Your guide to all news at school
A message from Janice Short, Principal
Dear families
One of our focuses this week has been on Mental Health, as Monday was World Mental Health Day. After an assembly around wellbeing the children spent time in their classes exploring this theme, doing activities. Wellbeing and mental health are important themes and have become possibly even more noticeable after the recent pandemic and world events, with some people struggling to come to terms with loss and emotions of all kinds. We see this in the children quite often and work with them to understand their emotions and feelings, helping them to understand that it is okay not to feel okay.
Challenges can help us grow and learn to adapt. Trying new things can take us out of our comfort zone and help us realise new possibilities and see our potential. Leaving one’s comfort zone is rarely easy and while the rewards may eventually be great and fulfilling, the journey is not always smooth. By working together as parents, carers and educators we can help our children to overcome their setbacks and move forward positively, remembering that emotional growth often happens over time and rarely has an immediate result.
Some top tips from one of the websites aimed at children’s wellbeing include:
Have something to look forward to – make a plan with your children for the weekend.
Stay connected – your children may need help to keep in touch with their friends and extended family.
Filter your information intake – remember that young people with phones/ tablets may also feel bombarded by news and need help with this.
Have a check-in regularly with how everyone in the family is feeling. It’s a great habit to develop and can help give your children the vocabulary they need to discuss how they feel.
Think of something you are grateful for each day – make it a habit at dinner or bedtime.
Try something new/creative. If you fancy something musical there is something online for all ages and you don’t need lots of instruments! Look at Jessie's Fund, Mini Chilterns, ‘Beat goes on’ body percussion, Chrome Music Lab, Beatboxing tutorials and/or Singing Hands/Out of the Ark Music for songs with Makaton signing.
Have a lovely weekend, try one of the above points if you don’t already do them!
Warm regards
Mrs Short
Principal
Baleares International College, Sant Agustí
Nursery Starfish Class
Another 2 weeks and we have officially found our feet in Starfish class.
We have been really busy investigating colours, learning all about our feelings and how we express them. Ask us how we feel at home. We will be more than happy to show you how our faces can tell you how we feel! We have also discovered all the different parts of our bodies, playing “Bingo” and “Simon says” and we even had time to paint our faces!
This week we have also started to look at our sounds, starting with S. We love singing the songs and doing the actions.
Reception Seahorses Class
In Seahorse Class, we have been learning all about being healthy, including eating healthily, keeping clean and doing exercise. In class we had lots of fun making smoothies, where the children each had a turn cutting fruit, counting out ingredients and watching the colour change as it all got blitzed together. We had mixed reviews on the taste but safe to say the children all had lots of fun trying their own creation.
In Art, we have been using lots of different media to create different effects, using grapes instead of paint brushes, printing with apples, drawing with carrots and generally getting messy!
All of the children have been making great progress in phonics, where we are continuing to learn our sounds, recognising the first sound in words, and even the second and third sound in words leading to some of the Seahorse class beginning to blend and read words too!
Year 1 Seals Class
Here we go….another two weeks have flown by before our eyes and Seals have completed more amazing work!
We have spent most of this week's English sessions getting ourselves ready for our first whole class assembly, and what a fabulous experience that has been. The children have not just learnt the story of Little Rabbit Foo Foo by heart but can apply actions to it too! The song they are singing is about friendship, being there and supporting each other. We have also learnt BSL (British Sign Language) and everyone sings and signs to the song!
I´m very proud of all the effort everyone has put in, practising not only at school but at home too! WELL DONE, SUPER SEALS!
Science this last two weeks has been full of activities and experiments linked to our 5 SENSES. The children took part in a taste test the other day in class, where they placed a blindfold on and tried a random piece of food, before stating whether it tasted SWEET, SOUR, SALTY, BITTER OR all of them together, which is called UMAMI. The children had a great time tasting the foods and we recorded the most popular liked taste is SWEET.
Some children really didn't like what they tasted and gave their food a thumbs down!
Others really enjoyed the taste, gave it a thumbs up and wanted more!
Taste Bud Fact - Children have 10,000 taste buds on their tongue, adults only have 5,000. This is why the love for certain food changes as we get older.
We also made a pair of big ears and went for a walk around the school, listening and recording all the sounds we could hear. This too was great fun!
During Humanities, the children have been looking very closely at the surrounding area of school. While on the science walk around the school, the children also took notes of their surroundings and once back in class they put all the information found on a very large floor map. Working well together. I have to say everyone was and is very observant with what is around them and next week we plan to use a variety of boxes to build our school, which will be placed in the centre of the large map. The school will be in 3D as it is the centre of our surroundings.
After walking the outside area of the school, we also looked on Google Earth to find the school. The photo we found shows a slightly different front entrance and playground. This was interesting and led to a whole class discussion.
Maths has been all about 2D shapes. Mr. Strong´s group went off on a shape hunt, taking photos of all the shapes they found around the school. I was very impressed to see not only had they found shapes in many items, objects and their surroundings but they also used their bodies altogether to create large 2D shapes. We carried the idea of using shapes into the Art lesson too….see the photos below of how we used a variety of art materials to make many 2D shapes. Good fun!
