addition, followed by calculating the change with the number line again. Some of the class had important jobs of being cashiers to check everyone’s calculations. I’d like to thank all the parents who came to visit this lesson and helped the children to calculate the change they needed to go shopping. I hope you enjoyed your visit! Miss Marseglia
Year Four Teacher
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Year 5
Feel The Force This month, Year 5 have been getting in touch with their inner Jedi and learning all about Forces. Over the course of the month they researched, hypothesised, planned and investigated both air resistance and water resistance. They were challenged to use the charter values of Teamwork and Leadership with two team challenges: to design the best parachute and the best model boat. As you can see from the accompanying pictures, the children took this very seriously but had a lot of fun along the way. Mr Herron Year Five Tutor Middle School Science
Year 6 Writing Tips From Comic Strips As part of ‘Book Week’, the children in Year 6 got to grips with ‘The Savage’ by David Almond. The story, written from the perspective of a boy of their age, deals with a lot of themes including loss, family, bullying and growing up. We discussed these themes and explored the characterisation and how the author blends ideas through his selective use of vocabulary and description. Book Week’s focus on illustrations led us to combine our narrative and artistic skills to create a scene at a critical point of the story where a major puzzle to the mystery is revealed. The illustrator’s use of monotone and shading, along with indian ink complement the mood of the story and exaggerate its creepiness. Inspired by the book’s presentation, the children continued their own path in the story using these features. The children initially found themselves out of their comfort zones as they thought it would be impossible to replicate an illustrator’s style. However, once they put pen and pencil to paper, they were pleasantly surprised and found that with heart and perseverance they could too become authors and artists! Well done Year 6. I think the scenes make perfect additions. Mr Anthony Year Six Tutor
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Year 7
Music
Chinese New Year Assembly
BISM Talent Show
On Friday the 16th February, the day of Chinese new year, Year 7 produced a masterpiece of an assembly to celebrate this important event. The assembly was in the form of a television news report and the children took on roles as news presenters, correspondent reporters, sports and weather reporters and there were even reports coming in ‘live’ from Beijing and New York. This assembly required the children to step into the roles of real life reporters and now have a true sense of what a career in news reporting could look like. The comparison between local news and international news created a good understanding of the difference and similarities between our lives here and that of people who live in different countries. The children delivered a quality performance and should feel proud of the way they were on cue every time, how they interacted with each other when being interviewed as guests in the studio and also how they were able to really get into the character of a professional news reader. Well done Channel 7 Marbella news crew! Mr Kuhn Year Seven Form Tutor February was an exciting month for the music department as it was TALENT SHOW MONTH! The children were very excited to share their acts, and there was a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation in the school in the lead up to the big day. We saw such a variety of performers, over two shows, from singers to dancers, magicians to gymnasts and instrumental recitals. This is an annual event and whilst we welcomed back performers from previous years, it was especially pleasing to see children performing for the first time. Events like these give the children the opportunity to perform for live audiences which increases their experience and develops their confidence. It was a fantastic day which showcased the multitude of talent we have here at BISM! Miss Conlan Lower School Music Teacher Miss Stone Upper School Music Teacher
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Spanish Trip To Local Marbella Market On a bright, sunny, Friday morning Miss Moriarty´s Year 2-3 class went to the local market of Marbella. This was part of our class topic ‘My Town’. In class we had been looking into all the different establishments and buildings which surround us. On the way to the market we stopped to see the vet, the post office, different types of shops, the chemist, etc. It was a practical way of putting into practice what we had studied in class. Once in the market, we looked at all the different stalls and talked to the market sellers who were very friendly and helpful. Each group had a shopping list of healthy local products as well as fruit and vegetables to buy. We used our Spanish knowledge to ask for the market products and had an interesting chat with most of the shopkeepers, needless to say, in Spanish. After all the walking and shopping we were exhausted. We had a picnic with our purchases and thoroughly enjoyed the little healthy feast. The children enjoyed every minute of the market expedition. It was a colourful and practical way of ending the topic. Miss Moriarty Spanish teacher
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Special Event Andalucia Day
