Our Principal's Weekly Update
Stefan Rumistrzewicz
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Learning Walks
This week I have had the great pleasure in getting out and about a bit more to visit classrooms from Year 5 to Year 12. It is truly wonderful to experience this range of development first hand. The Year 5 students were busy learning about factors and prime numbers, while Year 12 were using this knowledge and so much more, as they were calculating viscosities, elasticities and other mysteries of A-level Physics. The conversations I had with students were very interesting as they spoke confidently about their learning and next steps. Amazing learning indeed.
Equally confident and also amazing examples of ‘leadership’ and ‘communication’ were the three Year 7 girls who gave a presentation in our Senior Leadership Team meeting yesterday. The fact that they were speaking to all the senior leaders in the school did not faze Belle, Alexei and Marta as they made a good case for future charity collections to support animal rights.
Other examples of amazing ‘leadership’ and ‘communication’ came this afternoon, as I had the pleasure in watching our school finalists for this year’s TEDx event. Congratulations to Jad who will be representing BSM in the grand final in Vila Real.
Teach Meets
As you all know, our motto at BSM is ‘Growing our Future Together’. And so, our teachers also enjoyed the opportunity to meet with their peers both in BSM and other schools in ISP via the ‘Teach Meets’ programme. During our weekly Staff Learning session, our teachers met their peers via Google Meet to share their learning and best practice. Yet more ‘Amazing Learning’!
ISP Visit
Earlier in the week, the ISP Marketing and Admissions team visited our school and enjoyed their tour. Seeing the developments of the new Primary building - dramatic changes are already taking shape, really brought home the scale of the undertaking.
Dining Room Update
As I mentioned to you all in our previous Bulletin, it has been lovely to meet with many of you and share lunches during the week. As promised, an extra member of staff started yesterday in the kitchens. So, we should see an improvement in the efficiency of the service. We are also looking at order quantities and the student council have put together a survey for analysing favourite dishes. This information will be really useful in developing the menu.
ILOS Programme
Our ILOS programme, International Learning Opportunities, is going strong. I have already mentioned TEDx, but the ISP Futures group has made an application for funding and are awaiting results, while still continuing their sterling work and raising funds for the garden project. Teachers are undertaking training and visiting potential homes for the Buddy Exchange programme, while the Virtual Buddy Exchange continues.
In other news..
Cheese & Wine Evening
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at our first Cheese & Wine event this evening. It has proved extremely popular and I am sure that there will be a lot more similar events for you to enjoy in the future. I will feedback in next week’s Bulletin.
Year 11 Parent Meetings
This year we have decided to change the way parents evening is organised for secondary parents to make sure it is more flexible for staff and families. Next week, Year 11 parents will be able to have an online appointment with each of their child´s subject teachers. You should have received a notification from the office on Wednesday 23rd November at 4.00 p.m. with a link to the Engage parent portal where you can make an appointment. To be able to make an appointment, please ensure that you are a registered user of the portal. If you need any help with registering, please send an email to d.smart@britishschoolmalaga.com.
Year 12 Certificates Assembly
Next Friday, we are looking forward to celebrating the success of our students who sat their IGCSE exams in June. All Year 12 students, including those who have joined us this year, will enjoy a catered luncheon in the Sixth Form cafeteria followed by an assembly at 15:00h.
Early Bird Discount Scheme
That’s it from me. Don´t forget that we are running our Early Bird Discount Scheme again, for siblings joining the school in September 2023. For any sibling enrollments before the 31st December 2022, a 25% discount will be applied to the registration fee.
Have a great weekend
Have a great weekend everyone and to all those joining me for some ‘jamón, queso y vino’, I will see you later!
Stay safe all.
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Paseos de aprendizaje
Esta semana he tenido el placer de salir del despacho y pasearme por las aulas para visitar los cursos de Year 5 a Year 12. Es una experiencia realmente maravillosa ver cómo progresan los niños en un rango tan amplio. Los alumnos de Year 5 se han dedicado a aprender sobre los factores y los números primos, mientras que Year 12 estuvo empleando su conocimiento (y mucho más) para calcular viscosidades, elasticidades y otros misterios de la Física de A Level. Las conversaciones que tuve con ellos fueron muy interesantes ya que estuvieron hablando con mucha confianza sobre su propio aprendizaje y los próximos pasos que hay que dar. Un aprendizaje increíble de verdad.
