BIC Sa Porrassa Primary News 9

Ms Alison Colwell, Principal

Dear families,

One of the many strengths of our school is the internationalism that runs at its very heart. From the celebration of countries and cultures (our students represent over 45 nationalities), to the high quality teaching of languages that lies at the heart of our curriculum, to the promotion of festivals, events, traditions and the cuisines of numerous different countries, our internationalism is as important to us as our focus on British high standards and values. This was also evident in the recent school trip to Paris, which was a wonderful opportunity for our students learning French to get an insight into this amazing city and to practise their French. I went along for part of the trip, and it was joyous to see the students enjoying a wealth of activities and experiences - huge thanks to the staff who accompanied and especially to Mme. Etienne who organised the whole event with exceptional thoughtfulness and attention to detail.

With two weeks left to go, we will, at the end of term, say farewell and thank you to a number of colleagues, but in advance of that we introduce in today's newsletter the new staff who we are very much looking forward to welcoming to our school next term.

Enjoy your weekend,

Alison Colwell

Principal

Baleares International College, Sa Porrassa

New staff:

We are delighted to introduce our new staff members who will join us in the next academic year 2022-23.

Ms. Elizabeth Compton, Head of Primary

Dear families,

The end of term draws near and we continue with practical, fun, energetic and engaging curriculum until the last ´´bell´´ on the last day of term. Year 4 and Year 6 both enjoyed outdoor educational visits and Year 5 will be heading off to La Victoria next Thursday. Whilst I decided to head outside this week for our assemblies.

As any school year comes to an end we begin to prepare for the next, to ensure a smooth transition for all our pupils. Next Wednesday 22nd June is Primary Transition Morning. The morning will allow children to spend time in their classes for the next academic year, learn about the expectations, routines and topics they will learn that year, and, of course, they will meet their new teachers, support assistants and classmates.

As BIC continues to grow and develop, many new students joined us this year at varying stages. In light of this, we have mixed students from their current classes to ensure balanced groups. From my professional experience it can often cause some anxiety in students but often more so for parents! Transition should be viewed as a positive time for change, and an important learning opportunity for your children. Please trust that any revision of class lists is done with the utmost care and consideration. It is important children are with friends, as well as students from different nationalities, abilities and gender. All of this ensures our students learn in a diverse and inclusive environment, embracing change, developing resilience and increasing their social and emotional skills.

I am also pleased to announce primary staffing for the following academic year:

Student Achievement

Well done to our award winners!

Wishing you a cool and calm weekend,

Regards

Ms Compton

Whole School House System news

House Points Totals Update - Term 3

House Points Totals Update - 2021/22

A message from your Heads of House

Early Years news with Mrs Wardle

Throughout the term the children have become independent in the classroom. They can select all of their own resources and help one another to set up activities of their choice. The children have enjoyed independent reading games, word bingo, dominoes, painting, building and role play. It has been amazing to hear the development of their communication and language skills and how the class are all so much better at sharing, taking turns and talking about what they want and need. We really do have a very kind and communicative bunch in Early Years and I am feeling very proud of the relationships they have built this year.

Year 1 news with Mr Fairless

Year 1 have been learning about locating the major cities in Spain. The children had great fun finding places on a map that many of them had visited, whilst simultaneously learning the skill of using coordinates.

The children have also been learning about seasonal changes and the different clothes options we may choose depending on the weather and season. They enjoyed making a seasonal wheel bringing together all their learning.

Year 2 News with Ms Bakes

Year 2 have been excellent mathematicians and scientists over the past two weeks. They should be proud of how they tackled the multiplication and division unit. They all now know the 2, 5 and 10 times tables perfectly, and thanks to a super fun song, they also know the 3 times tables!

They are also now confident at dividing numbers, as we learnt this operation by sharing objects into groups of 2, 3, 5 or 10.

They also enjoyed the second focus of the week which was using money. The children enjoyed playing ‘shops’ with pretend money, in which they had to choose various items to buy and count how much they needed to pay. The ‘shopkeepers’ then calculated their change. It was great fun!

In science we are carrying out an investigation to see if plants can live without the essentials - water, light, air and soil. We have planted four sets of seeds in different pots, and in each different pot we have omitted one of the essentials. The children are excited to see if any of the seeds germinate!

Year 3 News with Mrs West and Miss Xidakis

In Miss Xidakis´ maths class this week we have been learning about fractions and fractions of a number. We thoroughly enjoyed using biscuits to make different fractions and then eating them.

In Mrs West’s maths class we have been learning about different types of measurements. We have been using balancing scales and reading different scales on liquid containers.

In science we have been learning about light and dark. We carried out an experiment to explore how light affects what we can see. Students placed objects in an upside down box and peered through holes; then we shone a torch into the box and peered again, realising we could now see the objects clearly. We also learnt that light travels in straight lines and how a rainbow is made through refraction.

Year 4 News with Mrs Alonso McGregor and Mrs Walsh

The highlight of the week was our trip to Cala San Vicente. The children had an amazing day by the sea and were able to try new activities as well as having a lot of fun! It was fantastic to see the children outside of the classroom and, in some cases, outside of their comfort zone but all amazed us with their enthusiasm, grit and determination to take part.

Our unit of work on Sound has come to a close and to reinforce our learning, the children explored musical instruments and had a go at making their own. The language of vibration, pitch and amplitude was evident as we explored and made the instruments. Great fun was had when we all ´jammed´ together!

We were so impressed with the children's rainforest dioramas that it was incredibly hard to choose the winners.

All children were awarded 2 House points for their incredible efforts but the overall winners were:

Imogen and Alex from 4A

And Ida and Tillie from 4W

Year 5 News with Ms Hodgson and Ms Demangeat

What an exciting week, the Year 5 students have barely had a chance to draw a breath. In addition to all their normal subjects, they have been preparing for the end of year activities. They have used their computing skills (including video editing) to put the final touches to their Twentieth Century projects. In groups, they were challenged to make a balloon powered vehicle and in sports they have been practising for the House swimming gala. Furthermore, they have shown great resilience and determination when learning their lines and the songs for the show ¨The Pirates of the Curry Bean¨. All parents are very welcome to watch their child's performance during the final week.

Year 6 News with Mr Darlow and Mrs Von Waberer

Our end of year trip to the stunning island of Cabrera has been a well-deserved break from all of the hard work our students have been completing in class. Our entrepreneurial project is nearing its end (check back in the next newsletter) and we are looking forward to pitching to a panel of business leaders next week. Rehearsals for our end of year celebration assembly are in full swing and we are still finding time to enjoy all of the swimming, sport and fun that make the summer term so special. We look forward to embracing these last two weeks together!

Sports department news

Year 5 students made great improvements with their communication and hitting in the game of rounders.

Smiles all round and we are very proud as always!

Languages department news

This week the Catalan students have been practising their oral expression through a debate in class in which we have talked about many topics of interest.

They have enjoyed it very much, they have known the opinion of their classmates, they have listened to them attentively and they have participated very actively. It has been a great success!