Seals shape facts (said by members of the class during a carpet session about shapes) - An octagon has 8 sides, just like an octopus and a pentagon shape looks like a house but is also made up from two other 2D shapes; triangle and a square.
So as you can see, it's never a dull day in Seals Class…..until next time!
Year 2 Turtles Class
It is hard to believe that another two weeks have flown by in the Year 2 classroom.
We have been very busy during our Literacy lessons reading different fables from around the world. Over the last two weeks we have read Town Mouse, Country Mouse, The Gingerbread Man, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Fisherman and his Wife and The Boy who Cried Wolf. We enjoyed watching short film clips on these stories and working out what the moral or lesson is we can learn from each. A lot of the class were familiar already with The Boy who cried Wolf and were able to identify that telling lies will get you in trouble!
We are also continuing to practise our phonics and our handwriting - it is getting more difficult every week to pick out star hand writers as they are all working so hard on their letter formation
In our maths lessons we have looked at the properties of 2D shapes and how they are similar or different and enjoyed seeing how some shapes would tessellate and others won't.
We have put together a great class picture of tessellating fish you will be able to come and see on Parents’ afternoon next week.
In our Music lessons with Mrs Baggaley we have been learning about rhythm and beat and have been making music using the boom whackers!
Maths also has been working with numbers to 100, ordering them and then using the greater than and less than sign or the crocodile mouth as everyone knows it. The children worked on a range of activities in workbooks and games to consolidate their learning.
During our Humanities lessons we looked at toys in the past and present and how they have changed. In the past people would have had to make their own toys out of everyday household objects so this is what we did. The children all became designers and drew out a plan of their toy they would like to make. They had to then make up a list of materials they would need and other items and then lastly we created! There were some great results and they all worked so hard on their toys .
Our Science lessons have been imagining being on a desert island - what do we need to survive - our basic human requirements. From this we have been looking at food groups and how we should eat a varied diet to stay fit and healthy. We all agreed that a treat every now and then is fine! Next week we will be looking at Exercise more closely and the role this plays in our overall well being.
Our Art work linked into our Science this week and we made our own treasure maps…….but then Ms Eccleshall screwed them all into a ball….WHAT??!! Everyone was shocked until it was explained that this is a way to start to age the maps and make them look authentic….phew!!
We can't wait to see the results next week.
Year 3 Dolphins Class
Year 3 continues to work hard during small group and individual learning activities.
It was Mental Health Day on Monday which we celebrated as a whole school. We started our day with a focusing and relaxation video which the children found extremely helpful and informed Miss Jacqui and I that they felt super relaxed and chilled! In the afternoon, we closed our eyes and visualised our own personal monsters then drew them and described their appearance and attributes. We then went on to work together to find similarities and differences between ourselves to celebrate our individuality and uniqueness.
In PE, the children have been enthusiastically learning to do a variety of different rolls safely using a mat. The children have shown perseverance even when they have found certain elements of this challenging.
We are using the African tale - The Papaya that spoke- as our stimulus for talking and writing. The children have loved learning actions for the story to help them remember the key elements of the tale.
In Humanities, we looked at transport from around the globe and played the matching game below.
In Maths, we have been placing 2 and 3 digit numbers on a number line and rounding numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
Year 4 Jellyfish Class
“Yes, wonderful things!” If you were to ask the Year 4 class who uttered those words they will tell you it was none other than Mr. Howard Carter the archeologist (no known relation to our much loved Mrs Carter!) who in 1922 was the first man, along with Lord Caernarvon, to discover the tomb of Tutankhamun. He said those words in response to a question by Mr. Carter about what he could see inside the tomb. It was of course filled with the most beautiful golden objects. The children were given mystery envelopes with copies of historical sources inside, all linked to the discovery of King Tut’s golden filled tomb. On whiteboards, they needed to answer the questions about the source from a powerpoint slide, then generate two of their own about the author of the source. The children then watched a short video about the mystery of the death of Tutankhamun. We learned some new facts about King Tut’s death aged only 18 to add to what we already knew. The children learned how to write bullet points whilst taking in information on the video and we collated all the new knowledge through writing and drawings. The children created some superb Egyptian self portraits during Art class that are on display for all to see!
In Maths we have spent two weeks looking at expanded column subtraction and addition. Learning how to subtract and add 3 digit numbers firstly needs a good knowledge of place value. The children worked with dienes blocks, place value cards, whiteboards and text books before further consolidating their learning by playing maths games on the chromebooks.
In English we started a new topic on instructional writing. The children studied the features of an instructional text first before looking through some very colourful art books to see examples of such. In pairs they scanned the pages looking for examples of diagrams, clear layout, adverbial phrases, and of course those imperative or bossy verbs. Then they were tasked with drawing a picture of a dog solely by listening to the instructions being called out by the teacher. The result was some really cute drawings. The children were then split into groups of three where one child had to instruct the other two to draw a picture. We all agreed that speaking clearly, slowly and in sequence made the task easier. We discovered how important giving clear instructions is to getting a task done well.