Igualmente seguros y también unos excelentes ejemplos de "liderazgo" y "comunicación" ya que tres chicas de Year 7 hicieron ayer una presentación ante el equipo directivo. El hecho de que tuvieran que presentar delante de los directores no amilanó a Belle, Alexei y Marta, que han abierto la causa de recaudar fondos para apoyar los derechos de los animales.
Otros ejemplos de gran liderazgo y comunicación se han puesto de relevancia hoy mismo, ya que he tenido el placer de cómo se elige al finalista que representará al colegio en el evento TEDx de este año. Enhorabuena a Jad que será el ponente TEDx de BSM en la gran final de Villarreal.
Teach Meets
Como todos ustedes saben, el lema de BSM es "cultivando nuestro futuro juntos". Y de esta manera, los profesores también han tenido la oportunidad de reunirse con otros profesores de BSM y de otros colegios de ISP a través del programa "Teach Meets". Durante nuestra sesión de formación semanal de los miércoles, los profesores han conocido y han charlado con otros colegas a través de Google Meet para compartir su aprendizaje y buenas prácticas. Más ejemplo de aprendizaje increíble.
Visita de ISP
A principios de esta semana el equipo de ISP de Marketing y Admisiones visitó nuestro colegio y disfrutaron de un recorrido por el mismo. Estuvieron viendo las obras del nuevo edificio de Primaria, donde ya hay cambios significativos, y se llevaron de vuelta un entendimiento de la escala del proyecto.
Comedor
Como les he ido mencionando en boletines previos, ha sido fantástico reunirme con muchos de ustedes y compartir almuerzo durante la semana. Como les prometí, ayer se incorporó una persona más a la cocina. Así que deberíamos ver una mejora en la eficiencia del servicio. También estamos viendo las cantidades y el Consejo de Alumnos va a poner en marcha una encuesta para analizar sus platos favoritos. Esta información nos será muy útil para trazar el menú.
Programa ILOS
Nuestro programa ILOS (International Learning Opportunities for Students) está creciendo. Ya he mencionado el TEDx pero el grupo de ISP Futures ha remitido su solicitud para obtener fondos y están esperando resultados, mientras siguen por su cuenta trabajando y recaudando fondos para el proyecto del huerto. Los profesores están formándose y visitando las casas de las familias que han solicitado el Buddy Exchange Programme, al tiempo que está en marcha el Virtual Buddy Exchange.
En otro orden de cosas...
Velada de "queso y vino"
Estoy deseando ver a muchos de ustedes en nuestro primer evento de "queso y vino" esta tarde-noche. Parece que ha tenido muy buena acogida y estoy seguro de que habrá más eventos de este tipo en el futuro. Les diré cómo ha ido en el boletín de la próxima semana.
Tutorías de Year 11
Este año hemos decidido cambiar la forma en que organizamos las tutorías para los padres de Secundaria y que sea así más flexible tanto para los profesores como para las familias. La próxima semana los padres de Year 11 podrán tener una tutoría online con cada uno de los profesores de sus hijos (todas las asignaturas). Deberían haber recibido una notificación de Secretaría el pasado 23 de Noviembre a las 16:00 horas con un enlace al portal de padres Engage en el que pueden coger cita. Para poder solicitar su cita deben tener su usuario de Engage. Si necesitan ayuda con el registro en Engage, envíen un correo a d.smart@britishschoolmalaga.com.
Asamblea entrega certificados Year 12
El viernes que viene estamos deseando festejar los éxitos de nuestros alumnos del actual Year 12, que realizaron los exámenes de IGCSE en Junio. Todos los alumnos de Year 12, incluyendo a los que se han incorporado este año, disfrutarán de un almuerzo especial en la cafetería del Sixth Form seguido de una asamblea a las 15:00 horas.
Programa Pronta Inscripción
Y esto es todo por mi parte. No se olviden de que tenemos en marcha nuestro Programa de Pronta Inscripción en el colegio (Early Bird) por el cual los hermanos que deban inscribirse en Septiembre de 2023 tendrán un 25% de descuento en la cuota de inscripción si ésta se realiza antes del 31 de Diciembre de 2022.
Feliz fin de semana
Que tengan todos un feliz de semana y les veo a todos los que se van a unir al evento de jamón, queso y vino. ¡Les veo luego!
ALN, Additional Learning Needs
By Mrs Jenny Joule
Our ALN/EAL Department will be publishing an article of interest for students and families each week. In this article, Mrs Joule talks about how the students have been improving their writing.
Nuestro Departamento de ALN/EAL nos envía todos las semanas un artículo sobre un tema de interés para los alumnos y sus familias. En el artículo de esta semana, Mrs Joule nos cuenta cómo han mejorado la escritura los alumnos.
