BIC Sa Porrassa Primary Weekly News (1/29/21)

Dear families,

One of my many mantras is "Less is more", and this week you will see that we are trialling that approach in our newsletter. Each week we showcase the outstanding teaching and learning that goes on in our school, as well as the excellent extra curricular activities, competitions, sporting activities and general news and events. From the feedback we get, we believe that what parents enjoy the most is seeing photos and videos of this in action, rather than lots of text. So we are responding to that with a shorter newsletter but one that, we hope, still captures all the fantastic things that go on at BIC Sa Porrassa. Please let us know your thoughts.

And talking of feedback, may I make one last push to remind you all, please, to complete the parent survey. As I have said before, the more feedback the better and I reflect on every conversation and email I have with any parent. A survey is at its most useful when it is as representative as possible, so if you haven’t yet done so please do complete one by the deadline of Monday 1st. Please remind your friends to do so as well!

Have a great weekend

Alison Colwell,

Principal, BIC Sa Porrassa

Dear families,

As January draws to a close, this week we haven't felt the winter blues - quite the opposite as on Wednesday the sun was out shining and our students were out singing, smiling and dancing to perform for our pantomime, Cinderella! We look forward to sharing the final performance with you.

I visited the Year 4 classes to share my experiences of living in China as they embark on their new humanities topic, and enjoyed seeing our Early Years and Year 1 students continue with their learning of phonics and handwriting. We continue with our BIC Connect webinar series in primary with, ´Phonics and Reading support for KS1´ so please sign up to join us in learning more about our programme and how to support your children from home.

On Friday I spoke to students in assemblies about the value of independence. The focus arose from a conversation Ms Von Waberer and I had as we reflected on our student community, their needs, and ways we can further develop particular values in our young learners.

Being independent citizens and learners is central to their future success and will be our value of focus during the month of February and, of course, beyond. Please talk to your child about ways they can develop their independence at home, be it learning to tie their shoelaces, packing their school bag or organising a homework schedule.

http://bringingupgreatkids.org/en/development/promoting-independence

We look forward to our Carnival celebrations on Friday 12th February and encourage students to dress up in costumes of any theme, as we have fun learning about traditional celebrations and cultural diversity.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Elizabeth Compton

Head of Primary

Year 1 students had great fun playing a range of games to help them practise their understanding and fluency in using the numbers up to 100. The children have been also working very hard to understand and learn the language used in instructional writing.

Identifying Traction Man’s outfits to his missions

Year 2 created lovely collages of the blossom trees which are starting to appear around Mallorca

Year 2 students developing language through play at lunchtimes

Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed identifying materials and their properties in various objects

Science Magnet fun! Our Year 3 students experimented with magnets to identify magnetic materials

Following the current topic "Romans" - Year 3 students made a Roman road using sand and pebbles - Well done!

During maths, Mrs West’s class worked on finding the difference in length between a hop and a jump, and used arrays to find answers to multiplication questions.

Enjoying a brain break (and reinforcing key learning) in between lessons with Go Noodle

Our Year 4A girls enjoyed Mrs Compton´s Chinese fans, after her talk about life in China

We do love a good birthday, cake and a sing song!

Some of our Year 4 fantastic Willow Pattern Story comic strips

Our Year 4 students Investigating the weight of gases in science as we start our new topic - States of Matter

Year 4 students have started a new and exciting science topic: “States of Matter”. The children particularly enjoyed “being” particles of a liquid, gas or solid to understand the way particles move differently in the different states.

If you could be the president of America, what would you do? Watch what the Year 5 pupils would like to do...

Amazing factual posters based on their Viking knowledge

This week, the students have been enjoying investigating the properties of light. Having recently filmed a documentary episode about light using green screen, the students went further and investigated virtual images in a mirror.

Some of Year 6 have enjoyed investigating nets and the properties of 3D shapes. They looked carefully at different nets and worked together to find out which ones could be used to form a cube.

We are loving our new book ´ The Demon Headmaster´. The children have designed their own front covers for the book and made wanted posters for the villainous headmaster.

This week during PE Year 4 took part in rocking and rolling activities leading to the forward roll. Children continue to develop their body awareness through further movement variations of direction, pathways, levels, shape and shape. Well done to all primary students.

House Bleep Test Competition

Every student from Year 1 to Year 11 have been competing in the bleep test challenge in their PE lessons. The winners from each class will now represent their Houses in the grand final in the last week of term. The secondary final will take place on Tuesday 9th February at lunchtime. The winning students from each class will compete against the 6th formers and staff (all socially distanced of course). The primary final will take place on Thursday 11th.

Dear families,

Following the opportunities to tour the facilities at our schools, BIC Sa Porrassa and BIC Sant Agustí will be virtually opening their doors to all families who are interested in learning more about our student-centered curriculum, facilities, achievements and values that we promote daily in our schools as well as to gain a great insight into student life at BIC. This will be a unique opportunity for all families to connect with our Principals and senior leaders during a live Q&A session.

Dates and registrations:

BIC Sa Porrassa

Accommodated in a large, custom-built school situated in the beautiful, rural environment of Calvià. The school is in a very accessible location on the southwest coast of Mallorca and has a capacity for over 450 students from 3 to 18 years of age.

BIC Sant Agustí

An Early Years and Primary specialised School located in the high-quality residential environment of Sant Agustí in Palma. The school has a capacity for 160 students from 2 to 11 years of age.

If you wish to organise a tour at either or both schools, please contact us directly:

• San Agustí - office.san@balearesint.net | (+34) 971 403 161
• Sa Porrassa - registrar@balearesint.net | (+34) 971 133 167

We look forward welcoming you to Baleares International College