In PSHE we continue to look at VIPS or Very Important People in our lives. The children have been identifying the different support networks in their lives and what makes a good friend. We all need help from time to time especially during times of adjustment or change and the children learned who they can turn to if they feel overwhelmed or anxious about issues arising from their busy lives. This theme fitted in nicely with World Mental Health Day where we watched a very effective cartoon introduced by Catherine, Princess of Wales about our emotional well being. The short video followed the story of a girl called Jay. The children also learned about group mentality and focused on the story of a fictitious student in Year 4 called Pete who was being dared to do naughtly things. The children learned how important it is to speak out when something doesn't feel right to them, a life skill that will stand them in good stead.
In Sport with Ms. Golden we continued with Gymnastics and tried some standing and sitting balances on the mats outside! One of our movements called Dead Man’s Lift made us think of King Tut in his tomb. The children worked in pairs doing a series of strengthening balances - a key element of gymnastics. We also finished our relay races.
In Science our human nutrition topic has taken us into the world of dentists and tooth decay. The children enjoyed discussing their experiences with dentists and the different effects food and drink have on teeth. In groups, they planned to investigate how different drinks affect our teeth. The Year 4s tested their ideas by immersing eggshells in various liquids, identifying variables and recording results over time with words and pictures. Another hands-on fun Science lesson!
Year 5 Whales Class
It has been a busy and super exciting two weeks with our brilliant trip to Palma Aquarium plus our class assembly and we have even managed to fit in time to do all our normal lessons!
In our Humanities lessons, we have been developing our map reading skills. We revised the compass points and then learnt how to use grid references to locate places on maps of Brazil.
In the next lesson we started our focus on Mexico and looked at photographs of different landmarks in the country. The children had to use their geography skills to find where these places are located on maps of Mexico. Later we used atlases to locate some of the main geographical features such as the major cities, mountain ranges and rivers.
Linking to our Humanities topic, Year 5 did a great class assembly all about Central America.
In groups, the children had researched a country in Central America, made a fact file and then shared their knowledge in the assembly. We also learnt a super fast song all about the different countries in the region. I am sure the children have been singing it at home!
In Science we have continued to look at life cycles as we learnt more about metamorphosis. Sadly our little caterpillar Colin didn't make it as he tried to transform into a butterfly but we did enjoy watching and observing his life cycle whilst he was with us. The children found out the differences between complete and incomplete metamorphosis and then created lifecycle wheels to show the different stages.
Obviously the big highlight of the last two weeks was the fantastic school trip with the Year 6 class and all the Whales had fun looking at real life sharks and sleeping next to them! Here are some of the highlights of our two day adventure!
Year 6 Sharks Class
Year 6 have had a busy two weeks combining all their normal lessons with their first class assembly and a memorable trip to Palma Aquarium.
In science we have continued to help build Bob, our friendly skeleton, into a more functional body. This week we gave him a bicep and a tricep and some tendons so he could flex his arm muscles.
After we had helped Bob, we all gave our own skeletons some muscles to flex.
In English, we continued to develop our writing skills so that we could paint an image in our reader's mind with our careful choice of words.
In our examination of Ancient Greece, we looked at the Minoans and their culture. We incorporated some of the main aspects of their culture into some designs for vases in our art lessons
Spanish and Catalan with Miss Maria
Aquest any amb els alumnes de Year 6 gaudim molt de les classes de català. Tenim un horari molt complet i divers, el que fa que cada dia de la setmana siguin activitats diferents. Els dilluns ens dediquem a fer lectures o ampliar el nostre vocabulari sobre diferents temes; els dimarts ens posam amb les activitats d’aprenentatge per reforçar l’ortografia i la gramàtica; els dimecres és el dia que fem ciències socials i treiem la nostra part més científica i els dijous ens submergim als nostres projectes creant meravelloses presentacions i exposant pels nostres companys i companyes. Aquí vos deixam unes fotos de les nostres rutines a l’assignatura de català!
Spanish and Catalan with Miss Ainhoa
¡Otra semana más trabajando y aprendiendo nuevos conceptos! Esta vez, la clase de Year 1&2 se ha convertido en un avión y hemos estado viajando a África. Más concretamente a Sudáfrica. Hemos conocido su ubicación en el mapa, su bandera, algunos animales e historias súper interesantes. Una de ellas “Quiero ser como tú” nos ha enseñado algo muy importante: estar orgullosos de uno mismo y querer ser exactamente como somos.
El final del viaje ha sido también muy divertido ya que hemos conocido algunas características de las tribus Masai y nos hemos convertido en parte de una tribu.
Este ha sido el resultado:
Spanish and Catalan with Miss Marina
¡Hola a todos! Esta vez les ha tocado a nuestros alumnos de Year 5&6. Durante estas semanas hemos aprendido el vocabulario de la ropa y ya somos capaces de describir a las personas, tanto por su aspecto físico como por la ropa que llevan. Han realizado diversas actividades pero, la que más les ha gustado ha sido esta. Cada uno de ellos ha hecho un collage de diferentes personas y luego han escrito sus características principales. ¡Qué bien aprender a la vez que nos divertimos! ¡Y que chulas nos han quedado!.