Writing Sentences
The children from years 4 and 5 have been working on improving their writing. They have learnt what a noun, adjective, adverb and verb is and have written some really good sentences. They have used word maps to increase their vocabulary and learnt to write the sentences in this order:
- Determiner (A / The)
- Adjective
- Adjective
- Noun
- Verb (in the past tense)
- Adverb
- Where, because..
Los niños de Year 4 y Year 5 han estado trabajando para mejorar su escritura. Han aprendido lo que es un sustantivo, un adjetivo, un adverbio y un verbo y han escrito algunas oraciones realmente buenas. Han usado mapas de palabras para aumentar el vocabulario y han aprendido a escribir las oraciones en este orden:
- Determinante
- Adjetivo
- Adjetivo
- Sustantivo
- Verbo
- Adverbio
- Circunstancia (donde, porque...)
Here are some examples of their work:
- The brave scared footballer went bravely to a big stadium because he wanted a magic shoe.
- The brave powerful ninja kicked an enemy rapidly in her master house because all the city was empty of witches dragons and snakes……
- The ugly scary witch made an electric potion wickedly in her dark castle
- The brave powerful spy went silently into the scary bunker and went to sleep because he wanted to catch the ugly fierce witch later.
- A caring polite lion saved his little baby in the wild of Africa because the big bad rhinoceros was hitting him angrily.
- The fierce scary crocodile killed the fish quickly in the blue light river because he was hungry.
- A proud caring tiger pulled the fox briskly away in the deep dark forest because he needed to give badly some food to his little ones.
- The cute furry cat scratched quickly on my smooth leg because he was angry
The children are certainly becoming more imaginative, their spelling has improved and they are using more interesting words. We shall now work on improving sentences further and increasing them.
Los niños están ciertamente desarrollando la imaginación, su ortografía ha mejorado y están usando más palabras interesantes. A partir de ahora vamos a trabajar en mejorar las frases y en aumentar el volumen.
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English Book Fair
We were really happy to be able to add these books to our English Department Library this week, which we purchased at the recent English Book Fair held at school.
Estamos encantados de añadir estos libros a la Biblioteca del Departamento de Inglés esta semana, que recientemente adquirimos en la reciente Feria del Libro que tuvo lugar en el colegio.
Primary Christmas Shows
Actuaciones de Primaria de Navidad
We are delighted to be able to tell you about our upcoming Christmas productions to which you are invited.
Estamos encantados de compartir con todos ustedes la agenda de actuaciones de Navidad, a las que están invitados los padres.
Tuesday 13th December - 9:30am
Year 1 Nativity Play, “Whoopsy Daisy Angel”
Wednesday 14th December - 9:30am
Year 2 Nativity Play, “Angel Express"
Thursday 15th December - 9:30am - Year 4 and Year 6 parents Friday 16th December - 9:30am - Year 3 and Year 5 parents
KS2 Christmas Cantata “One Night in Bethlehem”
Toy Fair
After the success of last year´s second hand toy and book sale, we have decided to repeat this event before Christmas. The sale, which is a great way to give a second life to games and books that we no longer use, will take place on Friday 16th December.
With the money raised from the sale, we are hoping that we will finally be able to create our organic allotment and our BSM forest as well as supporting "La Ciudad de los Niños" a children´s home in Málaga, by ensuring that they receive a gift during this special time.
The ISP Futures coordinators together with the student council will be helping to organise this event and will be responsible for delivering any remaining books and games to the children at "La Ciudad de los Niños".
We would really appreciate your support with toy donations to make this a success. The toys must be working, have all the parts they need, and be clean. We will start collecting toys next Monday, 28th November until the 14th December. The toys can be taken directly to Miss Mercedes' office for Primary students, and to Miss Parra´s office if they are in secondary.
Tras el éxito el curso pasado de la venta de juguetes y libros de segunda mano, hemos decidido repetir este evento antes de Navidad. La venta, que es una buena forma de dar una segunda vida a juegos y libros que ya no usamos, tendrá lugar el viernes 16 de diciembre.
Con el dinero recaudado de la venta esperamos poder poner en marcha nuestro huerto orgánico y además dar apoyo a "La Ciudad de los Niños", un hogar de niños de acogida en Málaga, asegurando así que reciben un regalo en estos días especiales.
Los coordinadores de ISP Futures junto con el Consejo de Alumnos ayudarán a organizar este evento y serán los encargados de entregar los libros y los juguetes que no se vendan a los niños en "La Ciudad de los Niños".