As you all know, the 28th of February is the Day of Andalusia and at our school we celebrated it on a large scale. From 9 until 12 o’clock children participated in different workshops to learn and enjoy the culture that surrounds them. The little ones enjoyed making crafts and created their own shawls. They also showed their culinary skills cooking colourful muffins simulating the Andalusian flag. They were really delicious! Some children worked hard to make their Andalusian flags, using olives, pickles, cheese and chives. They also had a great time creating their flamenco masks to make a photocall. The older children researched interesting facts about Andalusia, to later participate in a Kahoot. They were very excited about the game! In addition, they learned amazing things about the place where they live. In addition, we organised an Andalusian breakfast and all the children tasted our delicious bread with olive oil and sugar. And, what would the Andalusian culture be without flamenco? Since music is a great part of Andalusia, we were very lucky to enjoy the talented guitarist Daniel Casares, Miguel Ortiz ‘Nene’ playing the cajón and the flamenco singer Manuel Peralta. They delivered a music workshop with Year 6 and 7 students, and in our final assembly, they played and sang for us in order to bring a bit of Andalusian rhythm. In the end, we all danced to the sound of the palms and the Andalusian cajón. Overall it was a day full of emotions and wisdom. It was a fantastic day for the children to connect a little more with everything that this magical land in which they live offers. Miss Aburuza Spanish Teacher
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PSHE
Chinese New Year As you probably know, last Friday was the Chinese New Year. Everybody was invited to come dressed up in red and yellow or in a Chinese costume. In the assembly, Year 7 did a great show to celebrate the Chinese New Year where they pretended to be in a news program which was called “Channel 7 News Marbella”. They gave us a lot a lot of fundamental information about the Chinese New Year. Did you know that the reason the colour red is used so much in the Chinese New Year is that the mythical beast “Nian” was afraid of it? At the end of the show, we welcomed a Chinese person to the assembly to tell us a bit more about the traditions of the Chinese New Year and how to celebrate it properly.It was great and we all learned a lot! In the afternoon, we enjoyed the parade of the Year 2 followed by the instrumental performance by Year 1. They were disguised like dragons and it was an amazing parade done by these children. They even made their own dragon! We were so impressed that we were all staring at them openmouthed!! What a magnificent show to finish the day!!! Lina Benkirane Year Seven
Last week BISM celebrated Chinese New Year. On Friday, the 16th of February, students from Year 7 took part in the School Assembly based on Chinese New Year and also talked about the Year of the Dog. At 11 o’clock a long and beastly animal came into school; I was petrified! Luckily the long and beastly animal was only children from Reception. The children of Reception must have worked really hard making their Dragon. It was SO realistic that I was about to scream. Also on Friday a special Guest came all the way from China to teach us about her culture. Did you know that children in China get money in red envelopes for Chinese New Year? Our special guest taught about their beliefs, their traditions and their special dishes. I was so inspired by it all that I had to go and eat at a Chinese Restaurant that evening. Thanks to Year 7, Reception and our Special Guest. Now I know a lot about Chinese New Year. I am a Pig. What animal are you? Gong Xi Fa Cai! Isabel Potter Year Six
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Special Events
Art In Action 2018 BISM had the wonderful opportunity to become involved in an art competition and exhibition hosted by the Benahavis Decorative and Fine Arts Society on the 4th of February, 2018. The students were required to submit a piece of artwork that reflected one of six lecture topics; Shakespeare and the Globe, The Ballet Russes, Philip II of Spain, Pop Art, Leonardo Di Vinci and Spanish paintings that rocked the world. The winning competition entry would act as the cover image on the BDFAS annual lecture brochure, along with receiving 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. The BISM year seven class produced seven pieces of artwork which were displayed at the exhibition. The students researched the given topics and worked incredibly hard to produce detailed and colourful images. Pop Art and the Ballet Russes were two of the most popular topics. The students used acrylic and oil paints, along with watercolour palettes. The exhibition was a one day event, showcasing the work of four international schools, professional artists and members of the society, along with demonstrations and workshops. Overall, the exhibition was a great success and the work that BISM produced were loved by all at the exhibition, especially the BDFAS judging panel. Being some of the youngest students involved in the competition, the year 7 students created fantastic artwork, and ultimately showcased the incredible talent of all involved. BISM will be involved in two upcoming art competitions; The 2018 COBIS Art competition in March and the BSF art competition. Both of which will span across the whole school! Miss Flanagan Middle School Art
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Special Event