El viernes 16 de diciembre cada clase tendrá la oportunidad de comprar libros o juguetes a lo largo de la jornada escolar. Aconsejamos que ese día no traigan para gastar más de 5 euros.
Apreciaríamos mucho su apoyo con las donaciones de libros y juguetes para que de nuevo sea un éxito. Los juguetes deben estar funcionando, tener todas las piezas que necesitan y estar limpios. Pueden empezar a traerlos el próximo lunes 28 de noviembre hasta el 14 de diciembre y se pueden llevar directamente al despacho de Miss Mercedes para los alumnos de Primaria, y al despacho de Miss Parra si son de secundaria.
Year 1
In Year 1 we have been working using the book Lollipop and Grandpa. Through our work on adjectives we were very quick to spot that Lollipop has a pair of red wellies for her garden safari adventure with Grandpa. We did not think that this was very exciting so by using pastels, acrylic paints and developing scratch techniques we made new, trendy boots for Lollipop. She will be so much more fashionable now!
En Year 1 hemos estado trabajando con el libro "Lollipop and Grandpa". A través de nuestro trabajo con los adjetivos, estuvimos muy rápidos para darnos cuenta de que Lollipop tiene un par de botas de agua rojas para su safari por el jardín, la aventura que tuvo con Abuelo. No sabíamos que era tan emocionante, así que empleando pasteles y pinturas acrílicas y desarrollando técnicas de manualidades hicimos unas botas muy a la moda para Lollipop. ¡Ahora sí que estará a la última!
Space Block Climbing Trip
Excursión de escalada de Year 10 y Year 11 a Space Block Climbing, narrado por Charlotte R. (Year 10)
Charlotte R, Year 10
On Wednesday, Year 10 and Year 11 GCSE PE classes came together and went to Space Block for an experience I will never forget. I had done indoor rock climbing before, but I have never enjoyed it as much as I did today.
A number of different levels, from easier to what felt impossible, were available so everyone got their chance to try it out. Although I am not usually scared of heights, I did have some moments when I was near the top of really just wanting to give up and go down because I felt really high up, but my classmates and teachers were at the bottom helping me carry on and I am so glad I did. I managed to try so many different levels and walls, and the challenging ones put me in vulnerable situations I had yet to experience. But, on the descent, the feeling of success beats all the stress and I felt so happy for completing my targets.
I know some of the people, who had a fear of heights at the start, managed to overcome it, or at least became more confident and comfortable with it by the end. However, that wouldn’t have been possible without the constant support from everyone at the bottom, which made it a very positive atmosphere. I would like to thank all the staff at Space Block for their welcoming gestures and for taking up time out of their day to provide us all with such an enjoyable school trip. They were all so eager to help and challenge us with different levels.
Most of all, I would like to thank, on behalf of all GCSE PE, Miss Jones and Mr Wilcock for accompanying us there and for making this day possible, we are so appreciative and had such an incredible day! I know this is a trip which has taken place before, and I hope it is one in the future too, because it really helps us work on our collaboration, resilience and communication skills.
Year 13
Miss Antonia Holland
Four of our Year 13 students went to represent our school at the Costa Debate Competition at Swans International School in Marbella last Friday. It was their first debate and they went up against some very experienced debaters. Making it to the semi-finals was a massive achievement for us, losing out to the eventual winners of the tournament. We had a great time arguing on a number of real-world topics such as vaccinations and the Qatar World Cup.
Cuatro de nuestros alumnos de Year 13 acudieron al colegio Swans International School de Marbella en representación de nuestro colegio durante el Concurso de Debate de la Costa del Sol. Era su primer debate y se enfrentaron a algunos participantes muy experimentados. Llegar hasta las semifinales es todo un logro para nosotros, cuando además caímos contra los ganadores del torneo. Pasamos un buen rato deliberando sobre temas reales del mundo actual como las vacunas o el Mundial de Catar.
Weekly Agenda
Mon · Lun 28 Nov
Year 11 Parent Meetings (online) will take place all week (by prior appointment only) · Las tutorías de Year 11 (online) tendrán lugar toda la semana, bajo cita previa.
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Wed · Mie 30 Nov
16.00h - 17.00h - Primary Parent Meetings - (by prior appointment only) · Tutorías de Primaria - (bajo cita previa)
Fri · Vie 2 Nov
11.00h - 11.30h - BSM Market - On the patio outside the dining room · BSM Market, en el área de picnic.
15.00h - Year 12 Certificate´s Assembly · Asamblea de entrega de certificados de Year 12