Book Week 2018 Book Week this year was a week packed with illustrators, authors, skype chats, competitions, book sales, reading, writing, buddy activities and fancy dress! The theme this year was ‘Illustrations’ and we were very fortunate to have a professional illustrator offer to come into each class and share her experiences as an illustrator and help the children with some drawing activities. We were also honoured to host a visit from Anna Bogie, a UK author living in Gibraltar, who offered to read some of her stories and answer questions in our EYFS and KS1 classes. Later in the week, different classes in the school chatted to famous authors on skype, including Jeremy Strong, Josh Lacey, Catherine Rayner, Jo Litchfield and Margaret Bateson-Hill. The authors answered lots of questions, shared some of their writing secrets and read some of their latest stories or poems. Throughout the week, each class took part in lots of exciting reading and writing activities in their classes, inspired by the works of Quentin Blake, Anthony Browne, David Almond and many others. Alongside this, different classes ‘buddied up’ to share different reading and writing activities with different year groups. The week ended with a bang, with a fun-filled Friday of fancy dress and books sales, with lots of children going home from Book Week with a new or second-hand book on its way to a new home. Thank you to all of the staff, children, parents and authors who made Book Week 2018 a school event to remember! Miss Marseglia English Coordinator
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E-Safety
Safer Internet Day (SID) 2018 was celebrated on Tuesday, 6 February 2018 with a theme of “Create, connect and share respect: A better internet starts with you”. Our sincere thanks to Mr Wiberg, who shared his professional expertise in this field with the children through two assemblies the day before. Whatsapp is one of those apps that it seems everyone uses. As a child, wanting to be like older children or indeed adults, it can seem very appealing. Many children, even those so young that they don’t own a phone, know of the platform having seen their parents use it often. Use of the app is another instance in which children can be giving out more information about themselves than they realise. It also means that children can be involved in the group chat scenario and prone to the associated pitfalls that entails. This month we are sharing information about Whatsapp, its rules of use, your rights as a user and the rights which the company reserves for itself. I hope this enables you to have informed discussions about the application. Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to speak with myself or your child’s class teacher. Best regards, Mr Herron Acting Headteacher
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Special Event Foundation Stage Trip To Butterfly World The children of the FS had a wonderful time in February visiting Mariposario de Benalmadena Butterfly Park. The trip started with a fun journey on a bus with friends and teachers. Some of the children were more excited about going on a bus than going to the attraction itself! In the Butterfly Park we were guided around by experts who told us all there was to know about caterpillars, butterflies and moths (although after their classroom learning many of the children in FS already have expert status when it comes to butterflies!) The children saw caterpillars crawling and munching leaves, butterflies fluttering around and sleepy moths...er sleeping, as they are nocturnal! Getting to touch and hold many different creatures was fabulous and a pleasant surprise was getting to see fish, birds, tortoises and an iguana! Mr Holden Foundation Stage Leader
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Special Event
Healthy Eating At BISM On Friday the 2nd, the children came down to the hall for assembly and found themselves transported to a supermarket under the control of Dr Freg! ‘I Know Why It’s Yum, Mum!’, a theatre in education company from London, were our special guests for the day and provided a fantastic end to our Healthy Eating Week. The day began with a whole school assembly in the hall which had been transformed into a supermarket. Ben, his mother, and his sister, were out shopping for fruit and vegetables. There was however, a distinct shortage and as it transpired this was the work of Dr Freg. It turned out that he was amassing fruit and veg’ in order to create a superhero so that children would like them more. Through the performance the children learned the benefits of making healthy choices and the specific vitamins and minerals we get from individual food items. The show had something for everyone with actions, songs to sing and plenty of audience participation. The children were required to get involved in some fruit and veg Top Trumps, share key information and be safe-keepers of the fruit and vegetables. The teachers didn’t escape and I was lucky enough to get an avocado, lemon and olive oil facial treatment which left me glowing for the rest of the day! The company then ran a number of workshops throughout the day for the different phases of the school. This allowed the children the opportunity to taste, touch and learn more about the fruit and vegetables under discussion. What is particularly pleasing is that, whilst this was particularly exciting for that day and that week, the children are still referencing the experiences they had that week, now. There have been some great comments and discussions in class, the playground and the dining hall. Mr Herron Acting Head Teacher
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EARLY YEARS
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PRIMARY
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SECONDARY
+34 952 779 264
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